A Passion for Nature: The Life of John Muir

by Donald Worster

Book Overview

"I am hopelessly and forever a mountaineer," John Muir wrote. "Civilization and fever and all the morbidness that has been hooted at me has not dimmed my glacial eye, and I care to live only to entice people to look at Nature's loveliness. My own special self is nothing."

In Donald Worster's magisterial biography, John Muir's "special self" is fully explored as is his extraordinary ability, then and now, to get others to see the sacred beauty...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0199782245
• ISBN13: 9780199782246
• Release Date: May 2011
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 1.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Detailed and moving

My husband and I read the Kindle edition in the car -- he read it aloud while I drove, over a period of several months. It isn't a quick or simple read, but this book launched us into many discussions, and left us with a deep understanding of Muir. I was particularly struck by his capacity for pragmatic compromise. I came to know Muir and his evolution. Well done, highly recommended for thoughtful readers.

A Most Excellent Biography

This biography of John Muir begins in Scotland, carries us through his early years in Wisconsin, to his pilgrimage to California and beyond. An explanation of his Philosophy is well done. Fundamental reading for all us who have a passion for nature. The Bibliography to this book is superb.

A Landmark Biography

This biography by the eminent historian Donald Worster is nothing less than magnificent. Clearly the most authoritative account of America's founding conservationist, it is painstakingly researched, thoroughly pondered, brilliantly imagined, and luminously crafted. From the backdrop of nineteenth century Scotland where John Muir was born to a world torn by the Great War and an unstoppable avalanche of social and economic upheaval, this story reveals the life of a renowned American in the context of his time, his place, and his own personal triumphs and failures. With a brilliant talent for storytelling evident on almost every page, Worster takes us on the journey of Muir's life with a special focus on why--and how--he became the man he was. The people, ideas, events, and powerful geographies that influenced him are explained, the incongruities faced, the ironies, humor, and personal limitations recognized. I found Worster's story gaining momentum toward an ending that gathered many elements of today's environmental movement and set the stage for my own reflections on where we have been, where we are headed, and what we ought to be doing. As this great biographer concluded, "Muir was a man who tried to find the essential goodness of the world, an optimist about people and nature, an eloquent prophet of a new world that looked to nature for its standard and inspiration. Looking back at the trail he blazed, we must wonder how far we have yet to go." Donald Worster has given us a gift that will inform, inspire, and perhaps rekindle in others a new passion for nature. Reviewed by Tim Palmer, author of Rivers of America and other books

Wildness in His Blood

Here, Donald Worster has delivered the most extensive and well-researched biography to date on the great conservationist John Muir. There are already several biographies on Muir available, not to mention his own partial autobiography. But here Worster digs deeply into Muir's personal correspondence, published and unpublished journals, and other period sources to place Muir in the social and political context of his times. Worster intertwines his biographical research with an engaging history of the conservation movement, Muir's complex relationship with it, and his enduring influence on it. And more than any previous biographer, Worster has conducted research into one crucial aspect of Muir's life - the evolution of Muir's religious beliefs and the integration of his complex belief system into the type of conservationist philosophy that he invented almost singlehandedly. Worster also delivers robust information on Muir's progress as a journalist and author later in life and how he pretty much invented grassroots environmentalism in his last battle - the unsuccessful fight against the Hetch Hetchy dam. John Muir is deservedly revered for introducing his fellow Americans to the spiritual fulfillment to be found in natural beauty, as well as founding conservation as we know it today. But as expertly illustrated by Wortser herein, Muir was also a very deep thinker and spiritualist with a complex belief system built during a lifetime of outdoor sojourns and philosophical inspection. This more intricate side of his personality shines through in this biography, and Worster's book will soon be acknowledged as the definitive work on John Muir, his outdoor achievements, and his enduring philosophy of natural appreciation. [~doomsdayer520~]

wonderful biography

This beautifully written biography tells the life story of John Muir, one of the first American environmentalists and the founder of the Sierra Club. The use of Muir's private letters and drawings makes the book come alive. It's a perfect book for anyone interested in nature!