Yellowstone Autumn: A Season of Discovery in a Wondrous Land

American Lives

by W.D. Wetherell

Although Yellowstone is our oldest, most iconic, and most popular national park, it is perhaps, in W. D. Wetherell's words, “America’s least-known best-known place.” Wetherell, arriving at the park on the eve of his fifty-fifth birthday, feels the need to examine where life’s mileage has brought him. In the encounter that follows, a writer entering late middle age confronts not only a magnificent corner of the vast American landscape but also the American experience itself.

 

Detailed in the wise, humorous, and lyrical language that has long distinguished W. D. Wetherell’s award-winning fiction, this introspective journey merges the fascinating story of Yellowstone’s history and geography with the author’s own story—of marriage and aging, of fatherhood, and of the solace to be found in the beauty of the natural world. Most of all it’s a loving tribute to Yellowstone in autumn, the season when the park and its glories are absolutely at their peak.

Genres: Memoir

178 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2009

About the author

Walter D. Wetherell is the author of eleven previous works of fiction and nonfiction. He has received two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, two O. Henry Awards, the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, and, most recently, the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Strauss Living Award. He lives in Lyme, New Hampshire, with his wife and two children. His latest novel is A Century of November.

Reviews

[Monty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here are two links to Yellowstone Autumn. It is a memoir but there is enough about Yellowstone mixed in to get a nice sense of one person's perspective of the park plus his thoughts about being 55 years old. One section was quite fun. He pretends he is on the 1870s Washburn expedition and includes journal entries he would have written had he been able to go back in time with knowledge of the present time. http://nebraskapress.typepad.com/univ... http://readthebestwriting.com/?p=279

[Tuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little maudlin and personal at first, but there is some pretty good insight in to western man aging in the 21st century. if you can make it that far. not essential reading, but not bad either. book reviewers gushed over this book, but i am not sure why. maybe they were relatives or something:)

[Joann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally finished this while spending some autumn days in Yellowstone...not a book for everyone, but if you love Yellowstone, fly fishing, or middle age, you may find something here to like.

[Mariya]

NO

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was a random find, seen over my shoulder on the library shelf behind me. Now my own personal copy sits on my shelf at home.