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Review by James Neal Webb
My friend Morgan is, for want of a better word, woodsy. He's the type of guy who thinks absolutely nothing of getting out of bed way before light and packing off into the wilderness in 30-degree weather to sit motionless in a tree stand for hours. There are always a few copies of "Outside" lying around his house, and for years I never thought much of it, relegating the magazine to the "Field and Stream" and "Guns and Ammo" school of publishing. I was wrong.
The writers who contribute to "Outside" are more of the lineage of Mark Twain, Jack London and Joseph Conrad than of the "I shot the bear as he charged" genre. The former writers were, if you think about it, outdoor writers, from Twain's travels abroad to London's tales of man against nature. It's nice to know that there's a place for modern-day writers such as these, and I could kick myself for missing out all these years. With this compilation of the best of the first 20 years of the magazine, I won't have to anymore.
The essays are as varied as there are ways to relate to the outdoors. Craig Vetter, one of my favorite writers, gives an edgy account of a sailing trip. E. Annie Proulx describes a somewhat surreal trip through the southwest. David Quammen relates a fascinating and harrowing tale of investigating the life of the Komodo dragon.
Whether it's Tim Cahill's account of New Guinea or Jane Smiley's story of fox-hunting in St. Louis, each essay is equal parts love of the story and love of the craft of writing. From skiing to conservation, from the heights of Everest to facing a maddened bull, "Outside" writers offer unique insights and powerful prose. I shake my head in wonder at the strength and clarity of such writing; I know I'll visit this book again and again. So should you.
©1997, ProMotion, inc.