Summers with Juliet CL

Roorbach's debut provides pure enchantment, linking a story of natural wonders to the wonders of his romance with one Juliet Karelson. They met in 1982--he was 29 and she was 20--and began to take camping trips together, with little money roughing it over almost all of the United States and Canada. A few times during eight years of summer adventures, the couple broke up, but only temporarily. Their travels continued while the author advanced from odd jobs to writing assignments (he is now assistant professor of English at the University of Maine) and sternly independent Juliet skirted commitment, establishing herself as an artist. Lyrical, earthy and suspenseful, the book makes immediate the excitement of confronting snakes, bears and possibly menacing strangers, as well as the great rewards of life in the wilds. The mating dance of this appealing couple concludes in the book's final chapter with their 1990 wedding, after which everyone clogged to the strains of fiddle and accordion music. And so, it seems, they lived happily ever after. (Feb.)