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$13.00
81. The Vanishing Coast
$13.75
82. The Seaside Reader
83. Creaturely and Other Essays
$12.50
84. Coming Out Of The Woods: The Solitary
 
85. ... The ecology of the Orthoptera
$5.10
86. The Boilerplate Rhino: Nature
 
$9.95
87. Zoology.(Author abstract): An
 
$45.00
88. Interactions of Pacific Tuna Fisheries:
$33.98
89. The Lazy Environmentalist: 365
 
90. Guide to the Care of Urban Wildlife
$9.98
91. The Practice of the Wild: Essays
 
92. Populations in a fluctuating environment:
93. Rock And Mineral Collecting In
$29.97
94. Three Tales (World's Classics)
 
95. Studies on the biology and ecology
$8.24
96. The Paradise of Bombs
 
97. Framework for Management for Natural
 
98. Disaster Research Center and Its
 
99. Disaster Recovery Comments on
$79.69
100. World in Motion: The Globalization

81. The Vanishing Coast
by Elizabeth Leland
 Hardcover: 141 Pages (1992-06)
list price: US$21.95 -- used & new: US$13.00
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 0895870924
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars
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Customer Reviews (1)

5-0 out of 5 stars A wonderful Kuralt-style exploration of the Carolina Coast
This is fine book, written in beautiful, lucid prose, full of stunning B&W photographs. Featured are off-the-beaten-path places like the teeny-tiny post office in Salvo on the Outer Banks and the grave of thefamous, eccentric Fort Fisher hermit who once mesmerized visitors to hishome in a WW II bunker near Carolina beach. The author, a native ofCharleston and a veteran columnist for the Charlotte Observer, hasinterviewed natives of the last unchanged and rapidly changing places alongthe Carolina coast. Most of the islands and coastal towns (from Hilton Headto small Outer Banks towns to Charleston) along the coasts of the Carolinasare represented.

The author interviewed and photographed: descendants ofslaves who still make sweetgrass baskets in the old tradition; the last ofthe old-time clam rakers, crab pickers, and boat builders who discuss whatnew ways have done to their livelihoods, the "Live-Aboards",folks who left their nine-to-five lives to live on modest boats along thewater's edge; the Menhaden Chanteymen,a group of singing black fishermanwho were once an institution in the days "when boats were made ofwood, and men of steel"; the "Hoi Toiders" of the OuterBanks who still speak with the same accent as their seventeenth centuryBritish ancestors.

A great browsing and coffee-table book, would makean excellent gift for anyone who has a home on the coast or wants to visit.For anyone who wants a glimpse of the way things were along the vanishingsouthern coast, or to see what remains with new eyes. ... Read more


82. The Seaside Reader
Hardcover: 314 Pages (1992-12)
list price: US$22.95 -- used & new: US$13.75
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 1558211977
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars
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Product Description
Here is an anthology featuring writers as diverse as Jacques Cousteau and Norman Mailer, with selections on the places, people, and creatures that make up the lure of the seacoast. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

5-0 out of 5 stars A quality browse musing on the coastal experience
Compiled and edited by Dery Bennett (Director of the coastal habitat preservation and conservation group American Littoral Society ), The Seaside Reader is an anthology of excerpts from classic works by great writers centering around the theme of beaches and the seashore. A quality browse musing on the coastal experience, perfect for relaxing with during one's sunny seaside vacation, The Seaside Reader is a superb compendium and a welcome addition to conservationist reading lists and library reference collections. ... Read more


83. Creaturely and Other Essays
by Devin Johnston
Kindle Edition: 128 Pages (2009-09-01)
list price: US$14.95
Asin: B002IIEVZM
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars
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"The author puts forward a bracing theory of partial empathy....Johnston's searching book of thought-probes goes a long way toward allowing the reader the grounding that would allow him to make empathic contacts with the animals over which he ponders....Each time another animal becomes extinct a special and irretrievable way of looking at the world is gone....Perhaps the more people that read this book, the more this absence would be poignantly felt."—The Brooklyn Rail

"Creaturely, like its subjects, eludes definition. It's a book of exquisite essays—or are they prose poems—that tessellate into something larger: a meditation, perhaps, or a vision. Johnston's subject is at once the absolute otherness of the creatures with whom we share the world's everyday spaces—dogs, owls, mice, squirrels, crows—and the worth of our attempts to get to know them. Modest, calm, and beautiful, this is an exceptional book."—Robert Macfarlane

Devin Johnston teaches at St. Louis University. He was named a finalist for the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award for Sources, published by Turtle Point Press.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

4-0 out of 5 stars Solid with an Unobstrusive Elegance
I first read the essay "Creaturely" a few years ago (2006?) in the Threepenny Review and was very excited when I heard that Devin Johnston was coming out with Creaturely and Other Essays. What makes this collection so fascinating is how Johnston seamlessly illuminates our sensory and habitual affinities with urban wildlife (without anthropomorphizing) by transfiguring an ethologist's sharp eye into eight lyrical essays.

A quick read (barely over one hundred pages), I recommend this book to anyone who has a free afternoon to read by a river or in a park, or to anyone who simply enjoys nature and interesting, well-written prose. ... Read more


84. Coming Out Of The Woods: The Solitary Life Of A Maverick Naturalist
by Wallace Kaufman
Hardcover: 352 Pages (2000-05-31)
list price: US$26.00 -- used & new: US$12.50
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 0738202584
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars
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In 1974 Wallace Kaufman, following the romantic vision of a simpler life in harmony with nature he first glimpsed in Thoreau's Walden, moved on to his own land by a small stream in the North Carolina woods. Now, twenty-five years later, he emerges to tell a tale somewhat different from Thoreau's-an entertaining, moving, and distinctly late-twentieth-century story of a life lived in the wild as landowner, environmentally conscious developer, builder, farmer, conservationist, wilderness steward. His love of nature and his commitment to preserving it never waver, even as he tells the sometimes hilarious, sometimes catastrophic story of the ragtag cast of 1970s "back-to-the-land" characters who buy shares of his land in the wake of the first Earth Day; of trying to build a road without cutting down trees or disturbing a streambed, but at last giving in and learning to chainsaw and dynamite; of building his own home; of resorting to violence when flying squirrels refuse the special niches he builds into his walls and insist on taking up residence in his ceiling; of preserving his old-growth forest; of the awesome devastation of hurricanes.
Amazon.com Review
In the late 1960s, swept up in the spirit of the times, young literaryscholar Wallace Kaufman banded with friends to purchase 330 acres of NorthCarolina forest and found their version of utopia--a low-impact,covenant-heavy development that their rural neighbors would come to call"Hippie Town." Kaufman's utopia fell apart, as such places tend to do,under the usual pressures, but he stayed in the woods, eventually losinghis academic job but finding plenty of other work to do as a sometimebuilder and land appraiser. His tales of how to go about making a home inthe backcountry may give would-be back-to-the-landers pause, but they'recertainly instructive and full of useful details. (Who knew that "theaverage small house requires over 50,000 nails," or that a builderhammering by hand would need to devote nearly two weeks to driving thosenails in?) Kaufman is a keen observer of the ways of nature, discussing thenatural history of trees, the habits of flying squirrels and copperheads,and the relentless cycle of life and death. An evident conservationist, healso finds room for extractive activities such as logging, mining, andhunting, and he argues for individual ownership of the land, maintainingthat "the world's greatest environmental tragedies are largely on publiclands or lands to which no one has a secure title or protection for aclaim."

At times Kaufman falls into cantankerousness, grumbling at urbanenvironmentalists who, he holds, unduly romanticize life in the wilds--"Noone," he writes, "lives happily ever after alone in a wild place"--andtaking potshots at the likes of Henry DavidThoreau, who lived in his famed woodland cabin for only a fraction ofthe time that Kaufman lived in his. These ill-tempered lapses, which readlike afterthoughts meant to attract controversy, don't detract too badlyfrom the rest of Kaufman's generally easygoing memoir, which, all in all,is a worthy addition to the library devoted to country life. --GregoryMcNamee ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

5-0 out of 5 stars Insight into our relationship with nature and its salvation
During the 1960s and 70s, many young people were exploring alternative lifestyles. Back to nature, contemplation, and freedom from a material life were blowing in the wind. Mother Earth News, Stalking the Wild Asparagus, and Walden were just a few of the influential texts.

Wallace Kaufman had lived in cities but possessed a keen interest in nature and living within it. Thoreau spent only two years at Walden, but Wallace spends twenty years in the woods. To have sufficient seclusion, he buys a large wooded tract, names it Saralyn, and subdivides it into large parcels for others seeking to be closer to nature. He is thrust into the role of developer and known in the local village as "the mayor of Hippie Town." Teaching English literature at the University of North Carolina is little preparation for his undertaking. He agonizes over removing trees and scarring land required to cut a road into Saralyn.

Wallace is a man driven to pursue his dream and speak his mind regardless of political consequences. It costs him his job and his marriage, leaving him with Saralyn and shared custody of Sylvan, his three-year-old daughter.

Wallace is a romantic with wide-open eyes. Research and keen observation allow him to read the messages of nature with a long-term view, both past and future. His grounding in literature is the basis for analysis and conclusions, which are often at odds with sages who have preceded him.

This is a story of growth and change - of Wallace, Sylvan, and Saralyn. With its colorful characters and anecdotes, "Coming Out of the Woods" would rate five stars if it offered no more, but Wallace gives us insight into our relationship with nature and its salvation.

5-0 out of 5 stars COMPLEXITY AND BEAUTY
Here is a writer who conveys the complexity and beauty of nature without putting on rose colored glasses. Coming Out of the Woods inspires, entertains, informs and tells a page-turner story that reveals how all human interaction with nature demands tradeoffs. Think of it as an update of Thoreau's Walden, but with a strong story line and conclusions appropriate for our time. I recommend it highly for introductory environmental studies courses, American literature courses, or courses on literature and the environment.

Orrin Pilkey James B. Duke Professor of Geology Emeritus Duke University

2-0 out of 5 stars Dangerous Book
Wallace Kaufman doesn't know what he is talking about.And it's dangerous.He talks and talks and people believe.He says things ("facts") that aren't true.In his book, he doesn't do his research, jumps to conclusions, and sends a boulder crashing through his neighbor's roof.In a similar way, he comes to conclusions about the environment, woodworking, recycling, &c.It's dangerous.

Our local paper (like Kaufman I'm from Pittsboro, NC) printed a letter to the editor from a woman who had read Kaufman's new book, and believed it.Now she is sure recycling is bad for the environment and that the rain forests aren't disappearing.

Here are some "facts" that aren't true, that I know enough to correct. I'm also going to give the sources of my information (unlike Kaufman).

When talking about a neighbor's new porch (p. 127) he says, "'Those red oak boards will rot,' I warned him...Three years later, the boards had turned black and mushrooms began to grow out of them."He goes on to say of red oak boards that you have "to drench them with preservatives" to make them last.Now it is true that milled red oak will rot, but people make riven shingles out of red oak and they last for 30+ years without preservatives. Roy Underhill, in THE WOODWRIGHT'S COMPANION, p.154 says, "Since the splitting follows the grain of the oak from end to end, the exposed surface is made up of tiny tubes torn open down their whole length... Many folks like to shave shingles to a taper and a smooth surface. If you were to do this on a riven red-oak shingle, you would cut into the pores of the wood, open the grain, and allow it to become saturated with water, and it would rot in no time. Sawn shingles are just as bad or worse."

Kaufman also talks about owl pellets (see p.148), "An owl pellet (in common language we have to call it a turd)..." An owl pellet is a bundle of hair, bones, &c. that an owl regurgitates after it's meal.However, my dictionary's definition of 'turd' is, "a piece of dung." 'Dung' led me to 'excrement', the definition being, "waste matter from the bowels."

On p. 125 he says, "The house had endured because builders had selected the very best yellow pine and white oak. They had used only slow growth heartwood that is heavy with crowded annual growth rings." Back to Roy Underhill's book, THE WOODWRIGHT'S COMPANION, p16. "In pine timber slow growth and tight rings make tough, dense, strong wood, just as you might expect. In oaks, however, the effect is just the opposite. Slow growth in oak makes for weaker, more porous wood of a lower density. The reason for this is that every spring an oak has to put out a new set of leaves before the next tree or it's out of business. To get this mass of vegetation out, massive amounts of water must be run up through new plumbing that forms in the wood each spring. These large vessels form a band of constant width in every growth ring, followed by the denser, stronger wood formed during the summer growing season. The slower an oak tree grows, the closer together these bands of weaker spring wood will be. A slow grown red oak can become so porous that it appears to be 90 percent nothing."

These are just things I, a 16 year old, knew enough to find fault with. It would be interesting to see what someone knowledgeable about the environment or the Native Americans would find is incorrect in Kaufman's book.

4-0 out of 5 stars 20 x Thoreau = Surprises
Kaufman spends twenty years doing what all of us nature lovers think wecould do-Live alone in the woods for a lifetime. Well Kaufman isn't alwaysalone and 20 years may not be a lifetime but it is a signifcant commitmentto "the simple Life." And the revelations Kaufman comes back withare not exactly what one might expect. Like modern advancements andcapitalism is good for nature?Not totally, but similar toBill Bryson'sobservations in his big hit A Walk in the Woods,the realityof modernenviromentalist's ideals is not always what it is cracked up to be. And Ithink 240 months(20 times longer than Thoreau) in the woods qualifiesKaufman as much as any body to say so. Though he lacks Bryson's swiftnarrative and comical anecdotes, what we gain from Kaufman is an updatefrom Walden Pond that we might be surprised to read. The book will alsohelpquell any idyllic thoughts you might have about dropping out ofsociety to pursue a life in the woods. Because after finishing this bookyou may find thatKaufman's experience was enough.

5-0 out of 5 stars Beyond Thoreau
I have to admit that I approached this book with some hesitation. I did not want to read yet another polemic on the good, the bad, and the ugly in environmental politics. And much to my relief and pleasure, this book doesnot go in that direction. Instead, it is a compelling narrative of oneman's effort to reach an accord with the dynamic and changing forest inwhich he has been living for over thirty years. In the process, Kaufmantests his and his friends idealized and often romanticized notions ofNature against the realities of road building, flying squirrels, anddevastating hurricanes. Kaufman uses Thoreau as his touchstone, but takesthe latter's two-year experiment and expands it into a life's study. As hedigs the foundation of his house, he discovers the pre-history of theMorgan Branch forest; and as his lives in his completed house, he begins tounderstand the often harsh ecology of the place. His great past time ishunting for edible mushrooms, often in the company of his daughter. Thesehunts provide a paradigm for the entire book in which the ability todiscern fine details makes for enjoyable eating or, in this case, reading. ... Read more


85. ... The ecology of the Orthoptera and Dermaptera of the George reserve, Michigan (Miscellaneous publications.Museum of zoology, University of Michigan)
by Irving J Cantrall
 Unknown Binding: Pages (1943)

Asin: B0007EA1JO
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86. The Boilerplate Rhino: Nature in the Eye of the Beholder
by David Quammen
Hardcover: 288 Pages (2000-04-10)
list price: US$24.00 -- used & new: US$5.10
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 0684837285
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Editorial Review

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In 1981 David Quammen began what might be every freelance writer's dream: a monthly column for Outside magazine in which he was given free rein to write about anything that interested him in the natural world. His column was called "Natural Acts," and for the next fifteen years he delighted Outside's readers with his fascinating ruminations on the world around us. The Boilerplate Rhino brings together twenty-six of Quammen's most thoughtful and engaging essays from that column, none previously printed in any of his earlier books.

In lucid, penetrating, and often quirkily idiosyncratic prose, David Quammen takes his readers with him as he explores the world. His travels lead him to rattlesnake handlers in Texas; a lizard specialist in Baja; the dinosaur museum in Jordan, Montana; and halfway across Indonesia in search of the perfect Durian fruit. He ponders the history of nutmeg in the southern Moluccas, meditates on bioluminescent beetles while soaking in the waters of the Amazon, and delivers "The Dope on Eggs" from a chicken ranch near his hometown in Montana.

Quammen's travels are always jumping-off points to explore the rich and sometimes horrifying tension between humankind and the natural world, in all its complexity and ambivalence. Rattlesnake hunting becomes an occasion to meditate on certain dark veins of human character that remain constant amid a world of change. An encounter with a spider in Guam becomes an occasion to examine innate fears and affinities. In these essays it becomes impossible to look outward without at the same time looking inward. The result is another irrepressible assortment of ideas to explore, conundrums to contemplate, and wondrous creatures to behold -- from the acclaimed author of Wild Thoughts from Wild Places and the award-winning The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions. Amazon.com Review
David Quammen, a highly regarded popular-science writer (Song of the Dodo) andnovelist, brings a range of qualities to his work as an interpreter ofnature: a journalist's talent for finding a good story and telling itwell, a scholar's conviction that facts matter, and an amateurnaturalist's passion for learning about the way things work. For 15years, Quammen put these qualities to good use in his Outsidemagazine column "Natural Acts." The Boilerplate Rhino gathers26 of those columns between book covers, and to good purpose: everyone of them is a keeper. Quammen writes of such matters as theentirely reasonable human fear of spiders (which he shares) and snakes(which he does not); of the work of such groundbreaking theoreticiansand thinkers as E.O. Wilson andHenryDavid Thoreau; of the history of American lawns; the life of thedurian fruit; the commodification of nature by way of televisiondocumentaries; the strange scholarly fortunes of Tyrannosaurusrex; and the landing patterns of cats in free fall. (Really.) Asingle theme underpins these scattered pieces: namely, how humans "inall their variousness, regard and react to the natural world, in allits variousness." Quammen explores this theme with good cheer andhard-won knowledge, and his essays teach his readers much about theworld. --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

5-0 out of 5 stars Essays You Can See
Boilerplate Rhino is another collection of magazine columns, like "Natural Acts" (1985), "The Flight of the Iguana" (1988) and "Wild Thoughts from Wild Places (1998).Quammen is an excellent nature essayist, with just the right recipe of fact, whimsy, self-deprecation and seriousness.His ruminations will have you alternately howling with laughter, moaning in anguish, barking angrily and purring with satisfaction -- and along the way you'll add a snootful of useless facts to your cocktail chatter.

His "Song of the Dodo" (1996) was a tough slog due to the weight and mass of four long books rolled in one, but the 20-minute essays here are just the right length.

4-0 out of 5 stars Good stuff!
Quammen has compiled a thoughtful and entertaining collection of his essays for THE BOILERPLATE RHINO.You don't need to be a nature buff or of a scientific mind to enjoy what he's written.This was a bit of an impulse buy due to a bargain price, but I was pleasantly surprised.I look forward to reading more of Quammen's work!

5-0 out of 5 stars Dave Quammen does it again!
There's really little wonder why Quammen is one of the greatest writers of the natural world. He brings out his experiences, and the science of things so eloquently and entertainingly. You'll finish The Boilerplate Rhino - which is really a collection of 25 of his best column articles from Outside magazine - in a few sittings .
Quammen's nose for news keeps him on his toes in discovering the reality of the natural world. He won't rest till he's seen or investigated or read up tremendously (Quammen is immensely well read) on a subject he gets a little keen on. THAT is what keeps the reader hooked onto his writings, experiencing an involvement, thereby taking yet another step into the beautiful world we still know so little about.
You will enjoy The Boilerplate Rhino as Quammen takes you on his journeys into places as far out as the Sundas to as intimate as your very own backyard.

4-0 out of 5 stars RIDE A RHINO!
Reading the fascinating twenty-six essays that make-up this book is the closest I have come to riding a rhino. David Quammen's fantasies are exhilarating; and he knows how to pen them down.
The lives of these essays revolved around those of octopus, beetles, and bats: before assuming a cosmic dimension.
This book is a fine collection of fictions, which will please most fantasy lovers.
However, some parts of it appeared more or less shallow. Still, it's worth the time that any willing reader would like to invest on it.

5-0 out of 5 stars Wonderful nature writing
Reading Quammen is like meeting a fascinating fellow in a bar who is really smart, tells great stories and is fun to listen to. Quammen's area of storytelling is the world of nature, from ants to rhinos. Some nature books are heavy slogging (EOWilson's "Consilience" comes immediately to mind) but Quammen writes page-turners. The chapters in the book appeared earlier as columns in Outside magazine. ... Read more


87. Zoology.(Author abstract): An article from: Michigan Academician
by David Clark
 Digital: 11 Pages (2009-12-22)
list price: US$9.95 -- used & new: US$9.95
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: B003BMHWQ4
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Product Description
This digital document is an article from Michigan Academician, published by Michigan Academy of Science Arts & Letters on December 22, 2009. The length of the article is 3133 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Zoology.(Author abstract)
Author: David Clark
Publication: Michigan Academician (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 22, 2009
Publisher: Michigan Academy of Science Arts & Letters
Volume: 39Issue: 4Page: 367(7)

Article Type: Author abstract

Distributed by Gale, a part of Cengage Learning ... Read more


88. Interactions of Pacific Tuna Fisheries: Papers on Biology and Fisheries (Fao Fisheries Technical Paper)
by R. S. Shomura, J. Majkowski, S. Langi
 Paperback: 439 Pages (1994-11)
list price: US$45.00 -- used & new: US$45.00
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 9251034540
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89. The Lazy Environmentalist: 365 Days of Great Tips for Easy, Stylish, Green Living 2008 Box Calendar
by Josh Dorfman
Calendar: 366 Pages (2007-08-01)
list price: US$13.95 -- used & new: US$33.98
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 0810988763
Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars
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Product Description
Based on the Stewart, Tabori & Chang book of the

same name, this dynamic page-a-day calendar--printed on recycled paper--offers tips on what you can do for the envvironment each day of the year. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

4-0 out of 5 stars Thought Provoking
All tips so far have included a usable web link and, although many of the daily "tips" are not applicable for me personally, they are all at least thought provoking... and I enjoy that :)

1-0 out of 5 stars Advertising, not environmentalism
This product is pure and simple advertising. Most pages feature a product and a website where it can be purchased. And some of the products are about as far off the environmentalism mark as it is possible to be. Today's (Jan. 18) example is a product called a pupcup. This is the pet equivalent of bottled water, a huge environmental no-no. ... Read more


90. Guide to the Care of Urban Wildlife
by Erna Walraven
 Mass Market Paperback: 192 Pages (1990-09-01)

Isbn: 0044422172
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91. The Practice of the Wild: Essays
by Gary Snyder
Paperback: 208 Pages (2003-11-24)
list price: US$14.95 -- used & new: US$9.98
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 1593760167
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars
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Editorial Review

Product Description
Gary Snyder has been a major cultural force in America for five decades. Future readers will come to see this book as one of the central texts on wilderness and the interaction of nature and culture. The nine essays in The Practice of the Wild reveal why Snyder has gone on to become one of America's cultural leaders, comprehending things about our world before they were ever discussed in public. With thoughts ranging from political and spiritual matters to those regarding the environment and the art of becoming native to this continent, this collection of essays, first published in 1990, reflect the mature centerpiece of the author's work and thought. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

1-0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
In spite of my passion for this conserving wild places I couldn't finish this book. I didn't feel like I learned much or was exposed to new perspectives. The strident style of the author's prose made it feel like I was being machine gunned by his opinions. Further, I look for writing on this subject to have some sense of poetry and to be less self absorbed. I was disappointed.

5-0 out of 5 stars Excellent work that will stand the test of time
I use the essays in The Practice of the Wild in some of the classes I teach. Gary Snyder has a profound sense of place, the wilds, and keen heartfelt vision for the possibilities of our human place in the nature of things. His writings inspires us to deepen our own relationship to self, community, and place... especially in the terrain of the wilds. Like his essays in Turtle Island these essays will stand the test of time.

3-0 out of 5 stars a not-too-cohesive assemblage of 9 essays on wildness
From the git-go, I've got to tell you: this is a difficult, challenging book. Not because of the thought or content, but because of the loose and sometimes pedantic writing style. Gary Snyder the poet is a different critter than Gary Snyder the essayist. The syntax is awkward - Snyder asks that you jump across the chasms of comprehension with him. So, you make the disconcerting leap, and your comprehension is left hanging, with nothing to really hang on to.

Gary Snyder is in the role of prophet, as he talks about a "culture of wilderness". But he never elucidates on this - I have not a clue what he means by this term, since he doesn't elaborate on this notion. He talks about a return to the "commons" of historical times - and there is a cogent discussion of this in the essay "The Place, the Regions, and the Commons". "Good, Wild, Sacred" and "Ancient Forests of the Far West" are the other two essays that are fairly lucid.

Yet, I've got to say, the other six essays are pedantic and almost incoherent. It is very hard to follow the discursive twists and turns in this writing. Is Snyder trying to impress his fellow professors at UC Davis with his acumen? We have to be lectured at on the etymologies of many words to the point where the narrative momentum gets slack.

The thoughts and content seem legitimate; but the writing style is certainly not. His observations are valid; but with non-sequiturs abounding, with generalizations of human history and philosophy tucked into tangents running off to the horizon, the poor reader is left in the quicksands of incomprehension.

In all fairness, you might consider taking a pass on this one. I rarely review a 3 star book, prefering to stay on the positive side of things. This one is one of those rarities.

Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts

The Cloud Reckoner













5-0 out of 5 stars dream a bear's nostrils and wake up at home
to find our way back from complete devastation will require that we listen to those who have known the way home a long time - gary snyder introduces us to that knowledge in these essays - this book will be read as long as there are people who read books as we know them - may that be a very long time.

5-0 out of 5 stars An OUTSTANDING book
Few books about nature excite me; most leave me bored.Snyder's mastery of language and depth of thought create a riveting exploration.I have recommended this book to many people, and all who have read it treasure it. ... Read more


92. Populations in a fluctuating environment: The comparative population ecology of the iguanid lizards, Sceloporus merriami and Urosaurus ornatus (Miscellaneous ... / Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan)
by Arthur E Dunham
 Unknown Binding: 62 Pages (1981)

Asin: B0006E7I4G
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93. Rock And Mineral Collecting In Canada - Volume Iii, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland
by Ann P.; Geological Survey Of Canada, Department Of Energy, Mines And Resources Sabina
Paperback: 106 Pages (1972)

Asin: B00116AXX6
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94. Three Tales (World's Classics)
by Gustave Flaubert
Paperback: 142 Pages (1991-04-25)
list price: US$5.95 -- used & new: US$29.97
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 0192822268
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars
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Product Description
Three Tales offers an excellent introduction to the work of one of the world's greatest novelists. A Simple Heart is set in the Normandy of Flaubert's childhood, while Saint Julian and Herodias draw on medieval myth and the biblical story of John the Baptist for their inspiration. Each of the tales invites comparison with one or other of Flaubert's novels, but they also reveal a fresh and distinctive side to the writers's genius. This book is intended for general; students from the Sixth Form upwards following courses on French literature or comparative literature. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

3-0 out of 5 stars Eh
Three Tales is not a classic in the sense that it profoundly influenced writers for generations and somehow still manages blow away readers today. It is not, in other words, Madame Bovary. When you read that Flaubert allegedly got so emotionally involved in writing about Emma's fate that he threw up, you'd believe it.

These stories don't generate that kind of reaction. In truth, if these did not have the name Gustave Flaubert on the cover, I would have never guessed it. In looking at the other reviews, it seems like readers tend to find the stories uneven though they don't agree on which is best. My sense is that this is something to check out of the library: The price is steep since it's barely a hundred pages long and it's not going to leave you gobsmacked.

The first story -- `A Simple Heart' -- is about a character who is taken for granted by others. This falls into a problem that hits all but the best realism. If it fails to completely blow away the reader, then it starts to feel like "This happened. . . and then that happened. . ." The main thing I got out of it is background for when I some day read Julian Barnes's novel Flaubert's Parrot.

The second story, about St. Julian, has serious potential. It starts off like a twisted medieval fairy tale take on Oedipus the King. And the main character has a love of killing -- obsession, really -- that makes him fascinating in a disturbing way. But the story ultimately becomes unsatisfactory because it becomes unpredictable in a bad sense: the psychology of the main character is never really explained, so whatever he does is unanticipated.

The third story, about John the Baptist, requires having the details of the story at the front of your memory to really appreciate. There's a serious onslaught of names and the endnotes aren't really enough (and the level of detail waffles between overkill and none at all, which doesn't help things). This story got more and more interesting as I was able to orient myself. . . and then it was over. I think if it had been longer, I would have really gotten into it. The main effect of reading it is to put Flaubert's Salambo on my reading list. It always sounded to me like a novelty piece that wouldn't be worth the time. In seeing how Flaubert writes about Antiquity, I'm reconsidering.

4-0 out of 5 stars Biblical References
I was surprised at the number of biblical references in these stories though I probably shouldn't have been given Flaubert's time and place.He lived in a Catholic country during a religious era.I've read lots of contemporaneous Victorian fiction and though the Brits throw in many bible tie Flaubert out does them.In `A Simple Heart' Felicite is goodness incarnate seeking only to love without seeming to need anything more than an other for which to care.She'll even settle for inanimate objects as long as they evoke someone or something.`St. Julien' was harder for me to enjoy.Apparently in order for him to become a saint he had to first be very, very bad.After enough blood is splashed about he realizes how wrong he's been and becomes good through loving someone `despicable'.My favorite story of the three was `Herodias'.The Middle East of John the Baptist and his nemesis Salome's time was just as tumultuous as today.The story felt immediate and alive.

5-0 out of 5 stars Three Tales is a trio of short story gems by the peerless Gustave Flaubert
Gustave Flaubert (1821-80) published Three Tales in a magazine in 1877. Flaubert was already a rich and famous author. The meticulous master had already produced "Madame Bovary" and "A Sentimental Education" ensuring his elevated place in the annals of literary greatness. The three short stories in this tiny book are memorable, moving and beautifully rendered in classic Flaubertian simple, poetic and realistic prose.
A Simple Heart is the first and best of the tales. It tells the sad story of Felicite. She is an illiterate and religious orphan who grows up in northern France. She works hard on a farm where she is beaten by her master; has a sad and short love affair and becomes a maid in the home of an austere and cold widow. Her happiest days are taking care of Paul and Virginia the two children of the widow who has hired her to work in her small home.
Her nephew dies while in the French navy breaking her heart. Her happiest moments are spent in the company of Loulou a big green parrot she is given by a friend. When the great parrot dies he is stuffed and kept in Felicite's modest room.Felicite befriends the poor and old. She becomes deaf and dies with a vision of her parrot Loulou as an incarnation of the Holy Spirit. Felicite is a portrait of a good human being and Loulou is the most famous parrot in all literature. This is a wonderful little story of Christian faith put into action by a kind woman. One of my favorite all time short stories.

St. Julian Hospitator is a story reminiscent of a fairy tale. Julian grows up rich and coddled by his parents in a castle. He is a sadistic hunter who enjoys killing thousands of animals. This part of the story was very disturbing to me as an animal lover. By a tragic mistake he kills his own parents. This murder had been predicted by a large elk whose family had been brutally slain by Julian. He spends his life in remorse serving as a soldier and later a beggar. He also serves as a boatman who delivers travellers across a dangerous body of water. One night he cares for a leper giving him shelter, food and drink. The leper is transformed into Jesus Christ as Julian is forgiven and taken to heaven. The story was inspired by a stained glass window portraying Julian which was located in Rouen one half mile from Flaubert's boyhood home.

Herodias is the final story. It tells the story of Herod Antipas who married his brother Phillip's wife Herodias. Herod Antipas is the tetrarch of Galilee who rules from the fortress Machareus. He gives in to the desire of his sexy stepdaughter Salome's wish to have the head of John the Baptist on a platter if she will dance for him. Flaubert has done his homework and describes in detail life in first century Israel. The most memorable character who is John the Baptist who condemns the hedonistic and cruel Herod. John proclaims the coming of Jesus Christ the Messiah and Lord of Life.

These three short stories by Flaubert are excellent and well served in this handsome Penguin edition!

5-0 out of 5 stars A wonderful collection of stories by Flaubert
Flaubert's collection of "Three Tales" brings together a wonderful set of short stories. Working from contemporary to ancient and in various modes of realism, Flaubert delves into the spiritual depths of his characters. The first story, "A Simple Heart" is the best of the group. In this story, Flaubert tells the story Felicite, a loyal servant to an uninteresting patron. Flaubert quickly covers her whole life, from her difficult childhood and through her many attachments to her death. Felicite is a woman who feels love deeply, but Flaubert's presentation is very detached and never maudlin. The last great love of Felicite's life is a parrot (which also inspired Julian Barnes' "Flaubert's Parrot") who comes to symbolize the holy spirit for her. It would have been easy for Flaubert to portray Felicite's simplicity as an object of scorn or irony, but he treats her faithfully and never passes judgment on her actions or thoughts. Her story is beautifully told and stands up well to any short story I know.

The second tale, "The Legend of Saint Julian the Hospitaller," is a retelling of the legendary Saint's life. Flaubert is in a completely different mode here; he is comfortable in the quick and magical progression typical of medieval tales. Flaubert's eye for detail makes some of the scenes more horrific and as such more effective. In particular, the scenes of carnage while hunting and the scene with the leper are particularly well drawn.

The final tale, "Herodias," is a retelling of the story of John the Baptist's execution. Here, Flaubert delves into the emotions of religious fervor and political intrigue. He focuses not on Herodias or John, but on Herod. He portrays Herod as caught between competing forces: Rome and the tribes outside his kingdom; his wife and the proconsul; pharisees, essenes, and the fledgling movement spawned by Jesus. All of these competing voices make the story a bit disjointed at times, but once again Flaubert's realism lends a detached feel to the entire story.

Margaret Drabble's introduction to the volume is useful in how she ties the "Three Tales" into Flaubert's career and surroundings. The cathedral at Rouen, for example, has a series of stained glass windows depicting Saint Julian's story, and it also has a statue of the beheading of John the Baptist. Such details help bring the stories into greater clarity, though I recommend reading the introduction last if you have never read the stories, so as to be able to come to the stories fresh.

3-0 out of 5 stars ACQUIRINGPIETY
N.B. THIS REVIEW REFERENCES ST. JULIAN AND A SIMPLE SOUL ONLY.

The role of the Catholic Church in the daily lives of 19th century French provides the underlying basis for the characterizations in these two Contes.Whether high-born or lowly, Flaubert's two disparate protagonists are deeply influenced in their actions and attitudes by their faith. Making no moral judgment on their response to Christianity the author simply depicts their spiritualdevelopment as extensions of the Church, which permits readers of various religious backgrounds to draw their own conclusions.

THE LEGEND opens with elaborate exposition of the family's
grandiose castle. Divided into three titled chapters (CURSE, CRIME, REPARATION) this tale was inspired by the story depicted in the stained glass windows, which impressed the author in his boyhood. Wealthy, pampered only-son Julian graduates from torturing small animals to a frenzied obsession with all manner of hunting: when wild game eludes him, he seeks out human prey to satisfy his bloodlust.But he must fulfill several, contradictory prophecies in his lifetime, before the final apotheosis of his twisted soul.He chooses to make the ultimate sacrifice in atonement for a lifetime of savagery.This legend explains why Julian became the patron saint of ferrymen and innkeepers.

The second short story features a humble woman (ironically named Felicity--happiness) who proves the antithetical protagonist. In five chapters (FELICITY, THE HEROINE, DEATH, THE BIRD, THE VISION)Flaubert offers a grimly pessimist view of life in a coastal village. Rarely acting upon her own initiative this poor old "simple soul" is ignored by most, mistreated by her family, unappreciated by her mistress, and barely noticed by the villagers.Her generous nature gradually increases in piety, culminating in a confused Vision which--if nothing else--grants her a few moments of celestial bliss before extinction of her mortal but unremarkable life. Flaubert's purpose in this depressing tale is oblique; refraining from direct social and religious commentary, he is content to paint the canvas, allowing viewers their private interpretation.Felicite acted as a mother by proxy, denied a fully dimensional life of her own; perhaps her personal view of heaven's reception proved bizarrely "true."

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95. Studies on the biology and ecology of Michigan Phalangida (Opiliones), (Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan. Miscellaneous publications)
by Arlan L Edgar
 Unknown Binding: 64 Pages (1971)

Asin: B0006C5ZIO
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96. The Paradise of Bombs
by Scott R. Sanders
Hardcover: 176 Pages (1987-03)
list price: US$16.95 -- used & new: US$8.24
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Asin: 0820309036
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars
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Winner of the Associated Writing Programs Award for Creative Nonfiction. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

5-0 out of 5 stars The personal essay form at its best
While the philosophy underlying this work is reminiscent of Thoreau, Sanders writing is much more graceful and his personality more warm and human than the Walden Pond horned frog ever hoped to be. Sanders has a keeneye for the insightful moment and treats himself and his subjects topiercing, yet sympathetic, examinations.

5-0 out of 5 stars A Paradise for Lovers of the Written Word
As the daughter of a former U.S. Marine, I wasn't sure I'd like this book. I am pleased to say I not only like it, I fell in love with it. Scott Russell Sanders has more than a way with words, he has a love affair with words. In reading this book, I found a decent man, a thoughtful man of lively intellect. It is a pleasure to be in Mr. Sanders's company even if its only through the medium of the printed word. ... Read more


97. Framework for Management for Natural Disasters (Miscellaneous Report 43)
by Vyas Sumeer
 Paperback: Pages (1988-06)
list price: US$20.00
Isbn: 9992656891
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98. Disaster Research Center and Its Activities (Miscellaneous Report 45)
 Paperback: Pages (1991-06)
list price: US$3.00
Isbn: 9992657006
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99. Disaster Recovery Comments on the Literature and a Mostly Annotated Bibliography (Miscellaneous Report No. 44)
by E.L. Quanantelli
 Paperback: Pages (1989-06)
list price: US$5.00
Isbn: 9992656964
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100. World in Motion: The Globalization and the Environment Reader
by Gary M. Kroll
Hardcover: 294 Pages (2008-12-16)
list price: US$95.00 -- used & new: US$79.69
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Asin: 0759110255
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Editorial Review

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This book asks an important question: Can we simply accelerate growth under the assumption that increased prosperity and new technologies will allow us to reverse environmental damage? Or do we need to transform our modes of living radically to maintain the health of the world around us? ... Read more


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