He has the eye of a painter and the lyrical beauty of narrative style of a poet. The Library of America recently published this collection of his essays (actually, a lovely reprinting of several of his books combined into two large volumes) and, remembering my earlier delight, I purchased them. I first encountered this wonderful writer back in the '70s as his books were coming out in paperback, and marveled then at his graceful, insightful writing style. Beginning with close observation and vivid detail, Eiseley is fearless and imaginative in pursuit of the cosmological dimensions of the phenomena he describes.
Eiseley's subjects are wide-ranging, curious, and meticulously realized: the role of flowering plants in evolution a disturbing insect, seen in childhood the questions raised by a new fossil a forgotten episode in the history of science. Here, for the first time in a single collector's edition, are all of Eiseley's beloved, thought-provoking, sometimes darkly lyrical essay collections, from The Immense Journey to the posthumous The Star Thrower (1978). Now for the first time, the Library of America presents his landmark essay collections in a definitive two-volume set.īeginning with the surprise million-copy seller The Immense Journey (1957), Eiseley produced an astonishing succession of books that won acclaim both as science and as art. Weaving together anecdote, philosophical reflection, and keen observation with the soul and skill of a poet, Eiseley offers a brilliant, companionable introduction to the sciences, paving the way for writers like Carl Sagan, Stephen Jay Gould, and Neil deGrasse Tyson. At the height of a distinguished career as a "bone-hunter" and paleontologist, Eiseley turned from fieldwork and scientific publication to the personal essay in six remarkable books that are masterpieces of prose style. To read Loren Eiseley (1907-1977) is to renew a sense of wonder at the miracles and paradoxes of evolution and the ever-changing diversity of life.
A modern Thoreau explores the mysteries of the universe in this deluxe collector's boxed set.
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