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dblainev's review against another edition
2.0
Love the man, didn't care for this book. The style was very confusing, as it sounded like 4 or 5 articles or essays that were cobbled together. The author backtracks many times over, telling Muir's life story from different contexts. This results in many facts and stories being repeated, many times more than once. I can't understand why the author didn't write a linear biography. By the last third of the book, I was very annoyed, but I finished due to the subject matter.
nadoislandgirl's review
1.0
John Muir was such an interesting person, but you'd barely know it reading this book. It's a disjointed telling with fragments of stories stuck in here and there and everywhere. I only read 100 pages in, because I am certain there must be better biographies out there. The problem was, with each chapter, the author started Muir's life all over again and did a timeline with a certain topic in mind. Therefore, there was lots of ground covered and recovered, but not delved into very deep.
thatokiebird's review
4.0
"If American history were a bookshelf, the story of John Muir's productive life would tuck conveniently between the volumes on the Civil War and World War I."
I really enjoyed this short biography of one of the most fascinating people in history! It was well written, concise and to the point, no extra fluff, and just presented on topic stories and anecdotes from Muir's life. The book was broken down into different sections and topics of his life, and I thought that was a great way to get across this information without any subject getting boring or going stale.
I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator, an American male, was pretty decent until he would quote John Muir and attempt to do a Scottish accent. It had me rolling, it sounded like a bad Russian accent from a sitcom. Other than that though, it was a very good quick read.
I really enjoyed this short biography of one of the most fascinating people in history! It was well written, concise and to the point, no extra fluff, and just presented on topic stories and anecdotes from Muir's life. The book was broken down into different sections and topics of his life, and I thought that was a great way to get across this information without any subject getting boring or going stale.
I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator, an American male, was pretty decent until he would quote John Muir and attempt to do a Scottish accent. It had me rolling, it sounded like a bad Russian accent from a sitcom. Other than that though, it was a very good quick read.
jim_donovan's review
4.0
Excellent -- I was inspired to buy this book after watching the recent WGBH series on the national parks... this book provided a great insight to the life, passion, and gift of the John Muir who's name is common... but who's contribution to the preservation and conservation of natural environs (mostly, in the Sierras... and most profoundly in Yosemite) but all around the glove.
Quite a colorful character. The book is well written, and easy to read; a great biography -- and, made me want to pursue further some of John Muir's own accounts of his trips and his autobiographical writings.
Quite a colorful character. The book is well written, and easy to read; a great biography -- and, made me want to pursue further some of John Muir's own accounts of his trips and his autobiographical writings.
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