Nature Writing: The Tradition in English
These two new volumes join the increasing number of fine nature  anthologies compiled to serve as textbooks for college courses  on literature and the environment and to provide perspective on  the evolution of nature writing. As the expanded second edition  of The Norton Book of Nature Writing, Finch and Elder's  collection includes 133 authors, increased from 94, and almost  three times as many women authors. Writers from the traditional  nature-writing canon, such as Thoreau and Muir, are included  along with minority writers who offer a different perspective on  nature and our relationship to the environment. In At Home on  This Earth, an anthology of female nature writers, Anderson  (Sisters of the Earth) and Edwards (Such News of the Land)  include well-known authors such as Rachel Carson and Annie  Dillard, as well as obscure though once-prominent authors such  as Olive Thorne Miller and Edith M. Thomas. In addition, they  have broadened the notion of what nature writing is by including  writers not conventionally a part of this genre such as bell  hooks and Alice Walker. Both books cover two centuries of  writings in English arranged chronologically to highlight the  differences and similarities between writing of the past and  present. Almost as important as the selections are the author  bio-sketches and critical comments about their works, which  provide the historical and social perspective for each  selection. The Norton work is limited to nonfiction essays,  while selections from the 51 authors featured in At Home include  essays, short stories, journal entries, and memoir excerpts.  Both works are essential for nature-writing collections and are  highly recommended for any collection. Maureen J.  Delaney-Lehman, Lake Superior State Univ., Sault Ste. Marie, MICopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.