USA: Book: American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau

American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau, a collection of
essays edited by Bill McKibben. American Earth provides a roadmap
through environmental thinking in the United States since 1837, when
Henry David Thoreau first waxed eloquent about life on Walden Pond.
But this book is no race through time on the interstate; with more
than a hundred authors writing nearly a thousand pages, American Earth
meanders through almost two centuries, stopping at quirky roadside
attractions and traveling down little-known side roads.

The
destination, for the reader, is a thoughtful, broader understanding of
the world we live in. In the book’s forward, Al Gore, former
vice-president and current dean of the save-the-planet movement, says,
“Taken together, these essays, poems, cartoons and speeches show how
our country’s attitude toward nature had developed and changed from
Thoreau’s time to our own. Above all, they show us that
environmentalism, while inevitably a source of conflict, is inherent
in our national character, a fundamental part of our heritage as
Americans.” The real power of this collection is that it points out
the inter-connectiveness of our lives and the environment. Although
our industrial society has encouraged us to embrace technology and to
view nature as separate from ourselves, these essays point to the
impossibility of separating the natural world and the society we live
in. The earth doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and connecting to it is
possible even for those who don’t live in a cabin in the woods.
http://www.fseee.org/forestmag/1101pulp.shtml

Posted via email from Deane’s posterous