Horizon

Description

From the author of the classic Arctic Dreams, a vivid recollection of his travels around the world and the encounters that have shaped an extraordinary life. 'Horizon is magnificent; a contemporary epic' Robert Macfarlane, author of Underland From the author of the classic Arctic Dreams comes a vivid recollection of his travels around the world and the encounters that shaped an extraordinary life. Taking us nearly from pole to pole - from modern megacities to some of the earth's most remote regions - Barry Lopez gives us his most far-ranging and personal work. Spanning decades of travel, Horizon describes journeys to six regions of the world- from Western Oregon to the High Arctic; from the Galapagos to the Kenyan desert; from Botany Bay in Australia to finally, unforgettably, the ice shelves of Antarctica. Lopez also probes the history of humanity's quests and explorations, from prehistoric expeditions to today's ecotourism. He takes us to some of the hottest, coldest, and most desolate places on the globe, via friendships with scientists, archaeologists, artists and local residents, in a book that makes us see the world differently. It is the crowning achievement of one of the world's best travel writers. 'The greatest nature writer in the world ... He is also the greatest travel writer ... an astounding new memoir' Sunday Times

Barry Lopez is the author of two collections of essays; several story collections; Arctic Dreams, for which he received the National Book Award; Of Wolves and Men, a National Book Award finalist, and Crow and Weasel, a novella-length fable. He contributes regularly to both American and foreign journals and has travelled to more than 70 countries to conduct research. He is the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim, Lannan, and National Science Foundations and has been honoured by a number of institutions for his literary, humanitarian, and environmental work.

The greatest nature writer in the world ... He is also the greatest travel writer ... [an] astounding new memoir -- Bryan Appleyard * Sunday Times * Magnificent; a contemporary epic -- Robert Macfarlane * Guardian, Book of the Week * Riveting, seductive, and beautifully written. I don't know of any other writer who so mesmerizingly, so seemingly effortlessly, weaves together art, science and poetry-I found myself underlining sentences on every page. Barry Lopez is one of my literary heroes -- Andrea Wulf Barry Lopez brings the world alive like no other writer. His writing evokes diverse peoples and places with great humanity and humility. Horizon deserves to become a modern classic -- Sir Ranulph Fiennes A visionary masterpiece, a towering monument to a life dedicated to the whole of the world and everything in it -- Neil Ansell, author of The Last Wilderness A celebration and investigation of the impulse to explore, Horizon is itself an exploration-of both the human and inhuman worlds. In his intensity, his clarity, and his capacity for wonder, Barry Lopez is unmatched -- Elizabeth Kolbert Barry Lopez is a straight-up magnificent writer. To read Horizon is to be transported to wondrous landscapes far beyond the pale, and thereby obtain an astounding perspective on our increasingly uncertain future. Lopez expresses faith that our species can avert annihilation by investing 'more deeply in the philosopher's cardinal virtues': courage, justice, reverence, and compassion-virtues this book possesses in abundance -- Jon Krakauer The world is vast, and so are the heart and the curiosity of Barry Lopez. His voice is incomparable and necessary. No one else alive, to my knowledge, thinks so carefully about the moral dimensions of landscape -- David Quammen Nobody journeys like Barry Lopez. He's humble, he's ethical, he's honest, he's curious, he's doubtful, he's properly sad and he's wild. He wakes us up to the worth and the mystery of the world. His great affection for humanity comes up from every patch of earth he visits. This is an epic book that goes from pole to pole, and yet manages to make a distinct 'everywhere' out of each little patch he visits. A glorious book, gloriously told -- Colum McCann A masterpiece ... huge-hearted, wise and sorrowful book by the Philosopher-King of Gaia -- Joy Williams No one has worked harder to make sense of our present civilization than Barry Lopez, and in these chronicles we get to share the travels that helped shape his extraordinary mind and heart. A great gift to us all -- Bill McKibben The crowning achievement of Barry Lopez's illustrious career... we need adventurous, curious souls like Lopez to keep traveling and bringing back stories from beyond our particular horizon - in order to find our way forward as a species, together * Daily Mail * Reading Barry Lopez is a religious experience... most memorable and compelling * Observer * Breathtaking in its ambition... There could be no more essential guide than Lopez for navigating the time that remains * Sunday Times * Subtle, monumental, rich * Nature * Lopez... [is] renewing our sense of the entire planet...as home... He can move from the largest of canvases to the most local and seemingly familiar... [A] keen and uncompromising critic of the continuing colonialism that plagues the so-called developing world... At the same time, hope can be drawn from the fact that more of us are finally beginning to notice our predicament... a surer appreciation and reverence of the world that we inhabit -- John Burnside * Literary Review * A winning memoir ... Exemplary writing about the world and a welcome gift to readers * Kirkus Review * Horizon encompasses both the conquistadors' lust for gold and the mining of Big Data... I don't know whether Lopez is possessed of extrasensory perception, but he's not short of wisdom. And he's not merely keeping it; he's sharing it. -- Michael Kerr * Daily Telegraph * Superb essays that reveal the author's remarkable technical mastery of very diverse subjects, and these are rewarding. More-over, the examples of Captain Cook and Charles Darwin are on hand as historical proxies and inspirations for Lopez's own quest for global inclusivity. Finally there is, as distraction almost on every page, the sonorous cadence of his prose -- Mark Cocker * Spectator * Horizon...[is] a magisterial and deeply personal survey of the world's most remote regions... it is enthralling -- Penelope Lively * Tablet, *Summer reads of 2019* * The best parts of Horizon are like a carefully constructed mosaic... Lopez packs his pages like the hold of a cargo plane, with everything strapped down, aisles between, and labelled... Horizon...has a definite design - like that of a garden -- Benjamin Lytal * London Review of Books * Life-affirming -- Michael Kerr * Daily Telegraph, *Books of the Year* * Life-affirming in its depictions of the wonders that remain... You'll find it a lot smarter than your phone * Daily Telegraph, *Travel books of the year* * An epic account of a life lived in love with and scrutiny of our wounded natural world -- Robert Macfarlane * Big Issue, *Books of the Year* * The horizon...serves as a metaphor for humanity's future, one in which a definitive ending is not yet in sight. Horizon is not, therefore, without hope. There is still time for us to alter our behaviour -- Elizabeth-Jane Burnett * Times Literary Supplement * This is a book to be read slowly, savouring the descriptive language and side-tracking to research the human and natural history touched on by its long reach... If you have nature in your soul, you won't regret spending time reading this book when you're not - it will inspire, enthral and encourage your own reflections and observations. In this sense, it is both practical and escapist, and there is no greater praise for such a work of expansive non-fiction, a late enrichment to an already deep and wide life's work -- David Callahan * Birdwatch * A magnificent achievement: symphonic in structure, epic in scope, its themes and ideas develop across 500 pages, all rendered in prose of spare and sinuous clarity -- John Mitchinson * Byline Times *