From Book News, Inc.
A selection of writings by John Muir (1838-1914), the American conservationist. Carefully chosen and introduced by the editor, the 51 excerpts recreate the story of Muir's boyhood, college studies, 1000-mile walk to the Gulf of Mexico, observation of birds and trees, and discovery of glaciers in Yosemite. Originally published in 1954.Copyright © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

ANNOTATION

"Reading that is often magnificent, thrilling and exciting... ."--Kirkus Reviews

FROM THE PUBLISHER

During John Muir's extraordinary life as a conservationist, he traveled through most of the American wilderness alone and on foot, without a gun or a sleeping bag. In 1903, while on a three-day camping trip with President Theodore Roosevelt, he convinced the president of the importance of a national conservation program, and he is given major credit for saving the Grand Canyon and Arizona's Petrified Forest. Muir's writing, based on journals he kept throughout his life, gives our generation a picture of an America still wild and unsettled only one hundred years ago. Edwin Way Teale has collected here the best of Muir's writing, selected from all of his major works, including MY FIRST SUMMER IN THE SIERRA and TRAVELS IN ALASKA. THE WILDERNESS WORLD OF JOHN MUIR provides "reading that is often magnificent, thrilling, exciting, breathtaking, and awe-inspiring" (Kirkus Reviews).

FROM THE CRITICS

The Nation

This admiringly edited volume is especially welcome... Here is a substantial selection including may of his greatest passages.

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