The Practice of the Wild

"In spare, eloquent prose" the Pulitzer Prize–winning poet "presents a series of essays that probe the essence of humanity, nature, and their symbiosis" (Library Journal).

The nine essays collected here display Gary Snyder's deep understanding and wide erudition in the ways of Buddhist belief, wildness, wildlife, and the world. He begins his meditations on The Practice of the Wild by defining wilderness not as a distant landscape untouched by mankind, but as any inclusive habitat that provides for many forms of life. In his words, wilderness "is a place where the wild potential is fully expressed, a diversity of living and nonliving beings flourishing according to their own sorts of order."

These essays, first published in 1990, are widely considered an essential text on the subject of wilderness and stand as the mature centerpiece of Snyder's work and thought. As Library Journal affirmed, "This is an important book for anyone interested in the ethical interrelationships of things, places, and people, and it is a book that is not just read but taken in."