Audiobook11 hours
The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America's National Parks
Written by Terry Tempest Williams
Narrated by Terry Williams
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
For years, America's national parks have provided public breathing spaces in a world in which such spaces are steadily disappearing, which is why close to 300 million people visit the parks each year. Now, to honor the centennial of the National Park Service, Terry Tempest Williams, the author of the beloved memoir When Women Were Birds, returns with The Hour of Land, a literary celebration of our national parks, what they mean to us, and what we mean to them.
Through twelve carefully chosen parks, from Yellowstone in Wyoming to Acadia in Maine to Big Bend in Texas, Tempest Williams creates a series of lyrical portraits that illuminate the unique grandeur of each place while delving into what it means to shape a landscape with its own evolutionary history into something of our own making. Part memoir, part natural history, and part social critique, The Hour of Land is a meditation and manifesto on why wild lands matter to the soul of America. Our national parks stand at the intersection of humanity and wildness, and there's no one better than Tempest Williams to guide us there.
Through twelve carefully chosen parks, from Yellowstone in Wyoming to Acadia in Maine to Big Bend in Texas, Tempest Williams creates a series of lyrical portraits that illuminate the unique grandeur of each place while delving into what it means to shape a landscape with its own evolutionary history into something of our own making. Part memoir, part natural history, and part social critique, The Hour of Land is a meditation and manifesto on why wild lands matter to the soul of America. Our national parks stand at the intersection of humanity and wildness, and there's no one better than Tempest Williams to guide us there.
More audiobooks from Terry Tempest Williams
Erosion: Essays of Undoing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Hour of Land
Related audiobooks
A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All the Wild That Remains: Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner, and the American West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt's American Wilderness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Monkey Wrench Gang Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Decade of the Wolf, Revised and Updated: Returning The Wild To Yellowstone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5That Wild Country: An Epic Journey through the Past, Present, and Future of America's Public Lands Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Rain: Across Time and Terrain in the Pacific Northwest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Wild Idea Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lasso the Wind: Away to the New West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pine Barrens Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An American Childhood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Essence of Erosion and Evolution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Inland Island Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVirga & Bone: Essays from Dry Places Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crossing Open Ground Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mountains of the Mind: Adventures in Reaching the Summit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Man Who Walked Through Time: The Story of the First Trip Afoot Through the Grand Canyon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hayduke Lives! Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Yosemite Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Underland: A Deep Time Journey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Field Notes: The Grace Note of the Canyon Wren Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fool's Progress: An Honest Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My First Summer in the Sierra Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Escalante's Dream: On the Trail of the Spanish Discovery of the Southwest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Downriver: Into the Future of Water in the West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
General Fiction For You
A Court of Thorns and Roses Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Court of Mist and Fury Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Court of Wings and Ruin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Court of Frost and Starlight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And Then There Were None Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Omens: A Full Cast Production Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bell Jar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man Called Ove: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Gods [TV Tie-In]: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stardust Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Name of the Wind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paris Apartment: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Finding Me: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Their Eyes Were Watching God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Neverwhere Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Three-Body Problem Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Two Towers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dutch House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Hour of Land
Rating: 4.144736578947369 out of 5 stars
4/5
76 ratings7 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I stumble across Tery Tempest Williams when reading Crossing to Safety by Wallace Steger. She had written the introduction to this story and I enjoyed her writing and decided that I need to read more of it. In my search I found this book; it interested as it appeared to be about our national parks.The book was, in its own way about the parks; however, it had as much to do about the parks as Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire had to do with arches. I suddenly came to the realization that she was a prodigy of Cactus Ed with less sharp edges and had a lot in common with Ellen Meloy but with out the snarkiness. The writting is beautiful and reminds of Anne Dilliard's Pilgrim at Tinker's Creek. This is definitely not a book for everyone.So what is the book about? It is in many ways a lament about what we have lost. There is not any wilderness left and the natural areas that we are trying to conserve are rapidly being destroyed by commercialism and/or bad government policies. She does not offer any real solutions to these problems. The book is complex and there are times that she hits her readers with a sledge hammer, especially when it comes to the way native peoples were treated. My suggestion is to tighten ones belt and go on a wild ride.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beautiful writing about the natural world - our national parks are treasures.Interesting history throughout about various parks also.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm a person who really enjoys nature writing. The Hour of Land is about national parks and national historic sites, but it's not just waxing poetic about trees. I'm unfamiliar with Williams so I was unprepared for how very political this book is. Her views happen to align with mine as she talks about oil spills, reliance on fossil fuels, the states rights vs slavery context in which we frame Gettysburg, etc. I'd really like to read more by her!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book is lovely, and thought provoking. I didn't feel it was as strong as [Refuge], but still a very insightful personal exploration. And a strong call for better environmental protections, and protection of our National Parks. She really gets at the fact that the division between nature and human is a false division. Here is a favorite quote:“Desert strategies are useful: In times of drought, pull your resources inward; when water is scarce, find moisture in seeds; to stay strong and supple, send a taproot down deep; run when required, hide when necessary; when hot go underground; do not fear darkness, it's where one comes alive.”
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5“This is what we can promise the future: a legacy of care. That we will be good stewards and not take too much or give back too little, that we will recognize wild nature for what it is, in all its magnificent and complex history - an unfathomable wealth that should be consciously saved, not ruthlessly spent.” “My spiritual life is found inside the heart of the wild.” In celebration of the centennial of the national park service, Terry Tempest Williams offers us a tribute, as she visits twelve different parks. She is a naturalist, an activist, a conservationist and one helluva writer. Her prose hums with strength, beauty and passion, as she takes the reader on a tour of her favorite American treasures, from Wyoming, to Maine, to Alaska and Texas. Her segment on Gettysburg will bring tears to your eyes and her visit to the Gulf, to witness the Deep Horizon oil spill, will make you see red.This is my first book, by this author and I think I found a new favorite. I listened to this on audio and it is narrated by Williams. I can not imagine a professional voice actor, doing a better job.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A collection of essays with the backdrop of National Parks & Monuments. The subject of the essays varies from environmentalism, conservation, political activism, social justice, and love of the natural world. Many of the essays are informative, many are moving, some are disturbing, all are educational. Ms Williams is an excellent writer. I was first introduced to her as a "talking head" on Ken Burn's PBS series on America's National Parks. This is a must read for naturalists, lovers of our National Parks, and those passionate regarding conservation and environmentalism.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Terry Tempest Williams - writer, activist, conservationist, and all-around amazing human - writes about several national parks through the lens of her experiences with them. Whether she is talking about hiking with her father, the history of the national park system, the battle between the government and the native Americans for their land, finding kin on a small island, or experiencing a raging forest fire up close, Terry Tempest Williams uses her considerable gifts as a writer to instill a sense of majesty and urgency in the reader about these wonderful places. I will be re-reading this book many times in the years to come...especially as I travel to more national parks and monuments. This is a very important book for all those who love nature and the outdoors, and even more so for those who do not understand the magic of it.