Wilderness Tales: Forty Stories of the North American Wild

by Diana Fuss (Editor)

A dazzling collection of short stories about North American outdoor life—both classic and contemporary—from James Fenimore Cooper and Jack London to Margaret Atwood and Anthony Doerr and many more.

The North American landscape, in its rich and rugged variety, has inspired an equally wide and deep range of fiction over the past centuries. Diana Fuss has gathered a rich collection of timeless classics and contemporary discoveries summoning up our close and imagined encounters with all things wild.

From the nineteenth century’s Washington Irving (“Rip Van Winkle”) to the twenty-first century’s Ted Chiang (“The Great Silence”)—a panoramic view of wilderness fiction, from Gothic tales of mystery and suspense (“The Heroic Slave” by Frederick Douglass), to tales of danger and survival (“Walking Out” by David Quammen); from modern tales of retreat and solitude (“Happiness” by Ron Carlson), to never-before-told tales of our new reality—of environment and extinction (“the river” by adrienne maree brown): these are stories that reveal the many ways in which the American literary landscape has shaped—and is shaped by—our conceptions of the wild.

Diana Fuss nimbly shows, in her introductory text and commentary throughout, the development of the wilderness story, from its emergence in the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne (“Young Goodman Brown”) and James Fenimore Cooper (“A Panther Tale”), to the height of its popularity in the stories of Jack London (“To Build a Fire”), to the environmentally conscious writing of T. C. Boyle (“After the Plague”) and Karen Russell (“St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves”).

Among those whose work appears in the Wallace Stegner, Annie Proulx, Ambrose Bierce, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, L. Frank Baum, Margaret Atwood, Tommy Orange, Walter Van Tilburg Clark, and Ray Bradbury.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Nature, Environment, Adventure, Outdoors

624 pages, Hardcover

First published February 28, 2023

About the author

Diana Fuss, Louis W. Fairchild Class of ’24 Professor of English, has taught at Princeton since 1988, after receiving her PhD from Brown University in English and Semiotics. She has taught undergraduate courses on a range of topics in the areas of criticism and theory, 19th and 20th century American and British literature, narrative and poetry, and film and media. And she has taught more specialized graduate offerings on such subjects as Body Parts, Architectural Interiors, The Senses, Contemporary Theory, Freud’s Toolbox, American Elegy, Modern Death, Modern Love, and Keywords. She has also conducted the graduate pedagogy and dissertation seminars. In 2001 Fuss received the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching, and she currently holds the University’s Cotsen Fellowship for Distinguished Research and Teaching.

Reviews

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is packed with so many interesting stories and told by so many different types of people from the slaves to Native Americans those who change territory lines a grandmother and it’s all said in the wild west. My favorite story was with the guy who lost his house due to the fire it was haunting down the Caribou only because I love solo track tails in the snow when it’s man against nature but they had so many other great stories in this book as well and I do mean a lot of stories. It took me a few days to finish this book but I’m so glad I did these are my type of tales and think this is such a great idea I really enjoyed it. I received this book from NetGalley in the publisher but I’m leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

[Julia G · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good. I love the editors context. To read all of these authors in one place is just so special. Even in college courses the wilderness narrative is so siloed, and white voices are highlighted. To see black and indigenous voices alongside these "classic" stories was striking and necessary.

[Kylie B · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most phenomenal reads ever. The stories in this collection really grab hold of you and the selection is wonderful at showing you the absolute beauty and subtle terror of the literal world around us. Fuss’ collection is nearly perfect and I liked how she broke up the different sections, it’s a perfect blend of old and new. Brilliant.

[Teri-K · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot to like in this massive collection of short stories all set in North America. I liked the way the stories were divided by themes. I liked the fact that, within the themes, the stories were arranged from oldest to newest. And there were some really good stories here.

However, I felt there were too any modern stories and not enough older ones, and all of the older stories were ones I'd read previously - some I studied in school back in the old days. I'd been really hoping for some new-to-me older stories. I also felt often the emphasis was more on the surreal than the realistic. It's totally personal, but when I'm reading about the outdoors I want more realistic writing, more focus on description and nature than on man.

I realized as I read this what I really wanted wanted was the exact same thing only mostly essays, maybe some poems. Which isn't this book's fault, of course. sigh

[Katie Scarlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t say enough good things about this book. If you love short stories this book is the equivalent of a tasting menu at a 4-Star restaurant for a gourmand. This is not a “best of”, but only in the sense that Fuss has curated the collection around ten different themes, including “Catch and Release”, “Myth and Magic”, and the completely unexpected, “Women and Panthers”.

[Elizabeth Raines · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I think of wilderness tales, I think of authors such as Jack London and Lauren Groff. I think of themes like survivalism. This collection of 40 stories of the North American wild opened my eyes to so much more of the genre. This book brings so much to the table in terms of the history of the genre and the many different subgenres within it. I thought my favorite part would be the one on climates and futures, but it was actually the section on accidents and injuries. Below, I will share my favorite story from each section of the book. I love this collection of short stories, and I was fortunate to randomly find this book at an independent bookstore in Asheville, North Carolina.

1. Frederick Douglass, “The Heroic Slave” (1853)
2. Lauren Groff, “ The Midnight Zone” (2016)
3. Charles GD Roberts, “The Vagrants of the Barren” (1908)
4. David Quammen, “Walking Out” (1988)
5. Melinda Moustakis, “They Find the Drowned” (2011)
6. Anthony Doerr, “The Hunter’s Wife” (2001)
7. L. Frank Baum, “The King of the Polar Bears” (1901)
8. Margaret Atwood, “Death by Landscape” (1989)
9. T.C. Boyle, “After the Plague” (1999)
10. Adrienne Maree Brown, “the river” (2015)

[Zoë]

I appreciate what the book/Fuss tried to do but it was such a chore to read. I do enjoy short stories, but 600 pages worth of short stories from different authors on this large a variety of topics simply overwhelmed me. I tried to push through as best as I could but it took me a really long time.

That being said, there defintely were some really good stories in here written by talented authors and I completely understand the choises Fuss made. I just wish that the each theme could have been its own book (but maybe add a couple more stories every time?). That would have been both more manageable on the level of the individual books, and every dive could have been a lot deeper. But I also understand that that would have been such a niche book series that it would have, probably, never worked out.

[cameran paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

An expansive collection of forty short stories that take place in the North American wild lands, this book takes the reader from Florida to Alaska and took me over a year and a half to read in full. The stories are grouped into thematic sections with titles like “Women and Panthers,” “Hunter and Hunted,” and “Endangerment and Extinction.” Diana Fuss goes far beyond the role of a simple compiler by accompanying each theme and story with an astute introduction that illuminates its role in the greater landscape of wilderness fiction. (Also, this book’s introduction alone is fantastic!) A panoramic view of the landscape of an American literary tradition.

find this review (and more!) in my (free!) Substack newsletter, love letters to literature: https://open.substack.com/pub/campaig...

[Jae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow this was so cool! Even though I didn't love every single story, I really loved the curation & the editor's notes and introductions to each of the themed sections and each of the stories and authors within it! Really fascinating, and I felt like I learned a lot about wilderness literature and the north american wild as humans have related to it over time. And I got to read a lot of stories that I would otherwise never read.

My favorite stories were
Walking Out by David Quammen
The Hunter's Wife by Anthony Doerr
The Great Silence by Ted Chiang
To Build a Fire by Jack London
Selway by Pam Houston
The Fog Horn by Ray Bradbury
Pond Time by Gretel Ehrlich

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book because the cover art grabbed me first, the subject a quick second. Absolutely loved almost every one. Love the arrangement of stories, how the editor tied them all together, love the brief intro to each author. So many new authors I want to check out. That is the problem with reading short story anthologies - your reading list can grow by 50 with one book. This is a book I will turn to again and again.

[Denice Langley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I often recommend anthologies when asked, "What are you reading?" They offer a cross-section of genres, allowing authors to flex their skills while rewarding readers with stories that are condensed to the bare essentials. Most usually have a theme, this one is tales set in North America's wilderness areas. As always, some stories are better than others, but each is a winner. I gift these books often and have never had a disappointed reader.

[Perri · Rating 4 out of 5]

At nearly 600 pages, obviously a beast of a book but well worth it for a dip into the wonderful world of prose of the North American outdoors. As with any anthology, you'll like some stories more than others, but this survey did a nice job of exposing me to writers I had never heard of before and now look forward to reading.

[Leah Stuckey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book was curated well and liked how the stories were organized. Fantastic range of story type and authors. 10/10 recommend for anyone who loves short stories, wilderness tales, or if you are an avid nature lover.

[Melanie A · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a while to read this!
Many different North American stories, some hauntingly beautiful, others I couldn’t get into as much—but overall I was glad for the exposure to all these different writers sharing their various fictional perspectives and experiences.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars: some terrific stories, some amazing authors, plus a few duds. Well worth a read.

[Larissa Konik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection of short stories. Combines fantastic writing with exciting tales about the outdoors. Highly recommend!

[Noah LeFevre · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had so many stories and tales of all kinds of varieties. Some were the absolute best, others were not for me.

[Annabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic.

[Meg Strand]

read most of this for class plus some additional literary criticism readings so i’m counting it as the full book

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read most of it just didn’t finish it. Some stories were very good! A lot hard to read since dealing with habitat destruction and colonial mindset.