Reviews (17)

Rich and Profound
To a citydweller who enjoys the modern conveniences, the idea of building a primitive shed in the woods and observing Nature for days on end was entirely unappealing. I felt I would have no sympathy with the Thoreauvian worldview.
An Entirely New Level
Henry David Thoreau did something truly magical in Walden. He brought boredom to an entirely new level I never knew existed. The amount of pointless and extraneous details that overflowed the pages of the book never ceased to amaze me.
Tied for second place among the annotated Waldens
WALDEN has rarely been out-of-print since its first publication in 1854. Copies come in all sizes, shapes and price ranges.Today's Thoreauvians have three ANNOTATED versions of WALDEN to choose from.Each one provides same-page explanatory notes that help the reader interpret the sometimes esoteric references in Henry David Thoreau's original text.The three books are "The Annotated Walden" (edited by Philip Van Doren Stern, 1970), "Walden: An Annotated Edition" (edited by Walter Harding, 1995), and "Walden: A Fully Annotated Edition" (edited by Jeffrey S. Cramer, 2004).Each one has at least one map of Concord and/or Walden Pond.Each one has its strengths and weaknesses. Each one has appeal for a devoted audience.
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Subjects:  1. 1817-1862    2. 19th century    3. American - General    4. Authors, American    5. Biography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Essays    8. Homes and haunts    9. Literature - Classics / Criticism    10. Massachusetts    11. Natural History    12. Thoreau, Henry David,    13. Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862    14. Walden Woods    15. Wilderness areas    16. English    17. Literary studies: 19th century    18. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    19. Nature / General    20. Thoreau, Henry David    21. USA   

Reviews (8)

At Last I Get It
This book is an exploration into what's right and what's wrong with the planet and our relationship with it.It was written as a sequel to an earlier book by McKibben, "The End of Nature."In this book, McKibben starts by identifying some areas where there is hope for improvement in the environment in the future.The book is arranged in four parts.In the first part, McKibben considers examples of environmental recovery in his own region.He then turns to two parts of the world with very different local solutions to global problems.The first of these is Curataiba, Brazil, a city made famously livable by some very forward-thinking city planners.He then turns to Kerala, India, noting that a relatively high quality of life can be achieved with extremely limited resources, provided one addresses the key structural problems of society first.In the last section of the book, he reflects on his observations from the three regions.
Up from poverty
Bill McKibben offers a more hopeful set of scenarios in this book, pointing to cities like Curitiba and regions like Kerala as examples of how communities can achieve sustainability and raise standards of living without big money projects.Closer to home, McKibben shows how forests are being regenerated in the Northeast allowing wolves, moose and other wild species to reinhabit this region.But, something seemed to be missing in this volume.It lacked the focus of The End of Nature and didn't seem to go very far beyond surface observations.Nonetheless, I am thankful to McKibben for drawing attention to Curitiba and Kerala, showing that in many ways the so-called Third World has achieved greater sustainability than many parts of the so-called First World, leading him to make the salient observation that maybe we should re-examine our priorities here in the United States.

The End of Nature's Sequel
Hope, Human and Wild is a kind of sequel to The End of Nature in which Bill McKibben highlights some positive, hopeful examples of sustainable human activity. He quotes Al Gore as saying, essentially, that our environmental problems now exceed our political ability to solve them. This is a deeply disturbing statement, so McKibben profiles a pair of cities in Brazil and India where sustainability and quality of life movements have taken hold and are actually succeeding. The implications are obvious: if two Third World cities can pull this off despite long odds, both political and environmental, then why can't we?
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Subjects:  1. Ecology    2. Effect of human beings on    3. Environmental Conservation & Protection    4. Environmental Science    5. Environmental Studies    6. Environmental degradation    7. Environmental health    8. Essays    9. Human Ecology    10. Nature    11. Nature/Ecology   

Reviews (13)

Spilling the Beans
While attending Western Washington University I had the great good fortune to take a poetry class from Annie Dillard. My own poetry was abysmal and she gave me this advice, "writing is like prayer; you sit and listen for the still small voice." She had won the Pulitzer prize for Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and was in the process of writing Holy the Firm while at Fairhaven College at Western. She read us the bits about the moth and the flame. This is her slenderest book, but the one in which she most takes her own advice. It's prose that reads like poetry.
Oh, that all writers could write like this.
Prose poetry -- a literary form that seems to be missing from the experience of many readers.It is the ambrosia of forms and I know of no one better to serve it than Annie Dillard.
A real gem.
I was attracted initially to this book based on Dillard's other works and the idea that she holed herself up in the Puget Sound area for a couple of years to think things through. Wow. Maybe more of us should stop and watch and think and write for a couple years. There is an almost imperceptible inner longing that runs throughout this book. I imagine Dillard working very hard over every word and that effort comes through to the reader in the depth of each sentence. She's not always accessible and I know people who just can't get through her books. I don't argue - she's rarely breezy and always deep but I always find her writing to be satisfying and challenging. A rare gem. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Fiction    3. General    4. Meditations    5. Nature    6. Literary Criticism & Collections / General    7. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    8. Other prose: from c 1900 -   

Editorial Review

One of the most valuable tools for the advancement of geological science has in fact been the humble road cut. United States Interstate 80 crosses the entire North American continent, in the process exposing hundreds of millions of years of geological history. In Read more

Reviews (15)

Brilliant organizational idea, great information
The idea of examining American geology a slice at a time by following I-80 from east to west was brilliant.
Basin and Range - Get this book!
I bought the book Basin and Range recently.This is being passed around the household now and is being fought over.Everyone says its a really good book.

Very interesting for lay people interested in geology
The parralells the author draws between the eastern seaboard during the breakup of North America from Europe to the Great Basin and what is going on there was fascinating to me.McPhee helps you understand the processes geologists go through in a way that is interesting to the lay person.
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Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Geology    3. Nature    4. Nature/Ecology    5. The West (U.S.)    6. West (U.S.)   

Editorial Review

Beyond croaking, "Nevermore," what exactly do ravens do all day? Bernd Heinrich, biology professor at the University of Vermont and author of Read more

Reviews (26)

Mind of the Raven
Very informative yet not too scientific.Contains many facts not commonly known about these intelligent birds.This book could change your mind about them.

The ultimate book of raven behavior
I knew the raven had many interesting feature to them before I opened this book but after reading "mind of the raven" I will say I was amazed of both the research Bernd Heinrich has done and of this remarkable bird. Heinrich are presenting his findings about the ravens where he is taking the subject (the raven) seriously and simultaneously managed to make it attractive for people that have not specialize in beaks and feathers.

3 - 2 - 1 ....
I agree with most reviewers that this book fascinates the reader with interesting science and anecdotes about ravens.There are countless facts and amusing information provided about the intelligence, behavior and antics of both wild and tame ravens.One of the more humorous sections was on vocal communication, particulary mimicking. Heinrich provides descriptions of captive ravens making perfect renditions of radio static, toilets flushing and a motorcycle being revved up.There was also a scientist in a national park who distictly heard several times: "Three, two, one, bcccchhhh", sounding as if coming from a speaker. This was acually a raven who was sufficiently impressed with the park rangers conducting avalanche control to repeat the count-down and sound of the explosion.Hilarious...
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Subjects:  1. Birds & Birdwatching - General    2. Essays    3. General    4. Life Sciences - Zoology - General    5. Nature    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Birds & birdwatching    8. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching   

Reviews (3)

John Muir: Outdoorsman, Conservationist, and Literate Genius
"American forests! the glory of the world!" inspirational in every way
A great writer writing about great things - you'll feel like you're in the middle of the Sierra yourself. Endlessly enjoyable.

Lovers of Muir, find your home in this volume!
In a world brimming with wonderful volumes of the work of John Muir, here is the one edition in which you may find virtually everything you seek. To find it in such a handsome, handy, easy to negotiate book makes this amust for all lovers of Muir's writing. Eight inches tall by six wideand two inches thick, it is a durable and willing partner for excursionsthrough the wilderness. Created for long life among library shelves andscholarly studies, this sleek little friend stows away quite comfortably inbackpack or oversized coat pocket.Those who don't know Mr. Muir willmeet the great lover of wildness (and perhaps history's most influentialadvocate of preservation) presented in a lovingly researched volume whichincludes informative notes on the evolution of Muir's field journal entriesinto published pieces, a chronology of his life and literary career, andall of the major writings for which he is known. A generous selectionof his published essays and magazine articles reveal many previouslyunsuspected jewels of poetic prose. As a lifetime devotee of the worksof Shakespeare, the Bible, and the immortal Scottish bard Robert Burns,Muir could recite extensive passages from all.Likewise, his writingbreezes through the imagery and lessons drawn from these potent sources.Coffee table books brimming with Ansel Adams photography, biographies ofMuir, and collections of his correspondence are all aspects of anycomprehensive Muir collection. The words themselves, however, simpleand elegantly bound, are where the journey might well begin. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1838-1914    2. Biography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Conservationists    5. Essays    6. Literary    7. Muir, John,    8. Natural History    9. Naturalists    10. Nature    11. United States    12. Muir, John    13. Nature / Essays   

Reviews (2)

Recommend reading for intelligent animal lovers
I picked this book up in the gift shop of the San Diego Zoo, one of the few of substance they had. Even for me, a casual, but intelligent zoo visitor, this was worth $30.00. There is much more to animal captivity thanI realized. Every zoo has two sides: the happy, visitor side, and thebusiness/breeding side. Everyone knows about the happy side of a zoo. Thishelps lift the curtain on the other side of animal management and makes meeven more appreciative of the huge expense and efforts of countlessthousands of dedicated people who toil in the background. Articles onanesthesia of large animals, ethics of zoos, breeding, all are informative,basic information that the informed animal lover should know about.Although this is written for other zoo professionals, I recommend it to theaverageAmazon browser who wants to dig a little deeper into life and itsmysteries. Because these are articles from technical journals, they can beread in any order and used as a reference book. There is an excellentbibliography after each chapter, although for the layman it is doubtful ifthey would be read. At any rate, I'm glad I bought this book.

Updates Crandall's "Management of Wild Mammals in Captivity"
This long awaited volume updates Crandall's long standing and nowout-of-print classic "Management of Wild Mammals in Captivity."Contains a total of 48 separate contributions from 76 different authorscovering a huge variety of topics including: Basic Husbandry; Feeding andNutrition of Herbivores, Carnivores, and Omnivores; Exhibition Techniques;Behavior; Reproduction; and more. An essential reference for anyonemaintaining mammals in captivity. Illustrated with some b/w photos &drawings, numerous graphs and tables, and five appendices. This book comesin a paperback as well as a hardcover edition. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animal Rights    2. Animals    3. Captive mammals    4. Design and construction    5. Essays    6. General    7. Housing    8. Nature/Ecology    9. Pets    10. Domestic animals & pets    11. Pets / General   

Editorial Review

In a literal overview of the world, Read more

Reviews (26)

The Best Coffee Table Book
This is the best coffee table book I have seen.It captures the interest of all ages and intelects.But there is a message too, we must take care of our planet. !!!

Amazing experience
The images and stories that go with them are compelling and informative about the status of this world we live in. They are beautiful and give a powerful perspective on the Earth from a view we can not see as we walk on the ground.Amazing experience to share. I have now given it as gifts to over 10 clients and friends.

Outstanding global view
These Earth from Above books are truly an outstanding and breath taking view of the the world. They are educational and beautiful all at the same time. They are great coffee table books as well as great resources to show your children amazing natural and man made sites from all over the globe. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Aerial photography    2. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    3. Essays    4. Human geography    5. Photo Techniques    6. Photoessays & Documentaries    7. Photography    8. Photography Of Specific Subjects    9. Subjects & Themes - Aerial    10. Subjects & Themes - Landscapes    11. Photography / General    12. Photography / Individual Photographer   

Reviews (7)

Absolutely Berry's best essays...
I loved this book and especially the essay on writers and region. A true advocate for the community and individual people, the land and country. Interesting stuff and really fascinating to read. I have to admit, Berry's older essays are much better than his newer stuff. If one is looking for other good Berry essays, Art of the Commonplace is a great source of some of Berry's best stuff.
Remember the partridge
Certainly Wendell Berry is a writer who helps us decipher our wings from our weights.We Americans need that as our things so weigh us down that we forget to try our wings.In quoting Blake, "No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings,"he reminds us of the myth of Daedalus and Icarus.Daedalus the craftsman could use his craft to fashion waxen wings to help his son escape murderous pursuit but could not protect Icarus from the consequences of his own poor judgement.Daedalus himself was guilty of poor judgement when he pushed from a high tower his nephew whose invention surpassed his own.Fortunately a goddess intervened and before impact the nephew was transformed into an humble creature, the low-flying, bush-roosting partridge.
A good argument for a return to our roots
Berry is a highly-respected environmental writer who advocates a move back to smaller communities more closely tied to the land. This is a collection of his essays. They are good, although I enjoyed his book Sex, Economy, Freedom, & Community better because it was more of a cohesive unit. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American - General    2. Literature - Classics / Criticism   

Editorial Review

Born in 1915, the mountaineer and outdoorsman David Brower has arguably been the single most influential American environmentalist in the last half of the 20th century; even his erstwhile foes at the Department of the Interior grudgingly credit him with having nearly single-handedly halted the construction of a dam in the heart of the Grand Canyon, and he has converted thousands, even millions, of his compatriots to the preservationist cause through his work with the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, and other organizations.Read more

Reviews (30)

identity and idealism
This is not a hagiography, and readers who think McPhee is portraying John Brower as a hero are not reading deeply enough.McPhee presents Brower as a human with faults.But this too is not his purpose.All ideals need champions, and Brower was the environmental champion of the 1970s.That he was a hypocrite to his own cause bears little relevance to his symbolic importance.McPhee carefully establishes Brower's identity such that the reflective reader can draw parallels to their own self-conception and ideas of perfection.Oh, and it's readable too.

hello
Part one is very informative. It talks alot about the characters, their personalities, and their backgrounds. We didn't like the fact taht
A balanced, highly readable book on environmental debates
What a wonderful book!McPhee gives us both sides of the environmental debate by letting the protagonists discuss the issues.
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Subjects:  1. Conservation of natural resour    2. Conservation of natural resources    3. Development - Sustainable Development    4. Essays    5. Natural resources    6. Nature    7. Nature/Ecology    8. U.S    9. Wilderness areas   

Reviews (3)

Wolves are beautiful creatures; this is a beautiful book.
This book is my second literary experience with Helen Thayer and her dog Charlie following her 2002 book "Polar Dream," in which the pair join together as Ms. Thayer became the first woman (and oldest person at 50) to walk and ski solo (not counting Charlie) to the Magnetic North Pole. In this adventure her husband Bill joins the pair as they spend a year living with wolves in the wild above the Arctic Circle.It's easy to see why the National Geographic Society/National Public Radio has named Ms. Thayer one of the great explorers of the 20th Century.Her stamina and perseverance are phenomenal.The trio infiltrates the Richardson Mountains in Canada's Yukon Territory in search of the greatest villains in all of children's literature.After struggling through most difficult terrains, they come upon a family of wolves and spend months living in a tent within the animals' sight studying the social interplay of these beasts.Completing this phase of their adventure, they sadly leave this family and trek further north into the shifting and dangerous ice of Beaufort Sea to discover the wintertime interplay between wolves and polar bears, considered by many to be the most dangerous of all wild animals.After this near-death adventure, they ski back to the Mackenzie Delta and set up housekeeping next to another group of wolves. The hardships and danger the three faces on a daily basis are amazing to contemplate.The payoff from this book is two-fold.First, the scientific data discovered for the first time.But maybe more importantly is the realization that these creatures are truly magnificent and caring individuals, and anyone who reads this book with an open mind will forever despise hunters who slaughter entire packs by shooting them from low flying airplanes.Ms. Thayer makes it crystal clear that wolves deserve to be part of the world community.There is a bit of repetition in the book.I only need to be told once that the northern lights are called aurora borealis or that animals burrow under the snow were it is a few degrees warmer than above.But that's nit picking.There is also repetition in the telling of their studies, but that captures the flavor of their scientific existence, so is acceptable.To enhance this telling, dozens of pictures taken during this adventure are sprinkled throughout.All outdoorsmen, naturalists, and animal lovers will treasure this book.

Remarkable----Page Turner
A true story of two people, their wolf-dog and their amazing adventures with wild wolves in Canada's far north tundra and frozen ocean. A Fascinating Read
I collect books about wolves. This book is different with a new perspective both fascinating and informative.The author, explorer Helen Thayer,her explorer husband, and their Inuit dog Charlie of the best selling book, "Polar Dream" fame,(the author's book about her first ever by a woman to walk alone to the magnetic North Pole)lived a year with wild wolves above the Arctic Circle summer and winter. The author tells us "it would have been impossible without Charlie.He was the bridge we needed to cross the gap that allowed us to live alongside wolves and share their lives." Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Dogs    4. Essays    5. Individual Species Of Mammals    6. Mammals    7. Naturalists, Gardeners, Environmentalists    8. Nature    9. Nature/Ecology    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Wildlife    12. Nature / Animals   

Editorial Review

Published in 1949, shortly after the author's death, Read more

Reviews (52)

A must read
A beautifully written account of Aldo Leopold's awakening to an environmental consciousness.

Galaxy (Oxford) edition is worth the extra money
This review does not relate directly to the information in the book which has been discussed in detail in many excellent reviews.This book is truly for the person who loves the outdoors and is in itself 5 stars
a book for meditation. . .
I had to read a science book for English class, and I wasn't the most thrilled. Reading the first parts of A Sand County Almanac, I wasn't sure if I was going to finish reading it, because I found his intense love for nature a bit extreme; however, as I continued reading, I found it very thought-provoking -- comparable to Thoreau -- and made me appreciate nature and its wonder. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    2. Essays    3. Natural Resources    4. Natural history    5. Nature    6. Nature conservation    7. Nature/Ecology    8. Outdoor books    9. United States    10. Nature / Natural Resources   

Editorial Review

The mid-20th-century environmental crisis that led to important protective legislation in the 1970s, is, to poet/farmer Wendell Berry's mind, also a crisis of character, agriculture, and culture. Because Americans are divorced from the land, they mistreat it; because they are divorced from each other, they mistreat those around them. Berry, writing in a prophetic mode, argues that if Americans are to heal the environmental wounds their land has suffered, they will also need to create more meaningful work, sustain happier and healthier lives, and return to what conservatives call "family values." Read more

Reviews (15)

prophetic
So many things talked about in this book have happened. There's things he talks of that seem unbelievable...but years ago he said there would be dairy farms here and beef farms there and the diverse farms would give way to specialization. That has happened. There's a good many points in this book that presents his views - and that of many Americans - straight up. Not everyone will agree. There are companies who say it's safe to use their chemical or it's only the other guy who's careless. Country and farms are disappearing today at a rate that most don't even realize. When it's all paved over or subdivided...reread this book.

Discovering a buried treasure
I grew up in Clarksville, TN, on the border with Guthrie, KY.Up the road not too far is Port Royal, KY, where one of the greatest living Americans still resides.He has lived there as long as I have been alive, and I am now over 30, but I had never heard of Wendell Berry until I had passed my thirtieth year.Were it not for the incomparable radio program "Unwelcome Guests", I may never have heard of him.It is a testament to the failure of our economy, education system, and culture, and it is why no thinking American doubts we are nearing a tragic and historic collapse; we are sliding fast down a snow-packed slope like a child on a greased sled.Our only short-term destiny is to smack into a tree.
As Usual, Wonderful Writing of Real Truth
Wendell Berry's writings have to be the most to-the-point, profound and real about life in rural America, how it used to be, how it might still be, but how often it is not.'The Unsettling of America' encapsulates this all with a strong and real writing style and which tells the truth about our current way of living.
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Subjects:  1. Agricultural Economics    2. Agricultural History    3. Agriculture    4. Agriculture - General    5. Economic aspects    6. Essays    7. Literature - Classics / Criticism    8. Social aspects    9. Sociology    10. Sociology - General    11. Technology    12. United States    13. Agriculture & related industries    14. Cultural studies    15. Literary Criticism & Collections / General    16. USA   

Editorial Review

The literature of bird watching is full of memoirs set in out-of-the-way, rural locales, but few are set in the heart of big cities such as New York, where Read more

Reviews (20)

Repeated Enjoyment
Every year goes by and this simple tale becomes more treasured and heartwarming.I have given dozens of copies of this book to friends, birders and non interested alike.Everyone is grateful for the inspiration that this unusual piece of nature brings.
Purchased this book in protest against Pale Male's eviction
As a New Yorker, I hadn't really paid much attention to Pale Male before this unfortunate state of affairs. There was somethingshockingly callous and arrogant in the way the board of 927 Fifth Avenue destroyed this magnificent bird's home. I hope the hawks will eventually get their nest back.
Enchanting
As I write this at the very end of 2004, a red-tailed hawk drama has hit the press: The nest of a minor celebrity, Pale Male, the hero of the non-fictional "Red Tails in Love," had his nest summarily and probably illegally removed from the tony 5th Avenue address where he has nested for many a year.
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Subjects:  1. Bird watching    2. Birds & Birdwatching - General    3. Essays    4. Individual Species Of Birds    5. Nature    6. Nature / Field Guide Books    7. Nature/Ecology    8. New York    9. New York (State)    10. Red-tailed hawk    11. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching   

Reviews (2)

In Praise of good writing
I thank Wray for his wonderful book; for good practical chukar advice, and the words that helped draw me back to hunting.

Informative and enjoyable
I had already done quite a bit of chukar hunting when I first encountered this book, but I still learned a great deal from it, and was enormously entertained in the process.I can't believe I'm the first person to review this book.It's well worth the purchase price. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Hunting - Bird Hunting    2. Hunting - General    3. Sports    4. Sports & Recreation   

Reviews (8)

Tons of pictures.
This book is full of excellent pictures - woodland landscapes and closeups of individual woodland appropriate plants.The majority of the book has at least one picture on each page = lots of inspiration sources!Chapter Five (pgs 194 to 352) contains info on individual plants listed alphabetically by Latin name.The info contains the author's first hand observations about the plant's likes and dislikes, growth habit and rate and various other tidbits to make sure you place the plant where it will grow the best.

I Could Read It Again and Again!
I actually bought this book for my landscape gardener because I thought it was one of the most beautiful and well-written books on gardening and our natural environment that I have ever read.Others feel that way, too, because the new copy arrived with an award sticker on the front! I would give it 10 stars.

beautiful book
This book has a wealth of information and beautiful photographs for inspiration. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Garden Design  &