Compass Lines
Journeys Toward Home
In essays that traverse latitudes and continents, Compass Lines explores the paths we take toward belonging. Here, broken vehicles mark the porous boundaries between built and natural worlds. Deserted backpacks trace immigration routes along the US-Mexico border. A job fighting wildfire near a ghost town reveals the dangers of a life spent wandering. Slowly, as Messick learns the rhythms of seasons—through wing prints on snow, cupboard shelves stocked for winter, and quiet moments before the birth of his son—he discovers that a connection with the places we inhabit requires both movement and stillness.
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From Antarctica to the Arctic, a Cambodia tattoo parlor to the Florida swamps, and from childhood to fatherhood, this deeply felt debut invites readers on a search for the most elusive landscape of all: home.
In The Press
From Rosanna Xia, in The Los Angeles Times:
"...a wondrous collection of essays published by Porphyry Press, a cool indie publisher based in Alaska’s Wrangell Mountains"
From Nancy Lord, in Anchorage Daily News:
"What's different about John Messick's first book...is the author's deep introspection and the exceptional quality of his writing...Messick's authenticity, honest and self-reflection draw his route across time and space to find his place in the world. We might all learn from his beautifully told journey something about our own. "
