In the Catskills and My Boyhood

By John Burroughs
Introduction by Edward Renehan

Subjects: New York/regional, Memoir, American History, Autobiography, Biography And Memoir, Ecology
Series: Excelsior Editions, New York Classics
Imprint: Excelsior Editions
Hardcover : 9781438485690, 232 pages, October 2021
Paperback : 9781438485706, 232 pages, July 2022

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Table of contents

New Introduction
Edward Renehan

In the Catskills

Illustrations

Introduction

I. The Snow-Walkers

II. A White Day and a Red Fox

III. Phases of Farm Life

IV. In the Hemlocks

V. Birds'-Nests

VI. The Heart of the Southern Catskills

VII. Speckled Trout

VIII. A Bed of Boughs

My Boyhood

Classic works by naturalist John Burroughs on his beloved Catskill region.

Description

Henry James called John Burroughs (1837–1921) "a more humorous, more available, and more sociable Thoreau." Walt Whitman in turn extolled Burroughs as "a child of the woods, fields, hills—native to them in a rare sense (in a sense almost a miracle)." Throughout his many books and essays, Burroughs was never more eloquent on nature themes than when writing about his native countryside: the woods, streams, and mountains of the Catskills in New York. In the Catskills collects the very best of Burroughs's writings about his birthplace in a book that is sure to be treasured by all lovers of the region as well as lovers of the literature of nature. This new edition includes an introduction by Burroughs biographer Edward Renehan and an additional work not included in previous editions, entitled My Boyhood.

John Burroughs was a well-known naturalist and prolific writer on his native Catskills. Edward Renehan is the author of more than twenty books, including John Burroughs: An American Naturalist. He lives in Wickford, Rhode Island.

Reviews

"With a new introduction by Burroughs biographer Edward Renehan, this book compiles some of Burrough's best essays on the streams and mountains of the region. The collection concludes with My Boyhood, a work not included in previous editions. The eight works, including 'Speckled Trout' and 'Phases of Farm Life,' cover a range of natural phenomena that reveal the charm and wonder of the mountains Burroughs called home." — Chronogram