Thoreau
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David Biespiel’s Poetry Wire: The Pale of Vermont
But to become a writer I needed at least to learn about my own superstitions. I needed space in the house to sketch with words. I needed to commit heresies. And those acts had to feel pleasurable.
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The Last Poems I Loved: John Berryman’s Dream Songs #265 and #279
I have a tendency to read difficult books when my life is difficult.
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Word of the Day: Adoxography
(n.) skilled writing in praise of trivial or unpleasant subjects When people in a privileged society look deep within themselves to find what is missing, a streamlined clothes-cleaning experience comes up a lot. More often than not, the people who…
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Cabin in the Woods
It may not be 1869 anymore, but fear not: the golden age of conservation literature is far from over. As part of the Pacific Standard‘s week-long series on “opting-out,” Eva Holland writes about the tradition of environmental writing, from Thoreau to David…
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The Walden game
Ready to achieve virtual self-reliance? The National Endowment for the Arts grant has recently awarded the University of Southern California a $40,000 grant to produce a video game based on Henry David Thoreau’s works where players can “follow in the…
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The Diviner’s Tale
Morrow’s supple prose is grounded in lyricism, prose unafraid to give the reader both the forest and the trees. Bradford Morrow’s new novel, a feminist interpretation of fairy-tale tropes, explores the life of Cassandra: single-mother, teacher, dowser.
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Keep the Kevlar Handy: The Rumpus Interview with Mark Slouka
“In America, we tend to think belief trumps knowledge. To tease out the truth from the fabric of lies that surrounds us requires a certain degree of intelligence. Which is bad news for us, alas.
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Take a Hike, or “Thoreau Was a Neuroscientist”
Stop reading this and go outside and take a walk somewhere nature-like. Right now. Okay, did you go? Good. Now you might actually pay attention to me.
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The Rumpus Interview with Robert Sullivan
Journalist Robert Sullivan often documents unlovely corners of the natural world: The Meadowlands (1998) turned a naturalist’s eye on a dispiriting region of northern New Jersey notable for its Mafia dumping grounds, while in Rats (2004) Sullivan gave Ratus norvegicus…
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Life in the Woods
Peter Rock’s darkly evocative fifth novel follows a father and daughter’s underground existence in a city park.