In the spring of 1983 Terry Tempest Williams learned that her mother was dying of cancer. That same season, The Great Salt Lake began to rise to record heights, threatening the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and the herons, owls, and snowy egrets that Williams, a poet and naturalist, had come to gauge her life by. One event was nature at its most random, the other a by-product of rogue technology: Terry's mother, and Terry herself, had been exposed to the fallout of atomic bomb tests in the 1950s. As it interweaves these narratives of dying and accommodation, Refuge transforms tragedy into a document of renewal and spiritual grace, resulting in a work that has become a classic.
Interestingly relates family and character to the surrounding landscape. Also touches on relationship between women and landscape. Not the most captivating nature writing I have read, however.
The formatting of this edition is strange. Williams likes to separate sections with spaces (no little asterisks or designs) but the publisher has formatted the text so often the end of a page is the end of a section and the next page is a new section--and there is no way for the reader to tell. He or she has to read several sentences before suddenly realizing Williams is discussing a completely new, unrelated topic. It is both confusing and annoying.
Reading updates
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19 November, 2012:
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19 November, 2012:
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