A Place for Wayfaring: The Poetry and Prose of Gary Snyder (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Oregon State University Press; 1st edition (March 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870714791
• ISBN-13: 978-0870714795
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,872,239 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wayfaring for Scholars, January 16, 2004

By A Customer

I don't want to imply that this is a bad book, in fact I think it represents a tremendous effort. However, this is not a book for the casual reader, and certainly NOT a book for someone "coming to Gary Snyder for the first time." This book is scholarly and rather nit-picking. It at turns makes much of a single word and yet elsewhere glosses over whole pieces of Snyder's writing. Most importantly, someone buying this books should understand that it picks apart poems and prose pieces, often without quoting more than the single word or phrase it is discussing. There is thus often little context for the analysis given, and it is hard to read this book unless you already have more or less a complete collection of Gary Snyder's writings sitting beside you. That said, for someone who DOES have most or all of Gary Snyder's writing at hand, "A Place for Wayfaring" provides a lot of insight and background material that would otherwise be unavailable outside of a college English class. For the Snyder fan, a worthwhile book, but if you've only read a few of Snyder's books, I think you'll quickly feel lost.