Outside, where the wind is blowing, we see the world on nature's
terms, and we see that it is severely endangered. Turning inward,
we seek a sense of connection with nature that could perhaps help
us through the current environmental crisis. In this book, some of
the most observant Americans of our day explore these outer and
inner worlds in powerful pieces that show the vitality and range of
contemporary nature writing. John Hay's "A Faire Bay," an original
collection of thoughts on the pollution of the Chesapeake, opens
the book, and Edward Hoagland's "A Year as It Turns," a group of
short seasonal pieces that originally appeared as editorials in the
New York Times, serves as the conclusion. Some of the other authors
represented here include Rick Bass, Marcia Bonta, Charles Bowden,
Jean Craighead George, Barry Lopez, Gary Snyder, and Terry Tempest
Williams. Whether swimming with dolphins in the Florida Keys or
stalking deer with the mountain lions, these authors experience and
reflect on the terms nature sets and the terms we set for nature.
With them, we discover the importance of the jack pine in the
Boundary Waters, uncover the hidden beauty of Sonoran cacti,
explore the very alive world of a Pennsylvania winter, visit the
startling silences of the Canadian River Gorge in the Southwest,
experience the breathtaking world of life on arctic ice, and view
Venus at daybreak from the Grand Canyon. These are stories of
place, and of family and friends, both human and nonhuman. They are
tales of understanding and coming to terms with the world around
us. THOMAS J. LYON, of Carlsbad, California, edited the journal
Western American Literature for over twenty years. He taught at
Utah State University and has received awards from the Utah
Wilderness Association and Bridgerland Audubon Society. PETER STINE
is the author of Survival, a collection of literary essays. He was
the editor-in-chief of Witness from 1987 to 2008 and during that
time received ten editorial grants from the National Endowment for
the Arts. What Readers Are Saying: "While aiming for a wider
audience, this collection attempts to bridge the gap from modern
suburban and urban life to the wild. Drawing equally from
lesser-known writers and from those who are already established, .
. . the editors strive, through the eyes of the essayists, to make
the reader see' the wild again. On the whole, they succeed. . . .
it then compares it to a similar book and says it's the better buy
because it's more comprehensive and reprints complete essays rather
than excerpts]"--Library Journal " . . . an impassioned, personal,
poetic and sometimes political cry from the heart, and from the
heartland."--Salt Lake Tribune "Taken together, these essays are
hallmarks of thoughtful, careful writing. They represent nearly
every region in the country, indicting chemical pollution in
Pennsylvania, the destruction of rivers in Texas, the massacre of
cougars in New Mexico. It's just the sort of book to dip into
before sitting down to write an angry letter to the folks in
charge."--Outside Magazine "Thomas J. Lyon . . . has assembled some
of the best contemporary nature writers in his most recent book, On
Nature's Terms. . . . One of the most impressive essays in the
collection is "The Afterlife," by Rick Bass . . . Bass has once
again proven himself to be a master of the short essay-nature
writing simply does not get any better than "The Afterlife." . . .
This is a book to buy and treasure, loan to friends and family, and
take on long trips to fill the hours."--Bloomsbury Review "There is
something in this collection to delight and disturb
everyone."--Okiotak (Anchorage Audubon newsletter)
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