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A review by mattdube
Things That Are by Amy Leach
4.0
I was somewhat overwhelmed by these lyric, funny, and compact essays about the natural world. The first. second, and third I read were my favorite thing ever. By the tenth or so I was exhausted and had to pace myself, reading two or maybe three at a sitting to not feel bullied by their idiosyncratic wonder.
To be more plain, each essay takes on an animal or two-- let's say bears, in winter, and anthropomorphizes it, gives it not just psychology and motive, but a peculiar identity, a personality. And this becomes the lens for encountering it. Leach's range of reference is wide, her sense of the science lucid but never dull. But, and this is a failing on my part, I'm more interested in people than animals (or in later essays, stars, trees, etc). So as much as I admire Leach her talent and am charmed by her technique, I found this a little hard to finish, and it's not a long book.
To be more plain, each essay takes on an animal or two-- let's say bears, in winter, and anthropomorphizes it, gives it not just psychology and motive, but a peculiar identity, a personality. And this becomes the lens for encountering it. Leach's range of reference is wide, her sense of the science lucid but never dull. But, and this is a failing on my part, I'm more interested in people than animals (or in later essays, stars, trees, etc). So as much as I admire Leach her talent and am charmed by her technique, I found this a little hard to finish, and it's not a long book.