Patrick Macke's Reviews > The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America's National Parks

starts off as natural history, evolves into a sermon, a poetry reading, a letter to the editor, an episode of 60 Minutes, a cry for help, an angry lecture, a therapy session, a drug flashback, a raised fist with a black glove, a guilt trip, a grand jury testimony, an indictment (maybe of the reader), a love letter, a ransom note ... i may believe that this is indeed the hour of land, i may see the healing power of nature and i may realize that parks and wilderness are powerful life forms that should be respected, preserved and honored; still, the book made me feel like i had stumbled into the camp of some cult (comprised of mostly women) and my only chance at escape is to agree to take militant action against something or somebody for their crimes against nature ... in the end, the book turns the beauty of our National Parks into a bloody crime scene (with the Feds and maybe all of us as the perpetrators) and beautiful words and the renewing power of nature turn into a doomsday siren ... it's sad, the talented author turned her own love song into a political bitch session (oh, the B&W images are wonderful)