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lofimichelleeo's review
5.0
Turner's writing inspires me to be more gutsy in what I say and mean. I'd give 5 stars for the titled essay alone.
rumbledethumps's review
3.0
This is a complicated book. The first essays are what I call nature nostalgia, wherein the author writes about this idyllic time in the past, usually the author's childhood/early adulthood, when nature was unspoiled and a veritable Eden. It then goes on to decry the current state of nature. In one essay Turner repeatedly refers to National Parks as amusement parks, and writes, "Yosemite Valley is now more like Coney Island than a wilderness." Which is nonsense.
But later in the book, he expands on the idea a bit, discussing how we currently view nature as a resource to be managed, and how we have turned wildness into wilderness, and manage it as business, just as amusement parks and zoos are managed as businesses.
He has some interesting ideas, which I will think about for a long time, but I doubt I'll ever read this book again, and instead will raid its bibliography for new titles.
But later in the book, he expands on the idea a bit, discussing how we currently view nature as a resource to be managed, and how we have turned wildness into wilderness, and manage it as business, just as amusement parks and zoos are managed as businesses.
He has some interesting ideas, which I will think about for a long time, but I doubt I'll ever read this book again, and instead will raid its bibliography for new titles.
daytonm's review
4.0
Some great critiques of economistic and scientific management approaches to wilderness and wildness, and some beautiful passages. But while he is a deep ecologist, he sometimes overemphasizes his own personal (very masculine) fulfillment from wildlife as opposed to that wildlife's intrinsic right to autonomy. It's wonderful to include both aspects, but this felt skewed towards the former.
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