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    A Natural State: Essays on Texas
    A Natural State: Essays on Texas
    A Natural State: Essays on Texas
    Ebook180 pages2 hours

    A Natural State: Essays on Texas

    By Stephen Harrigan

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    “The personal essay at its best. What Edward Abbey did for the desert Southwest and what E. B. White did for Maine, Harrigan has done for Texas.” —Houston Chronicle
     
    In this remarkable collection of essays, Stephen Harrigan explores, with an unfailing depth of feeling, the human longing to feel at home in the world of nature. In vivid and convincing prose, he evokes the landscape of his home territory, Texas, and his own reactions, sometimes droll, sometimes haunted, to the extraordinary power of place that Texas projects.
     
    “Like our best nature writers, he tells us not only what’s out there, but connects it to our everyday lives . . . A Natural State is recommended reading not just for Texans but for all who would explore their connections to the natural world.” —The Washington Post
     
    “While ‘luminous’ is not a word that you would think of in connection with the Lone Star State, that’s what these pieces are . . . They are filled with poetry, wit, and delightfully offbeat observations.” —The San Diego Union-Tribune
     
    “Harrigan defty weaves fact, historical perspective, and personal experience into a tightly interlaced evocative fabric . . . By the end of the book, he brings the vast Texas landscape within grasp of even the most skeptical reader.” —The Denver Post
     
    “Harrigan’s observations are not those of an academically trained naturalist but rather the fresh outlook of a city-bred tourist rejoicing in the exhilaration of discovery.” —Booklist
     
    “Though several of the essays display a strong ecological bent, the author is never shrill. He is an accomplished prose stylist who combines accurate research with an unerring eye for detail. Highly recommended.” —Science

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateOct 22, 2012
    ISBN9780292749306
    A Natural State: Essays on Texas

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    • 3/5
      This is a collection of essays that try to capture the diversity of the generally understated natural wonders of Texas. Harrigan covers a lot of ground including a wonderful trek through all of Padre Island and a great essay on a quick drive through the state from Amarillo to Enchanted Rock. The book itself is a mixed success. In the first six pages we watch the sunrise from Transco (now Williams) Tower in Houston, and he discusses his thoughts and the view with wonderful language and imagery. But then he almost lost me on the next three essays - a soft sketch of Big Bend, an only OK piece on a miscellaneous Texas beach, and a dreadful bit on the Houston Zoo. He’s OK with deserts, but here he’s impinging on the territory of the somewhat insane and very passionate Edward Abbey. Against Abbey, he doesn’t compare. It was on Padre Island where he really won me over. I’m not sure why. Maybe because he finally seemed to be alone, off the road, on trash strewn beaches (thanks to the Gulf currents), and because here he brings to life some history and odd human errors like an actual grounded shrimper with a single crew member left behind and waiting endlessly for his boss to return - maybe because he finally seemed to be in his element.He has a tough task. Texas is a state with an oversized ego that undervalues its own natural wonders. Harrigan comes with an undersized ego and mixed emotions both about Texas and about exploring the natural world. He can’t decide whether he really loves Texas, and he can’t decide what it is he loves about it. As a casual naturalist, he has a lot of knowledge, but I couldn’t help feeling that he seemed to be out of his element. He’s not alone, there are plenty of other people in Texas with the same mixed feelings, but it makes for difficult writing.(the above was written Aug 5, 2007)Additional thoughts. Harrigan seems to have written this by taking a bunch of weekend trips. He visits, leaves,then tries to write an essay, and he really doesn't have time to really get in tune with any of the places he is visiting. This lack of real familiarity is my main complaint. But then his goal was to cover a variety of places quickly and try to connect them somehow - so maybe I was looking for something that wasn't intended here. (Dec 30, 2007)

    Book preview

    A Natural State - Stephen Harrigan

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