Wickerby: An Urban Pastoral

by Charles Siebert

"Outside my window, the city lights are taking hold now, the breeze-brushed, gently pulsating grid. Why is a cemented aggregate of homes arranged in a tall, tight cluster any further from nature than one wood home within the woods? Because it is so thoroughly man-made? But we wouldn't call the towering carpenter ant's nest that I found one day in Wickerby's collapsing southeast corner 'ant-made.' We are no less natural than the next creature except that thinking makes it seem so. There is no such thing as nature. Wickerby would remind me of this. There is just the earth and us, the name-callers, standing upon it, calling those places without us, nature."
        

Against the backdrop of a tumbledown Brooklyn neighborhood, Charles Siebert, a native Brooklynite and longtime city-dweller, reflects upon the five months he has just spent at Wickerby, an old, collapsing log cabin in the woods of Canada. In vivid, lyrical prose, Siebert relates the events that prompted his sudden departure to Wickerby, and, while recounting the details of his isolated existence there, arrives at a series of stunningly original insights that explore and often explode the classic Romantic distinctions between city and country, man-made and natural. Along the way, the book's episodic, wide-ranging narrative takes us from Brooklyn's rooftops, where "pigeon mumblers" chase their flocks into the sky, to Albert, Wickerby's reclusive caretaker who pilfers the cabin's artifacts for his own yard sales.
        
In what emerges as a refreshing subversion of the typical log cabin book, this beautifully composed account of a journey away from the city ultimately allows us to view the city not as the traditional antagonist of the natural world, but as a logical and inevitable outgrowth of that world, an entity as wondrous and awe-inspiring as anything found in nature.

Genres: Fiction, Canada, New York

216 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Charles Siebert is a poet, journalist, essayist, and contributing writer for The New York Times Sunday Magazine. His work has appeared in a broad array of publications, including The New York Times Sunday Magazine, The New Yorker, Harper's, Vanity Fair, Outside, Esquire, and Men's Journal.

Reviews

[Wil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this little book. Perhaps because I'm currently wondering about the city/nature split in my own life, or maybe because much of it takes place in a neighborhood where I spent six years, but it felt extraordinarily timely and pertinent. The author is quite talented, writing in a well-flowing and entertaining style while drawing comparisons that are thoughtful but not pretentious. Would recommend to anyone who likes travel/nature writing, particularly those living in Brooklyn.

[Teresa James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, absorbing book, despite the dog part. Siebert has a way of understanding animals that is almost spooky. He is also a very nice guy. I took a workshop he gave at a writer´s conference. He´s passionate about writing and a great communicator.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

"...the endless conveyor belts of carrier ants."

"...bumblebees out by the fire pit, singing past me, loud as mopeds."

[Reece · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was expecting the author to have done more of a pioneer lifestyle. Instead this book focuses mostly on Siebert's philosophy of modern life, nature, & the desire to escape.

[Joey · Rating 5 out of 5]

fun challenging prose! really had to lock in and pay attention and I’m afraid some of it passed me by when I was just skimming

[Vasha7 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Connecting city and country. Insightful, and even gripping; the author's emotions are close to the surface, and he tells the experiences well, how his life in the cabin in the woods is something that allows him to understand his city life, and the human condition, balanced between the need to get away from the non-human, and a counterbalancing longing for something vague we always feel we've lost.

Possibly the most revelatory book I've read this year.

[Chennel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book brought relaxation to my days as it takes place in a lonely cabin. I like the mood it sets... cold winter evenings with a pet or a furry blanket, all you need is a cup of tea!

[Anne]

Nice reading. Pensive self reflection in a poetic sort of way. Some of the observations are sweet. Nothing very memorable.