The Audubon Reader

ThisunprecedentedanthologyofJohnJamesAudubon’slivelyandcolorfulwritingsabouttheAmericanwildernessreintroducesthegreatartistandornithologistasanexceptionalAmericanwriter，apredecessortoThoreau，Emerson，andMelville.Audubon’saward-winningbiographer，RichardRhodes，hasgatheredexcerptsfromhisjournals，letters，andpublishedworks，andhasorganizedthemtoappealtogeneralreaders.Rhodes’sunobtrusivecommentaryframesawiderangeofselections，includingAudubon’svivid“birdbiographies，”correspondencewithhisdevotedwife，Lucy，journalaccountsofdramaticriverjourneysandhuntingtripswiththeShawneeandOsageIndians，andageneroussamplingofbriefnarrativeepisodesthathavelongbeenoutofprint—engagingstoriesofpioneerlifesuchas"TheGreatPineSwamp，"“TheEarthquake，”and“KentuckyBarbecueontheFourthofJuly.”Full-colorreproductionsofsixteenofAudubon’sstunningwatercolorillustrationsaccompanythetext.TheAudubonReaderallowsustoexperienceAudubon’sdistinctivevoicedirectlyandprovidesawindowintohiselectrifyingencounterwithearlyAmerica：withitswildlifeandbirds，itspeople，anditsprimordialwilderness.(BookJacketStatus：Jacketed)