Selected Writings

Jan 21, 2025 4:50 AM

Author:John Muir,Terry Tempest Williams

Selected Writings

This volume of John Muir's selected writings chronicles the key turning points in his life and study of the American wilderness. The Story of My Boyhood and Youth is Muir's account of his childhood on a Wisconsin farm, where his interest in nature was first piqued; in The Mountains of California, The Yosemite, and Travels in Alaska we follow him on long journeys into stunning mountain ranges and valleys, where he records native flora and fauna and finds proof of his theories of the effect of glaciers on landscape formation. These four full-length works--along with a selection of important essays also included here--helped galvanize American naturalists, leading to the founding of the Sierra Club and several national parks. In these pages, written with meticulous thoroughness and an impassioned lyricism, we witness Muir's awakening to the incredible beauty of our planet, and the honing of an eye turned as acutely toward the scientific as the spiritual.

Reviews

Prose from a poet

—— Chris Packham , author of Fingers in the Sparkle Jar

Compelling...a timely reminder of why [birds] matter so much to so many of us

—— Stephen Moss , author of Wild Hares and Hummingbirds

Beautifully written...informative and entertaining

—— NFU Countryside Magazine

Eloquent and infectious

—— Literary Review

Fascinating

—— The Countryman magazine

Fascinating…peppered with personal anecdotes, historical facts and myths to create a literary tapestry

—— David Lindo, author of The Urban Birder

Exhilarating…vibrant and vivid

—— Stuart Winter, author of Tales of a Tabloid Twitcher

Delightful and insightful

—— Dominic Couzens, author of Tales of Remarkable Birds

His latest book, A Sky Full of Birds, delights in the simple joys of birding in this country.

—— Joe Shute, Telegraph

Fluid, imaginative and poetic yet full of facts...Great stuff

—— Bo Beolens , Fatbirder

An intensely personal journey and a celebration of the restorative powers of nature

—— Rob Lambert , BBC Wildlife Magazine

This beautifully written book will transport you to a world where birdwatching is more than just ticking a species off a list. Matt Merritt writes from the heart and takes us on a very personal journey around Britain

—— Countryside

A book that explores why we hardly ever spend time on our own – and why we should.

—— The Pool

In this beautifully wrought and engrossing meditation, Michael Harris observes how hard it is to find solitude in our buzzing, interconnected world.

—— Jury of the RBC Taylor Prize

We should remind ourselves that a life without solitude is a diminished life. What makes this book so valuable and so timely is that it serves both as a reminder of solitude’s worth and as a spur to resistance.

—— Nicholas Carr, author of THE SHALLOWS

There are now plenty of self-help books that recommend a balanced media diet, but none articulates than need as simply or profoundly as this exploration of solitude.

—— Bookseller

Michael Harris’s Solitude is a delightful reminder that, contrary to current wisdom, we cannot be fully human unless our minds are free to wander. An essential and spirited companion as our digital culture accelerates into the unknown.

—— Andrew Westoll, author of THE CHIMPS OF FAUNA SANCTUARY

Reading Harris’s book is like smashing your Google Glasses and looking through your unique lenses for the first time. This enjoyable, quirky probe into current brain science, psychology, and philosophy hugely contributes to the global ‘Great Turning’ toward a more diverse, durable future of freer people enjoying themselves more, both together and alone.

—— William Powers, author of NEW SLOW CITY: LIVING SIMPLY IN THE WORLD’S FASTEST CITY

This is an excellent book by a first-rate writer. Michael Harris brings his insight and eloquence to bear on one of the most insidious problems of our time: how to break free from the seductions of technology and reclaim our inner selves.

—— Deborah Campbell, author of A DISAPPEARANCE IN DAMASCUS

In a time of unrelenting connection, solitude becomes a radical act. It also becomes an essential one. Michael Harris makes a thoughtful and deeply felt case for why the art of spending quality time with oneself matters now more than ever – and the steps we can take to reclaim it.

—— Brian Christian, author of ALGORITHMS TO LIVE BY

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