Book Description

The Lost Grizzlies chronicles the ongoing search for proof that a small number of grizzly bears still lives in the isolated mountain wilds of southern Colorado. Rick Bass turns his considerable talents to an evocation of wilderness beauty and the history of human encroachment that may, or may not, have wiped out the last of these massive, solitary bears from their southern range. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

A Superb Read!!
Lost Grizzlies is a superb read! Rick Bass is fast becoming (may already be) our premier writer of the american wilderness. Bass' descriptions of the books characters and the wilds of the San Juan Mountains of Colorado are vivid. I enjoyed Bass' descriptions of Doug Peacock's brilliance and brutishness. I enjoyed reading ABOUT Peacock almost as much as I enjoyed reading Peacock's book (Grizzly Years).

Beautiful writing. Highly recommended.
As Rick Bass and Doug Peacock go high and deep into Colorado's San Juan Mountains, on the chance there might still be grizzlies somehow surviving there, we are treated to glimpses of unspeakable beauty and wonder. It's as though Bass were able to blend his own Ninemile Wolves with Peacock's Grizzly Years. Their journey is both exhilerating and meditative. Reading this book was a pleasure.

Defining
I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of the trail, but as science it dosen't bother to include any. Only the fact that standard conservation biology principles are ridiculed. Unfortunately this population of Ursus arctos horribilus is all but gone. They are at California Condor levels if present at all. They see one bear, but what of the DNA analysis? Bass does not tell us here. Bass's bear is more a vision than a reality.

The crowd of Earth First!ers from Tuscon and points north represented by the volatile-tempered Doug Peacock, that has allowed Rick Bass to join is a select band of outlaw literary types, that worship the wild and lament its demise. I share this sadness and want to prevent it myself, but my twelve years working as a fish and wildlife biologist did little to encourage me that this is possible. By aligning himself only with outlaw radicals whose personal behavior screams "left-wing enviro-nut" these noble ideas will be hard to sell by these messengers. Only with mainstream acceptance will change occur.

In Bass's home territory of Yaak, Montana this will be a hard sell. Libby is a devastated lumber town where I once worked for the U.S. Forest Service. I was so discouraged that I quit early and left town never to return. Bass runs with a select clique who live in Livingston, Montana a sort of "Hollywood North" of rich and famous actors and artists the likes of Peter Fonda, Tom McGuane, Dennis Quaid, the brothers Bridges, an endless list. But it's the outlaws like Dave Forman the founder of Earth First!that run the underground sects of the environmental movement, and they have a terrorist thesis; "Monkeywrenchers" as Ed Abby envisioned. Peacock is the model although he does not actually commit vandalism acts himself. They don't accept newcomers into their ranks easily; particularly impoverished writers from the "sticks."

I wrote Mr. Bass once of my efforts chronicled in my first book "Against A Strong Current," on these conservation matters and received no reply. Acceptance by this group is not my goal but credit is difficult to get, even if one has extensive credentials and a government work record that takes place on scene as part of the in house system working for the same change. It is easy to be upstaged by amateurs. Bass seeks to sell romance sans the "Guzzi" consumerish trappings. This work is a success at that, but it is not in any sense, biology.

I Believe It Was a Grizzly
This book is a unique combination of comedy, real-life adventure and a luminous testimony to one of America's most endangered and mythical beasts. Bass is at his best here, capturing the hearts of his readers through an alternately hilarious and spine tingling account of his journey into the Colorado mountains in search of grizzly bears.

The problem facing Bass and his two friends is that the grizzly bear is believed to be extinct in Colorado. However, several undocumented sightings and signs have convinced them that the bears exist in the remotest regions of the mountain range. Thus they are out to do all they can to locate bears and document their findings.

In the resulting adventures we find the three companions trapsing through woods, sliding down canyon walls, confronting bureaucrats and tracking down bear sign. Things are complicated, and given a distinctly uneasy quality, by the behavior of Doug Peacock. Peacock, himself a well-known author and champion of the grizzly bear, is plagued by frequent and dramatic mood swings. His alarmingly volatile temper, moments of intense introspection and frequent outbursts of graphic profanity have the reader feeling like he/she is walking on eggshells. Because Bass has done such a good job of describing his friend, and how he came to be the way he is, it's easy to forgive Peacock his peculiar behavior. However, it is not easy or pleasant to read.

As the story unfolds, and the three men get closer to their goal, the tension becomes almost unbearable. When Bass finally sees a bear, after months of exhausting effort and disappointment, the scene unfolds in classic Bass technicolor with heart racing clarity and insight. "When I am ten yards from that fallen tree - which I am all but ignoring, focusing on the deer - a creature leaps up from behind it, seemingly right in my face, a brown creature with great hunched shoulders. It's a bear with a big head, and for the smallest fraction of time our eyes meet. The bear's round brown eyes are wild in alarm, and mine the same or larger, I'm sure. The bear's rich chocolate color, like a moose and nearly as big, an animal of such immense size that indeed my first thought, the one right before fear, is: That bear's as big as a moose!"

I won't ruin the suspense by telling you what happens next. It should be enough to know that Bass neither disappoints nor fails to find deeper currents of truth running beneath his experience. This is another book that shouldn't be missed. Just don't expect it to reveal its gifts easily.

Guys looking for grizzlies
I agree with another reviewer's comment that this book is largely focused on the guys out looking for grizzlies in Colorado rather than on bears. This made for excellent reading. Bass is a remarkably skilled writer. He puts you right there at the campfire sipping whisky and feasting on wild mushrooms with Peacock and company.

The attitudes of Bass, Peacock and the rest can appear surprisingly negative at times. For example, they seem to have something of a "holier-than-thou" attitude towards other wilderness enthusiasts, in the sense that wilderness advocates wearing suits are laughed at, persons hiking in the woods with colorful gear are "wanna-bes", and young persons also looking for grizzly in the woods are characterized as lackluster. University researchers ("academics") are also cast as ignorant and removed from the wilderness they study. I found this sort of gruff cynicism reminiscent of the Monkey Wrench Gang and hence it had some entertainment value. However, knee-jerk judgements seemingly based on what people wear, and lofty dismissals of others' work didn't help my images of these guys. Just some passing remarks, this book is fantastic.

All in all a great book that makes for a gripping read. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Ideas seem to advance in waves upon the modern mind, and one of the concepts cresting at present is the notion of place. This recent swell could be charted back to Daniel Kemmis's 1992 book Community and the Politics of Place as well as his more recent meditation on the inhabitation of cities (The Good City and the Good Life). Wendell Berry's A Place on Earth continued the theme, as has Alan Thein Durning's recent book This Place on Earth. Wes Jackson, a bioligist by training, applies the notion of place to a rethinking of ecological and agricultural policy. His hope is that the concept of place will seep deeply into our thoughts and affect the very way we inhabit the world. In effect, Jackson argues for inverting the slogan "think globally, act locally": when we think of the whole Earth on a local level as a group of loved places rather than territory or resource pools, then we will be headed in the right direction. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Alternative perspective on human interaction with the earth
Very easy reading, short book.

Wes Jackson describes a growing perspective that we need to interact symbiotically with the earth rather than considering the earth a "resource" at our disposal. He mixes philosophy with actual personal experiences to further illustrate the story.

The fact that he began the Land Use Institute in Kansas and is still and active participant lends credibility to his dialog. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Naturalist's Humor and Wry Observations Save Story
I found the Windward Road a rather dull account of the author's search for the green turtle. While I appreciated his folksy humor and wry observations, the book failed to be an absorbing adventure. The turtle he is after doesn't turn up until the last two chapters of the book. In fact, the last two chapters were the most interesting for me. I did enjoy Mr. Carr's interactions with the local natives in his wanderings. They carried the knowledge of where to find turtles in their community. Overall I tired of reading about Carr watching native people dig up turtle eggs from their clutch, Carr witnessing the bludgeoning of captured turtles, going on hunts to harpoon turtles and Carr being served up various turtle delicacies. I realize the book was written 50 years ago and sentiments about animals were very different. To that point, it is probably important to read something like this to understand some early turtle nesting areas and how the turtle sustained a native people.

A delightful book by a wonderful naturalist
Archie Carr was the Godfather of modern sea-turtle biology and an outspoken advocate of turtle conservation who did more than anyone else to bring our attention to these creatures. The Windward Road is a masterpiece of Natural History writing, capturing a magical moment in time as Carr delves into the secret lives of the great green turtles and takes us with him on journeys to Caribbean islands as yet largely unspoiled by the wave of development that was to come. Anyone interested in conservation biology or with a love of a good yarn should get hold of this book, sink back and hear the trade winds blow -and then get out of your chair & do something to carry on the struggle that Carr waged for so long to preserve turtles and their habitats. This is a book that you will come back to repeatedly & pass on to friends and students with enthusiasm. ... Read more

Book Description

A tour de force of nature writing, Ron Naveen's Waiting to Fly captures the spirit of the gentle and charming creatures called penguins while also beautifully rendering the frozen, windswept landscapes through his magical prose.In Waiting to Fly, Naveen weaves together the stories of his own experiences as a field scientist with the adventures of earlier explorers who have studied these fascinating flightless birds. He recounts tales of daring voyages in the Antarctic's dangerous seas and of the men who had to survive for months in this treacherous terrain. These stories of humans struggling to overcome the elements are paralleled with the lives of the very humanlike penguins. Naveen fell in love with penguins sixteen years ago, and ever since they have held a strong place in his mind--whether he is counting their numbers on the icy shores of the seventh continent or studying their behavior as they go through their hectic and productive lives. We see that their natural and healthy lives, unfettered by the clamor and clutter of our workaholic existence, can teach us much about ourselves. Penguins don't spend time reasoning, planning, pondering, or worrying. They're very, very busy, with lots of work to do and little time to do it. The penguins in this delightful and informative book emerge as distinctly resourceful and beguiling personalities.

While penguins amuse and intrigue us, their comically deceptive exterior belies the reality that they may have mastered survival a bit better than we have, and watching them may change our relationship with the earth--and with each other. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

A must for serious penguin lovers!
From the first page, Naveen's love of the three brush tailed species of penguins comes through. Follow his account of years of working with chinstrap, adalaide and gentoo penguins in the Antarctic peninsula. Learn details about their habits and habitats as you read his entertaining account of his work. For the person who wants to know more than superficial penguin books tell you.

ALL THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT PENGUINS
THERE IS SOOOOOO MUCH HERE - THE HISTORY OF PENGUIN RESEARCH IN THE ANTARCTIC PENINSULA, TALES OF THE LIVES OF THESE FUZZY ANIMALS, AND A MEATPHYSICAL GLIMPSE AS TO WHY PENGUINS AFFECT US SO HAPPILY, SO POSITIVELY. NAVEEN'S STORIES ARE TOTALLY ENGAGING, WEAVING IN MYRIAD FACTS AND DETAILS ABOUT CHINSTRAP, ADELIE, AND GENTOO PENGUINS, BUT NOT TO THE POINT THAT THE READER IS OVERWHELMED. ONE IS TAKEN SOUTH, FAR SOUTH, TO WHERE PENGUINS GRAB YOU AND NEVER LET GO. LOTS OF FUN READING - AND A MUST FOR ANY ANIMAL LOVER.

Wonderful read from a world-class naturalist!
I loved this book. It is beautifully written with an underlining message of environmental stewardship. The antics and bustle of penguin behavior are combined with historical snippets from the southern continent. This engaging account is told from the first hand perspective of a wonderful naturalist, Ron Naveen.

lots of information but poor organization and writing
I love penguins and so does Ron Naveen. His admiration for these small creatures and his awe of them and the environment in which they live is palpable in this book. Regrettably, although there is alot of good information in his new book, it is poorly organized; the writing is frequently mediocre or worse, and it is terribly repetitive. What it needs is a good editor. ... Read more

Book Description

Unexpected Eloquence

The National Geographic archive, long renowned as a mother lode of superb photography and fascinating information, has also yielded the wonderful writing that stands alone in this collection.

From the Field presents a wide-ranging selection of writings by world-class figures: novelists and naturalists, poets and presidents, explorers and adventurers, and pioneers. Each piece is a gem of its kind; taken together they add up to a chronicle of a hundred years of discovery and a capsule history of National Geographic itself.

Here's just a glimpse of the riches that you'll find among the scores of authors and articles collected in this wonderful anthology:

Alexander Graham Bell Aerial Locomotion

Joseph Conrad Geography and Some Explorers

David Lamb: A Season in the Minors

Charles A. Lindbergh To Bogota and Back by Air

Archibald MacLeish The Thrush on the Island of Barra

James Fallows: Vatican City

Diane Ackerman: In Praise of Squirrels

Jane Goodall The Imperiled Mountain Gorilla

William O. Douglas West from the Khyber Pass

Theodore Roosevelt Wild Man and Wild Beast in Africa

Amelia Earhart My Flight from Hawaii

Geoffrey C. Ward India's Wildlife Dilemma

Robert E. Peary The Discovery of the Pole

Willie Morris: Faulkner's Mississippi

William Least Heat-Moon Oregon's Outback

Barry Lopez: California Desert

David Remnick Moscow: The New Revolution

Paul Theroux: Down the Zambezi ... Read more

Book Description

Mountain lion, panther, puma: whatever the name, this powerful big cat has inspired both fear and reverence in the minds of Americans. Chris Bolgiano traces the compelling history of this elusive creature, focusing on its interactions with human beings throughout the years. Now available in paperback, this book offers a concise natural history of the mountain lion, a fascinating discussion of the mythological significance of the animal to Native Americans and early white settlers, and insight into the culture of lion hunting. Other highlights include the lore of panther sightings in the Northeast and analysis of the puma's new role as a symbol of the wilderness. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A book you will be proud to own
Mountain Lion was a wonderful book to read. I had been looking everywhere for a comprehensive book or video on the Mountian Lion of North America and I feel I have hit the jackpot. This book tells you "everything you ever wanted to know" about the Mountain Lion and more. From it's origins and how it relates to Natives all the way to it's current situation. Chris Bolgiano writes with a sympathetic eye and makes you realize how important preservation is not only for the Mountain lion and other animals but for humans too. She speaks about Mountain Lion sightings in places where logging and building houses have eliminated the big cat from these areas. She feels people still see sightings because of their phycological need for wilderness. She made me think more about preservation and the importance of saving our wilderness. I would recommend this great book for any Cat and Animal lovers out there. It could also be interesting for conservationists and anybody who is active or interested in enviromental issues.

One of the best books I have read about a wildlife species.
This is Ms Bolgiano's first book. I happened to read her second book, The Appalachian Forest, first. I liked that book so much, I had to try this one. I am glad I did.

Ms Bolgiano is both a thorough and accurate researcher and an excellent writer. The text of Mountain Lion benefits greatly from both these talents. It is clear that the author traveled widely and spent much time and money in gaining a deep and expansive understanding of cougars and their dealings with our species before writing Mountain Lion.

Once she started writing, Ms Bolgiano wove a tale of this most illusive and truly wild of our wildlife species that is fascinating and a real joy to read. I have only a short time each day to read. I repeatedly found myself looking forward to my daily reading time as I read this book. Finally, I sacrificed large sections of a few nights of sleep and devoured and gorged until I came to the final page. Once done, I mourned the fact that it was over.

To anyone who has even a tiny interest in wild creatures and how we interact with them, I recommend Mountain Lions most highly. It is like taking a tour of a large portion of our land and gaining a much deeper understanding of the people and wildlife of each area. Equally beneficial, one comes to a better knowledge of and a deeper respect for our great, wild, American cat. Reading Mountain Lions, An Unnatural History of Pumas and People, is time extremely well spent.

Lyric writing and hard facts combined
The reader can tell that a great deal of research went into this book. It is also obvious that the author loves and respects her subject. If a myth about this animal needs to be broken she does so- but graciously. It was especially hard to read about the state of the Florida panther and how they are now so inbred it really is better to bring in the Texas animals to breed. Most of all it is Bolgiano's writing that carries the book- wave after wave of clear, precise prose. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In her lifetime, Rachel Carson published only four books. She was a careful writer and meticulous researcher, for one thing, and she worked as a government scientist until the success of books like Silent Spring and The Sea Around Us enabled her to turn to her own writing full-time. She also published several magazine pieces, many of which biographer Linda Lear gathers here, along with letters and journal entries. In one piece that is characteristic both of her modesty and of her wit, Carson remarks on her then-unusual status of being an "average-sized woman" and a scientist, one who had just become "a biographer of the sea." In another, Carson writes of the necessity of protecting shorelines from economic development that would hasten their erosion and subsequent destruction. Carson's many fans will take much pleasure in this anthology of her work. --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Wonderful Book
The book is a collection of Rachel Carson's discovered writing, but it isn't a simple collection of her essays. Thanks to the excellent editor,Linda Lear, all of the 31 essays are well organized in four parts, and eachone begins with an editor's preamble that explains background, Carson'smotivation, and other useful information for the specific essay. With thosepreambles and essays, I had a feeling as if I were reading Rachel Carson'sbiography as well. With her unique combination, a biologist with literarytalent, Rachel Carson turned her deep love for nature to the marvelousessays that would be very valuable for human being as a part of nature. Thesame editor, Linda Lear, wrote Carson's biography(Rachel Carson : Witnessfor Nature),whichI read a couple of months ago and found excellent. Italso became one of my highly recommending books. ... Read more

Book Description

The first and only anthology of writings about the Sierra. Contains selections from the first century-and-a-half of recorded history of the Sierra Nevada written by explorers, immigrants, poets, travelers, scientists, conservationists and mountain climbers. Here, of course, are Clarence King, John Muir, and David Brower, but also Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, and Robert Louis Stevenson. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A good bood about the written history of the Sierra Nevadas
A good read about the Sierra Nevada Mountain range. The book is a collection of short stories assembled by Mr. Reid that detail various aspects of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

I expecially enjoyed the short stories and articles by Dan DeQuille, Bret Harte, and Mark Twain.

Mr. Reid preceeds each chapter with an introduction that explains some of the history regarding the author and the subsequent story.

Bill White Minden, Nevada ... Read more

Book Description

A vivid and faithful chronicle of life in the great Northern Forest and a storehouse of valuable information on woodcraft and nature. Over half a century ago, John Rowlands set out by canoe into the wilds of Maine to survey land for a timber company. After paddling alone for several days--"it was so quiet I could hear the drops from the paddle hitting the water"--he came upon "the lake of my boyhood dreams." He never left. He named the place Cache Lake because there was stored the best that the north had to offer--timber for a cabin; fish, game and berries to live on; and the peace and contentment he felt he could not live without. Cache Lake Country exemplifies the classic American notion that what is most worth finding lies far from the tracks of civilization, and that what is most worth doing demands resourcefulness and wit. Here is folklore and philosophy, but most of all wisdom about the woods and the inventiveness and self-reliance they demand. The author explains how to make moccasins, barrel stoves, lean-to shelters, outdoor bake ovens, sailing canoes, and hundreds of other ingenious and useful gadgets, all illustrated in the margins with 230 enchanting drawings by Henry B. Kane. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Best Outdoor Book Ever!
I first read this book in 1972, the original 1947 edition. It is one of the few permanent items in my library. I read it again at least once a year. I have even tried some of the projects John describes including the radio set made out of bits laying around the cabin. If you want a relaxing and enjoyable read about life in the woods, get this!

A man I would have loved to know!
I discovered this book when I was 13, and have read it no less than 10 times through the next 30 years. Mr. Rowlands was someone I would have loved to spend time with - he was down to earth, interesting, has a good sense of humor, and he lived the kind of life that everyone would love to try. I had fun trying some of his projects, like the needle on the water compass and the dewdrop magnifying glass. As a kid I would dream of living in a cabin near him, Hank and Chief Tibeash, and of canoeing on the rivers he talks about. Sadly, Mr. Rowlands died in the late 1970s, and I never had a chance to meet him. I did discover he wrote another book called Spindrift, and also that he did a lot of writing for The Atlantic Monthly magazine. He lived in New England in his later years, and had a daughter. For those who loved his book, you should check out the books written by his friend Hank (Henry B. Kane), who wrote in the same style and also illustrated Cache Lake Country. All in all, Cache Lake Country was a book that transported a young girl to a beautiful place, and introduced her to the woodsy "uncle" we all would love to have.

Pure Lore of the North
Every true outdoors man and woman needs to read two books. One is Leopold's A Sand County Alamanac, the other is Cache Lake Country. If you've hunted, fished, and trekked the northwoods as much as I have, and love its brooding, dark beauty, this book will capture the sensations of the taiga. It is almost painful to read it if you find yourself trapped in someone else's idea of the good life, when what you really want to do is chuck it all for a cabin in the boreal forest.

CACHE LAKE COUNTRY -- LIVING YOUR DREAM
I first read this book when I was 12 years old, I am now 46. I could not put it down and can not. I made my first knike sheath, first snow shoes, and my first moc;s (which remain my favorite type of moc's) from sketches from this book, as well as many of the other projects and they all lived up to expectations of a young teenager to present. You feel like you are there with the three men of the story. It is is one of the few books that I reread every couple of years. Worth every penney and then some.

Extraordinary
Fine fine book, mix of lore, sociology, wisdom, natureetc.

Book description on Amazon.com is slightly incorrect. Setting is in Northern Ontario, but the geography and topography is the same as Maine,although the sociology and native references are different in Maine.

Have given over five copies to friends,

Signed, A Manhattanite with a cabin in Northern Ontario ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Hauntingly beautiful without the least bit of romanticism
Gary Nabhan's book has images in it that are complex and, judging by some of the reader's reviews, too fine-grained for some people's tastes. Like all great written works, Gary has taken the time not to oversimplify or over-generalize, but the resulting ambiguities and lack of forcing these essays into a pre-ordained thread has left me with images that will stick with me for a long time. They, like the ecosystems and cultures that he describes, point to a complexity which reveals itself slowly and over time--lifetimes, in some cases. It is this complexity that he celebrates and mourns the loss of as the cultures and languages that have evolved close to the land become increasingly diluted and discarded in the rush of assimilation that has overtaken so many cultures,languages and landscapes. His case for breathing life back into our landscapes THROUGH our culture and language is compelling, and a challenge to us all, wherever we live.

Interesting ideas but too loosely written
While I found his concepts very interesting and many of his stories beautiful in and of thesmelves, Nabhan fails to bring his book into a cohesive argument. He vaguely alludes to his concepts of the importance of biodiversity to cultures, and how a diversity of cultures promotes biodiversity, I felt as if I were drowning in nostalgia as he told this and that tale without making their significance clear and... significant.

There were interesting thoughts and stories, but as an entire book, it disappointed me.

We all need to see culture this way
So few nature writers (Barry Lopez being one notable exception) are concerned with dissolving the artificial wall between humanity and nature. Nabhan takes this objective one step further by showing that biodiversity actually depends on the survival of human communities. In specific, human communities that have adapted to and depended upon natural systems for their own survival. For those who are interested in conservation, environmental science, human cultures, Native American societies, ethnobotany, archaeology, and anthropology, this book is a must-read.

Endangered interactions between humans and the natural world
What is the proper term for someone like Gary Nabhan? Ethnoecologist? I found this to be a well written, thoroughly enjoyable book. I don't usually make it all the way to the end of a book of essays, but I read every one of these. I found Nabhan a pleasant traveling companion as I tagged along with him through the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and northern Mexico, sleuthing out the tatters and remants of native peoples' relationships with the habitats in which their cultures evolved. Nabhan is largely concerned with what Dan Janzen has called "the most insidious kind of extinction -- the extinction of interactions." Through visits with fascinating people in fascinating places, he explores what have now become highly endangered interactions between rare desert plants and their even rarer insect or mammal pollinators, between wild plants and their domesticators, between competitors for scarce natural resources (be they human or hummingbird), and between story tellers and their children and grandchildren. This is a book that will make you want to get to the roots of your relationship with the natural world by talking to your parents and grandparents about their own childhood experiences in nature. Whether your interests run primarily to botany, to zoology, or to anthropology, you will find much in these essays to please, sadden, and stimulate you.

Unsatisfying Collection of Essays on Interesting Theme
"Ecosystem peoples," as used by Ray Dasmann, contrast with the more modern, mobile peoples that we have largely become. Gary Paul Nabhan usefully points out that ecosystem peoples are a positive feature of the ecosystem that they occupy. Their cultural practices, their stories, and their lifestyles promote the preservation of native habitats and species diversity.

Unfortunately, this is the high-water mark of Nabhan's book. His stories are largely tired and lifeless. The essays are repetitive and, as a whole, lack any driving dynamic. The characters are out of focus and not memorable.

If the book delivered only half of what the theme promised, it would be a great read. As it is, it is not. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (4)

A Perfect Read!
What more could you want in a collection of essays by women on plants? The editor includes essays to pique anyone's interest and arranges them in a charming and thoughtful manner. If you enjoy either nature writings or feminist prose this book is for you!

A remarkable collections of singularly unique essays
Collaboratively edited by Linda Hogan and Brenda Peterson, The Sweet Breathing Of Plants is a gentle and remarkable collections of singularly unique essays about the relationship between women and plants, interdependent upon one another for life since prehistory. From "The Language of Flowers" to "The Flooded Forest," each individual treatise significantly contributes an unusual and memorable insight to the wondrous whole in this spiritually moving and deeply meaningful metaphysical anthology.

Book of wisdom.....
THE SWEET BREATHING OF PLANTS should be required reading for high school and early college classes covering the natural world. I'm a big fan of essays, books, etc. written by naturalists, and SBP is one of the best collections of essays I've come across. The editors, Linda Hogan and Brenda Peterson have included the works of leading scientists such as Rachel Carson and Jane Goodall, but they've gone beyond the tried and true and compiled a collection of essays by many other scientists, naturalists, veternarians, and very wise women including Susan Orlean who recently produced THE ORCHID THEIF.

The golden rule of nature seems to be cooperation, not competion. SCIENCE magazine once published an article entitled "Nature Red in Tooth and Claw" and while a good deal of consumption takes place in the natural world, symbiosis is far more important. Nature is bigger than the "survival of the fittest." Many plants and animals have symbiotic relationships. I think my favorite example is the dandelion which pulls calcium to the surface which allows other plants to thrive. In the plant world, having a dandelion for a neighbor can be a good thing good.

Native Americans in the Amazon riverine forests have not lost touch with nature. They understand that partially submerged trees feed the fish, and that they must build their gardens in the forest and away from the river banks which are exposed in the dry season. Contrast this attitude with that of the inhabitants of the Sierra who are felling trees in old growth forests as fast as they can. The regrowth is never the same. As one writer who used to work for the U.S. Forest service explains, the name of the game is to replace the living forest with a single tree. Monoculture seems to be more economically sound.

But is it economically sound to destroy the environment including the old growth forests? A growing body of evidence suggests this is not the case and much of it is contained in this book. A good deal of money (if that is all that matters) can be made from keeping the forests entact. Medicinal plants yet to be discovered live in the forest. Recreation including sight-seeing, fishing, and other "noninvasive" outdoor sports are an important source of income.

One of my favorite essays was written by Donna Kelleher, a veternarian who practices holistic medicine. In her essay entitled, "Living Medicine for Animals" Kelleher writes of her experiences with animals, including Chirpy, a pet bird who suffered from a claw infection of Staphylococcus bacteria. Kelleher treated Chirpy with a mixture she concocted consisting of Calendula and other herbs after conventional forms of treatment failed to help Chirpy. The little bird was healed and lived two more years untile he died of old age.

This book of essays should not be overlooked. If you think you've read it all you probably haven't. Although much of the information in this book can be found elsewhere (most of the authors have written extensively on their topics), this is a nice anthology of essays and a good place to start discovering all the natural world.

At last a feminine book on plants!
To be honest, I never really considered myself a "plantswoman," just a dabbler when it came to gardening. But then I read this amazing collection of stories (with a few poems) and realized how much plants infuence my life--from sourdough "mold" to the herbal supplements I use as medicine, to the woods outside the backdoor of my childhood home.

This is a very inspirational, accessible, and occasionally playful book. Above all else, it is excellently written. Thank you author Trish Maharam for that beautiful essay "Plantswoman." It taught me that woman do have their place in the green world no matter how unsophisticated they are in their plant knowledge, "it's the relationship that matters."

I highly recommend this book to women everywhere. ... Read more

Book Description

From the author of the award-winning Wild Orchids Across North America comes an informative, beautiful—and at times poetic—summary of one man's life as a birder. Journeying from the swamps of Alabama to the icy waters of Québec's Gaspé Peninsula, from the sky islands of Arizona to the birdfeeder in his New Hampshire backyard, Keenan describes the remarkable pageantry of North American birdlife. More than a mere journal or travelogue, however, Keenan's book offers the incisive observations of a passionate naturalist for whom no question pertaining to birds is insignificant or irrelevant. With more than 100 color illustrations, it is as much a treat for the eyes as it is for the mind. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Any who love birds will find it most accessible
Birding Across North America: A Naturalist's Observations could be called a memoir of birding years, but it also holds plenty of practical details unique to the field guide, and description common to the travelogue. It may be hard to properly categorize this title, but any who love birds will find it most accessible. Individual chapters cover migration, reflections on domestic cats and wild birds, and basic elements of birdwatching in the East. A fascinating, revealing guide. ... Read more

Book Description

It takes an irreverent, original writer and thinker like Bill McKibben to reveal to a new generation of readers how intensely practical Thoreau's vision in Walden is for those of us living our lives at the cusp of the new millennium.

Recent Thoreau scholarship has concentrated on Thoreau as
prescient forest ecologist; McKibben--author of The End of Nature and one of our best-read social and environmental critics--places him firmly back in his role as cultural and spiritual seer. McKibben identifies two questions asked by Thoreau as central to a late-twentieth-century reading of Walden: "How much is enough?" and "How do I know what I want?" Questions, McKibben reminds us, that must come to dominate the end of the twentieth century if we are to live well into the twenty-first.

McKibben's relevant and lively introduction and annotations to the 1854 edition make us see Walden as, among other things, a way to think about how we use our time, how we spend our money --and how to live essential lives. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Henry David Thoreau¿s Walden
When I read Thoreau's book Walden, I was amazed to learn that Thoreau's writing had such a great influence on such men as Mohandas Gandhi and Dr Martin Luther King. They read Thoreau's book on "civil disobedience," which advocated passive resistance (Peaceful protest). Another thing that surprised me was the way that Emerson and James Russell Lowell degraded Thoreau in their speeches at Henry's memorial service upon his death. During the memorial these two so-called friends of Thoreau called him a lazy braggart, a societies maverick & a drop out! Perhaps by societies standards he was a rebel but certainly not the worthless ne'er do well that these men painted him. Thoreau sets out to build a cabin on Walden Pond in order to be at one with nature. Thoreau was at heart a naturalist. He resisted paying a tax which he spent one night in the Concord jail for. This was to prove a point. He lived at Walden Pond for 2 years. Upon returning to society, he continued to write his books. He said that, "most men lead lives of quiet desperation." Henry David Thoreau was born July 12, 1817 & died May 6, 1862 of T.B. He built his cabin on March 1845 at Walden Pond at a cost of $28,12 & half cents. Thoreau started out life in the Transcendentalist movement but he later departed from this group. He was a genus that was unappreciated in his day.

A Beacon for Our Times
I took only one book (Walden) recently when I packed light for a trip 240 miles down the Haul Road along the Trans Alaska Pipeline to the farthest north truck stop at Coldfoot. We live in Barrow, Alaska and wanted to get away to a simpler life for a bit.
The tundra colors were spectacular and when we finally got to trees they were all gold and red. And there were caribou, dall sheep and musk ox.
Our room at Coldfoot was very basic --two small beds, a chair and small closet ---that was it. No data ports, no TV, radio or phone.
So we read a lot and I felt fortunate to have Thoreau with us.
Even when it rained heavily and we had to shorten our daily hike, Walden Pond was there to recharge me, hopefully help me get out from under in this heavily consumer society.
I love this man's insights, and am sorry he died at the early age of 45. This book is so current today. Please read it and share the ideas.
Oops, now I am communicating about "Walden" over the Internet on a fairly new computer. Well, maybe will have to read the book again. Enjoy friends!!
Earl

Good Author...Marginal Editor
I'm not super educated so take this for what it's worth. I read an excerpt of Walden in High School and ever since then I have wanted to read more. I finally got around to it and ordered this edited version. I like Thoreau's outlook even though his writing is a little much for me sometimes. McKibben does footnote some things to explain them. Most of those footnotes, though, are worthless. Some only refer to the other copyright information that Thoreau eludes to (or quotes). And worse even still is when McKibben puts in personal opinions and 'tree-hugger' facts to support what appears to be his agenda of conservation.

His editing footnotes really had a poor impact on the book. What would have been useful for a 'hick' from Wyoming would have been some more translations of French words and explanations of references and ideas. That would have made the story much easier to read/understand and enjoy.

Among the Greatest Works in the History of Literature
'Walden', or 'Life in the Woods', I would deem without hesitation as one of the pinnacle achievements in the history of literature. It possesses that inexplicable charm which walks gracefully hand-in-hand with Transcendentalism, and marks the height of that era's thought. But Thoreau is quite different from the likes of Emerson; as another reviewer poignantly commented, while primarily a master of the word Thoreau was equally capable as a thinker, and Walden is, quite simply, the perfect demonstration of that fact. It is brimming with careful observation, a certain care and compassion for life, and Transcendentalist thought which may not be so casually dismissed. Walden is a masterpiece, perhaps because Thoreau removed himself from the modern whimsy which pervaded society in his times, but most certainly because Thoreau himself was the epitome of the joyous, nature-loving spirit which is embodied by the entire movement of Transcendentalism.

Mediocre Classic
As far as classics go, this is merely mediocre. Still, it is one that many people should read. At least read "Economy" and "Conclusion" (which is not really a conclusion, but more of a continuation).

Some have criticized Thoreau of being hypocritical. It is easy to see why. He chastises gossip, but then produces gossip on the printed page so that many will read it well after the fact. To be true to himself, it should have stayed within himself. He could have provided examples for our benefit without being quite so particular.

Another example is condemning the "corporate" life, but then he proceeds to closely detail his manner of how he could make a living off the land -- not merely eating what he sowed, but that he sowed enough to make money doing it. Although he disliked local farmers giving him advice, he still disperses equivalent advice to his readers -- not taking a look in the mirror.

I had expected more and it started out on a good note. This was written when he was 30. Although that would not be considered mid-life now, it probably was then. It certainly was in his case (he died of TB at 45). He starts with many things that one may learn during mid-life, which was encouraging, but then slowly turned it mostly into gripe sessions and simple anti-establishment diatribes. Although I agree with many of his points, too much bitterness was showing through.

However, the baby should not be thrown out with the bath. There is much good and it has a generally positive outlook for one's life. He did this as an experiment and because he did not continue it, one must ask if the experiment was a failure. I think therein lies the greatest thought provoked by this book. ... Read more

Book Description

To those who know the charm of Aldo Leopold's writing in A Sand County Almanac, this collection from his journals and essays will be a new delight.The journal entries included here were written in camp during his many field trips--hunting, fishing, and exploring--and they indicate the source of ideas on land ethics found in his longer essays. They reflect as well two long canoe trips in Canada and a sojourn in Mexico, where Leopold hunted deer with bow and arrow.The essays presented here are culled from the more contemplative notes which were still in manuscript form at the time of Leopold's death in 1948, fighting a brush fire on a neighbor's farm.

Round River has been edited by Leopold's son, Luna, a geologist well-known in the field of conservation.It is also charmingly illustrated with line drawings by Charles W. Schwartz.All admirers of Leopold's work--indeed, all lovers of nature--will find this book richly rewarding. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Field Experience
If your only other exposure to Aldo Leopold is through his Sand County Almanac, this book will likely be a departure from your perception of him.

Aldo Leopold was a practicing conservationist; he sustainably extracted valuable things from the land, and gave back to the land in other ways to repay his debt.With the possible exception of wilderness protection, he didn't subscribe to the "hands-off" approach of environmentalism that is often advocated today.He used to say any experience that reminded us of our "dependency on the soil-plant-animal-man food chain" was a valuable one.

Through his journal entries, the reader will follow Aldo on hunting and fishing trips.His entries here are more direct and less philosophical than his Almanac entries.They are the sharp and admiring field observations of a man taking part in all that the land has to offer.It is campfire talk with the most influential conservationist of our time.

"Sand County Almanac" is a better combination of essays
I tend to throw all the naturalists/conservationists/environmentalists into one big group and think of them in similar terms.I temporarily forgot that Aldo Leopold came to the field with a hunting background.And even though he writes about being forever affected by the regretable dying fire in a she-wolf's eyes in _Sand County Almanac_, none of that feeling is conveyed here.There's a lot of hunting in this book.A lot.Part II is one camping trip after another, with a fair amount of innocent animals providing food along the way.If you're like me and would rather not witness the carnage, read just four or five of the selections:"A Man's Leisure Time," "Country," "Natural History," and all of Part III.You probably won't miss anything crucial by doing so, and you'll get the gist of Aldo Leopold's ideas about conservation and the land ethic.His philosophic musings make for worthwhile reading.It's too bad more of them don't appear here.

The Heart of Aldo Leopold
Leopold's essay, "Goose Music" is a classic must read. Too bad this chapter was left out of the anniversary edition of Leopold's Sand County Almanac. ... Read more

Book Description

Pulitzer Prize-winning W. S. Merwin is widely acknowledged as one of the finest living poets in English. Less well known is the power and range of his work in prose. For his first new prose collection in more than ten years, The Ends of the Earth, Merwin has gathered eight essays that show the breadth of his imagination and sympathy. A memoir of George Kirstein, publisher of The Nation, stands alongside one of Sydney Parkinson, explorer, naturalist and artist on Captain James Cook's Endeavour. A wonderful portrait of the French explorer of Hawai'i Jean-François Galaup de La Perouse is followed by a visit to the Neanderthal skeleton of Boffia Bonneval. There are treks through the Hawaiian forests, to the Holy Mountain of Athos, and with the butterflies in Mexico. For this magical and wondrous journey we have as our guide the excited and concise poet-naturalist, writing at the top of his form. ... Read more

Book Description

This case study examines emigrants from Namoluk Atoll in the Eastern Caroline Islands of Micronesia, in the Western Pacific. Most members of the Namoluk Community do not currently live there-60% of them have moved to Chuuk, Guam, or the mainland US (such as Honolulu, HI or Eureka, CA). The question is how (and why) those expatriates continue to think of themselves as a community of Namolukese, and behave accordingly, despite being a far-flung network of people, with inevitable erosions of shared language and culture. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Over the last half century, Peter Matthiessen has enriched American literature with a series of influential, highly regarded novels, many set in out-of-the-way places. Along with these novels, Matthiessen has written 16 books of nonfiction that explore issues in the conservation of animal species and human cultures--books such as Wildlife in America, an early contribution to the literature of environmental awareness, and In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, a defense of American Indian activism.

McKay Jenkins, a literary scholar and outdoors writer, chose widely among Matthiessen's nonfiction work for this anthology, which includes excerpts from well-known (The Snow Leopard) and forgotten (Sal Si Puedes) books alike. Jenkins's careful selections highlight Matthiessen's many strengths as a lyrical interpreter of nature who has joined a poetic appreciation for nature to a hard-edged, fact-based style of reportage. The reader of this book will visit episodes of life and death in highland New Guinea and arid South Dakota, learn about the astounding migration patterns of Eskimo curlews and the feeding habits of great white sharks, and be transported to mountain summits and jungle rivers. Those armchair journeys come thanks to an extraordinary writer whose work, Jenkins writes, "is marked above all by an unblinking gaze at the world's subtle beauty, and at its fragility when set against humankind's blundering self-interest." --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A wonderful collection by the modern Thoreau
This is a book any nature lover should pick up. I'd heard Matthiessen's name but sadly hadn't read any of his work until now, and what a great collection this is to start off with. Matthiessen writes about the world around us vividly, lyrically and eloquently, without getting TOO florid and new-agey as some nature writers tend to do. He travels the world in this collection spanning his career, from shark observations to Himalayan treks to African safaris to New England fishing villages, always honest and compulsively readable. His description of a pack of wild dogs hunting zebra in Africa ranks with the best passages about wildlife I've ever read, and will floor you. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Hey, I was there
As one of the rescuers in a chapter, I can tell you that Mr. Nunn tells the tale honestly and as it happened. I learned things I was unaware of or had forgotten from reading the account I was involved in. This book is an accurate and truthful recount of ordinary people caught up in extraoridnary events.

Respect for Mother Nature
Panic Rising is aptly named. I felt the sensation reading these fast-paced stories even though I was in a warm and comfy armchair with a hot cup of tea at hand.

I liked the idea that these adventures involved ordinary people, rescued and rescuers, who showed courage and fortitude to save lives. I connected especially with the stories set in my own backyard, like Heliotrope Ridge that I've ventured out on. It is so easy to imagine spontaneously sliding down an inviting snowy hill into an unseen crevace. Yikes!

I was struck by the inspiring synchronicity in some of the rescues.

I bought this book for my son who loves to hike in the woods and mountains. To be on the safe side maybe it should be accompanied by a personal locator beacon device.

interesting
not that great but this book is great. I was impressed by the breadth of coverage including the chapter about whale hunting. Just amazing!!!! ... Read more

Amazon.com

When a bird stops to glance sideways at us, it is inviting us into its world, if only for a moment. A bird's song can transport us into distant realms of the imagination; the sight of birds in flight can reconnect us to childhood, and to what matters in life.

Bird enthusiasts Larry Habegger and Amy Carlson have assembled an extended celebration of the restorative and mysterious powers of our winged fellow travelers, enlisting well-known and emerging writers alike. Among the standouts of their anthology is Sigurd Olson's homage to the loons of the wilderness lake country of northern Minnesota; Diane Ackerman's lyrical memoir of a sojourn among the endangered short-tailed albatrosses of East Asia, whose flight "is the wind's way of thinking about itself"; David James Duncan's provocative essay "Bird-Watching as a Blood Sport," which addresses the unfortunate power humans have over the animal world; Jake Page's excursion into the byways of the minds of humans and redbirds; and, best of all, Peter Matthiessen's journey to Siberia in search of the sandhill crane, "the oldest and largest of the earth's flying creatures."

Birdwatching enthusiasts and students of nature writing alike will find much of value in this lively, well-chosen collection.--Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Beyond Birds
I confess to being a bit ignorant when it comes to birds. It's not that I don't like them, you understand. It's just that I have never felt compelled to follow them into marshes, rainfrests or tidal plains, record their songs, carry bincoulars, notebooks and field guides to identify them or attend the meetings of our local birdwatchers' club. On the other hand, I am great friends with the cardinal couple that visits the tree outside my window each morning and the java sparrows that nest in the eaves of the house next door. I have also made the acquaintance of several parrots in the neighborhood, and we get along just fine. So when I was given this collection of true stories to read, I thought, what the heck. Why not?

Not only was I pleasantly surprised by the depth and range of the writing contained in this book, but I was touched by the effect birds have had on people's lives. The book is divided into 5 sections, each with its own unique set of stories. Some of my favorites include the following:

In Part I - Vivid Encounters, Diane Ackerman tells of how she broke her ribs climbing down vertical volcanic cliffs on a Japanese island to see the last of the short-tailed Albatrosses.

In Part II - Kindred Spirits, David Duncan confesses to having robbed a great horned owl's nest as a child.

In Part III - Odd Ducks, Marie Winn tells of a magical day spent gettting lost and discovering birds in Central Park.

In Part IV - Brushes with Divinity can be found the offerings of authors such as Peter Matthiessen's compelling description of his visit to the breeding grounds of the great cranes in Siberia.

Part V - Ascending Song consists of a single offering by Kenn Kauffman (author of Kingbird Highway) who tells of finding and listening to the song of a skylark out in the San Juan Islands.

There are many more of course, from writers as diverse as Alice Walker, Louise Erdrich and Bernd Heinrich. All in all this is a wonderful read that shouldn't be missed. ... Read more