<DIV><DIV><DIV>Rick Bass is one of the foremost writers of his generation, charging headlong past the hard surface of modern life to illuminate human beings and their relationship to the natural world. <I>Platte River</I> is a collection of three novellas, each a singular exploration of the human heart set against the backdrop of God's creation.&nbsp;<DIV>&nbsp;<DIV>Filled with arresting images&#8212;chinook winds flying through a valley, couples skating in the dark on thin ice, tools made from animal bones, a delicate shape frozen in a river&#8212;&#8220;Mahatma Joe&#8221; is about an evangelist who settles in Grass Valley, Montana, and the woman who becomes obsessed with his vision of the world. In &#8220;Field Events&#8221; a woman falls in love with a man even larger than her discus-tossing brothers. And the title novella, &#8220;Platte River,&#8221; portrays one man's lyric meditation on loneliness, the nature of peace, and the quest for love.</DIV>