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Natural History / Literature
"Beers captures much of the initial wonder and power that the lands of the far West makes upon its most recent arrivals. Read this book in California, preferably on a long drive through it..."—The San Francisco Chronicle Book Review |
Unfolding Beauty: Celebrating California's Landscapes Edited by Terry Beers (6 x 9), 416 pages A California Legacy book California, the Golden State, conjures up visions of mountains, water, vistas, and vast landscapes. The astounding beauty of California is reflected not only in the works of authors like John Muir, John Steinbeck, Wallace Stegner, Robinson Jeffers, Gretel Ehrlich, and Gary Snyder, but also in surprising and provocative selections from writers such as Jack Kerouac, Norman Mailer, Joan Didion, Aldous Huxley, and Charles Bukowski. This diverse collection of prose and poetry brings alive the diverse landscapes of the Golden State. Unfolding Beauty is the first publication in the California Legacy project, a collaboration between Santa Clara University and Heyday Books, dedicated to the rich and diverse cultural and literary heritage of California. |
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"A remarkable compendium of assorted writings by a cavalcade of talented naturalist and literary writers"—The Midwest Book Review "This superb collection of firsthand observations of the state spanning two centuries vividly describes what California was like before we began carving and polluting her."—Palo Alto Daily News "An exceptional anthology of California writing and scenes chosen for their impact in revealing California history and culture."—Midwest Book Review "Exceptional"—Today’s Books "Essays, poetry, and excerpts round out a collection featuring the natural paradise of the land. Sentiments differ throughout the collection, setting up contrasts between descriptions of untouched beauty and environmental degradation.…a necessary purchase for regional libraries."—Library Journal "Beers, an English professor at Santa Clara University, has collected and annotated some of the richest and most resonant passages from the work of writers who have been attracted to California and inspired by its physical beauty...Beers is not content with a selection of pretty readings, and the book always reaches for deeper meanings and moments of confrontations."—The Los Angeles Times Southern California Section "Beers captures much of the initial wonder and power that the lands of the far West makes upon its most recent arrivals. Read this book in California, preferably on a long drive through it, as that's how we're most familiar with its vastness and most comfortable relating to it. See the yellow sunset on dry hills, the blue sea, the palms and redwoods. Or place your feet flat on the ground as you read and feel the earth beneath them stretching away to every rock in the state."—The San Francisco Chronicle Book Review "A glorious collection of firsthand observations of the great state of California that spans two centuries and gives an answer to the hungry historian or the inquisitive individual who stands amidst present-day clutter on a manipulated landscape and wonders 'What was it like to be here then?'"—Phil Frank, creator of Farley "Unfolding Beauty is the anthology this California-lover has been waiting for. The wide-ranging selections from California writers—William Brewer and John Muir right through to Gretel Ehrlich, Gary Snyder, and David Masumoto—are not chosen for the way they might fit into some literary canon, but rather for the way they reveal the magnificent diversity of landscapes in this patched-together state and the mixed blessings of its equally impressive cultural diversity of the past two hundred years. If I were governor or king, Unfolding Beauty would be required reading in every high school from the Siskiyous to the Mojave."—Freeman House, author of Totem Salmon "Reading Unfolding Beauty is like attending an idyllic banquet, where one after another the eloquent guests—from Mary Austin to Gary Soto—toast California's varied landscapes with descriptions that are themselves the feast. Not the palm-tree California of cliches but the other Californias of grasslands, deserts, coast mountains, of the startling encounters of travelers and the sweet epiphanies of those who call one of its landscapes home."—Rebecca Solnit, author of Wanderlust: A History of Walking |
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The San Francisco Bay Area John Charles Fremont, Naming the Golden Gate The Northwest and Shasta Country Darryl Babe Wilson, Gedin Ch-Lum-Nu The Sierra Nevada Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe, from The Shirley Letters The Southern Desert and Basin Joseph LeConte, from A journal of Ramblings The Southern Coast Richard Henry Dana, from Two Years Before the Mast The Central Coast Pedro Font, from Font's Complete Diary The Central Valley William H. Brewer, from Up and Down California |
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Terry Beers, associate professor of English at Santa Clara University, is past executive director of the Robinson Jeffers Association and the author of A Thousand Graceful Subtleties: Rhetoric in the Poetry of Robinson Jeffers (1995). Professor Beers is the general editor of the California Legacy series. He lives in north Monterey County. |
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© Heyday Books, 2003 |