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A review by forsan
Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout by Philip Connors
adventurous
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Philip Connors discusses life as a fire lookout in New Mexico's Gila Wilderness. The book is organized to follow the chronology of a fire season in New Mexico; we follow Connors from his arrival at the Apache Peak lookout station in his fifth(ish) year on the job through his departure at the end of fire season. Along the way, Connors discusses various parts of his life and his philosophy about the wilderness.
I definitely enjoyed this, which I listened to as an audiobook while riding my bike. It's really meditative and winding -- we cover a wide range of topics (from Connors' boyhood on a Midwestern farm, to his experiences while living in New York during 9/11, to Jack Kerouac's time as a lookout on Desolation Peak in the North Cascades), not always in a particularly straightforward path. For the most part, it wasn't too repetitive, and I think it fits well into the Edward Abbey-style tradition of nature writing.
I definitely enjoyed this, which I listened to as an audiobook while riding my bike. It's really meditative and winding -- we cover a wide range of topics (from Connors' boyhood on a Midwestern farm, to his experiences while living in New York during 9/11, to Jack Kerouac's time as a lookout on Desolation Peak in the North Cascades), not always in a particularly straightforward path. For the most part, it wasn't too repetitive, and I think it fits well into the Edward Abbey-style tradition of nature writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Death of parent and Alcohol
Discusses 9/11 in New York and a family member's death by suicide.