Tony and the Cows: A True Story from the Range Wars [Hardcover]

Will Baker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2010

Tony and the Cows is a story of friendship between two men, but it is also the story of intrigue and mystery laced with violence. The book examines what it means to live responsibly in a world where no one can avoid compromise with technology. In July of 1995, ten weeks after the Oklahoma City bombing, novelist Will Baker participated as a journalist in the annual gathering of Earth Firsters on the Trinity River in Northern California. He drank and smoked with them, listened to their poetry, attended seminars and workshops, was suspected of being an FBI plant, and hugged and serenaded. It was there that Baker met Tony, who, in the few months that remained in his life, led Baker to reconsider all his attitudes toward the natural world and our place in it.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Former Sierra Club officer Tony Merten, who made his New Mexico ranch a habitat for wildlife, shot himself to death without explanation in 1996 while under suspicion in the criminal investigation of the wanton shooting of 34 cows and calves. Baker, essayist and novelist, wrests from this unsolved case a crackling mystery, a jolting ecoparable and an extended meditation on humanity's relationship to the planet. He uses the case as a springboard to examine the long-running controversy over whether Western ranchers should continue to receive grazing permits on public lands. Baker attempts to steer a middle course between grassroots activists who advocate a sweeping ban on such permits and ranchers who regard long-term leasing of public rangelands as a permanent, indispensable base for their livelihoods and lifestyle. Much of the book is a pointed critique of what Baker calls the radical wing of the environmental movement, which he accuses of dubious thinking, apocalyptic sermonizing and romantic clinging to a fantasy of reborn humanity living in harmony with wild nature. Taking aim broadly at EarthFirst!ers, green activists, deep ecologists, Theodor Roszak, Jeremy Rifkin and others, he draws disturbing (some would say outrageous) parallels between their demonization of technocivilization and Unabomber Ted Kaczynski's yearning for close-knit rural tribal community. Baker's recognition that we face an eco-crisis makes his tough-minded, philosophically grounded critique worthwhile; it will challenge environmentally minded readers to rethink and fortify their positions.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

It's a pleasure to recommend writing as good as Will Baker's. Of the writers whose work I have personally had a chance to publish, I rank him right up there with Norman Maclean, William Stafford, and Wallace Stegner.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 121 pages
• Publisher: Confluence Press; 1st edition (January 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881090353
• ISBN-13: 978-1881090359
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,039,785 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Henry David Thoreau---Read this Book!, May 15, 2001

By 

Pamela C. Ronald (davis, ca USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tony and the Cows: A True Story from the Range Wars (Hardcover)

This book explores what happens if you take envrionmental zeal to the extreme, while also laying out the reasons why caring for the earth is a critical concern. The author is looking for a middle way between thoughtless corporate resource extraction and armed assaults by protectors of nature. His story is about a local Sierra Club president and loner, who, based on the evidence available, decides to shoot 32 cows grazing on public land in New Mexico in an effort to rid the landscape of exotic species. Mr. Baker explores the literary and societal roots of environmental activism and the development of the view of "nature" prevalent in our society. There are so many actions being taken today that reflect the conflict between our consumer culture and the preservation of the natural world. Deciding how resources are to be used is essential to our survivial and this book looks very closely and very critically at the issue. It is a mind opener, and could certainly offend true believers on both sides. A must read for our times.