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Short Synopsis
Terry Tempest Williams, the author of the beloved memoir When Women Were Birds, returns with The Hour of Land, a literary celebration of our national parks, what they mean to us, and what we mean to them.

Full Synopsis
For years, America's national parks have provided public breathing spaces in a world in which such spaces are steadily disappearing, which is why close to 300 million people visit the parks each year. Now, to honor the centennial of the National Park Service, Terry Tempest Williams, the author of the beloved memoir When Women Were Birds, returns with The Hour of Land, a literary celebration of our national parks, what they mean to us, and what we mean to them.

Through twelve carefully chosen parks, from Yellowstone in Wyoming to Acadia in Maine to Big Bend in Texas, Tempest Williams creates a series of lyrical portraits that illuminate the unique grandeur of each place while delving into what it means to shape a landscape with its own evolutionary history into something of our own making. Part memoir, part natural history, and part social critique, The Hour of Land is a meditation and manifesto on why wild lands matter to the soul of America. Our national parks stand at the intersection of humanity and wildness, and there's no one better than Tempest Williams to guide us there.

"Terry Tempest Williams's clear voice and and straightforward delivery make her remarkable collection of 13 personal essays sound intimate." ---AudioFile

"[T]his is a uniquely evocative, illuminating, profound, poignant, beautiful, courageous, and clarion book about the true significance of our national parks." ---Booklist Starred Review

"An important, well-informed, and moving read for anyone interested in learning more about America’s national parks." ---Kirkus

"Williams narrates her book with dignity and clarity, giving a quiet urgency to heed 'the clarion call for the preservation of wilderness for our future.' Highly recommended." ---Library Journal Audio Review

“Williams’s language has its own visceral beauty. . . . The Hour of Land is one of the best nature books I’ve read in years, filled with seductive prose" ---New York Times
Booklist Review

The Hour of Land

A Personal Topography of America's National Parks

Author Terry Tempest Williams

Narrated by Terry Williams

Publication date Jun 7, 2016

Running time 11 hrs 3 min

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