Muir Among the Animals: The Wildlife Writings of John Muir ed. by Lisa Mighetto (review)

220 Western American Literature the frontier as a hostile environment for their efforts; and the liberalism which called for the discard of the old traditions in favor of a new artistry energized by the untamed spirit of freedom and the direct experience of the fantastic natural realm. Representative examples show a developing awareness that an adopted culture, though fervently defended, even to the point of declaring art and the American environment to be antithetical, isdiluted and distorted by those very efforts to conserve it. Thus conservatism rarely moved artistically beyond an almost parochial imitation, or as in the case of Hawthorne and others, the use of indirection and symbolism to represent the distortions of culture which they saw. Yet the stance of liberal provincialism was a call for a radically organic culture growing from the very forces of cultural democracy which had proved so destructive of traditional cultural values. Longfellow’s call was to discard English authors in favor of “Our Native Writers,” who would enjoy the patronage of the people, unlike earlier art patrons, and who would acknowl­ edge their artistic dependence on nature. And Emerson viewed America’slack of history as advantage, freedom, and yet saw the promise of a truly organic culture as not yet fulfilled. But von Frank concludes that in actual practice, the conservative response of the provincial mind—the desperate attempt to preserve traditional cultural values in the face of an environment perceived as being destructive of those values—was the predominant response of American writers. Their internal struggles, fomented by their consciousness of the frontier as potentially and actually degenerating the values of the larger civilized community, and the effect of this frontier consciousness on their work may well illuminate future reading of these authors and future discussions of provincialism. DOREY SCHMIDT Pan American University Muir Among the Animals: The Wildlife Writings of John Muir. Edited by Lisa Mighetto. (San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1986. 196 pages, $17.95.) John Muir is a name still largely unknown east of the Rockies, despite the publication of four major biographies in the past five years. Westerners know him best as father of Yosemite National Park and founder of the Sierra Club. This little book should help extend his audience as well as his influence among animal rights activists. Attractively packaged and prefaced by a pithy introduction, this collec­ tion reveals Muir both as literary craftsman and as outspoken social critic who Reviews 221 eloquently pleaded for compassion and understanding of all animals, includ­ ing those not deemed “useful” to humans. In a day when utilitarian conserva­ tionists like William T. Hornaday and Teddy Roosevelt praised game birds and domesticable species but condemned hawks,wolves, rattlesnakes and other “noxious” creatures, Muir defended predators for both ecological and ethical reasons. As the editor implies, reverence for life in all its dimensions was Muir’smaxim long before Albert Schweitzer made it famous. Designed for general readers, the book contains 20 essays, all but three previously published. Included is the last and shortest published version of Muir’s best known and most beloved animal story, Stickeen, the name given to an eskimo dog (not to be confused with the Muir family pet illustrated in the book) who followed Muir on a hazardous glacier excursion in 1880 (not 1879). Scholars long familiar with these published essays may question the editor’s decision not to include pertinent holograph selections recently pub­ lished in microform but not yet available in print. For example, Muir’sbiting draft satire on hunting (frame 10945, Reel 45 of The John Muir Papers. Microform edition published by Chadwyck-Healey, Inc., 1986) would have tellingly documented his disdain for blood sports. This and a number of other short commentaries from the unexpurgated Muir would have notably enhanced the research value of the book. Reading Muir is no less uplifting today than it was nearly a century ago. Whether he is bounding over deep glacial crevasses or strolling in a springtime sea of wildflowers, his descriptive power is fresh and invigorating. Readers young and old will enjoy this sampling of one of America’sbest nature writers. RON LIMBAUGH University of the Pacific At the Gentle Mercy of Plants. By...