Fire is a fearsome constant in the America West. Everyone who lives in the West confronts fire intimately or frighteningly at some time. As the author David J. Strohmaier notes, "Whether we have tended a campfire along Oregon's Deschutes River in March, engaged the advancing front of a Great Basin wildfire in the torrid heat of August, or watched fire settle into the subdued, smoldering leaf piles of October, all of our lives, to one degree or another, are bracketed by fire." In The Seasons of Fire, Strohmaier effectively blends nature writing, personal essay, and philosophical analysis as he deliberately crosses disciplinary boundaries. He discusses the "moral" dimensions of fire-not only whether fires are good, bad or indifferent phenomena, but also how fire, more generally understood, shapes meaning for human life. The consequences of discussing the moral side of fire speak directly to the contours of the human soul, and to our sense of our place on the land.! Strohmaier, a long-term firefighter himself, includes accurate and sometimes gut-wrenching descriptions of the firefighter's experience, including the philosophical wanderings and the downright boredom that may dominate between direct confrontations with the searing, terrifying flames.
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Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
As an experienced wildland firefighter, Strohmaier recounts tales of fighting fires in the West and philosophically examines the broad meaning of fire in our lives. By following the changing characteristics of wildfires through each of the four seasons, he explains the different nature of each and also investigates the ongoing debate regarding fire suppression vs. letting nature take its course. The book includes a nicely annotated bibliography and an index (not seen) as well as a recollection of the author's visit to the site of the South Canyon (Colorado) fire shortly after 14 firefighters died there in 1994. Recommended for larger natural history (especially Western U.S.) collections, this is a good companion piece to Michael Thoele's chiefly historical examination of the subject, Fire Line: The Summer Battles of the West (Fulcrum, 1995). Tim Markus, Evergreen State Coll. Lib., Olympia, WA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
About the Author
David J. Strohmaier, is a public comment analyst with the U.S. Forest Service. He has worked fifteen seasons as a wildland firefighter with the Bureau of Land Management and the U. S. Forest Service. He is published in Wildfire Magazine and Camas: People and Issues of the North Rockies. He holds graduate degrees in philosophy of religion from Yale University and in environmental studies from the University of Montana. He writes from his home in Missoula, Montana.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Seasons of Fire : Reflections on Fire in the West,
By
This review is from: The Seasons Of Fire: Reflections On Fire In The West (Environmental Arts and Humanities Series) (Paperback)
Strohmaier captures the essense of what calls people from all walks of life to a world of flames and wild places.As a veteran wildland firefighter for over 24 years, it was a joy to read about the spirit that exist within every wildland firefighter. If you want to understand the essentials of what motivates wildland firefighters, read this book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hot Damn!,
By mic x (Stinktown, ID) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Seasons Of Fire: Reflections On Fire In The West (Environmental Arts and Humanities Series) (Paperback)
Seasons of Fire by David J. Strohmaier is a superbly written, artistic, and thought-provoking novel on humankind's relationship to fire. Like the author, I too have "engaged" the fires of summer,which stirred deep, ontological questions about human evolution's debt to fire. The author expresses such ideas in a free-flowing narrative that bursts with imagery. Deep yet accesible (I will admit to using the dictionary at least once every 50 pages, but I admire an author who can skillfully use words that I should know, but don't).To ape the vernacular of Hollywood producers, "it's like Edward Abbey meets Garrison Keillor!" David J. Strohmaier provides beatific explorations of philosophical questions with a smooth, down-home panache. I have never had the pleasure of attacking a fire with gunny sacks, but the author makes me wish I had: "There is pleasure in completing little tasks--sweating your way up a hill to the flank of a fire under the sun and open sky of mid-July, then, in the company of several others, swatting out flames until either you smother all movement, or cool, moist night air tucks the fire in for the evening. This genuine satisfaction does not abdicate you from the responsibility of asking why you are doing what you are doing, and why it is meaningful. And of all the seasons of the year, summer, the summer of fire, is when these questions are cured." Descriptions of a bygone Halloween when the author dressed as Satan himself, dancing around a fire, made me laugh out loud. A truly provocative and enjoyable book. I look forward to his next work.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A masterful portrait,
By Ted Hughes (Missoula, MT United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Seasons Of Fire: Reflections On Fire In The West (Environmental Arts and Humanities Series) (Paperback)
Dave Strohmaier masterfully paints us a portrait of wildfire in the West, drawing from a palette of sensitivity to the earth, gritty practical experience, humor, and skilled writing craft. He calls attention to the beauty of many elements of nature we take for granted, its paradoxes, and draws complex associations between these and wildfire. This book is not a primer on how wildfires are fought. It is a loving and thorough philosophical exploration of the meaning of fire, nature, and humanity.
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