"Essays with an edge, sharp as a blade of beach grass-and a sense of humor-These are essays that celebrate the surprises and contradictions of the natural world and gracefully remind us for our responsibility to care for it." -- The Oregonian "Finely crafted essays that link personal experience with expert observations." -- Booklist . "Reminiscent of the work of Annie Dillard, this collection of 21 lyrical essays intently probes the ways we are bound to our planet and to one another." - -Publishers Weekly "Graceful meditations on nature, an altogether satisfying collection by a gifted interpreter of the natural world." -- Kirkus Reviews "Though Moore stays mostly in the Pacific Northwest, readers will likely connect to the emotions she evokes regardless of their own locale. More philosophy and reflection than natural history, this book is recommenced for all public libraries.-- Library Journal "From cover to cover, Kathleen Dean Moore's book is full of 'Darn, I wish I'd said thats.

' After all, you've thought, and felt, most of the things she writes about, but you've never been able to articulate them--to yourself or others--the way she does in this deceptively simple, insightful book. Dean Moore is hard-wired into the spiritual aspects of spending time in the outdoors, from camping, fishing and traveling down rivers to a phobia about being eaten by a bear. [Moore] has a scientist's eye for detail, from the vibrant color of leaves to ripples on a stream, but a philosopher's heart in describing the experience." -- Statesman-Journal (Oregon) "Moore has a way of capturing the most abstract of human instincts-love, fear, connectedness, beauty-and making them comprehensible and urgent-[the essays] take the reader powerfully between the natural world and Moore's experiences, offering a vision of how we construct meaning for our lives. Holdfast is an unusual, skillful blend of the profound with everyday experience." - -Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) "[Moore] doesn't have any problem staying alive and awake and, like fast-running water, these essays on nature and human nature convey this."-- Los Angeles Times Mirror (Sunday) "Moore's book negotiates between the energies of both critters and people-coots, kelp, otters, daughters, and more. Her clean, intimate prose shows how learning to howl like a wolf is also learning to howl like a human.

"--Gary Snyder.