The High Sierra of California [Hardcover]

Gary Snyder (Author), Tom Killion (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2002

Combining the dramatic and meticulous work of printmaker Tom Killion--accented by quotes from John Muir--and the journal writings of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gary Snyder, The High Sierra of California is a tribute to the bold, jagged peaks that have inspired generations of naturalists, artists, and writers.

For over thirty years, Tom Killion has been backpacking the High Sierra, making sketches of the region stretching from Yosemite south to Whitney and Kaweah Crest, which he calls "California's backbone." Using traditional Japanese and European woodcut techniques, Killion has created stunning visual images of the Sierra that focus on the backcountry above nine thousand feet, accessible only on foot.

Accompanying these riveting images are the journals of Gary Snyder, chronicling more than forty years of foot travels through the High Sierra backcountry. "Athens and Rome, good-bye!" writes Snyder, as he takes us deep into the mountains on his daily journeys around Yosemite and beyond.

Originally printed in a limited, handmade, letterpress edition, The High Sierra of California is now available in an affordable, full-color trade edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

''For a fibrillatingly lovely look at the High Sierra, that corner of the state that stays the same while all the rest of California convulses, the book to get this year is Tom Killion and Gary Snyder's art book, The High Sierra of California. ...It is to other coffee-table books what Jamaican Blue Mountain is to other coffee.''--David Kipen, San Francisco Chronicle

''Sometimes stately and solemn, sometimes mysterious and mystical, sometimes rollicking and even slightly ribald--[these prints] are the visual equivalent of Snyder's poetry and the real glory of the book.'' --Jonathan Kirsch, Los Angeles Times Book Review --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap

This edition of *The High Sierra of California* was adapted from the handprinted book that Tom Killion produced during the period from 1997-2000 at his Quail Press studio in Santa Cruz. The original edition was limited to 129 copies, printed on handmade Japanese papers in a folio format measuring about fifteen by twenty inches, with illustrations printed from Killion's hand-carved wood and linoleum blocks. Each section opened with a decorative Japanese paper to evoke the season and closed with a full-page woodcut image. Collectors immediately acquuired all available copies, and Killionhas since decided to make the book available to the general public. Artfully designed and adapted to the new format, and enhanced with additional excerpts from the backpacking journals of Gary Snyder, *The High Sierra of California* is, in Killion's words, "a richer book, both visually and textually, and very pleasing to the bookmaker in me."

*The High Sierra of California* also features excerpts from Gary Snyder's backpacking journals, covering nearly forty years of exploration--personal and spiritual as well as geographic--in the high country.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Heyday Books (April 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890771511
• ISBN-13: 978-1890771515
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,597,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars stunning, February 6, 2007

By 

kur-v "kur-v" (california) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The High Sierra of California (Hardcover)

This book is stunning the woodblock prints are so beautiful they almost make you cry. We spend a lot of time in the sierras and this book shows the beauty of these mountains better than any photographs. Get the book
look at the pictures then do your family a favor and go spend time in these incredible mountains.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this book, July 27, 2008

By 

Dan - See all my reviews

This review is from: High Sierra of California, The (Paperback)

I have been savoring this book since I got it. Some years ago I saw Tom Killion's prints at a small gallery in Carson City, NV and they are well reproduced here. The text is quite interesting too and the prints and stories work together beautifully to capture the spirit of this most magnificent place.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Phenomenal artwork, November 1, 2010

By 

Sevillia-Spaeth "Sevillia-Spaeth" (San Mateo, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: High Sierra of California, The (Paperback)

Killion's woodcut-style captures the feeling of standing in the place. I have visited many of the landscapes he depicts, and seeing his renderings is like returning there for a moment and seeing it fresh.