Winner of the John Burroughs Medal for Outstanding Natural History Writing

Richard Nelson's uninhabited and unnamed island is the setting and subject of this luminous book; all we know is that the island is somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. What Nelson does tell, is what it's like to share a pristine ecosystem with deer and bear and humpback whale; how a trained scientist transcends his cultural biases in order not just to observe nature, but to participate in it; what it really means to claim the place one lives--and to allow oneself to be claimed by it. Wise and unfailingly eloquent, The Island Within offers and indelible glimpse of a wilderness most of us will never visit, one that fills us with reverence and a genuine sense of wonder.

"Richard Nelson's is a clear and beautiful voice against the trends that would separate humans from nature.... Few have written so perceptively and so lyrically."
--Christian Science Monitor

"Nelson experiences the world directly and clearly--objectively--while preserving its magic."
--Los Angeles Times
Richard Nelson is a cultural anthropologist whose previous books include Shadow of the Hunter, Hunters of the Northern Forest, Hunters of the Northern Ice, Make Prayers to the Raven, and The Island Within, for which he won the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding natural history writing. He is also a winner of the Lannan Literary Award for Nonfiction. View titles by Richard Nelson

About

Winner of the John Burroughs Medal for Outstanding Natural History Writing

Richard Nelson's uninhabited and unnamed island is the setting and subject of this luminous book; all we know is that the island is somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. What Nelson does tell, is what it's like to share a pristine ecosystem with deer and bear and humpback whale; how a trained scientist transcends his cultural biases in order not just to observe nature, but to participate in it; what it really means to claim the place one lives--and to allow oneself to be claimed by it. Wise and unfailingly eloquent, The Island Within offers and indelible glimpse of a wilderness most of us will never visit, one that fills us with reverence and a genuine sense of wonder.

"Richard Nelson's is a clear and beautiful voice against the trends that would separate humans from nature.... Few have written so perceptively and so lyrically."
--Christian Science Monitor

"Nelson experiences the world directly and clearly--objectively--while preserving its magic."
--Los Angeles Times

Author

Richard Nelson is a cultural anthropologist whose previous books include Shadow of the Hunter, Hunters of the Northern Forest, Hunters of the Northern Ice, Make Prayers to the Raven, and The Island Within, for which he won the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding natural history writing. He is also a winner of the Lannan Literary Award for Nonfiction. View titles by Richard Nelson

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