Boundary Waters

Author's Bio:

Paul Gruchow (1947-2004) was the author of five previous books, including Grass Roots (winner of a Minnesota Book Award) and The Necessity of Empty Places. A frequent contributor to the Utne Reader, New York Times, Hungry Mind Review, and other periodicals, his final years were spent teaching creative writing classes at St. Olaf College and Concordia College, and writing books that championed the rural, Minnesota landscape.

Quotes:

“Boundary Waters: The Grace of the Wild is our twentieth century Walden. Like Thoreau, Gruchow travels into the wilderness as a way to understand himself and the world. Like Thoreau, he writes in a style as clear, as ordinary and as filled with brilliance as the night sky. Gruchow worships what he calls, 'the great wildness at the heart of the universe.' He writes of his attempts via canoeing, hiking and camping to find that wildness. He quotes Wes Jackson who wrote, 'We may have colonized the continent but we have not yet discovered it.' This book helps us discover America. Gruchow writes, 'Our deepest longing is to have a place.' With this book, he points us towards home.”—Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia

“This lake and forest wildland that Gruchow writes of is my home. Daily I see and feel its mood and yearn to know it. You might say I cast a critical and protective eye towards any attempt at its portrayal. In this work, I find an unusually honest and revealing word journey that moves through bright waters, across dark portages, and travels the wilds of the even more dimly-lit inner soul. From my vantage point, Paul Gruchow is a most responsible citizen of the literary world who coaxes us to value and embrace our wild places with gifted conviction. Indeed, I will see and dream anew of my beleaguered and beloved Boundary Waters.”—Jim Brandenburg

"Gruchow has a gift not only for aphorism but for description."—Kirkus Reviews

“Gruchow's gorgeous prose can evolve into flity observations, and it is this tough dynamic between poetics and steel-eyed social philosophy that gives his work its exceptional bite and appeal.”—Bloomsbury Review

“Quiet, contemplative, but alert to what nature reveals, Gruchow writes lucidly when sunlight slants off snow, mistily when morning fog rises off lakes, and exemplarily for perambulators who write after their hikes.”—Booklist

“Remarkable for its honesty, its lucidity, and its sheer poetry, Boundary Waters is a book which will delight all who seek the “grace of the wild.”—San Marcos Daily Record

“Boundary Waters: Grace of the Wild is Paul Gruchow's finest book.”—The Corresponder of Mankato State University

“[A] fine little book, . . . Slices of natural history and stories of early pioneers keep Gruchow's pacing and story lines on a spacious winding path.”—Publishers Weekly

“In the tradition of the best nature writing. . . Boundary Waters is a celebration of what we have left. . . with such eloquent defenders as Gruchow, there remains the hope that we will preserve this magnificent landscape.”—New Age Journal

“Gruchow is one of the best practitioners of [nature writing], his most effective narratives encourage readers to lay aside the book and experience the source first-hand. . . . [Boundary Waters] is a diary of trips to the BWCA and Isle Royale. . . . He conveys both the sweaty tedium and the soul-searing beauty of the endeavor in his sagacious prose.”—City Pages

“Minnesota writer Paul Gruchow manages to look inward and still create a book that feels about as representative of an area as any text possibly could. . . . Gurchow is an ideal guide to the BWCA: knowledgeable, introspective and not prone to flowery expositions of the scenery. ”—Isthmus

“A self proclaimed klutz in a canoe, [Paul Gruchow's] love for the ecosystem of Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Canada's Quetico Provincial is unmistakable.”—Lake Superior Magazine

“Delighful essays arranged by season.”—NorthWind Books