The Nature Reader

A splendid anthology that began as a sellout issue of Antaeus more than a decade ago, this completely revised and expanded edition is larger by half than its forebear -- reflecting the virtual explosion of great writing on nature that has taken place in the interim. Twenty-seven writers from a wide range of disciplines have added to the original roster of contributors. Whether it's Julia Blackburn describing the disappearance of a paradise called St. Helena's between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, David Quammen describing twentieth century "Rattlesnake Passion," David Abrams introducing us to local magic in Indonesia, or Terry Tempest Williams locking horns with her family over the Endangered Species Act, the subject of Nature is no longer limited to contemplative pastorales. Without a doubt, some of the most exciting work being written late in the twentieth century is about nature and natural histo as we begin again to assess the serious question of how humankind is part of nature, and how nature expresses itself through us.

The Nature Reader brings the foremost writers in the field -- Barry Lopez, Gary Snyder, Annie Dillard, Edward Abbey, Edward Hoagland, Peter Matthiessen, John McPhee, Edward O. Wilson, David Quammen -- together with well-known poets and fiction writers such as Elizabeth Bishop, Italo Calvino, Richard Ford, John Fowles, Cormac McCarthy, and Gabriel García Márquez. The juxtapositions yield unexpected delights and make The Nature Reader a singular contribution to the field of nature writing.

Edited by Daniel Halpern and Dan Frank, The Nature Reader includes an illuminating reading list of important works of natural history annotated by a distinguished group of advisory editors: Annie Dillard, Gretel Erlich, Jim Harrison, John Hay, Edward Hoagland, Barry, Lopez, David Quammen, and Terry Tempest Williams.

Daniel Halpern is the author of eight collections of poetry and editor of numerous anthologies, most recently The Art of the Story. He has received numerous grants and awards, including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.