Awake in the World: A Riverfeet Press Anthology 2017

by Daniel J. Rice, Tyler Dunning, Sean Prentiss

"Leave room in your dry-bag, boat-box, rucksack, even fishing vest, for this rich collection of voices." -Chris Dombrowski, author of BODY OF WATER

This collection will make you want to jump in your hiking boots, or canoe, or fishing waders, and get inside the great outdoors. A collection of stories, essays, and poems about wildlife, adventure, and the environment, from over forty authors, both U.S. and abroad.

Riverfeet Press will donate 10% of sales for this title to the National Parks Conservation Association.

262 pages, Paperback

Published March 17, 2017

About the author

Daniel J. Rice was born in Wiesbaden, Germany, in 1979. He spent much of his adult life living in the wild and untamed state of Wyoming, where he worked for the U.S. Geological Survey. Currently he lives in Northern MN, where he acts as editor for the Mississippi Headwaters Audubon Society Newsletter. He is active in fly fishing, wilderness camping, and ice hockey, and all of these come through in his writing.

Reviews

[Michael Onofrey]

I wish there was another option aside from having to rate a book with stars, for stars don’t work for some books, like anthologies, because an anthology is composed of writings from different authors. This, of course, is the case with "Awake in the World," an anthology. So I gave it five stars because the only other choice would have been no stars, and no stars would have meant the book is worthless. "Awake in the World" is definitely not worthless. Just the opposite. It’s a fine book, but I’d prefer to skip the stars and simply to comment on the book, something like a review in a newspaper. But I had to go with the stars because of the system. Five stars was the best choice, or the only choice. Also, regarding favoritism, I have a piece in this anthology.

As with any anthology there were some piece in "Awake in the World" that appealed to me more than others, yet that’s not to say the others were bad. They weren’t. I found all of the pieces interesting. Another reader would probably have different top-choices. Actually, that’s one of the strengths of the book—there’s something in this anthology for everyone no matter their background. The book’s focus is the natural world, otherwise known as nature, and tied to this are environment and ecology. Adding diversity of perspective, the anthology is composed of essays, poems and short stories. Altogether, I counted forty-five writers who contributed. So in addition to three modes of expression, the book encompasses forty-five viewpoints of expression with settings and topics that range from wilderness areas to backyards to molecular science to the lyricism of seasons, and to the threat that development, by way of people, possess to the natural world and to this planet as a whole. The natural world in this book is not restricted to North America. There’s a piece set in Chile and another one set in Hawaii, for example.

The four pieces I liked best, go something like this:

One short story has a man watering a herb garden in a backyard on a hot day, garden hose employed. The story was beautifully written, while bringing the particulars of nature into the realm of everyday living.

In another story, a young man and an old man are in Central Park in New York City, and in this story the details of molecular science are given so that a regular person, such as myself, can understand how the little things relating to carbon play a role in a large, encompassing picture, which is the picture of this world and its atmosphere. I appreciated the science in this piece very much.

In an essay, the details and ins-and-outs of environmental law are gone over in specifics, case in hand, a large earthworm that is endangered, or thought to be endangered by some people. This piece gave me a real feel for the painstaking work that goes into the legal struggle of getting a species listed as endangered.

And then there is a personal essay with the voice of a regular guy, who didn’t really have any sort of focus on nature, even though he grew up right next to it in Montana, and who has come around, quite naturally, to appreciating nature. A theme of maturity is implied.

This anthology was published by Riverfeet Press, a small, independent publisher. And so the feeling I came away with, given the publisher and the wide variety of people who contributed, was that the preciousness of nature is not something highfalutin or misty-eyed in any sort a snobbish sense. Its domain isn’t restricted to academia or large publishing houses, even though they might be involved. It’s something for all of us, no matter who we are.

[Jeff]

Clear, concise writing with deep meaning. This is filled with gems and perfect for your next outdoors trip. I was quite moved by many of the stories and poems. Highly recommended!