The Wisdom of John Muir: 100 Selections from the Letters, Journals, and… (utgåvan 2012)

The Wisdom of John Muir is a pleasant little book, packed full of information about Muir and his life, and lots of lovely excerpts of his writing.

The excerpts are organized roughly by theme (such as trees, or animals) and chronology into chapters. Each chapter begins with an overview of the theme and how it played out in Muir's life; each quoted section within the chapter is briefly introduced with a comment on context. There's a bit of overlap between the comments and the overviews at times, but it works.

In addition there are things like a chronology of Muir's life, a list of the works drawn from, and recommendations for further exploration. A compact but useful index rounds it out.

In some ways the strength of the collection lies in Anne Rowthorn's understanding of when to provide context, and when get out of the way and let Muir speak for himself. The selections are wide-ranging and lovely, and offer a good introduction to Muir's writing and philosophy.

On a personal note, I will remember this collection affectionately for the role it played this summer for my family. We were scattering the ashes of my godmother, a passionate nature lover, and realized we'd forgotten to bring the book of readings we planned to draw from for our informal ceremony. I'd brought this book along with the idea of getting it read for the review, and it turned out to be the perfect thing. We each found something wonderful and apt to read in it, and were greatly satisfied. ( )

The Wisdom of John Muir by Anne Rowthorn is a nice selections of Muir's work including items from letters, journals, and essays. For fans of nature writing, this would be an excellent introduction to his work. The context provided by Anne Rothorn make the selections even more meaningful and help readers better understand the life of John Muir.

The small format and readable length make the book an excellent choice as a gift. ( )

Wonderful introduction to writings of John Muir. Arranged thematically with lots of commentary to set historical context. Climbers will love chapter 7 on some of Muir's more dangerous forays into the unclimbed Sierras. Recommended for all who would like to gain insights into the origins of the American environmental movement. ( )

I have read compilations of writings before (specifically a few of Thoreau). This one is better than any of the others because the context that Anne Rowthorn puts the writings in makes the writing more than just beautiful language. The introductions also give insights into Muir's life, so you get a biographical picture as well. I would recommend this book mostly for quick meditative reading, but a straight read-through is also enjoyable.

I docked it one star since it isn't the same as reading Muir's full works, so I don't want to give the impression that it is a fully adequate substitute for that. ( )

For a modern-day environmentalist, John Muir is an iconic figure: tall and lean, with a prophet's beard; his lyrical writing the match that set wilderness preservation on fire as an American value; his battles to save Yosemite and Hetch Hetchy among the foundation stories of environmental advocacy. This book gathers excerpts from Muir's letters, books, and dairies, and groups them by theme: the Sierras; trees; Alaska; fights to preserve wildernesses; the immanence and transcendence of natural beauty. Editor Anne Rowthorn frames the excerpts with cogent explanations of their contexts.

This book will have two ideal audiences. Hikers who love Muir, who drink his writing like a spiritual mead and want it with them on the trail, will love way this book distills many of his most beautiful passages into a small package that fits easily into a backpack. In a different category - the one I'm in -- readers who respect the historical Muir but have been unable to endure his rhapsodic prose style, will appreciate Rowthorn's culling of interesting and revealing passages from Muir's many writings. The book is not a substitute for a biography, since it's Muir's take on the world around him, and only rarely includes his contemporaries' take on him. But, it's a great complement, and it also works well as an introduction to the giant of American environmentalism in his own words. ( )