A Natural History of Empty Lots: Field Notes from Urban Edgelands, Back Alleys, and Other Wild Places

Brown Esq., Christopher

ISBN 10: 1643263366 / ISBN 13: 9781643263366

Published by Timber Press, 2024

About this Item

Seller Inventory # I-9781643263366

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Natural History of Empty Lots: Field Notes from Urban Edgelands, Back Alleys, and Other Wild Places
• Publisher: Timber Press
• Publication Date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1643263366
• ISBN 13: 9781643263366
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

An "instant classic", this genre-bending blend of naturalism, memoir, and social manifesto is a fascinating study for rewilding the city, the self, and society (Jeff VanderMeer, New York Times bestselling author).

During the real estate crash of the late 2000s, Christopher Brown purchased an empty lot in an industrial section of Austin, Texas. The property—abandoned and full of litter and debris—was an unlikely site for a home. Brown had become fascinated with these empty lots around Austin, so-called “ruined” spaces once used for agriculture and industry awaiting their redevelopment. He discovered them to be teeming with natural activity, and embarked on a twenty-year project to live in and document such spaces. There, in our most damaged landscapes, he witnessed the remarkable resilience of wild nature, and how we can heal ourselves by healing the Earth. Beautifully written and philosophically hard-hitting, A Natural History of Empty Lots offers a new lens on human disruption and nature, offering a sense of hope among the edgelands. 

“Brown lives far from any conventional battlefield, but he is surrounded by the wreckage of a different war, and he, too, finds hope in cultivating the ruins of nature…A Natural History of Empty Lots is less a departure from the nature writing tradition than a welcome addition to its edgelands.” —New York Review of Books

"The nature writing we need now." —Michelle Nijhuis, author of Beloved Beasts

"Incredible" —Kelly Link, Pulitzer Prize finalist 

About the Author

Christopher Brown is the Philip K. Dick, World Fantasy and John W. Campbell Award-nominated author of the novels Tropic of Kansas, Rule of Capture and Failed State. Also an accomplished lawyer, he has worked on two Supreme Court confirmation hearings, led the technology corporate practice of a major American law firm, and been the General Counsel of two public companies.