In Our Nature: Stories of Wildness - Donna Seaman - Hardcover - 1 ED

Fourteen unforgettable short stories provoke, illuminate, and startle as they explore our perception of nature and the conflict between wildness and civilization within each of us. In a time of increasing recognition of the consequences of the destruction of forests and wetlands, the pillaging of the seas, and the toxicity of industry, we are experiencing profound uncertainty about our relationship with the earth. These stellar short stories by writers such as Barry Lopez, Margaret Atwood, E. L. Doctorow, Rick Bass, Chris Offutt, and others plumb the mystery-as only fiction can-of nature within us and the world of nature that surrounds us. We are nature, in spite of our machines, our plastics, and our artificial ingredients. Yet what do we make of our own nature? Our own wildness? And how do we explain the paradox of our urge to both exploit and protect wilderness? From E.L. Doctorow's shattering tale, "Willi," is which a young boy witnesses adults transformed into animals by the frenzy of sexual lust, to Rick BassÕs ÒSwamp Boy,Ó where his young hero is hounded by a pack of boys incensed by his solitary communion with the wild, to Margaret AtwoodÕs wickedly funny story, ÒMy Life as a Bat,Ó or Kent Meyer's soulful ballad of love regained, ÒThe Heart of the Sky,Ó these memorable stories articulate our deep need for wilderness and the indelible role nature plays in our psychological and spiritual well-being.Ackerman, Diane is the author of 'In Our Nature: Stories of Wildness - Donna Seaman - Hardcover - 1 ED' with ISBN 9780789426420 and ISBN 0789426420.