Margins: A Naturalist Meets Long Island Sound [Hardcover]

Mary Parker Buckles (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1997

With a deft touch and a naturalist's keen eye, Mary Parker Buckles introduces herself-and us-to wondrous adventures in the land, air, water, and intertidal zone that make up the Long Island Sound ecosystem. While the Sound has been threatened by pollution and development, it is far from dead, as some picture it, and has been virtually uncelebrated until now. She discovers the magic of shorebirds on stopover during their semiannual migration and comes to appreciate the temperament of owls, the intricacy of barnacles, the crustiness of horseshoe crabs, and the fragility of osprey chicks. Buckles explains what the ongoing battle over wetlands is all about and elucidates other complexities of a place she describes as "inherently sacred by virtue of being alive."

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

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Raised in inland Mississippi, moving to the Midwest as an adult, Buckles yearned to live by the sea. When, in the late 1980s, she at last "landed" along Long Island Sound, she was "predisposed to like" what she would find there. But "like" is an uncharacteristically hazy word from this talented writer, who in her first book displays an ear for the exact phrase every bit as acute as her eye for the natural phenomena that she details and celebrates. Long Island Sound, which rests on the south along its titular land mass and on the north along the Connecticut shoreline, laps against some highly developed land. Yet Buckles discovers and explores world upon world of natural wonder within suburbia, grouping them sensibly into sections on "Land," "Air," "Water" and "Intertidal Zone." The range of wildlife she limns could fill a museum hall, from ospreys to sea squirts to raptors to barnacles, whose "tiny adult, which in some ways resembles a soggy Rice Krispie, is very intricately formed." This book is a first-rate natural history, but more, for Buckles views these creatures and the settings in which they live not only with the rigor of a scientist but with the good humor and passion of one who feels deeply a part of what she surveys. So in myriad anecdotes the text reveals the behavior of the author and her friends as well, as when, one May night, Buckles joins another naturalist to watch horseshoe crabs swim, then returns a few nights later to see them mate. The "margins" of the title refer to the margins of the Sound but, as Buckles makes clear, the life therein is in no way marginal, no more than is this gem of science writing, cut with lapidary skill.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Natural-history author and coastal Connecticut resident Mary Parker Buckles' latest work enables readers to share her immensely knowledgeable appreciation of the natural wonders of Long Island Sound. Buckles provides detailed scientific descriptions of the habitat and organisms of the sound, artfully woven with her personal observations, and enriched throughout with references to art and artists, music, poetry, literature, and mythology. With 24 million people living within 100 miles of the sound (an astounding 85 people per acre, most of them on Manhattan Island), human interaction with the area is intense. Yet emerging scientific understanding combined with political activism provide a basis for hope in the continuing regeneration of salt marsh wetlands and a number of at-risk species that inhabit the sound. Buckles skillfully reveals the essence of the sound's complexities within the intricately interwoven and overlapping margins of land, air, water, and intertidal zones. The book is a comprehensive exploration of the intriguing world of marsh muck and algae, shorebirds and migrants, bivalves and barnacles. Grace Fill

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 286 pages
• Publisher: North Point Pr; 1st edition (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865475164
• ISBN-13: 978-0865475168
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #971,786 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonder and Magic at the Margins, April 9, 2000

By 

Scott O'Reilly (United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Margins : A Naturalist Meets Long Island Sound (Paperback)

This is a beautiful and enchanting book. Mary Parker Buckles initiates the reader into the teeming vitality, ceaseless creativity, and mesmerizing wonder that is Long Island Sound. The familiar, but oh so strange world of owls and ospreys, barnacles and crabs, bivalves and boats, are engagingly explored by Mary -- a true natural scientist, but with a poet's eye. I cannot recommend this book enough. It is superbly well written, and in her elegant, imaginative, playful, even rapturous style Mary helps the reader to discover the magic that lies hidden in plain sight throughout this natural habitat. Mary seems to pour her soul into the Sound, and what emerges is a lyrical voice that speaks of wonders too fair for words.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a terrifc book!, June 8, 2003

By 

D. K. Reddick (Kirkwood, Mo. USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Margins: A Naturalist Meets Long Island Sound (Hardcover)

I met Mary Parker Buckles 20 years ago and immediately fell for her. Articulate, witty and graced with the style of a native Southerner, she enthralled me. After reading her book on Long Island Sound, I just fell for her again. It's an articulate, witty and graceful look at all that grows along and in the sound.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the few lovely books about the Sound, November 3, 2004

By 

D. Conrad (Mahwah, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Margins: A Naturalist Meets Long Island Sound (Hardcover)

Mary Buckles develops a great relationship with life on the Sound and shares it so gracefully with the reader. There are so few books available about the Sound, and hers is one of the best.