A Field Guide to Getting Lost
by Rebecca Solnit | 
The Solace of Open Spaces
by Gretel Ehrlich | 
The Rural Life
by Verlyn Klinkenborg | 
The Faraway Nearby
by Rebecca Solnit | 
Sightlines
by Kathleen Jamie | 
If You Knew Then What I Know Now
by Ryan Van Meter | 
Manhood for Amateurs
by Michael Chabon |
Crossing Open Ground
by Barry Lopez | 
My Heart Is an Idiot
by Davy Rothbart | 
Gratitude
by Oliver Sacks | 
This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
by Ann Patchett | 
A Country Year
by Sue Hubbell |
Findings
by Kathleen Jamie | 
The Unspeakable
by Meghan Daum | 
Teaching a Stone to Talk
by Annie Dillard | 
Surfacing
by Kathleen Jamie | 
Out of Sheer Rage
by Geoff Dyer | 
Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself
by David Lipsky | 
As They Were
by M. F. K. Fisher | 
Island home
by Tim Winton |
Once, when asked for advice on how to become a writer, Lopez found himself replying: "Read. Find out what you truly believe. Get away from the familiar." This collection of essays stems directly from that philosophy. Here is far-flung travel (the beauty of remote Hokkaido Island, the over-explored Galapagos, enigmatic Bonaire); a naturalist's concerns (for endangered communities as well as their land) and pure adventure. Here, too, are seven exquisite memory pieces; beautiful, meditative recollections that will stand as classic examples of the personal essay.