Out of the Woods: Seeing Nature in the Everyday

2018 Reading the West Book Awards Nonfiction Winner

Have you ever wondered about society's desire to cultivate the perfect lawn, why we view some animals as "good" and some as "bad," or even thought about the bits of nature inside everyday items-toothbrushes, cell phones, and coffee mugs? In this fresh and introspective collection of essays, Julia Corbett examines nature in our lives with all of its ironies and contradictions by seamlessly integrating personal narratives with morsels of highly digestible science and research. Each story delves into an overlooked aspect of our relationship with nature--insects, garbage, backyards, noise, open doors, animals, and language--and how we cover our tracks.

With a keen sense of irony and humor and an awareness of the miraculous in the mundane, Julia recognizes the contradictions of contemporary life. She confronts the owner of a high-end market who insists on keeping his doors open in all temperatures. Takes us on a trip to a new mall with a replica of a trout stream that once flowed nearby. The phrase "out of the woods" guides us through layers of meaning to a contemplation of grief, remembrance, and resilience.

Out of the Woods leads to surprising insights into the products, practices, and phrases we take for granted in our everyday encounters with nature and encourages us all to consider how we might re-value or reimagine our relationships with nature in our everyday lives.

Author: Julia Corbett
Publisher: University of Nevada Press
Published: 09/01/2018
Pages: 232
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.66lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.40w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9781943859870


Review Citation(s):
Foreword 08/26/2018

About the Author
Julia Corbett is an award-winning author and professor in the Department of Communication and the Environmental Humanities Graduate Program at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah. She won the 2018 Reading the West Book Awards for Out of the Woods and her environmental nonfiction essays have been published in venues such as Orion, High Country News, and Camas. Corbett has also served as newspaper reporter, park ranger, naturalist, natural resources information officer, and deputy press secretary. She summers in the mountains of western Wyoming in her cabin.