Norton Book of Nature Writing
- Book Review,
by Robert Finch, John Elder (Editor)
Amazon.com
This fine, well-annotated anthology offers selections from familiar writers such as Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Annie Dillard, and Barry Lopez. It contains surprises as well, including George Orwell's little-known essay, "Some Thoughts on the Common Toad" and Herman Melville's musings on how the great white whale came to be so white in the first place, the fruit of the deep natural-historical research that underlies Moby-Dick. At more than 900 pages, The Norton Book of Nature Writing is too hefty to pack into the wild, but every page is an inspiration to take into the world outdoors.
From School Library Journal
YA-- The range of this anthology indicates the breadth of its appeal--authors from 1789 to 1987 and concerns as diverse as the destructive majesty of elephants and friendship with pigs.Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Nature is the language of the Earth and its creatures--the windstorm in the forest, the tadpole in the pond, snowflakes on the summit, the fins and forms of most fish, toadstools, moss, tarantulas, and the silk of spiders. The "children of Linnaeus," nature writers such as Darwin, Emerson, Thoreau, Melville, Audubon, and Muir, have captured the essence of wilderness and beast. This anthology draws upon the works of these and 83 other authors, spanning two centuries of English and American literature to provide a concise introduction to this literary form. A worthy addition to general and academic collections.- Mikey Scott, Torrey Pines High Sch., Del Mar, Cal.Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
In the dozen years since Finch and Elder constructed The Norton Book of Nature Writing, the genre has evolved significantly in literary splendor, stylistic and topical diversity, popularity, and urgency. This renaissance inspired essayist Finch and environmental studies professor Elder to create a new chronologically organized anthology that showcases 40 emerging and rediscovered nature writers and such giants as Emerson, Thoreau, Leopold, Dillard, and Lopez. One of the most obvious changes from the first edition, as the editors readily attest, is the inclusion of many more women, from noteworthy pioneers Susan Fenimore Cooper and Mary Austin to imaginative newcomers Janisse Ray and Alison Hawthorne Deming. British, Canadian, Caribbean, and Australian writers are also represented as are Native American writers, including Linda Hogan and Leslie Marmon Silko. Even the realm called nature has been extended to embrace gardens and farms, the "working landscapes" scrutinized by Michael Pollan and Gary Paul Nabhan. Superb choices in writers and works make for a substantial and illuminating volume, a landmark in a genre of increasing consequence. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
From Book News, Inc.
A collection of 125 selections by 94 writers (each introduced with a short biographical essay). Classic and contemporary pieces from England and America are included as are works both from clearly identified nature writers and those with more general reputations (among them: Updike, Le Guin, Woolf). Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.
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