David Gessner

Gessner explores the conservation achievements of Teddy Roosevelt in visiting several western national parks and monuments. He looks at Roosevelt's use of the Antiquities Act to create monuments, with special attention given to Bears Ears during the time of Trump, who reduced the monument (that BIden re-established). Somewhat dated, unfocused and promotes the stereotypical environmentalist stance (grazing, mining and logging are bad -- preservation good). Actual management of natural resources is much more complex and not explored in this book.… (more)

David Gessner takes on two major voices in Western writing and environmentalism: Edward Abbey and Wallace Stegner. Abbey and Stegner both loved the west but approached that vast landscape in different ways. Abbey immersed himself in the wilderness, almost dying during one trek, and then was buried in that very wilderness. Stegner, much more refined, was the "grown up," and served as Abbey's teacher (along with lots of other writers) in the Stanford writing program he founded. While Abbey advocated "monkey wrenching" as a way to stop environmental degradation, Stegner worked within the system and was part of the development of the 1964 Wilderness Act. Readers can connect with Gessner's work even if they haven't read either author. But, I can only hope reading Gessner will open a world of great western literature.… (more)

A dual biography of Edward Abbey and Wallace Stegner, narrated along a 9000-mile road trip visiting the western landmarks that figured prominently in their lives. Along the way, author Gessner interviewed many of their friends, family members, and former students while weaving an eco-journalistic thread throughout that tied the sometimes conflicting views of the two authors to current topics in conservation and the environment. I've had Stegner's Beyond the Hundredth Meridian on my kindle for some time but didn't feel I had the framework to understand and appreciate it. Now I do.… (more)