Refuge

An Unnatural History of Family and Place

By: Terry Tempest Williams

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Paperback | 1 September 1992 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
352 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
20.3 x 13.3 x 2.6

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In the spring of 1983 Terry Tempest Williams learned that her mother was dying of cancer. That same season, The Great Salt Lake began to rise to record heights, threatening the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and the herons, owls, and snowy egrets that Williams, a poet and naturalist, had come to gauge her life by. One event was nature at its most random, the other a by-product of rogue technology: Terry's mother, and Terry herself, had been exposed to the fallout of atomic bomb tests in the 1950s. As it interweaves these narratives of dying and accommodation, Refuge transforms tragedy into a document of renewal and spiritual grace, resulting in a work that has become a classic.

Industry Reviews

"There has never been a book like Refuge, an entirely original yet tragically common story, brought exquisitely to life." --San Francisco Chronicle "Moving and loving... both a natural history of an ecological phenomenon [and] a Mormon family saga... A heroic book." --The Washington Post Book World

"A record of loss, healing grace, and the search for a human place in nature's large design. Terry Tempest Williams's courage is matched by the earnest beauty of her language and the keen compassion of her observations." --Louise Erdrich

"The wonderful thing about Refuge is that Terry Williams is too full of life herself, and too fascinated by all its manifestations, to write a gloomy book. There isn't a page in Refuge that doesn't whistle with the sound of wings." --Wallace Stegner

"Brilliantly conceived... one of the most significant environmental essays of our time." --The Kansas City Star

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Prologue	p. 3
Burrowing Owls: lake level: 4204.70'	p. 5
Whimbrels: lake level: 4203.25'	p. 21
Snowy Egrets: lake level: 4204.05'	p. 42
Barn Swallows: lake level: 4204.75'	p. 50
Peregrine Falcon: lake level: 4205.40'	p. 54
Wilson's Phalarope: lake level: 4206.15'	p. 58
California Gulls: lake level: 4207.75'	p. 66
Ravens: lake level: 4209.10'	p. 77
Pink Flamingos: lake level: 4208.00'	p. 82
Snow Buntings: lake level: 4209.15'	p. 91
White Pelicans: lake level: 4209.90'	p. 96
Yellow-Headed Blackbirds: lake level: 4209.55'	p. 108
Redheads: lake level: 4208.50'	p. 110
Killdeer: lake level: 4208.40'	p. 115
Whistling Swan: lake level: 4208.35'	p. 120
Great Horned Owl: lake level: 4208.45'	p. 123
Roadrunner: lake level: 4210.90'	p. 126
Magpies: lake level: 4211.30'	p. 135
Long-Billed Curlews: lake level: 4211.65'	p. 141
Western Tanager: lake level: 4211.85'	p. 153
Gray Jays: lake level: 4211.40'	p. 159
Meadowlarks: lake level: 4211.00'	p. 167
Storm Petrel: lake level: 4210.85'	p. 174
Greater Yellowlegs: lake level: 4210.80'	p. 179
Canada Geese: lake level: 4210.95'	p. 191
Bald Eagles: lake level: 4211.10'	p. 194
Red-Shafted Flicker: lake level: 4211.15'	p. 204
Dark-Eyed Junco: lake level: 4211.20'	p. 210
Sanderlings: lake level: 4211.35'	p. 217
Birds-of-Paradise: lake level: 4211.65'	p. 233
Pintails, Mallards, and Teals: lake level: 4211.85'	p. 239
Bitterns: lake level: 4210.20'	p. 253
Snowy Plovers: lake level: 4209.10'	p. 255
Great Blue Heron: lake level: 4207.05'	p. 266
Screech Owls: lake level: 4206.00'	p. 271
Avocets and Stilts: lake level: 4204.70'	p. 274
The Clan of One-Breasted Women: Epilogue	p. 281
Acknowledgements	p. 291
Birds Associated with Great Salt Lake	p. 299
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

Refuge

An Unnatural History of Family and Place

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

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