Synopses & Reviews
Review
"Snyder has not been subsumed by our culture but has consistently stood off to the side, giving his work a grand range far beyond academic claustrophobia." Jim Harrison
Review
"As early as the 1950s, before ecology became a household word, Synder understood things about civilization and economy that no one else was talking about, and he wrote about them with great authority and a sinewy line." Richard Tillinghast
Review
"Snyder's visit to his great-grandmother's grave is especially wonderful, and the memorial statement to his wife on the last page is beautiful. Perfect reading for our troubled times." Library Journal
Synopsis
Following
The Practice of the Wild, this new collection of essays by Gary Snyder blazes with insight. In his most autobiographical writing to date, these essays employ fire as a metaphor for the crucial moment when deeply held viewpoints yield to new experiences, and our spirits and minds broaden and mature. Snyder here writes and riffs on a wide range of topics, from explorations of southwestern European Paleolithic cave art to his own personal poetic history with haiku; from reminiscences of youthful West Coast logging and trail crew days to talks given in Paris and Tokyo on art and archetypes. He honors poets of his generation, like Philip Whalen and Allen Ginsberg, and meditates on art, labor, and the making of families, houses, and homesteads.
This is a work that requires us to make friends with impermanence and error to make "wildfire" a partner and to keep burning the hazardous, the excess, and even one's own dreams and attainments, over and over again. The final impression is holistic: We perceive not a collection of essays, but a cohesive presentation of Snyder's life and work expressed in his characteristically straightforward prose.
Synopsis
This collection of essays by Gary Snyder, now in paperback, blazes with insight. In his most autobiographical writing to date, Snyder employs fire as a metaphor for the crucial moment when deeply held viewpoints yield to new experiences, and our spirits and minds broaden and mature. Snyder here writes and riffs on a wide range of topics, from our sense of place and a need to review forestry practices, to the writing life and Eastern thought. Surveying the current wisdom that fires are in some cases necessary for ecosystems of the wild, he contemplates the evolution of his view on the practice, while exploring its larger repercussions on our perceptions of nature and the great landscapes of the West. These pieces include recollections of his boyhood, his involvement with the literary community of the Bay Area, his travels to Japan, as well as his thoughts on American culture today. All maintain Snyder's reputation as an intellect to be reckoned with, while often revealing him at his most emotionally vulnerable. The final impression is holistic: We perceive not a collection of essays, but a cohesive presentation of Snyder's life and work expressed in his characteristically straightforward prose.
About the Author
Gary Snyder is the author of sixteen collections of poetry and prose. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1975 and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1992 and 2005, he has been awarded the Bollingen Poetry Prize, the Robert Kirsch Lifetime Achievement Award, and the 2004 Japanese Masaoka Shiki International Haiku Grand Prize. He has lived in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada since 1970.