WORDS FOR THE WILD: The Sierra Club Trailside Reader

by Ann--Ed. Ronald ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 2, 1987

Designed for campfire reading, this latest ""Sierra Club Totebook"" presents selections from 150 years of American nature writing. An ill-conceived introduction by editor Ronald that tells more about herself (""I guess I've always been a compulsive reader. . ."" etc.) than the material at hand precedes the extracts. These range from reflection to humor, from the adventurous to the dramatic, with all emphasizing humanity's interaction with nature. Ronald arranges her choices chronologically, into three categories--19th-century transcendentalists; other 19th-century nature writers; nature writers of this century--and ushers in each category and selection with an incisive little foreword, pleasant contrasts to her soft-centered opener. Most of the selections are scooped up from books, a few from essays (the extract from Emerson's ""Nature"" essay, for instance). None was originally intended as a self-contained unit, but due to Ronald's fine editing, each works as such. Most of the 22 writers included are represented by one selection, a few by two, and only two relative unknowns--Mary Austin and Aldo Leopold--by three. Although for her section on 19th-century transcendentalists Ronald manages to come up with only Emerson and Thoreau--rather obvious, if sound, choices--later on she does present work by a number of lesser-knowns. In addition to the pieces by Austin and Leopold, there are, for example, a spunky 1879 report by adventuress Isabella Bird on her ascent of Colorado's Long's Peak; a pantheistic interpretation of the desert Southwest from Joseph Wood Krutch; and Wilderness Society organizer Harvey Broome's tense account of a search for a woman lost in an Idahoan wilderness. Sandwiched in between these finds are excellent selections from more illustrious figures, including John Muir, Loren Eiseley, Wallace Stegner, Annie Dillard, and Barry Lopez. Hearty, well-designed fare; a treat for the bibliophilic backpacker.

Pub Date: April 2, 1987

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Sierra Club--dist. by Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1987

Categories: NONFICTION