I wanted to start the New Year with something a bit different, and so this month I am choosing One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey by Richard Proenneke.
Basically, this is a book about a man who decides to rough it in the Alaskan Wildreness, albeit he does it smartly.
“To live in a pristine land ... to roam the wilderness ... to choose a site, cut trees, and build a home ... Thousands have had such dreams, but Richard Proenneke lived them. Here is a tribute to a man in tune with his surroundings who carved his masterpiece out of the beyond,” the product description states.
In a review by Dan Schneider, he notes:
“Man, woman, adult, child….all can get something from this marvelous book, and the adventures of Dick Proenneke- the great and mythic ones, as well the small moments that flute to his soul. He is a stylist in his non-style, but oh, what a lack! The world needs more of him, although I’m afraid he may be gone for good. If so, this book is all the more valuable, a bit of the past that amber clarifies, like an ancient insect whose limbs still seem ready to scuttle across the floors of bygone forests, and new forests which bloom of his kind’s passing.”
Click here to read the full review. Alaska Northwest Books.
I'd also like to add there is a PBS documentary on Proenneke, which is where I first learned about him . Find more about the documentary here .
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