Hunting for Hope: A Father's Journeys (Paperback)

~ Scott Russell Sanders (Author)
Key Phrases: Thunder Lake, Wild Basin, British Museum (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Author Scott Russell Sanders has written numerous award-winning books (including Staying Put and Secrets of the Universe) about the environmental and moral crises of the late 20th century--inspiration and fuel for all who care about the state of the world. Well, almost all. On a backpacking trip in the Colorado Rockies, he learns he has passed on to his teenage son Jesse not hope, but a paralyzing unease.

"You make me feel the planet's dying and people are to blame and nothing can be done about it," Jesse tells his father. "Maybe you can get by without hope, but I can't. I've got a lot of living still to do. I have to believe there's a way out of this mess. Otherwise what's the point? Why study, why work--why do anything if it's all going to hell?"

Sanders, taking his son's questions as seriously as any environmental quandary, sets out to locate and write about the sources of his own modest optimism. These elegant, carefully polished essays slide one into the other as smoothly as the joints of a craftsman's chair. In chapters such as "Wildness," "Body Bright," "Fidelity," and "Simplicity" Sanders calls to mind the writing of American Transcendentalists as well as Wendell Berry's essays on faith and community. He praises the bonds of family, the wildness of nature, "the lightness and purpose" of simplicity. It's a thoughtful, encouraging book for anyone who has ever found themselves wondering, Why bother? --Maria Dolan --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

In these wise and luminous essays, Sanders takes on big themes: living a centered life, our relation to animals and to nature, the survival of human values in our greed-driven commercial culture. The leitmotif is his not-quite-extinguished hope for a livable, sane world offering people a decent future?a hope he nurtures despite the ecological devastation, family breakdown and moral decay he sees. Notable among these 15 adventurous essays are "Skill," a meditation on the life-enhancing use or the misuse of one's innate talents; "The Way of Things," an attempt to reconcile modern cosmology with ancient beliefs in a divine creator; "Body Bright," a Blakean call for cleansing the doors of perception, reconnecting with the planet and our fellow creatures; and "Fidelity," which explores marriage as an arena for the fulfillment of desire. The thread through this labyrinth of ideas is Sanders's account of backpacking in the Colorado Rockies with his son whose optimism tempers the fatherly pessimism. Although these beautifully written pieces are reminiscent of Wendell Berry's essays in their economy, grace and moral passion, Sanders projects his own distinctive voice, at once recognizably Midwestern (he's from Indiana by way of Ohio) and universal. Editor, Deanne Urmy; agent, John Wright.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (September 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807064254
• ISBN-13: 978-0807064252
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #268,516 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ALL THAT A READER COULD HOPE FOR, July 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: HUNTING FOR HOPE (Hardcover)

Here is a father who takes his son's world seriously. We can learn by his tales the power of passing wisdom along kindly and eloquently, while at the same time listening with attentiveness to the concerns of the future. Because the author is willing to learn from a younger generation, we as readers may learn along with him. He also has lessons of his own, and these are presented respectfully. This book is honest, funny, entertaining, and inspiring without being heavy-handed; a wonderful dose of urgent optimism and a communication between present and future, father and son, writer and reader.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hunting for Hope Brings Us Home, September 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: HUNTING FOR HOPE (Hardcover)

In Scott Russell Sanders' new book, the search is for hope...for his grown children, and for us all. Sanders feels that crying need among our young and gives back his own discoveries in his mid-fifties. In particular his relationship with his college age son are poignant and real. The book seems an antidote of sorts for the lost relationships found in Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild book of Chris McMannes. This is Henry David Thoreau writing here...with a wife and childen...facing the life we all know. He reaches and finds some lasting truths that connect us all.

4.0 out of 5 stars Hope and staying true, December 6, 2008

By	Laina M. Gerace "Laina" (Rockford, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

How can you maintain hope in the midst of environmental degradation, waste, and human callousness? While not ground breaking, this is a thoughtful, beautifully written book about life's values and staying true to nature. I loved the chapter on fidelity. The author's relationship with his teenaged son while camping and hiking is both humorous and touching. A very good read!