Talking To The Moon: Wildlife adventures on the plains and prairies of Osage country

by John Joseph Mathews

Talking to the Moon is an unusual and charming story of a Thoreau-like adventure in remote northeastern Oklahoma. Following his university education and his service as a pilot in World War I, John Joseph Mathews returned to his beloved Osage country. He built a sandstone house on a blackjack-covered ridge in the midst of his ranch, and there he lived for ten years, stirred by a natural world that was still undisturbed by the demands of civilization. He became a part of the life that moved about his cottage. In this beautiful account of what he saw and did and thought, Mathews describes his solitary life among the creatures of the ridge with rare perception and style. His observations are based on the white man's seasons as well as the Indian cycles of the moon, and he discourses upon the eccentricities of man, the behavior of animals (including the communicative talking to-the-moon coyote), and the encompassing and particular beauty of his wilderness home. Even the most jaded reader will be touched by the sensitivity and generosity of Mathews' response to the natural world. To read Talking to the Moon is to be reminded that this world once existed for all of us.

Genres: Nonfiction, Native American, History

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[TR Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a remarkable and profoundly insightful work of literature. Talking to the Moon is a breathtaking tribute to the natural history of the tall grass prairies of Oklahoma and the oral history of the Osage people. Prose and poetry sing throughout the writing. The comparisons to Thoreau are justified and perfect. But If Thoreau's work is a song, Mathew's is a concert.

[Lou Corn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I assigned this book and my students ended up enjoying it more than I did! John Joseph Mathews is an interesting character study in himself of post colonial exile and return when the post has not actually arrived but the colonial situation has transformed. The most enduring image for me besides the coyotes and the frozen chicken is of Mathews cooking spaghetti in shorts and cowboy boots for his city friends who ply him with cold beers. That was charming.

[Robin Reynolds]

DNF. This wasn't quite what I was expecting. I thought it would be sort of like a memoir, about the author's life living those ten years in his house on the sandstone among the blackjack trees. But sixty pages in and 90% of it was just very wordy descriptions of the blackjacks, the sandstone, the wildlife, the environment. It just isn't for me.

[Avery Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talking to the Moon is a beautifully written reflection on solitude and nature. John Joseph Mathews shares his life in the Osage country with sensitivity and insight, blending Native cycles of the moon with Western seasons. His observations of animals and the land are both poetic and thought provoking. A gentle, reflective read for anyone who loves nature writing.

[Tracymarksseglin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I mean...it was beautiful descriptions of nature, which I usually do enjoy, but...zzzzzz. Didn’t finish.

[Alexis Andreu Martinez · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only reason I read this was because it was assigned to class. This isn't a book I would read again. There are interesting aspects to it and I think it was nice that the author did the artwork in the book himself, but this really isn't my type of book.