Overview
A lifelong city dweller, Verena Andermatt Conley had long harbored romantic ideals about the natural world and dreamed of a wilderness retreat for herself and her husband, Tom. When a sizable tract of land along the Vermillion River on the edge of Minnesota's Boundary Waters - complete with two primitive log cabins - became available, they jumped at the chance to own a piece of paradise.The War against the Beavers is a wry and funny account of two people's ten-year apprenticeship in backwoods living, from their arrival as literal babes in the woods to their education in the ways of nature as they face plagues of insects, fungus, storms, and droughts, and embark on a lengthy campaign to eradicate a colony of beavers that threatens the peace and beauty of their forest refuge. It is only the coming of a mechanized and much more menacing threat - bulldozers and other heavy machinery clear-cutting the woods - that restores perspective to the obsessed cabin dwellers.
Full Product Details
Author: Verena Andermatt Conley
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
Imprint: University of Minnesota Press
Dimensions:
Width: 13.80cm
, Height: 2.00cm
, Length: 21.60cm
Weight: 0.335kg
ISBN: 9780816642175
ISBN 10: 0816642176
Pages: 192
Publication Date: 02 June 2003
Audience:
General/trade
,
Professional and scholarly
,
General
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Temporarily unavailable
The supplier advises that this item is temporarily unavailable. It will be ordered for you and placed on backorder. Once it does come back in stock, we will ship it out to you.
Reviews
I had not found the long-sought adventures of my childhood heroes. I never found what I thought was the harmony advocated by more modern writers. I discovered, however, that every order is fragile, and that harmony is fleeting.... The Beaver Wars and our years in the North Woods had taught me the necessity of treading lightly.
"""This is a fascinating story about the difference between the destructive forces of nature and the destructive forces of humans. It begins with a charming naivete and ends with a clear-eyed wisdom."" -Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature ""[Verena Conley's] Minnesota Walden is resplendent but also beset by natural and man-made plagues that continually threaten her serenity. The book's wisdom is that it reveals how she finally triumphs over her complex environment by recognizing that for the most part she doesn't have to.""-Ross McElwee, director of Sherman's March and Bright Leaves ""A great book to read aloud - especially in a car escaping a city."" -David Black, award-winning screenwriter, journalist, novelist, and producer"
A great book to read aloud - especially in a car escaping a city. -David Black, award-winning screenwriter, journalist, novelist, and producer
Author Information
Verena Andermatt Conley was born and raised in Switzerland, where she grew up reading picturesque and adventurous portrayals of the great American wilderness. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
