The Great Bear: Contemporary Writings on the Grizzly

by Edward Abbey, Rick Bass, Roger A. Caras

Bears haven't had the happiest of times in the last two centuries; like wolves and elephants, they serve as unhappy symbols of the failure of humans to come to terms with the natural world. John Murray, a prolific anthologist, gathers recent writing on one species, the grizzly, Ursus horribilis, in The Great Bear. Among other contributors, Rick Bass makes an appearance on the trail of a Montana giant. Ed Abbey, Doug Peacock, John McPhee, and Adolph Murie focus on remote areas in Alaska where grizzlies still enjoy large, mostly untroubled territories; and Aldo Leopold recounts a meeting with Old Ephraim high atop a mountain on the Arizona-New Mexico line. Murray's anthology is good bedside reading for bear enthusiasts.

Genres: Nature, Environment, Nonfiction, Essays, Outdoors

245 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1992

About the author

Edward Paul Abbey (1927–1989) was an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views.

Abbey attended college in New Mexico and then worked as a park ranger and fire lookout for the National Park Service in the Southwest. It was during this time that he developed the relationship with the area’s environment that influenced his writing. During his service, he was in close proximity to the ruins of ancient Native American cultures and saw the expansion and destruction of modern civilization.

His love for nature and extreme distrust of the industrial world influenced much of his work and helped garner a cult following.

Abbey died on March 14, 1989, due to complications from surgery. He was buried as he had requested: in a sleeping bag—no embalming fluid, no casket. His body was secretly interred in an unmarked grave in southern Arizona.

Reviews

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the epilogue on page 233 and 234 John A Murray writes: Those who have packed far up in the grizzly country, as these authors, know that the presence of even one grizzly on the land, elevates the mountains, deepens the canyons, chills the winds, brightens the stars, darkens the forest, and quickens the pulse of all who enter it. They know that when a bear dies, something sacred in every living thing interconnected with that realm, including those resident human souls, also dies. History, judges civilizations, not only by their pyramids and cathedrals, social programs, and legislatures, judicial codes, and symphonies, but also by their stewardship of the Earth.

What a fine anthology of writings on the grizzly. I recommend it.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have long had a fascination with bears and for my birthday this year my husband gave me this book he found in a used bookstore. It is a collection of essays about the grizzly bear, which is considered an endangered species and numbers only around 1,000 in the lower 48. As the editor writes in his epilogue—“The essayists in this book, like the oracles of old, remind us of what is important and what is not, of what endures and what does not, and of what . . . is progress and what is not.” (p. 234) This is a provocative read on our diminishing environment, even if you’re not intrigued by bears like me.

[Carolyn McBride · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this collection of essays on the Grizzly Bear. The book overall was reminiscent of ill Bryson's work, which is a compliment to the editors and authors of this book. It left me with a frustration that we, in North America, are not doing enough to protect this wonderful, terrifying, complex creature.