I love a well-written, meandering, insightful and surprising literary essay as a window into a curious mind turning over intricate details of an examiI love a well-written, meandering, insightful and surprising literary essay as a window into a curious mind turning over intricate details of an examined life on multiple levels. This is not a book to plow through but to savor, and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey. As Ferris explains in her introduction, “...the point is not to make a point but to gather and concentrate one’s attention until the thing blooms in the mind… .” These meditations gathered and bloomed in me, and keep on blooming after having finished the book.
Ferris is a deep thinker and skillful writer who helped me see differently, feel differently, and wonder differently for a time, all without leaving my armchair. This book is a gift. ...more
In Dear Park Ranger I discovered a fellow wanderer, wonderer, and kindred spirit who asks many of the same questions I’ve explored in my own writing—qIn Dear Park Ranger I discovered a fellow wanderer, wonderer, and kindred spirit who asks many of the same questions I’ve explored in my own writing—questions of belonging, of what makes a home, of living intentionally, and of deep and complicated human relationships with the natural world and each other. As with the best essay collections, this feels like a window directly into the workings of another mind, as Muse makes sense of key experiences, explores some of his deepest traumas and greatest joys, and shares his truths with a quiet strength it’s an honor to witness. Skillfully composed without being distractingly literary, the essays flow with a subtle grace that make them a perfect and grounding read after a hectic day, when I’m ready to get out of my own head and connect with another curious, questioning, striving, and restless human making sense of his world. “This myth making, this restlessness, this primordial itch lies inside you, and you don't know if it awakens with a book, a felled suburban woods, or your first hard look in the mirror as part of a broken family, and you can only scratch that itch—itchy as all get-out—on the go.”...more
Though I have, like Jessica Gigot, considered myself increasingly land-literate as I’ve wandered and immersed in various Pacific Northwest Landscapes,Though I have, like Jessica Gigot, considered myself increasingly land-literate as I’ve wandered and immersed in various Pacific Northwest Landscapes, the sort of horticultural and agricultural literacy explored in this beautiful collection opened my eyes and my heart to a different way of connection with the more-than-human world. With the evocative language of a seasoned poet and the insight of a contemplative memoirist, Gigot invites us along on her circuitous journey to stewarding her own little bit of land. “The earth needs more companions, especially those who are creative and willing to stay,” she says, and this book is a testament to that reverent devotion....more
I loved this book, and have given it a forever home among my favorite essay collections. I think the publisher and/or marketing department did this boI loved this book, and have given it a forever home among my favorite essay collections. I think the publisher and/or marketing department did this book a disservice by making it sound more like a self-help book or a more general philosophical, psychological nonfiction book, when in actuality it's a beautifully and skillfully written personal essay collection. Those looking for the former seem to be the bulk of the negative reviews, and many of those who enjoy the latter are likely overlooking the book entirely. I'm so glad I managed to discover this introspective, contemplative, wondering, meandering, insightful collection, and hope it finds the right others who will love it as I did. ...more
As Canton is drawn to his oaks, I was drawn to this book, and savored regular pilgrimages to sit with a kindred spirit in communion with individual trAs Canton is drawn to his oaks, I was drawn to this book, and savored regular pilgrimages to sit with a kindred spirit in communion with individual trees. Not for any formal teaching or telling as much as just being there with them in embodied stillness – human and sylvan. For the comfort, solace, and deep belonging in the liminal space of soul-level nature connection. For the resonant perspectives that only come with some distancing from human culture and immersion in the more-than-human-world. For the insights and validation that got me into personal nature writing myself. “'It was a grounding process, … You see more and more. Then you forget yourself. Then you find out who you are.’” For that. For all the same reasons I return, again and again, to my redcedars, and then attempt to put words to all that transpired. Which is nothing. And everything....more
Ecologically-informed and sensory rich nature writing, introspective memoir, and cutting-edge environmental science combine to make this Pacific NorthEcologically-informed and sensory rich nature writing, introspective memoir, and cutting-edge environmental science combine to make this Pacific Northwest-based essay collection an engaging, resonant, and deeply satisfying read. I learned much about the landscapes of my chosen home without feeling like I was being taught, and was able to absorb and reflect on the climate science and calls to action without feeling preached to or guilt-tripped. Most enjoyable to me, though, was simply McConnell’s honest, down-to-earth, and intricately layered prose, which invited me in and made me want to stay, to wander wherever she might lead, to find out what might be around the next bend. ...more
This is the second book of nature writing I've enjoyed by this author. It's the sort, for me, that takes a little work—to slow down, calm down, breathThis is the second book of nature writing I've enjoyed by this author. It's the sort, for me, that takes a little work—to slow down, calm down, breathe more deeply—before I am able to sink in to this slow, meandering, lyrical, musing style, but I'm always so glad I did. It's a baseline state that frees me for my own sensory immersion and contemplative wonderings beyond the rigid facts and authoritative prescriptions of science or environmental writing. "It was more than the sight of the bear I was after. Something else: to walk with this longing that presses like whittled bone against my ribs, a vision that pulses just under my skin, pirouettes on the pointed tips of emerging skunk cabbage, sinks back into muck." Like the swamps and bogs she explores, this diffuse, fluid collection won't be for everyone, but it was most definitely for me....more
I have thoroughly enjoyed Brooke Williams' company through these pages, first, for his external explorations—the walks—such that I felt I too got to sI have thoroughly enjoyed Brooke Williams' company through these pages, first, for his external explorations—the walks—such that I felt I too got to spend quality time alone with the desert, or perhaps as a wood rat drawing close to his fire, gathering treasures along the way. And second, for Williams' introspective wanders—the rants—many of which were so familiar as to have come from my own mind, whether personal life contemplation or more big picture ruminating over these recent shocking, painful, and deeply damaging times in this country.
This is my favorite sort of nature writing, involving internal as much as external explorations, rich with questioning, humility, dreaming, thinking big thoughts, thinking small thoughts, and expressing the deep satisfaction of just being in the wilds, and all that can do not just to heal and enrich our own lives, but to help us want to make the world a better place for all living beings. This book is for all the seekers, hermits, pilgrims, and dreamers who live daily with the contradictions of what it means to live on this continent in these times. ...more
This is so much more than just a memoir of one woman’s experience with multiple mental health diagnoses. Stacy Pershall is a talented writer, skillfulThis is so much more than just a memoir of one woman’s experience with multiple mental health diagnoses. Stacy Pershall is a talented writer, skillfully telling her stories and expressing her reality at some of her lowest points, allowing a window into her unique experience that will not only resonate with others experiencing mental illness, but help those who may never have struggled with these demons get a sense of what it might be like. Pershall successfully walks the line in traumatic memoir of speaking her truths unapologetically but without bitterness or self-pity, such that a reader is invited in without feeling the need to bear her burdens. As intense as her story is—perhaps shocking to some but entirely relatable and validating to others—this is ultimately a memoir of hope. We need more books like this....more
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