12 books of Christmas: ‘John Muir’s Botanical Legacy’

Most coffee table books let the photos do the heavy lifting.

Not so “Nature’s Beloved Son: Rediscovering John Muir’s Botanical Legacy,” by Bonnie J. Gisel, with images by Stephen J. Joseph and foreword by David Rains Wallace (Heyday Books, $45).

Don’t misunderstand: It is beautifully illustrated with the species that Muir catalogued on his numerous journeys. (The book is divided into sections: “From Scotland to Wisconsin,” “Canada and Indianapolis,” “Kentucky to the Gulf of Mexico,” “California” and “Alaska.”)

I am struck by the species pictured, but I don’t eat botany for breakfast the way Muir did.

But I am entranced by the writing, which skillfully weaves Muir’s gentle words and the author’s crystalline prose:

“He had long been aware of the ‘life and gentle tenderness of the rocks, and instead of walking on them as unfeeling surfaces, began to regard them as transparent sky.’ ”

This is not a book to devour in one sitting but to dip into over and over. It is, like Muir’s fascination with plants, the purest kind of pleasure.

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— Catharine Hamm, Times Travel editor

[Image: Heyday Books]

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This entry was posted on Sunday, December 21, 2008 at 4:00 pm by Catharine Hamm and is filed under Big Sur, Book Reviews, California, California's Central Coast, Frequent Flier, Lake Tahoe & Eastern Sierra, National Parks, New Mexico, Northern California, Outdoors & Adventure, Pacific Northwest, Palm Springs, Rocky Mountain States, Santa Barbara, Sierra Nevada, Ski & Winter, Sky watching, Southern States, Spring, Summer, Winter, Yosemite National Park. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.