A Handmade Wilderness

Rating:
Summary: Even better than a walk in the woods...
Review: Very few books about nature can compete with time actually spent in nature. But this comes very close. Don Shuler tells the story of his 20+ year careful and loving relationship with an abused and exhausted piece of land in the Mississippi sand hills. His simple storytelling style makes vivid the plants, animals, birds and human beings that he finds in this special place. These encouters are so carefully described that I felt that I was experiencing them along with him. And I wanted very much to read all that he might have edited out of this volume. The book is sweet, poignant, and filled with an animist's sense of humility and wonder. I am very surprised it is not more widely known and up there with the A Sand County Almanac.

Rating:
Summary: A clear-eyed and funny back-to-the-land memoir
Review: Why this book does not have a larger audience is a mystery tome. It is far more interesting, engaging, funny, educational and identifiable than Thoreau, IMHO. This is a guidebook for anyone who wants to buy land in the country -- or just wants to dream about it from the living room of his/her quarter-acre suburban property. Arborists will love it. One might think, given the various potential stereotypes at play (late 60s; gay men, etc.) that the book might have a strongly "granola," or countercultural, flavor. Not at all. It is wonderfully non-self indulgent. Schueler has great self-deprecating humor, and his descriptions of his neighbors and the wild and domesticated animals on his property are marvelous. A great read.

Rating:
Summary: A clear-eyed and funny back-to-the-land memoir
Review: Why this book does not have a larger audience is a mystery tome. It is far more interesting, engaging, funny, educational and identifiable than Thoreau, IMHO. This is a guidebook for anyone who wants to buy land in the country -- or just wants to dream about it from the living room of his/her quarter-acre suburban property. Arborists will love it. One might think, given the various potential stereotypes at play (late 60s; gay men, etc.) that the book might have a strongly "granola," or countercultural, flavor. Not at all. It is wonderfully non-self indulgent. Schueler has great self-deprecating humor, and his descriptions of his neighbors and the wild and domesticated animals on his property are marvelous. A great read.

Rating:
Summary: You'll Love It!
Review: Why this book doesn't have a bigger following is beyond me. For anyone who's ever dreamed of owning a place in the country, this is a delightful, funny, informative and beautifully written book. Refreshingly, there's not a self-indulgent sentence in the entire text. Schueler delves into all facets of the city/suburban person's adjustment to country life. And because the memoir takes place over the course of 25 years, you get to see the impressive results of he and his partner's devotion to their land. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: You'll Love It!
Review: Why this book doesn't have a bigger following is beyond me. For anyone who's ever dreamed of owning a place in the country, this is a delightful, funny, informative and beautifully written book. Refreshingly, there's not a self-indulgent sentence in the entire text. Schueler delves into all facets of the city/suburban person's adjustment to country life. And because the memoir takes place over the course of 25 years, you get to see the impressive results of he and his partner's devotion to their land. I highly recommend it.