The Open Space of Democracy [Paperback]

Terry Tempest Williams (Author), Mary Frank (Painter)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0913098639 | ISBN-13: 978-0913098639 | Publication Date: August 2004

Terry Tempest Williams presents a sharp-edged perspective on the ethics and politics of place, spiritual democracy, and the responsibilities of citizen engagement. By turns elegiac, inspiring, and passionate, The Open Space of Democracy offers a fresh perspective on the critical questions of our time.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Terry Tempest Williams lives in Castle Valley, Utah. Her books include Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place; An Unspoken Hunger; Desert Quartet; Leap; and Red: Passion and Patience in the Desert. She is the recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and a Lannan Literary Fellowship in creative nonfiction. Her work has appeared in Orion, The New Yorker, The Nation, The New York Times, Parabola, and The Best American Essays.

Product Details

• Paperback: 107 pages
• Publisher: The Orion Society (August 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0913098639
• ISBN-13: 978-0913098639
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #691,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

She is the award-winning author of Leap, An Unspoken Hunger, Refuge & most recently Red - A Desert Reader. She lives in Castle Valley, Utah.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece, September 17, 2004

By 

Harold Marks "hthoreau" (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Open Space of Democracy (Paperback)

I have not read a book in the last ten years that I would give this description to, but The Open Space of Democracy will or at least should go down as an American masterpiece, and a seminal contribution to environmental and political writing. I pre-ordered my copy direct from the publisher and so received and read, or rather devoured, it right after it was published. The triptych of essays in this volume are woven together and inseparable from each other in the way that Aldo Leopold's "Land Ethic" is inseparable from the rest of A Sand County Almanac.

This book maps a future for America and Americans that is luminous, hopeful, fierce, and prophetic all in one. Anyone who truly cares about our democracy and about the health of the natural world NEEDS to read this, be inspired by it, and take action in honor of it.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DEEPLY ENGAGING, September 27, 2004

By 

Bela Johnson "Medical Intuitive" (Big Island, HI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Open Space of Democracy (Paperback)

After interviewing Terry on radio, I am convinced that this gentle soul's strong undercurrent provides us with a rich new model of citizen involvement in this, our participatory government. Too many of us dismiss a deeper involvement in democracy with crusty cynicism - we feel ground down by the backhanded tactics used by government officials to strip us of our civil liberties and rape the earth's environment.

What Terry Tempest Williams proposes not only facilitates transformation within our democratic system, but by the simple act of learning to listen with open minds and hearts, we may receive one another's views on a very human scale. If we endeavor to connect in this manner, not only will we have a more functional democracy, we will become better human beings.

Bela Johnson, Medical Intuitive
http://www.belajohnson.com

Host, Alternative Currents
http://www.weru.org

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Words sorely needed, November 2, 2007

By 

Patricia Kramer (Madison, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Open Space of Democracy (Paperback)

Oh my. This book actually rates 10 stars in today's world. In this slim book, Terry Tempest Williams is calling for community, discussion, breaking out of boxes and labels and working together to solve our problems in democracy's open space. Throughout the book she defines what that open space should be and what would create it. How disheartening it is to know how far in the other direction we have gone in the 3 years since it has been published.

"In the open space of democracy, we engage the qualities of inquiry, intuition, and love as we become a dynamic citizenry, unafraid to exercise our shared knowledge and power. We can dissent. We can vote. We can step forward in times of terror with a confounding calm that will shatter fear and complacency."

As was illustrated in a recent 60 Minutes piece, Terry Tempest Williams describes what a trip to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge can do to open minds and souls.

"The power of nature is the power of a life in association. Nothing stands alone. On my haunches, I see a sunburst lichen attached to limestone; algae and fungi are working together to break down rock into soil. I cannot help but recognize a radical form of democracy at play. Each organism is rooted in its own biological niche, drawing its power from its relationship to other organisms. An equality of being contributes to an ecological state of health and succession."

It is very unfortunate that this book is out of print. I wish it would be re-issued and distributed widely. The open space of democracy is waiting for us.