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This monumental collection gathers essays, travel journals, letters, poems, and translations from one of the most influential literary voices of the twentieth century

Gary Snyder has been a major cultural force in America for five decades-prize-winning poet, environmental activist, Zen Buddhist, and reluctant counterculture guru. Having expanded far beyond the Beat poems that first brought his work into the public eye, Snyder has produced a wide-ranging body of work that encompasses his fluency in Eastern literature and culture, his commitment to the environment, and his concepts of humanity's place in the cosmos. The Gary Snyder Reader showcases the panoramic range of his literary vision in a single-volume survey that will appeal to students and general readers alike. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Best Worldy-Buddhist's Book Ever
This book by Gary Snyder is probably my favorite book that I have bought in the last 10 years...

Best of Snyder
This is a great & comprehensive look at wilderness philospher, beat poet, zen Buddhist Gary Snyder.With poems from Riprap and Turtle Island as well as plenty of essays, this reader is great for anyone interested in beat poetry, wilderness or zen.I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in those aforementioned categories or would like a kind of oeuvre of his work.A must have!

Japhy Ryder Lives!
Like many readers, I was introduced to Gary Snyder as the character "Japhy Ryder" in Jack Kerouac's novel, "The Dharma Bums."When I found out that "Japhy", who is one of Kerouac's most memorable characters, was based on the poet Gary Snyder, I had to read his works.

This collection of Snyder's prose and poetry is an excellent introduction to the works of a man I now consider a national treasure, not just for his literary works, but as an environmentalist and natural philosopher.His prose is inspiring, revealing the ethics of a man who practices what he preaches, and his poetry is exhilarating both intellectually and spiritually.His translations from the Chinese are rendered in such a way that they are easily accessible to western readers.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Snyder's works and Beat literature in general.

Clever

Gary Snyder's writing style is clever and a part of poetic history--beat.This is a different kind of poetry. It's a good read.

Teacher, Intellect, Poet and hero, Gary Snyder is for you!
Gary Snyder is an amazing person. He is an intellect. He is a poet. He is a teacher, a traveler, and he is a deeply spiritual man. He lives the life that we should all attempt to lead, a conscious thinking, methodical, contemplative life, asking questions arriving at conclusions and taking action.

The Gary Snyder Reader is a good compilation of his life's work, the variety inside includes essay, interview, and poetry. This book is a well rounded view of his feelings and belief's about nature, and that of the nature of the soul, the nature of man.I agree with other reviews written here about the power of Synder's writing. His is a strong voice which is able to make a terrific argument about everything from the history of the Christian church and some reasons for underlying social perils to making a call for more activism in one's own community. Make a difference, be responsible, see things for what they are, yes this is all there.

There is also the voice of pain, loss, suffering, anger, and very deep love. Above all else, one REALLY gets the feeling that Synder loves, passionately. Gary Snyder is an extremely talented writer and poet. The same voice that won the Pulitzer is still here. Do more than read and enjoy his works, read and be changed. ... Read more

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Beautiful book
The new publication is just as wonderful as it was when published 50 years ago. Great poet.

The Zen Master Of "Beat"
As circumstances would have it I recently have been going through a reading, or in most cases a re-reading, of many of the classics of the 1950's "beat" literary scene as a result of getting caught up in marking the 40th anniversary of the death of Jack Kerouac. Thus, I have re-read Kerouac's classic "On The Road", Allen Ginsberg's great modernist poem, "Howl", and the madman of them all, William Burroughs' "Naked Lunch". And along the way, after a 40 year hiatus, Kerouac's "Dharma Bums".

That is where the connection to this recent release of poetry by one of the key West Coastfigures in the "beat' movement, Gary Snyder and an early American devotee to Zen Buddhism , comes in full force. "Dharma Bums" is a novelistic treatment about Jack Kerouac's bout with Zen enlightenment, with Buddha and with his own inner demons. And central to guiding old Jack through the Zen experience was the aficionado, Gary Snyder, posing under the name Japhy Ryder. I noted in a review of that novel that while I could appreciate the struggle to find one's inner self that dominated that novel I was more in tune with Dean Moriarty'smore adrenaline- formed material world adventure quest than Ryder's.

That characterization, however, never encapsulated Gary Snyder's poetry that, while not as to my liking as Allen Ginsberg's rants against the post-industrial world , nevertheless was superior to his when comparisons between their poetic understanding of Buddhism were in play. Snyder was, and I presume off of the reading here still is, serious about the Zen of existence. Ginsberg was all over the place, and I think what really influenced came from the cabalistic tradition in Jewish life, despite his very OM-saturated period in the 1960s. Read the "Han Shan" poems in this collection first, and then Snyder's and you will see what I mean.

Snyder redux
Gary Snyder is, has been and, in all probability will continue to be, one of the great American poets, not just of the 20th century, but of any century.This reprise of his first published book of poems is marvellous.Not only is it great to revisit this work after many years, but a CD of Gary reading the material is an excellent addition to the printed work.It gives a sense of what he expects of timing and emphasis when reading his work.This is particualrly valuable when reading his idiomatic "Rip Rap" material.The translations from Han Shan (Cold Mountain) capture, I believe, the rhythm of Chinese poetry as it was written.I would heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in late 20th century American poetry.

Han Shan, Shi-de et al.
Each man sweeps the things he hates
Into the neighboring room;
The coward does it with a sword,
The brave man with a broom.

--me

RipRap is BoneandMarrow
These are poems of rock and stone, of bone and marrow. Snyder has great eye-mind coordination. Rip-Rap will not be lost in the clutter of time. Read and be changed. ... Read more

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These Pulitzer Prize-winning poems and essays by the author of No Nature range from the lucid, lyrical, and mystical to the political. All, however, share a common vision: a rediscovery of North America and the ways by which we might become true natives of the land for the first time.Amazon.com Review
Turtle Island won Gary Snyder the Pulitzer back in1975, and remains, to this observer, his most completely realizedwork. The title comes from a Native American term for the continent ofNorth America, and Snyder wants to reclaim the organic and holisticenvironmental harmony that once held sway here. Still, this is poetry,not diatribe.Snyder's key virtue isn't his political orphilosophical vision, but his poetic articulation of thatvision. Excellent. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Snyder's best work
Even three decades after its publication which won for Gary Snyder the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, this text of poems and essays remains a classic of 20th-century American poetry and environmental literature.I look forward to teaching it again in a college classroom later this winter and introducing a new generation of students to the power of Snyder's poetry and ideas.

Warm steamy wood, a spicy stew, clear running water, ...
...And a message for you.

I've never reviewed a book of poetry before. Short of "Roses are red...", or "There once was a man fromNantucket...", I'm not sure I could recognize good poetry from bad. And other than a bit of exposure to Emerson, Poe, and Jeffers, I haven'tbeen everywhere that poetry can take you.But this stuff seemed prettygood.It was full of playful imagery, flowed well, and it wasn't soexperimental that I got completely lost.

In summary, consider it apinnacle of 70's hip-thought.If you read "Sleeping where Ifall", you'll realize that not a few people wanted to be whereSnyder's head was at.I'm not sure how many made it though - too muchbaggage.I'm not all with Snyder's way of thinking either.But Iappreciate his choice of medium, and his attempt to get past expressing theunexpressable.

Poetry and a museum piece of the 70's
Turtle Island is probably Gary Snyder's best known book - an award winningbook.The "museum piece" teaser in the review summary refers tothe short essay at the end of the book arguing cogently for a reduction inpopulation, a more communal life style, etc. - a piece well written in itstime but one that has portions which need rewriting in light of theincreased opportunities for recycling etc.The poetry, however, does standthe test of time.Snyder's poetry reflects the directness of Zen poetry -his nature is real nature not nature conjured up for imagery or"concreteness".His knowledge of mythological symbols -including Turtle Island - is deep; his is not a superficial borrowing. Gary Snyder would be on my short list of "most know" poets andTurtle Island is a good place start becoming familiar with his work. ... Read more

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A profound retrospective in which one man speaks for all
Written over forty years, MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS WITHOUT END is poet Gary Snyder's highest achievment. Here he has presented a perception of the world that has taken four decades of experience to put into words. The collection moves chronologically from Snyder's glimpse in the 50's of a Japanese scroll that gave the book its name, though his wanderings in the American West, and into senescene.

Decades of travel have exposure Snyder to so much of our planet, and this experience forms a major part of MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS WITHOUT END. Mixing ecological perspective with Buddhist metaphysics, these poems are a powerful description of Man's relationship with the planet. Snyder is supremely aware of how attached mankind is to the Earth, and how its ever-surrounding landscape influences peoples.

The final poem "Finding the Space in the Heart" is a moving retrospective of Gary Snyder's forty years as a writer, from his Beat poet days in the 1950's to the older man that he is now, using elements of Buddhism's Prajnaparamita-sutra, the so called "Heart Sutra."

While Snyder's poems sometimes do not succeed due to clumsy meter, a lacking that makes me give this work only four stars, they often move the reader with their sincerity and signifance. MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS WITHOUT END is certainly worth a read.

And Rivers End Without Mountains
I have some ambivalence about giving Snyder 5 stars for this work.I cometo this collection of poems after reading "Turtle Island", whichI liked better overall.It had a bit more of the wide-eyed innocence thatmakes the poetry more heart-felt to me, even with that whole section at theend dedicated to prose on how to make the world a better place.

I foundseveral poems in "Mountains..." that I like better than the onesin "Turtle Island" - particularly pieces like "Ma",which takes the form of a letter from a mother to son.What I didn't likeso much was the pervasive use of East Indian and Oriental terms, much ofwhich had little meaning to me.Recognizing a certain desire on Snyder'spart to "disorient" a traveller through the literature helpedsomewhat.But often I felt Snyder was abusing his "superstar"status to make these foreign phrases seem more important than they actuallyare.How difficult can it be to just say what you want to say withoutresorting to another language?Snyder certainly has many tools at hisdisposal - the sum of which comes under the heading of "PoeticLicense".

Admittedly, languages are not solid, and new words creepin all the time.Perhaps Snyder feels he is just doing his part to forcethe issue with regard to some patterns of thought he wants insinnuated intowestern english.But I don't think it comes off that way all the time. Many times it just sounds like: "Aren't I clever to come up with thisdeep-meaning foreign phrase that you don't understand".Thisdetracted some from the total effect in the book.

Ultimately, that's justme of course.One must do one's own thinking on these matters.And sinceI gave the thing 4 stars, it obviously still comes highly recomended frommy viewpoint.

Golden nugget
Golden nugget from Sierra streams.Gold never rusts.

A man's world-vision made true through communion with Nature
In this work of poetry, Snyder has presented a perception of the world that has taken four decades of experience to put into words. But, this is more than a simple philosophical oratory, because Snyder came to write this due to the influence of Nature. This is a powerful description of Man'srelationship with the planet.

An epic poem from a master.
Gary Snyder's epic poem "Mountains and Rivers Without End" is an epic work from an American Zen Buddhist pioneer.From Kerouac to the millenium, it is all there.His history is our history.Read it and get wiser. ... Read more

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A great read!
These essays by Snyder, a forest-fire fighter who has traveled to the Orient, are really worth reading. I have read them all couple of times, some more than that, as the essays provide a thought-provoking view of man and nature, particularly the forests and mountains of the Western US. He would be great person to have a conversation with, or to hear present his views in some public forum, but lacking that, this book is a good substitute. I have given the book as a gift to friends, and will continue to do so. mwh Blacksburg, VA

Distilled Wisdom from an Elder
These essays, including those written as talks or prefaces to other people's books, are in no sense minor. They are often distillations--not so much argument as succinct statements of profound if still largely unacknowledged truths, simply and generously interwoven with history, anecdote, example, biography and autobiography.

Though there may appear to be no unifying theme, and though the specific subject of the role of fire in healthy forests recurs, this volume is a whole defined by itself, and by the quality of Snyder's observation, thought and expression. For me, the connection between his immersion in East Asian writing, in Buddhism, in the realities of living and working in the natural world, in American literature (Native and non-Native), and his own writing and approach to the world, has never been clearer. That impression is nourished by reading together such essays as "Ecology, Literature and the New World Disorder," "Thinking Toward the Thousand Year Forest Plan," "The Mountain Spirit's True (No) Nature," "Writers and the War Against Nature," "Coyote Makes Things Hard."

Some pieces are short and specific, and thanks to Snyder's writing, evocative, including a short piece on the death of one of the best known of his fellow poets who began in the "Beat" era, Allen Ginsberg, and a fond and informative remembrances of one of the least known, Philip Zenshin Whalen. But even these are important because of Snyder's knowledge of them and perspective over time. Others about particular people and places (especially about Snyder's own family, as in "Helen Callicotte's Stone in Kansas") are also fun to read, but always connect to larger mysteries.

In these essays Snyder writes with warmth as well as pith, and with occasional bursts of exuberant humor. He writes with specific humility, yet is not afraid to state the largest possible conclusions: "These environmental histories are cautionary. They tell us that our land planning must extend ahead more than a few decades. Even a few centuries may be insufficient."

For me, there is another key to these essays in this observation: "Song, story and dance are fundamental to all later `civilized' culture," Snyder writes. "Performance is of key importance because this phenomenal world and all life is, of itself, not a book but a performance."

So these essays can be read as performances, expressing knowledge and experience from a specific, highly varied yet integrated life.This is a book of an Elder, in the old sense. I read it with admiration and gratitude.

Poet, Essayist Gary Snyder on Sustainability and Literature
Snyder has lived in the Sierra Nevada foothills since 1970. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1975 for "Turtle Island," he has twice been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, in 1992 and 2005. He is a recipient of the Bollingen Poetry Prize, the Robert Kirsch Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2004 Japanese Masaoka Shiki International Haiku Grand Prize.

His latest book, "Back on the Fire" ($24 in hardcover from Shoemaker and Hoard), features recent essays, most previously published, that intermingle autobiography, reflections on the place of the writer in the modern world and a concern that those who have benefited from the natural world (all of us) become more thankful and "give something back."

Snyder sees the world through Daoist-Confucian-Mahayana Buddhist eyes and has little patience for those who romanticize nature with their "quasi-religious pantheistic landscape enthusiasms." In Snyder's "literature of the environment," "we will necessarily be exploring the dark side of nature -- nocturnal, parasitic energies of decomposition and their human parallels." He adds, in another essay: "Nature is not fuzzy and warm. Nature is vulnerable, but it is also tough, and it will inevitably be last up at bat."

Many of the essays deal with the forest, and fire, as a kind of symbol of changing public policy toward the wilderness. "Our wild forests have long had an elegant and self-sustaining nutrient and energy cycle, and staying within that should be a key measure of true sustainability." Periodic low-level fires are necessary for keeping the forest healthy; logging practices that remove the surviving trees after a major fire make it more difficult for the forest to sustain itself. Just as governments have to think in terms of thousands of years in dealing with nuclear waste, Snyder writes, we ought to be thinking of a "thousand year forest plan" as well. Ecology is about process, "a creation happening constantly in each moment. A close term in East Asian philosophy is the word Dao, the Way, dô in Japanese." As he writes in a poem, "--Nature not a book, but a performance, a / high old culture."

The art Snyder advocates "takes nothing from the world; it is a gift and an exchange. It leave the world nourished." "We study the great writings of the Asian past," he writes, "so that we might surpass them today. We hope to create a deeply grounded contemporary literature of nature that celebrates the wonder of our natural world, that draws on and makes beauty of the incredibly rich knowledge gained from science, and that confronts the terrible damage being done today in the name of progress and the world economy."

One November day, Snyder has cleared brush from around his house and sets fire to the pile. "Clouds darkening up from the West, a breeze, a Pacific storm headed this way. Let the flames finish their work -- a few more limb-ends and stubs around the edge to clean up, a few more dumb thoughts and failed ideas to discard -- I think -- this has gone on for many lives!

"How many times / have I thrown you / back on the fire."

Copyright 2007 Chico Enterprise-Record. Used by permission.

Snyder burning
Gary Snyder is able to capture in simple words and clear imagery the essence of many of the conditions found in his adopted home in northern California.He recognises problems and poses solutions that are not only reasonable, but possible.This book should be read by anyone concerned with the present state of affairs as regards both the local and the national environment. ... Read more

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"The greatest of living nature poets. . . . It helps us to go on, having Gary Snyder in our midst."--Los Angeles Times. Snyder is the author of many volumes of poetry and prose, including The Practice of the Wild and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Turtle Island. Reading tour. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A great intro. to Snyder!
A wonderful and varied collection. Poems that range in subject from environmental issues to fatherhood to mountaineering. In reading his poetry Snyder has the appeal of addressing controversial subjects without being preachy. He seems like a cool guy who has had a really interesting life.

Change your view of life
This book will change your view of the planet you live on and the life you live on it.Pulitzer prize winner Gary Snyder is a voice that needs to be heard (along with others, such as Wendell Berry)to balance the noise we are inundated with via tv, newspapers, etc. These poems take us beyond issues such as "patriotism" and "nationalism" or even "environmentalism" -- and on to more global and universal citizenship issues of which we all need significantly greater awareness.

Gary Snyder should be on even more bookshelves than he already is.

The best of Gary Snyder, America's Zen Poet
I first heard of Gary Snyder when I stumbled across his answer to the question as to whether he would rather hear a poem by a raccoon or a possum.Snyder's answer was: "A raccoon's poem is alert and inquisitive, and amazes you by what a mess it makes. A possum's poem seems sort of slow and dumb at first, but then it rolls over. When you get close to it, it spits in your eye."I am not sure there is a clear cut answer there, but then Snyder, who received the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1975 for "Turtle Island," was first identified with the Beat movement before becoming an important spokesperson for communal living and ecological activism, so expecting him to choose between animal poems is probably a tad ambitious.

Snyder's poetry embodies the open-form experimentation of Walt Whitman, Allen Ginsberg and the Beats, as well as various "naked poetry" schools and movements from the 1960s to the present.He has also been strongly influenced at times by Japanese haikus and has listed among his influential/favorite poets Du Fu, Lorca, Basho, Pound, Yeats, Buson, Bai Ju-yi, Li He, Su Shih, Homer, Mira Bhai, and Kalidasa.Called by many a "Zen poet," Snyder's work is as likely to display a sense of humor as it is to deal with theological and aesthetic elements drawn from Zen and classical Japanese culture (e.g, "Axe Handles").Snyder's earliest poems deal with the images and experiences he had working as a logger and ranger in the Pacific Northwest, which obviously instilled in him a love for not only nature but that which is ancient and mystical (e.g, "For All").Of course, with a poet, it is always best to let the author speak in their own voice:

"How Poetry Comes to Me"

It comes blundering over the
Boulders at night, it stays
Frightened outside the
Range of my campfire
I go to meet it at the
Edge of the light

"No Nature: New and Selected Poems" contains parts of eight earlier published books by Snyder.This particular volume, published in 1992 and nominated for a National Book Award, contains an impressive selection of Snyder's best work across his long career.

Stripping poetry down to its bare bones.
Gary Snyder is a master of condensation. Somehow, using an economy of words, he conveys a clear sense of "the moment" -- sitting on a mountain top; snuggling by the fire; walking on a crowded street. It's a new kind of minimalist poetry that, once read, makes some of the older stuff seem, well, old. Snyder's forte is poems about nature. One of my favorites, called "Mid-August at Sourdough Mountain Lookout" consists of just 10 lines. But I've read it a hundred times, and the words still ring true in my mind. He writes: "I cannot remember things I once read / A few friends, but they are in cities. / Drinking cold snow-water from a tin cup / Looking down for miles / Through high still air." "On Nature" is a collection of Snyder's best and most important works. I highly recommend it.

Indispensable
John Berryman said that the art of poetry was that of developing a personality in words.Gary Snyder is one of the most recognizable and fascinating poetic personalities of our time.Even when he is absent, heis present -- the details he chooses to focus on, the way of perceivingembodied by the poems, tell us as much about his mind ("a mind likecompost," as he writes) as any work by the so-called"confessional" poets; but rather than concentrate on tawdrydetails and domestic crises,Snyder is more interested in thepossibilities of mindfulness, the various ways of living well in the world,of carrying out "the real work".Constantly preoccupied, evenobsessed, with questions of what to keep and what to throw out, where towithdraw and where to stand firm (see "Front Lines"), Snyder isengaged in the perpetual task of literature: to save what is worth saving,to make it fresh and pass it along.And his ability to find just the rightrhythms and words for every situation, sensation or idea is remarkable.Iadmire him greatly and am grateful for his work. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review
The Back Country is one of Gary Snyder's most seriousengagements with Eastern culture and thought. Much of the book worksto achieve a perspective by means of contrast, as in "Hitch Haiku," aseries of haiku (a Japanese form of imagistic, syllabic verse) mostlyset in the American West. Perhaps the strongest poem is "Oil," inwhich Snyder envisions a tanker as a needle bringing our addictednation "long injections of pure oil." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Classic Gary Snyder
This is the classic Gary Snyder.Includes A Berry Feast, which is itself a classic Snyder poem.It is interesting to read his later writing after reading this, and to follow his transitions through life.He is a marvelous poet, a lover of life and of the physical world, in which he understands his place.He is zen exuberance at its best.

Beautiful, Understated, Moving Poetry
I had to read many of the poems in this volume while taking a collegecourse in Beat Literature, but in this reviewer's opinion the careful,Eastern-oriented poetry by Snyder has a mystical quality sorely lacking inpoetry by writers like Kerouac, Corso, Ferlinghetti and even Ginsberg.Snyder captures the mountains of the pacific northwest, humanrelationships, campfires, and the mysteries of the far east in a carefuland understated style.He sometimes makes use of the ancient Japanesestyle of haiku, and in all of his poems he seems to have rich, abundantideas which he is able to convey in relatively few words. I have come backto this volume repeatedly over the years, and it always reveals a newsecret and joy each time. Think of Snow Falling on Cedars in poetry form.

Amazing!
This collection of poetry changed my life, I was deeply engaged with each installment! ... Read more

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Wide ranging insights into Gary Snyder's lifetime concerns
I bought this book, along with the poetry collection, No Nature, to gain an insight into the work of Gary Snyder, someone I had often seen quoted,but had never read at first hand. Snyder is perhaps best known as a westcoast 'nature' poet, a fellow traveller of the 'beat generation', but he isalso a prominent Buddhist, bioregional visionary and literary scholar. Tojudge from this book he is, moreover, an accomplished and eloquentessayist. The essays presented here, articles, reviews, talks and whatmight loosely be called manifestos, come mainly from the 70s to the 90s andspan the breadth of Snyder's interests. Arranged in three sections, Ethics,Aesthetics and Watersheds, Snyder's writing manages to bepoetic,religious, political and compelling at all times. Having read this book Ifeel inspired to read more, I'll try The Practice of the Wild next (moreprose), followed by Turtle Island (poetry for which Snyder won the PulitzerPrize). For anyone concerned to cultivate a humane relationship with themore-than-human world, Snyder is a surefooted guide. ... Read more

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Knots in the grain: exploring 30 years of "the real work"
This collection is a companion volume to "Earth House Hold," his earlier group of interviews published up to 1969. "The Real Work" pulls together interviews from The Berkeley Barb, Road Apple, and East West publications, as well as an interview with John Jacoby of Southern Methodist University on the forms and functions of poetry. It's as far-ranging a collection as Snyder's lifelong interests -- the "real work" of living, creating, and conserving, the connection between spirituality and what Snyder calls "the bioregional ethic." For more formal essays on the individual's role in conservation, Snyder's 1990 book, "The Practice of the Wild," continues many of the themes explored in "The Real Work."

A different perspective
I've always preferred Gary Snyder's prose over his poetry. That is why this book is so good -- filled with essays and interviews, it manages to be simultaneously insightful and revolutionary.

This work would be a greatintroduction to the work and politics of Gary Snyder. Even if you dislike,or are unsure of his poetry, I would encourage you to at least check outthis book; a knowledge of his poetry is not a prerequisite for enjoying andlearning from it.

Only one work from this volume, "The East WestInterview" was excerpted in the Gary Snyder Reader that was recentlypublished. So, even if you have that book, there will not be muchrepetition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Live it!
I recently reread this collection of essays from Gary Snyder and reaffirmed my view that of all the nature writers out there, Snyder remains among our most lucid and insightful philosophers and, most importantly, practitioners of wilderness thought.I would describe the essays in this collection as "thick and rich," thoughtfully crafted from decades of experience, confidently and clearly asserted, and skillfully argued by a scholar of the world.Snyder is conveying knowledge gained through direct experience.As such the essays are small lessons of instruction and guidance for the age-old question "how should I live?"The how, according to Snyder, is accomplished by becoming native to one's place, seeking out what is good, wild, and free, and paying attention to the mystery that pervades all.

Kyle Gardner, author of Medicine Rock Reflections

Wonderful Exploration of Nature
This is a wonderful discussion of the concept of nature, delving back into ancient Chinese and Japanese concepts of nature. Snyder defines what nature has meant through history and what it means today to be losing it.

A compelling exploration of nature and the spirit
Gary Snyder is an American treasure - a great writer and poet whose thoughtful approach to life and literature will enrich the spirit of anyone who reads him.This collection of essays explores the relation between nature and the spirit in a way that might be thought of as part-Beat and part-Thoreau but is, ultimately, very original and thoughtful.The first few essays in the book seemed a bit difficult and inaccessible compared to the last several, which were clear and brilliant.

what a life he led
In much the same way as other reviewers I found Gary Snyder's book "Practice of the Wild" a very enjoyable read, I was originally pointed to it through the amazing work of Jack Turner's "The Abstract Wild" where he refered to it. Although nowhere near as intense or so purely full of power as Turner's book it is fluid and poetic. One of the first things that strikes you is Snyder's astonishing grasp of just about anything, his knowledge of foreign languages is acute, the width of understanding boggles the mind. It must also be remembered that he spent some years in Japan studying as a Zen monk, this would of course have introduced him to Japanese and through it Chinese characters, poetry etc. Snyder seems a remarkable man, this book as well as illuminating the human condition and its need for true wildness, not in the ordinary sense of the term but as native peoples perceive it or rather live it, is a kind of autobiography, maybe I should say a telling of the story of Snyder himself. You become intimately connected to his life, which is really quite incredible, the sort of life where he could no longer say in old age that "I never did what I wanted to", Snyder has really lived, a lumberjack, a monk, an anthropologist, poet etc etc.

The book is interspersed with scientific detail of the living world and then up comes a very poetic passage somehow interconnected without one feeling it is incoherent as he slips from poetic to hard science. What a life he has lived, what experience that simply cannot be ignored, "The Practice of the Wild" is written by someone who must be heard, whose message is human in every way, an ecologist, conservationist, logger, rancher. Too bad other people : politicians, law makers, company executives etc etc haven't lived like this, maybe their own similar experience could really change the world, maybe through this book they will decide to live at least in more than an abstract way when it comes to the natural world.

A beautiful collection from a national treasure
When asked to recommend one book for young people, writer Jim Harrison picked "The Practice of the Wild" for its poetic sanity. I readSnyder's unpretentious collection while commuting on the train everymorning one summer into downtown Chicago. The epiphanies came fast andfurious as I sped through the city's West Side. The wisdom of Snyder'sthinking is that he doesn't blindly differentiate between the "humanworld" and "wilderness"--people bad, nature good--but helpsus see the beauty in everything. Like his poetry, Snyder's prose is funnyand illuminating, capturing the rough texture of the world. "ThePractice of the Wild" is a treasure. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Wayfaring for Scholars
I don't want to imply that this is a bad book, in fact I think it represents a tremendous effort.However, this is not a book for the casual reader, and certainly NOT a book for someone "coming to Gary Snyder for the first time."This book is scholarly and rather nit-picking.It at turns makes much of a single word and yet elsewhere glosses over whole pieces of Snyder's writing.Most importantly, someone buying this books should understand that it picks apart poems and prose pieces, often without quoting more than the single word or phrase it is discussing. There is thus often little context for the analysis given, and it is hard to read this book unless you already have more or less a complete collection of Gary Snyder's writings sitting beside you.That said, for someone who DOES have most or all of Gary Snyder's writing at hand, "A Place for Wayfaring" provides a lot of insight and background material that would otherwise be unavailable outside of a college English class.For the Snyder fan, a worthwhile book, but if you've only read a few of Snyder's books, I think you'll quickly feel lost. ... Read more

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Product Description
As a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, bioregional activist, Zen Buddhist, and reluctant counterculture guru, Gary Snyder has been a major artistic force in America for over five decades, extending far beyond the Beat poems that first brought his work into the public eye.

Danger on Peaks begins with poems about Snyder’s first ascent of Mount St. Helens in 1945 and his learning that atomic bombs had been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the morning of his descent. Containing work in a surprising variety of styles, creating an arc-shaped trail from these earliest climbs to what the poet calls poems "of intimate, immediate life, gossip and insight," Danger on Peaks is Snyder’s most personal work ever. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Awful from beginning to end
This collection of "poems" is embarrassingly bad from beginning to end. Little more than notes, the stuff would not be published if it weren't Snyder. He has done nothing since the Beats, and did very little back then. Why bother publishing him at all?

Gary Synder's first collection of new poems in twenty years
Danger On Peaks is Gary Synder's first collection of new poems in twenty years and begins with poems about his first ascent of Mt. St. Helens in 1945. Offering a body of verse in a diversity of styles, Synder's work was a 2004 National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist and showcases a unique voice in contemporary American poetry. She Knew All About Art: She knew all about art -- she was fragrant, soft,/I rode to her fine stone apartment, hid the bike in the hedge./--We met at an opening, her lover was brilliant and rich,/first we would talk, then drift into long gentle love,/We always made love in the dark. Thirty years older than me.

Have you ever noticed that Gray Snyder...
...can be a little belittling and arrogant?I remember his character in 'The Dharma Bums' when he gives a beautiful yodel after reaching the top of a mountain.Kerouac later asks him to do it again, but Snyder says such a yodel is not ment to be heard by low landers.His sense of superiority is again on display in 'danger on peaks'.Again and again he makes observations while looking down his nose.Such as commenting that a lookout stop near Mt. St. Helens no longer attracts tourists 'once the dump trucks stopped'.Oh Gary, how it must pain you to be among us common folk.Surprizing, since you market yourself as a poet of the common folk.

We can forgive poets like Pound and Elliot for their snobbishness.They were nuts by any general definition.But Snyder's poetry in the first person grates after time.He could take a cue from Robert Frost.When Frost wrote of 'swinging from birches' or out walking in the New England snow you never felt it was Frost really - some third party Frost was channeling.But with Snyder it's all about Snyder.He trys to be the new Walt Whitman but can't quite find the soul.Much of Whitman was forged from a gentle man serving in a horrible war.What did Snyder ever do, really?He writes about being a fire lookout here and working on a ship there as if he's just an 'every man'.When actually he's done as little real work as possible and mostly promoted the 'idea' of Gary Snyder - 'Zen Poet Beat Surviver Matured Master'.

Read this book if you like.It's very nice actually.For Gary Snyder it probably won't get any better than this.As he says himself in the poem 'Waiting for a Ride' - 'most of my work, such as it is, is done'.

Amazing
This collection of poetry is exactly what every collection should be: intelligent, well written, and entertaining.Every poem is carefully crafted by Snyder and can evoke a wide range of emotions that many modern poets miss out on.The only possibly downside (a tiny one) is that many of these poems are very close to being prose.A very good read on a wide variety of subjects.The best, in my opinion, is a toss-up between "Atomic Dawn" and "One Thousand Cranes".

Pure Transparancy of Blue
Gary Snyder is America's greatest living poet.his keen, ever perfectly clear vison is based in the glint of rivers and the muted sheen of glistening rocks under jasmine colored waves, bountiful white clouds and spirit incandescent and meteoric.... He writes of concrete on highway 5, Toyota Tercels, and the animistic world of noble pines and bobcat scat..His Haikus are the best ever written...his narrative before certain poems is articulate, revealing and deep without any pretension...For instance: "If you want to view the world you live in climb a rocky mountain with a neat small peak. But the big snow peaks pierce the world of clouds and cranes, rest in the zone of five colored banners and writhing crackling dragons in veils of ragged mist and frost crystals, into a pure transparancy of blue." He knows the "Three Sisters". He has climbed into their deeper essence.He writes of today and of humanity, daily life, of commitment and courage and eating at fast food places...I have long admired his work and this is as good as Axe Handles and Regarding Wave...I have lived in the Pacific Northwest in my younger days..He almost alone, awakened me to its noble grandeaur....One of America's finest poets ever...
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Product Description
Combining the dramatic and meticulous work of printmaker Tom Killion--accented by quotes from John Muir--and the journal writings of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gary Snyder, The High Sierra of California is a tribute to the bold, jagged peaks that have inspired generations of naturalists, artists, and writers.

For over thirty years, Tom Killion has been backpacking the High Sierra, making sketches of the region stretching from Yosemite south to Whitney and Kaweah Crest, which he calls "California's backbone." Using traditional Japanese and European woodcut techniques, Killion has created stunning visual images of the Sierra that focus on the backcountry above nine thousand feet, accessible only on foot.

Accompanying these riveting images are the journals of Gary Snyder, chronicling more than forty years of foot travels through the High Sierra backcountry. "Athens and Rome, good-bye!" writes Snyder, as he takes us deep into the mountains on his daily journeys around Yosemite and beyond.

Originally printed in a limited, handmade, letterpress edition, The High Sierra of California is now available in an affordable, full-color trade edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A bit of the Sierra on your shelf
Those who have experienced California's High Sierra know that it is near impossible to capture the adventure in any meaningful way.Snyder and Killion come close, joining Japanese inspired printmaking, essay and poetry to emote the natural wonder of the mountain range in a volune worthy of repeated fireside review on the days when a hike is not possible.The well trained and passionate explorers share a fresh view of famous vistas.

Abeautiful perspective on California
This book is absolutely gorgeous. The woodcut prints by Tom Killion are exquisite, and poetic diary entries by Gary Snyder interspersed by quotes from John Muir create a lyrical picture of the High Sierra.

Captures the spirit
This book captures the spirit of the Sierra high country. Beautiful woodblock prints in the Japanese style mixed with poetic text.

I love this book
I have been savoring this book since I got it.Some years ago I saw Tom Killion's prints at a small gallery in Carson City, NV and they are well reproduced here.The text is quite interesting too and the prints and stories work together beautifully to capture the spirit of this most magnificent place.

stunning
This book is stunning the woodblock prints are so beautiful they almost make you cry. We spend a lot of time in the sierras and this book shows the beauty of these mountains better than any photographs. Get the book
look at the pictures then do your family a favor and go spend time in these incredible mountains. ... Read more

Product Description

These Coyote tales are funny, profound, sometimes sad, and always wise. Blue Cloud’s style and power have made this book a classic. These tales take coyote from his mythic beginnings to the present in stories that show his enduring vitality.

"Blue Cloud’s poems are living proof that the power and beauty of the Old Way cannot be lost. . . . Blue Cloud does nothing glamorous: he speaks from his own heart and life. He is a true poet, at home in all times, everywhere." —Gary Snyder

Peter Blue Cloud is a Mohawk who now lives on the reserve in Kahnawake, Quebec. Winner of an American Book Award, he is the author of numerous collections, including Clans of Many Nations.