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9 verk 397 medlemmar 9 recensioner 1 favoritmärkta

Om författaren

William deBuys is the author of many books, including, most recently, The Last Unicorn: A Search for One of Earth's Rarest Creatures. He lives in northern New Mexico.
Särskiljningsinformation:

(eng) Full name: William Eno DeBuys

Foto taget av: photo by Ben Moscona

Verk av William deBuys

Taggad

Allmänna fakta

Födelsedag
1949
Kön
male
Nationalitet
USA
Bostadsorter
El Valle, New Mexico, USA
Yrken
writer
conservationist
Organisationer
Valles Caldera Trust
Kort biografi
[excerpted from author's website]
Conservationist and writer William deBuys is the author of ten books. He has been a Kluge Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Library of Congress (2018), a Guggenheim Fellow (2008-2009), and a Lyndhurst Fellow (1986-1988). He was the founding Chair of the Valles Caldera Trust, responsible for administering the 89,000-acre Valles Caldera National Preserve in northern New Mexico (2001-2004). He lives on the farm he has tended since 1976 in the remote village of El Valle in New Mexico's Sangre de Cristo mountains.
Särskiljningsnotis
Full name: William Eno DeBuys

Medlemmar

Recensioner

I think the subtitle of this one is a little misleading, just because describing this as a book about the future of the American southwest is entirely too narrow. It's a book that's always thinking about the future, but it's very much about the past, present, and future of the area, one that explores topics from the history of native peoples to the current politics of water use to projected climate-change models. The picture it paints is complex and interesting, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, very depressing, especially for a resident of the area like me. I should note that this was published in 2013, so it's little bit dated, but, well, I think it's safe to say that the details haven't gotten any less depressing in the meantime.

I wasn't entirely sure about the writing at first, as it struck me that the author was sometimes trying to be a little too poetic to make up for otherwise being pretty -- sorry for the word choice! -- dry. But he absolutely won me over by the end, and ultimately I found this to be informative, absorbing, and thoughtful, with a nice balance between broad overview and intimate detail. Recommended for anyone with an interest in the US's desert states, the changes they've been through, and the ones that are still ahead.
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
bragan | 3 andra recensioner | Apr 1, 2023 |
Excellent work describing the history, both natural and cultural, of an area I worked in as a wilderness ranger one summer three years ago.
 
Flaggad
untraveller | Jun 29, 2019 |
I started running into deBuys name only lately. That is strange since his work is close to the kind we are looking for at Torrey House.

In THE LAST UNICORN I was most impressed by the author. I was impressed by how tough, smart, patient, open minded, and did I mention tough, that deBuys is. He was trekking trail-less terrain in the jungles of Laos with men who were a fraction of his age. Like me he is a sweaty guy and would find himself soaked through while those around him were not breaking a sweat. The jungle he writes about so closely is a harsh, difficult place. It is clear he kept up and that he never complained. And that he had his notebook at the ready all the time (there is a terrific addendum where he speaks about how he gathers material, right down to the brand of pen, notebook and camera he uses).

In spite of his affection for the people and place, he did not make me want to go there. The side tale at the end of a red ant attaching itself to his companion's retina is enough alone to make me stay committed to armchair travel. It is painful to read of the lost cause of conservation in one of the last places on earth sporting rich ecological diversity. deBuys is sensitive and attentive to his surroundings, but like he says an open heart is a vulnerable one. "The diminishment of the planet, on the other hand, is a new thing, and it is our thing. Whether by snare, bullet, chain saw, or pollution, whether because of carbon-induced alteration of the climate, ocean trawling, upset of the nitrogen cycle, or any of a thousand other unnatural shocks, we relentlessly diminish the vigor of the evolutionary epoch that broght our speciies, Homo sapiens, into being."

Reading UNICORN does not make me want to go to Laos, but it does make me want to meet deBuys and hear more of his view of the world.
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
Mark-Bailey | 3 andra recensioner | Jul 1, 2017 |
I started running into deBuys name only lately. That is strange since his work is close to the kind we are looking for at Torrey House.

In THE LAST UNICORN I was most impressed by the author. I was impressed by how tough, smart, patient, open minded, and did I mention tough, that deBuys is. He was trekking trail-less terrain in the jungles of Laos with men who were a fraction of his age. Like me he is a sweaty guy and would find himself soaked through while those around him were not breaking a sweat. The jungle he writes about so closely is a harsh, difficult place. It is clear he kept up and that he never complained. And that he had his notebook at the ready all the time (there is a terrific addendum where he speaks about how he gathers material, right down to the brand of pen, notebook and camera he uses).

In spite of his affection for the people and place, he did not make me want to go there. The side tale at the end of a red ant attaching itself to his companion's retina is enough alone to make me stay committed to armchair travel. It is painful to read of the lost cause of conservation in one of the last places on earth sporting rich ecological diversity. deBuys is sensitive and attentive to his surroundings, but like he says an open heart is a vulnerable one. "The diminishment of the planet, on the other hand, is a new thing, and it is our thing. Whether by snare, bullet, chain saw, or pollution, whether because of carbon-induced alteration of the climate, ocean trawling, upset of the nitrogen cycle, or any of a thousand other unnatural shocks, we relentlessly diminish the vigor of the evolutionary epoch that broght our speciies, Homo sapiens, into being."

Reading UNICORN does not make me want to go to Laos, but it does make me want to meet deBuys and hear more of his view of the world.
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
torreyhouse | 3 andra recensioner | Jul 1, 2017 |

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Statistik

Verk
9
Medlemmar
397
Popularitet
#61,078
Betyg
4.1
Recensioner
9
ISBN
31
Favoritmärkt
1

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