Wandering Through Winter: A Naturalist's Record of a 20,000-Mile Journey Through the North American Winter (American Seasons) [Paperback]

Edwin Way Teale (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1981 | Series: American Seasons (Book 4)

In this final volume of his brilliant four-volume cycle, Edwin Way Teale follows winter diagonally across the country in a 20,000-mile journey from Southern California to Northern Maine. Illustrated.

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

Product Details

• Paperback: 370 pages
• Publisher: Dodd Mead (December 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0396079598
• ISBN-13: 978-0396079590
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 4.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,270,064 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 "See, winter comes to rule the varied year", April 14, 2003

By 

E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wandering Through Winter: A Naturalist's Record of a 20,000-Mile Journey Through the North American Winter (American Seasons) (Paperback)

The naturalist Edwin Way Teale wrote four books about his and his wife's 100,000-mile journey that crisscrossed America and its seasons: "North With the Spring" (1951); "Autumn Across America" (1956); "Journey into Summer" (1960); and "Wandering Through Winter" (1965). In nearly 1400 pages this quartet of books takes the reader off the beaten paths and onto a grand tour of the natural history of this country. The only other books I know of that are remotely similar to these are John McPhee's geological grand tour of the 40th Parallel, "Annals of the Former World" (formerly published as a four-volume set).

If Annie Dillard had abandoned Tinker's Creek and taken a pilgrimage across America, she might have written books comparable to Teale's opus magnus.

The author and his wife, Nellie are the grandparents everyone should have, pottering about the country, writing reams of lucid prose about their adventures. Teale's warmth and breadth of interests sustain our attention through the migration of a pod of gray whales, the discovery of hibernating poorwills in the lower Colorado desert, giant beavers on the Missouri, or a night in the 'sugarbushes' of New Hampshire. The pace might seem a bit stately to some readers, but Nature is stately. This is a trait that ought to belong to naturalists. It is the antithesis of the TV generation's notoriously short attention span.

Here then are the subjects in one chapter of the Teales' leisurely journey, "The Diamond Farm:" 'Plowing for diamonds'--'Two shining pebbles'--'A crop of precious stones'--'The volcanic matrix'--'Kimberlite rock'--'A quiet interlude'--'Diamond in the mud'--'The elegant searcher'--'Doodlebugs'--'A rare example of credulity'--'A turtle-carrying spaniel'--'Law of the White Queen'--'Sorghum molasses'--'Edge of the Ozarks'--'"Ridge runners"'--'Contracted names'--'The brown, historic river.'

Teale's black-and-white photographs form a meticulous record of their journey through an American winter, including one of Nellie in her hat, long coat, and stout walking-shoes amid wind-formed gypsum dunes. It is easy to fall in love with these books, and the couple who lived each chapter.

5.0 out of 5 stars Another highly recommended book by Edwin Way Teale, July 19, 2010

By 

Bruce of the Endless Mountains (Tunkhannock PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wandering Through Winter: A Naturalist's Record of a 20,000-Mile Journey Through the North American Winter (American Seasons, 4th Season) (Paperback)

The whole "Seasons" series is well worth reading, although be warned, its about a less plastic urban sprawl America which we've well left behind in so many areas of our country, still if you wish to remember a simpler time, and enjoy nature this is a must read, along with the other books in the series.

5.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Teale...you've done it again!, April 3, 2010

By 

Rebecca Greenidge (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wandering Through Winter : A Naturalist's Record of a 20,000 Mile Journey Through the North American Winter (Hardcover)

I do, without equivocation, suggest any of Mr. Teale's books. I am working on my collection and getting what I can anywhere I can. His writing weaves a mysterious look in to the natural world in a way that makes you laugh and cry. These tales from days gone by will truly make you long for a simpler time and help you slow down and take in the beauty around!