Awards

• Winner of John Burroughs Medal Award 2011 (United States)
• Winner of National Outdoor Book Award: Nature and the Environment 2010.
• Winner of National Outdoor Book Awards 2010 (United States)
• Winner of Stanford Saroyan Prize for Writing 2012 (United States)

Overview

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9781921758126

Table of Contents

Reviews

Jess writes: Elisabeth Tova Bailey's slim but beautifully written book is a blend of memoir and natural history. Bed-ridden by a mysterious illness, Bailey finds solace and inspiration in the life of a snail who takes up residence by her bedside. Her intimate observations of the snail lead her into examining the depths of gastropod life. As her illness extends from months to years she is drawn farther from the human realm and closer to the world of her small companion. This change of perspective and pace provides Bailey with a life-affirming insight into the natural world. Bailey elegantly merges scientific detail about the natural world with poignant reflections on the nature of illness and the human condition. The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating reminds us how wonderfully complex our world and its inhabitants are, and how there is much to notice if we can only slow down for long enough. This book is a real pleasure to read.

' An exquisite book on the healing power of nature...this is a gem...I highly recommend this slim volume about loss, isolation, connection to the natural world and hope. It is a book that will be equally appreciated by physicians, carers and patients. At the end, one of left with a sense of wonder and this is what truly defines it as a unique work.' * Australian Family Physician * 'A woman with a mysterious disease is slowed to a snail’s pace. Who would ever guess that the reward for pausing to look at a mollusc could be so profound? Elisabeth Tova Bailey’s book makes us see the natural world afresh. A fantastic investigation into both snails and the human condition.' -- Tim Flannery 'This is an entrancing record of spiral love, one which grows from the delicate devotion the author feels for a snail-companion, out into the widest whorls of biophilia.' -- Jay Griffiths 'This remarkable meditation on coming to terms with one’s own frailties through understanding the frailties of another species will surely renew our sense of wonder with the world. It is a triumph.' * Sydney Morning Herald * 'To carry off a book like this—featuring Bailey’s observations of a snail living in a bedside pot plant—you have to be either a very good writer or a really interesting person. Thankfully, this New England writer bedridden with a mysterious illness is both. Her book is, in turn, comforting, a delightful piece of time out and a meditation away from a sometimes tumultuous and anxiety-inducing world.’ * Listener's best books of 2011 *

'To carry off a book like this-featuring Bailey's observations of a snail living in a bedside pot plant-you have to be either a very good writer or a really interesting person. Thankfully, this New England writer bedridden with a mysterious illness is both. Her book is, in turn, comforting, a delightful piece of time out and a meditation away from a sometimes tumultuous and anxiety-inducing world.' * Listener's best books of 2011 * 'This remarkable meditation on coming to terms with one's own frailties through understanding the frailties of another species will surely renew our sense of wonder with the world. It is a triumph.' * Sydney Morning Herald * 'This is an entrancing record of spiral love, one which grows from the delicate devotion the author feels for a snail-companion, out into the widest whorls of biophilia.' -- Jay Griffiths 'A woman with a mysterious disease is slowed to a snail's pace. Who would ever guess that the reward for pausing to look at a mollusc could be so profound? Elisabeth Tova Bailey's book makes us see the natural world afresh. A fantastic investigation into both snails and the human condition.' -- Tim Flannery ' An exquisite book on the healing power of nature...this is a gem...I highly recommend this slim volume about loss, isolation, connection to the natural world and hope. It is a book that will be equally appreciated by physicians, carers and patients. At the end, one of left with a sense of wonder and this is what truly defines it as a unique work.' * Australian Family Physician *

' An exquisite book on the healing power of nature...this is a gem...I highly recommend this slim volume about loss, isolation, connection to the natural world and hope. It is a book that will be equally appreciated by physicians, carers and patients. At the end, one of left with a sense of wonder and this is what truly defines it as a unique work.' Australian Family Physician 'A woman with a mysterious disease is slowed to a snail's pace. Who would ever guess that the reward for pausing to look at a mollusc could be so profound? Elisabeth Tova Bailey's book makes us see the natural world afresh. A fantastic investigation into both snails and the human condition.' -- Tim Flannery 'This is an entrancing record of spiral love, one which grows from the delicate devotion the author feels for a snail-companion, out into the widest whorls of biophilia.' -- Jay Griffiths 'This remarkable meditation on coming to terms with one's own frailties through understanding the frailties of another species will surely renew our sense of wonder with the world. It is a triumph.' Sydney Morning Herald 'To carry off a book like this-featuring Bailey's observations of a snail living in a bedside pot plant-you have to be either a very good writer or a really interesting person. Thankfully, this New England writer bedridden with a mysterious illness is both. Her book is, in turn, comforting, a delightful piece of time out and a meditation away from a sometimes tumultuous and anxiety-inducing world.' Listener's best books of 2011

Author Information

Elisabeth Tova Bailey’s essays and short stories have been published in The Missouri Review, Northwest Review, and the Sycamore Review. She has received several Pushcart Prize nominations and a Notable Essay Listing in Best American Essays. She lives in Maine.

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