"What makes this collection such a consistent joy is ultimately how hopeful the author feels, and how much he continues to enjoy moving through the world despite the twin realities of bad knees and climate change. [.] Reading Hood's work will make you feel smarter but, even more crucially in this dire age, more open to the sublime. [.] Read this book. It's a true delight." -- Los Angeles Times "Among nature writers now working, Charles Hood may be my favorite. He never stops telling stories, and his perspective is fundamentally comic, even when he's recounting a tragedy.

" -- Jonathan Franzen "Once you've had a taste of the world of Charles Hood, you'll want to follow him wherever he goes. He's brilliantly entertaining and this is his best book yet." -- Elizabeth McKenzie , author of The Portable Veblen "Hood is the love child of Rebecca Solnit and Edward Abbey, assuming such a child had been raised in an art colony by demented garden gnomes." -- Michael Guista , author of Brain Work, winner of the Bakeless Prize for Literature "Charles Hood's essay about James Audubon's work should be required for anyone who possesses a pair of eyes, whether or not they use them for birdwatching or perusing art." -- William Fox , Director of The Center for Land + Environment, Nevada Museum of Art.