The Last Wild Edge: One Woman's Journey from the Arctic Circle to the Olympic Rain Forest [Paperback]

Susan Zwinger (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

An uninspired exercise in ecotravel, with all the flaws and few of the virtues of the genre. Zwinger, the author of three books of natural-history-cum-memoir, compresses 12 years of travel in the Arctic and along the Pacific Coast of Canada and the Northwest in a four-part narrative, much of which concerns old-growth forest ecosystems that are endangered by logging. That danger is a real one, of course, but much of Zwingers travel took place before 1993, when the logging industry, responding to public sentiment, tempered its destructive clear-cutting practices; as a result, the narrative seems dated. Its also marked by the authors distracting earnestness (I roar on behalf of the lowly beings that have the tenacity and flexibility to begin life over againand again and againand the energy to crank a huge ecosystem) and apparent lack of humor, both of which collide in a nice snippet in which she remarks to a Canadian forester, I want to know what the old growth forest feels and sounds like all night long, to which the forester replies, DRIP DRIP DRIP DRIP DRIP DRIP DRIP. When Zwinger writes with her naturalist hat on, shes often quite good, as when she explains how the needle of a coniferous tree is perfectly adapted to withstand deep cold (snow does not weigh it down; it contains little sap to freeze). When shes writing as an environmental advocate, however, she too easily resorts to sloganeering, with the attendant forced metaphors and oversimplifications (Digital-clock time shoots into European Americans like a staple gun shoots staples onto rigid frames). The result is a mix of good science and tiresome preaching. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Johnson Books (July 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555662412
• ISBN-13: 978-1555662417
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,612,816 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "a literary journey . . . with life-affirming energy", August 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Last Wild Edge: One Woman's Journey from the Arctic Circle to the Olympic Rain Forest (Paperback)

From a review by Kathryn Eastburn that appeared in the Colorado Springs Independent: "Throughout The Last Wild Edge, Zwinger carefully balances personal, political and cosmic concerns, utilizing language that straddles the confines of science and poetry. This is a dense but elegant book, rich with physical detail and swarming with universal themes that can't be contained on the page. The nature of exploration itself emerges as a theme, along with a firm, earthbound appreciation of the wild coast of North America. Zwinger skillfully mixes her extensive knowledge of the natural world with a palpable hunger for new experience. The result is a literary journey that pulsates with life-affirming energy, carrying the reader both to the edge of the continent and to the inner depths of the author's curious, passionate soul."