The Necessity of Empty Places - Softcover

Paul Gruchow

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312038895 ISBN 13: 9780312038892

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1989

Synopsis

An evocative personal narrative that takes us to some of America's least traveled corners in Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Gruchow ( Journal of a Prairie Year ) here captures the unconventional beauty of the West with landscapes of the U.S. and presents a compelling case for their preservation. Indicting our cultural penchant for reshaping nature ("Our backyards have become as regular and predictable as our McDonalds"), the author contends that we are putting ourselves on the endangered species list: "We may have lost our awe of nature, but its power remains, and to the extent that we are unmindful of that power, we are less, not more, secure." The book is primarily a celebration of those rugged places that still permit us to see that power. The occasional digressionsan anecdote about John Berryman or a hymn remembered from boyhoodserve to refresh rather than obstruct, and are neatly tied in with the main narrative. Whether tracing the remnants of the Oregon Trail or traversing the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming, Gruchow describes, instructs and reflects with the self-assurance of one in complete command of his subject.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

This series of interconnected essays reflects one man's exploration of natural places, from the plains of his native Minnesota to the mountains of Wyoming. Gruchow mixes his observations of the natural world with philosophical meanderings, often condemning our present age for its excesses and creeping homogeneity. Among the chapters are descriptions of a modern tour along the old Oregon Trail, walking expeditions into the Bighorn Mountains, and the migration of sandhill cranes. Some of Gruchow's observations are mundane; many are arresting. For all libraries with active natural history collections. Randy Dykhuis, Grand Rapids P.L., Mich.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0312038895
• ISBN 13: 9780312038892
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304