My First Summer in the Sierra and Selected Essays A Library of America Paperbac [Paperback]

Describing his spiritual awakening amid the mountains and valleys of central California, John Muir'sMy First Summer in the Sierrais, likeWalden, one of the seminal texts in the literature of the American environment. It is presented here with an introduction by writer and activist Bill McKibben and related essays about Yosemite, the Hetch Hetchy Valley, and other wonders of the Sierra Nevada.John Muir (1838-1914) was born in Scotland. In 1849 he emigrated with his family to the United States, where he later enrolled in courses in chemistry, geology, and botany at the University of Wisconsin. Muir made extended journeys throughout America, observing both scientifically and enthusiastically the beauties of the wilderness.The Mountains of California, his first book, was published in 1894. He eventually settled in California, where he became an impassioned leader of the forest conservation movement. His writings includeOur National Parks(1901),My First Summer in the Sierra(1911),The Yosemite(1912),Travels in Alaska(1915),A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf(1916), andSteep Trails(1918).
Bill McKibbenis the author ofThe End of Nature, andThe Age of Missing Information. He is a frequent contributor to such publications asOutside,The New York Times, andThe New York Review of Books,and a former staff writer at theNew Yorker.US