Hunting the Whole Way Home [Paperback]

Sydney. Lea (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1994

A hunter and writer explores the meaning of his "belief in the rights of wild places." "These tales and essays about one man's explorations of the natural world . . . are as fresh as spring, and equally intoxicating."--Michael Pollan, author of Second Nature.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The prose in this collection of hunting essays from the writer and poet Sydney Lea is as lyrical and colorful as a fall morning in the New England woods. Like other writers who have tried to convey the beauty and knowledge that can be gained through blood sport in an age of dogmatic NRA rhetoric and shrill animal-rights advocacy (Tom McGuane comes to mind), Lea wrestles with the central paradox of 20th-century hunting: stalking and killing wild animals can bring one closer to a mostly forgotten elemental earth. Lea conveys a respect for his quarry, the land they both inhabit, and man's place in a living chain in which the actions of any single link can be felt throughout. One need not be a hunter to enjoy these meditations on landscape and humankind's place within the natural community.

From the Publisher

5 1/2 x 8 1/2 trim. 1 illus. LC 94-20491

Product Details

• Paperback: 211 pages
• Publisher: UPNE (August 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874517370
• ISBN-13: 978-0874517378
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,986,753 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sydney Lea is Poet Laureate of Vermont. A recipient of fellowships from the MacArthur, Rockefeller and Fulbright Foundations, Lea founded, and for thirteen years edited, NEW ENGLAND REVIEW. Retired after 43 years of college teaching, he is active in literacy and conservation efforts in northern New England. He has published ten volumes of poetry (most recently SIX SUNDAYS TOWARD A SEVENTH, Wipf & Stock), a novel, and two collections of naturalist essays. A book of memoiristic essays, NOW LOOK, is forthcoming in September 2012 from Skyhorse Publishing, as is A HUNDRED HIMALAYAS,a selection of literary criticism (University of Michigan Press).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting and lyrical, October 23, 2001

By 

litfanfromusa "litfanfromusa" (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hunting the Whole Way Home (Paperback)

This collection of essays and poems impressed me with its beauty, its honesty, and the heartfelt emotion it conveys. Lea is a lover of the outdoors and outdoor sports and of the companions, both human and canine, who share that outdoor life with him - and he conveys that love effectively through language that though poetic is never precious. Running through all is an elegiac tone born of a sense of wild places and beloved friends and family passing, a tone augmented by the autumn season that is the setting for much of the book.

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant and beautiful., January 12, 2012

By 

Maureen Stanton (COLUMBIA, MO, US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hunting the Whole Way Home (Hardcover)

Poet Sydney Lea's collection of essays is both gorgeously written, and deeply intellectual. This is one of my all time favorite collections of essays.