Annotated Bibliography

General Fiction Historical Fiction Science Fiction Fantasy

Children's Classics Humor Travel / Adventure Nature / Outdoors

Philosophy / Religion History Popular Science Writing

Edward Abbey
The "Desert Sage": Abbey is quite a character. I've always wondered if the man himself was as rough-edged and brash as he pretends to be in his writing. He tries deliberately to arouse and delights in argument, but there's a deep, thoughtful, sensitive mind behind the exterior. He makes a lot of really good arguments (and some bad ones: he could stop littering highways, even if he is trying to make a statement.)

• Abbey's Road
  This is just a series of tales of various adventures Abbey went on during his life. Not particularly deep, but a fine way to live the wilderness experience vicariously while stuck in a desk job pining for the pines.
• Desert Solitaire
  This is definitely my favorite work of his. It might be his first. He isn't so arrogant or belligerent here. Very poetic in places, exciting in others, always thoughtful and thought-provoking.
• The Journey Home
  This is written in the same vein as Desert Solitaire. He is much more mature here, but a little jaded perhaps, as this is toward the end of his career. Not as perfect a work as Desert Solitaire.
• Monkey Wrench Gang
  The original Eco-Terrorist propaganda. Dammit why hasn't some fool-headed teenager taken his hint and blown up the goddamned dam yet?? A wee bit heavy handed and... rabid... for my tastes, but worth reading as it is an historical document in some ways, much like Rachel Carson's Silent Spring.

Mary Austin

• The Land of Little Rain
  Austin is a spunky woman who lived for a while in the wild Owen's Valley back when there were still Indians living there. Her account of her time spent there is splendidly poetic, interesting, and beautiful.

Tom Brown, Jr.
There is a lot of myth and debate surrounding Tom Brown and the possibly fictitious characters he talks about in all his books and classes. I've heard both sides (and even taken his beginner class). My take on it is: who cares! His vision and message are pure: just listen to your heart. He teaches of a way of life that I aspire to in my dreams -- and I'm not the only one. His message is timely and plays on the heartstrings of a large segment of the population of modern America. Let us dream and play around harmlessly in the wilderness in our spare time. If anyone attains the level of perfection and pureness Tom Brown describes in Grandfather's life, then it doesn't make the slightest difference if Grandfather existed or not. In any case, all the books listed below are highly entertaining.

• Grandfather
  
• The Journey
  
• The Search
  
• The Tracker
  
• The Vision
  

Annie Dillard

• Holy the Firm
  These two are deeper and more esoteric; not as entertaining but still worthwhile reading.
• Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
  Annie Dillard is the modern Thoreau. She is perhaps a bit arrogant in her aspirations to Deep Thought, but I feel this book is cause to forgive her. It is a poetic, often scientific, introspective, thoughtful, beautiful book. I enjoyed it tremendously. (Thoreau, on the other hand is boring as hell, and no less arrogant.)
• Teaching a Stone to Talk
  

Colin Fletcher

• Colin Fletcher's Secret Worlds
  This is a luxury read for those of us who enjoyed the two above: there really isn't anything new or spectacular here; it is just an excuse to enjoy a bunch more of Fletcher's adventures vicariously.
• The Man Who Walked Through Time
  This is his account of walking the length of the Grand Canyon -- below the rim. Anyone familiar with off-trail travel in the Grand Canyon will recognize that this is a fantastically masochistic feat. He tries a bit too hard to find deeper meaning in his wanderings, but he does succeed now and then.
• The Thousand-Mile Summer
  This is an account of Fletcher's incredible solitary journey through the most desolate harsh desert along the eastern border of California. It is introspective and adventurous. However, I think it might only appeal to the sort of person (like me) who dreams of doing the same thing himself.

Ray Jardine

• Beyond Backpacking
  I'm not sure which category this little gem belongs in, but I definitely can't leave it out. Jardine has built up a whole world of myth and debate, but ignore all that. Just read the darned book: he makes you question every aspect of the sport of long distance hiking. Whether or not you agree with any of his techniques is immaterial. I think every prospective long distance hiker will find at least something useful in this book.

Wallace Kaufman

• Coming Out of the Woods
  This is sort of an autobiography. It tells of how a poet's romantic vision of living in the woods is slowly transformed by the realities of life. I found it very interesting and entertaining. He is a good story teller and has a great gentle sense of humor.

Jon Krakauer

• Into Thin Air
  Krakauer tells of the well-publicized accident on the top of Everest. It is more than a story of mountain defeating man: it is the story of the arrogance of wealth overcoming good judgment; of responsibility and humility.
• Into the Wild
  The well-known outdoors journalist, Krakauer, researches and tells the tale of the mysterious death of Chris McCandless. It is the story of reckless youth searching for itself. He presents the story evenly and fairly, while at the same time not hiding his personal biases. It is a spectacular piece of reporting, no matter what you think about what this kid did. (My bias is also obvious: I admire him for his courage to follow his heart into the wilderness with such pureness, despite being so unprepared.)

Theodore Kroeber

• Ishi
  I think this is often listed as a children's novel. Not so. It is the incredible story of Ishi, the last of his tribe of Yaqui Indians that lived near Mt. Lassen in California. It is not a happy story, but it describes their way of life vividly, and follows it through the years as they are forced to live more and more in hiding until they are scarcely better off than animals. It is told by an anthropologist who befriends Ishi after he finally surrenders and walks out to the white man's civilization in the early 1900's. (There are two other books with very similar titles by the same author which may be more intellectual treatments of the same subject.) (Incidentally the Kroebers are the parents of Ursula K. Leguin, the well known sci-fi author.)

Aldo Leopold

• A Sand County Almanac
  Leopold writes of his farm in the sand country of Wisconsin and of numerous experiences and trips he had over his life. He writes very lucidly of long lost wildernesses and landscapes that no longer exist. He speaks of wolves in Arizona, the delta of the Colorado River back when water actually flowed in it, native grass prairies in the mid-west, etc. He has a very trained and keen eye for the wonderful in nature. It is a fascinating collection of tales and essays.

Farley Mowatt

• Born Naked
  This is Mowatt's autobiography. He's got a great sense of humor, and he lived a fascinating bizarre childhood. (It only covers his childhood.)

John Muir

• 1000 Mile Walk
  This is a little more of a travel account, following Muir as he wandered from Indiana to Florida, then on to Cuba and California after a severe bout of malaria. Muir was an amazing man.
• My First Summer in the Sierras
  John Muir writes extremely floridly and gushingly, but somehow he alone can get away with it. My favorite passages were his ironically understated accounts of his crazy daring exploits, like running about Yosemite valley during a huge earthquake with boulders calving from the cliffs thousands of feet above him left and right, or climbing an icy wet cliff to get a better view of the ice mound under thundering Yosemite Falls.

W. L. Rusho

• Everett Ruess
  I don't have much good to say about Rusho's additions to this collection of writings and artwork of Everett Ruess, but fortunately he did not detract. Everett, on the other hand, was a fascinating young man, and his story is even more entrancing. A hopeless romantic artist, he traveled by foot and mule alone into the tractless deserts of the southwest in the 30's -- a time when the areas he visited were still known only to the native Indians and a handful of whites. One day he failed to return and his disappearance has been a mystery ever since. His enthusiasm for life and the pursuit of beauty pour out of almost every letter he wrote. This collection really makes you feel like you knew him personally. I was deeply moved by the poetry of Edward Abbey included as an afterword.

Robert Service

• (poetry)
  I don't get into poetry generally, but this is an exception. I especially love a few passages from The Shooting of Dangerous Dan McGrew. Service captures a certain mood of what I'd like to think it is like in the "Great Alone" of Alaska and the Yukon; I can't get enough of it.

Anne Zwinger

• Wind on the Rock
  Zwinger has written a dozen or more books like this, apparently. She has a keen eye for the wonderful in nature. She describes her experiences artfully and scientifically, backing up her time a-field with three times as much research. This book is about the four canyons of the Grand Gulch in southeastern Utah. I read it just after being in the area myself and discovered that I missed half of what was right before my eyes.