Birch Browsings: A John Burroughs Reader

by Bill McKibben (Editor)

From Publishers Weekly
John Burroughs, one of America's most accomplished nature writers of the 19th century, has been resurrected in this enlightening, entertaining collection of 15 essays. McKibben ( The End of Nature ) explains how Burroughs helps us appreciate the "middle kingdom" that is neither urban nor wild by "figuring out a language for making others treasure the small spectacles of nature." The essays are best read individually, as enthusiastic guides through Burroughs's intimate world. According to him, some scenery may be too grand for daily viewing, and Burroughs suggests that one build a house in "a more humble and secluded nook." An observer of nature, he says, needs more than just the habit of attention: "You must have the bird in your heart before you can find it in the bush." Eagerly offering transliterations of nature's sounds (" Pthrung, pthrung, " croaks a frog), Burroughs takes us on trips through the woods, a search for wild honey and an excursion for trout. His favorite companion is "a dog or a boy, or a person who has the virtues of dogs and boys--transparency, good nature, curiosity, open sense." For the reader, Burroughs is such a companion. First serial to the New York Review of Books.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Genres: Nature, Natural History

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Bill McKibben is the author of Eaarth, The End of Nature, Deep Economy, Enough, Fight Global Warming Now, The Bill McKibben Reader, and numerous other books. He is the founder of the environmental organizations Step It Up and 350.org, and was among the first to warn of the dangers of global warming. In 2010 The Boston Globe called him "probably the nation's leading environmentalist," and Time magazine has called him "the world's best green journalist." He studied at Harvard, and started his writing career as a staff writer at The New Yorker. The End of Nature, his first book, was published in 1989 and was regarded as the first book on climate change for a general audience. He is a frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers including The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, Orion Magazine, Mother Jones, The New York Review of Books, Granta, Rolling Stone, and Outside. He has been awarded Guggenheim Fellowship and won the Lannan Prize for nonfiction writing in 2000. He is a scholar in residence at Middlebury College and lives in Vermont with his wife, the writer Sue Halpern, and their daughter.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/billmc...

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's always a pleasure to read John Burroughs. His writings put me in mind of Thoreau. He even cites Thoreau and Emerson. Great nature writing.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good selection of Burroughs Writings.