Ben Goldfarb Book Recommendations & Book Mentions

Ben Goldfarb

I've always felt that more fiction should feature scientists as protagonists; what could be more literary than the Ahabian quest for elusive knowledge? Appreciated Andrea Barrett's NATURAL HISTORY for centering naturalists, entomologists, paleontologists, and biochemists. https://t.co/cziThKGiG7

Ben Goldfarb

@AlexandraBalwit @toby_tremlett Hey, that's kind. I'm not really the right person to speak to these particular issues, but if you're looking to examine wild animal ethics, there's no better resource than @Emma_Marris's book WILD SOULS.

Ben Goldfarb

@BenRawlence @Earthdecay @gow_derek Thanks! Derek's own book, Bringing Back the Beaver, is of course great too.

Ben Goldfarb

A little late to Francisco Cantú's THE LINE BECOMES A RIVER, but absolutely knocked out by it. Up there with Urrea and Bowden and the other border masterpieces. https://t.co/uh8uPzeVYD

Ben Goldfarb

George Saunders's "A Swim in a Pond in the Rain" is one of those brain-expanding works that will, I think, forever change how I write, and certainly how I teach writing. On how reading fiction alters one's mental/emotional state (applies equally to literary nonfiction): https://t.co/Yj4q7toOTm

Ben Goldfarb

Just finished WHERE THE WATER GOES, a smart & useful primer on Colorado River law, politics, and history. Still, I don't understand how one could write an entire book about the Colorado basin without ever mentioning the humpback chub, razorback sucker, or pikeminnow.

Ben Goldfarb

@evaholland @chelsea_murray @9brandon @ferrisjabr Cool question. American Wolf (Nate Blakeslee), The Dragon Behind the Glass (Emily Voigt), and Down From the Mountain (Bryce Andrews) all come immediately to mind.

Ben Goldfarb

Fun question. A few about which I frequently proselytize: —Song of the Dodo, @DavidQuammen —Encounters w/ the Archdruid, McPhee —Circe, Madeline Miller —Wild Souls, Emma Marris —Cold Millions, @1JessWalter —Yellow Bird, @SierraMurdoch —Dog Stars, Peter Heller https://t.co/dvLq7I6Nl7

Ben Goldfarb

Finally got to Annie Proulx's CLOSE RANGE, of Brokeback fame. Gorgeous evocation of Wyoming & I generally loved it, though its characters are largely narrow-minded & abusive. How do Wyomingites feel about state's most famous story collection (written, as it was, by an outsider)? https://t.co/4TYd19NpJ7

Ben Goldfarb

“If Mother Nature should ever call me to live upon another planet, I could wish that I might be born a beaver, to inhabit a house in the water.” —Enos Mills, In Beaver World https://t.co/cxsA0B6QTn