Hi there!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.
Today, we're spreading a little pre book birthday BUZZ about a Non Fiction title set to release this July via Spiegel & Grau. New to you publisher? Here's there message of intent...“We are a new multi-platform publisher. We understand the power of stories to enhance meaning, deepen understanding, engage emotions, effect change, and enlarge our sense of humanity by connecting us to people and places we may never experience in our lifetimes.” ...and their inaugural release certainly fits that to a "T". Ladies and gents, please make way for today's book of choice...
by
Catherine Ravine
Spiegel & Grau
RELEASE DATE: July 8th, 2021
About the book...
An unforgettable memoir about the friendship between a solitary woman and a wild fox.
When Catherine Raven finished her PhD in biology, she built herself a tiny cottage on an isolated plot of land in Montana. She was as emotionally isolated as she was physically, but she viewed the house as a way station, a temporary rest stop where she could gather her nerves and fill out applications for what she hoped would be a real job that would help her fit into society. In the meantime, she taught remotely and led field classes in nearby Yellowstone National Park. Then one day she realized that a mangy-looking fox was showing up on her property every afternoon at 4:15 p.m. She had never had a regular visitor before. How do you even talk to a fox? She brought out her camping chair, sat as close to him as she dared, and began reading to him from The Little Prince. Her scientific training had taught her not to anthropomorphize animals, yet as she grew to know him, his personality revealed itself and they became friends. From the fox, she learned the single most important thing about loneliness: we are never alone when we are connected to the natural world. Friends, however, cannot save each other from the uncontained forces of nature. Fox and I is a poignant and remarkable tale of friendship, growth, and coping with inevitable loss―and of how that loss can be transformed into meaning. It is both a timely tale of solitude and belonging as well as a timeless story of one woman whose immersion in the natural world will change the way we view our surroundings―each tree, weed, flower, stone, or fox.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every now and then I dabble in the land of truth; today's featured title is one of those dalliances.
It's received rave reviews in its pre pub days and I'm certain it will do so long after I've posted my thoughts, but the truth is...it just wasn't for me. I LOVED the fact that it is the kick off title for the emergence of Spiegel & Grau...and that the little fox even made itself at home in their logo. I ADORED the concept of this single solitary woman making her way in the world on her own terms, and befriending or perhaps being befriended by this naturally wild creature. I APPRECIATED her struggle to balance the continued meetings as they became familiar to one another with her scientific mind screaming against humanizing the little fellow. I was HEARTSORE when he disappeared, REJOICED when all wasn't found quite lost, and DASHED again when eventually, Mother Nature had her say in the whole matter. I REVELED in the peace she found for both herself, her past, and her present, while acknowledging that the future is still an unknown that has possibility. All of this I can say with an open heart because IT'S TRUE and the fact that she shared her journey with us is memorable too. But still...in the end, it wasn't for me.
I think I clung to hard to the relationship between her and the fox, and felt hard stung to draw my attention elsewhere in the world as relayed to us as readers. It's not that I was hoping for something more because it's fact not fiction and what happened happened, and yet my own connections to everything transpiring were not as passionate...and THAT'S OKAY! As I said, I could still appreciate it's beauty, it's uniqueness, and can certainly see that with the right audience, this will be one taken to heart and enjoyed for some time to come.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the author...
 |
| Photo by Henry Randel Chinn |
Catherine Raven is a former national park ranger at Glacier, Mount Rainier, North Cascades, Voyageurs, and Yellowstone national parks. She earned a PhD in biology from Montana State University, holds degrees in zoology and botany from the University of Montana, and is a member of American Mensa and Sigma Xi. Her natural history essays have appeared in American Scientist, Journal of American Mensa, and Montana Magazine. You can find her in Fox’s valley tugging tumbleweeds from the sloughs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Special thanks to Meg at Tandem Literary for the ARC for review. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, or the publisher, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is set to celebrate its BOOK BIRTHDAY, July 6th, 2021 via Spiegel & Grau, so mark your calendar or pre order your copy today!
Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!
No comments:
Post a Comment