Last week, I faced two important anniversaries of the life-and-death variety, so when it came to selecting a book to review, I was in the mood for something wise and kind and far-reaching, something profound and truthful, something to sustain and soothe my weary soul.

And preferably, something short – because even as momentous anniversaries come and go, other things such as family and work and volunteer responsibilities still make demands on time.

Luckily, David Oates’ new book, “What We Love Will Save Us,” had come in over the transom just a week earlier. I pounced – the book was as slender as the title was promising. And when I opened the book to a random page to take a look, I was captivated by the opening question in one of his essays: “What is this sweet brain feeling?”

Oates is a Portland-based writer and poet whose self-proclaimed mission is “responsibility and lovingkindness toward ourselves and the natural world.” If that sounds a little too kumbaya to you, don’t worry – this guy mixes vinegar in with his ink.

I didn’t catch on to that at first. This is a collection of essays dating from 2003 to 2008, and the first few selections are giddy celebrations of love and poetry and scenic mountain lakes.

But by 2007, a shadow had fallen over Oates’ sunny outlook, and the clouds came in the shape of Bush, Cheney, and Rove.

Oates tilts full-bore against the windmills of the past decade – against cynical reinterpretations of human rights and torture tactics, against manipulation of war coverage, against Republican tax priorities. He tries to make sense of “Mayberry Machiavellis” and Abu Ghraib.

And when he feels his efforts are futile, he seeks wisdom in the works of others (Hannah Arendt, Percy Bysshe Shelley), and sometimes laughter (Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert), and sometimes solace (Hildegard of Bingen).

Closer to home, Oates tackles what he perceives as sexual hypocrisy – in the deliverance assertions of ex-gay ministries in Portland and elsewhere, and in the disingenuous protestations of Idaho’s former U.S. Senator Larry Craig.

If there’s anything Oates can’t stand, it’s mendacity – but he knows from firsthand experience that the road to truth is not necessarily straight. He reflects on the turns his own idealism has taken over the years and chronicles that journey with rueful humor, flashes of anger, and the compassion of one who has been through the fire.

He addresses other passions, too: water treatment, wilderness preservation, the importance of music and poetry and sex, the disappearance of the subjunctive mood from the English language. (English teachers take note: “Lacking the Subjunctive” is a gem.)

Nettled and downright cranky at times, Oates always seems to come back around to an optimistic view, seeing nobility in sewer upgrades, hope in roof water run-off projects, and communion in overcrowded hiking trails.

“What We Love Will Save Us” challenges each of us to consider what we love, and what that could mean.

The Bookmonger is Barbara Lloyd McMichael, who writes this weekly column focusing on the books, authors and publishers. She can be reached at bkmonger@nwlink.com.

What We Love Will Save Us

By David Oates

Kelson Books, 192 pages, $11.95