This encyclopedia introduces readers to American poetry, fiction and nonfiction with a focus on the environment (broadly defined as humanitys natural surroundings), from the discovery of America through the present.

Table of Contents

• Preface
• Introduction
• The Encyclopedia
• A
• Abbey, Edward (1927-1989)
• Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness, Edward Abbey (1968)
• The Monkey Wrench Gang, Edward Abbey (1975)
• The American Dream
• American Gothic and the Environment
• American Naturalism and Environment
• American Pastoral
• Apocalyptic Fiction: A Brief History of American Apocalyptic Literature
• Audubon, John James (1785-1851)
• Birds of America, J. J. Audubon (1827-39)
• Austin, Mary Hunter (1868-1934)
• The Land of Little Rain, Mary Austin (1903)
• B
• Bass, Rick (1958-)
• The Book of Yaak, Rick Bass (1996)
• Beaty, Richard Edward (1867-1941)
• The Mountain Angels: Trials of the Mountaineers of the Blue Ridge and Shenandoah Valley, Richard Edward Beaty (1928)
• Berry, Wendell (1934-)
• A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems 1979-1997, Wendell Berry (1998)
• The Bible and the American Environmental Imaginary
• Bishop, Elizabeth (1911-1979)
• Boyle, Thomas Coraghessan (1948-)
• Bradford, William (1590-1657)
• Of Plymouth Plantation, William Bradford (1856)
• Bradstreet, Anne (1612-1672)
• “Contemplations”, Anne Bradstreet (1650)
• Brand, Stewart (1938-)
• Whole Earth Catalog, Steward Brand (1968-1998)
• Brown, Sterling (1901-1989)
• Southern Road, Sterling Brown (1932)
• Bryant, William Cullen (1794-1878)
• Buell, Lawrence (1939-)
• The Environmental Imagination: Thoreau, Nature Writing, and the Formation of American Culture, Lawrence Buell (1995)
• Burroughs, Edgar Rice (1875-1950)
• The Land That Time Forgot, Edgar Rice Burroughs (1918)
• Burroughs, John (1837-1921)
• Ways of Nature, John Burroughs (1905)
• C
• Cabeza de Vaca, Álvar Núñez (ca. 1488/1490-ca. 1557/1559)
• The Relation of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vacas, Alvar Cabeza de Vacas (1542)
• Carson, Rachel (1907-1964)
• Silent Spring, Rachel Carson (1962)
• Cather, Willa Sibert (1873-1947)
• My Ántonia, Willa Cather (1918)
• Cavell, Stanley (1926-)
• The Senses of Walden, Stanley Cavell (1972)
• Columbus, Christopher (c. 1451-1506)
• Accounts of the Four Voyages of Columbus
• The Conservation Movement
• Cooper, James Fenimore (1789-1851)
• “The Leatherstocking Tales,” James Fenimore Cooper (1823-1841)
• Cooper, Susan Fenimore (1813-1894)
• Rural Hours, Susan Fenimore Cooper (1850)
• Crane, Hart (1899-1932)
• Crane, Stephen (1871-1900)
• Crèvecoeur, J. Hector St. John de (1735-1813)
• Letters from an American Farmer, J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur (1782)
• Crichton, (John) Michael (1942-2008)
• Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton (1990)
• Crockett, Davy (1786-1836)
• The Crockett Almanacs, Crockett, Davy (1835-56)
• D
• DeLillo, Don (1936-)
• White Noise, Don DeLillo (1984)
• Dewey, John (1859-1952)
• Selected Works of John Dewey
• Dickey, James (1923-1997)
• Deliverance, James Dickey (1970)
• Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)
• Dillard, Annie (1945-)
• Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard (1974)
• Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters, Annie Dillard (1982)
• Edwards, Jonathan (1703-1758)
• E
• Eiseley, Lorne (1907-1977)
• The Immense Journey: An Imaginative Naturalist Explores the Mysteries of Man and Nature, Loren Eiseley (1957)
• Eliot, T. S. (1888-1965)
• Emerson, Ralph. Waldo. (1803-1882)
• “The Divinity School Address”, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1838)
• “Experience”, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1844)
• “Fate”, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1860)
• “Nature”, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1836)
• “Self-Reliance”, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1841)
• “The Uses of Natural History”, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1833-1835)
• Erdrich, Louise (1954-)
• Love Medicine, Louise Erdrich (1993)
• F
• Farnham, Eliza Wood (1815-1864)
• Life in Prairie Land, Eliza Farnham (1848)
• Faulkner, William (1897-1962)
• “The Bear”, William Faulkner (1942)
• Fitzgerald, F. Scott (1896-1940)
• Foreman, David (1946-)
• Confessions of an Eco-Warrior, Dave Foreman (1991)
• Franklin, Benjamin (1706-1790)
• Frost, Robert (1874-1963)
• Fuller, Margaret (1810-1850)
• Summer on the Lakes, in 1843, Margaret Fuller (1844)
• Fuller, Richard Buckminster, Jr. (1895-1983)
• Utopia or Oblivion: The Prospects for Humanity, Buckminster Fuller (1969)
• G
• Gaines, Ernest J. (1933-)
• Garland, Hamlin (1860-1940)
• Ginsberg, Allen (1926-1997)
• Glasgow, Ellen (1873-1945)
• Vein of Iron, Ellen Glasgow (1935)
• Gore, Al, Jr. (1948-)
• An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore (2006)
• H
• Harriot, Thomas (1560-1621)
• A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia, Thomas Harriot (1588)
• Harrison, Harry (1925-)
• Make Room! Make Room!, Harry Harrison (1966)
• Hawthorne, Nathaniel (1804-1864)
• The Blithedale Romance, Nathaniel Hawthorne (1852)
• “My Visit to Niagara”, Nathaniel Hawthorne (1835)
• The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850)
• “Young Goodman Brown”, Nathaniel Hawthorne (1835)
• Hay, John (1915-2011)
• The Undiscovered Country, John Hay (1981)
• Hemingway, Ernest (1899-1961)
• The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway (1952)
• Hogan, Linda (1947-)
• The Sweet Breathing of Plants: Women Writing on the Green World, Eds. Linda Hogan Brenda Peterson (2001)
• “Home on the Range”, by Brewster Higley (1873)
• Hurston, Zora Neale (1891-1960)
• Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston (1934)
• I
• Ideologies: Manifest Destiny, the American Dream, and the Land of Opportunity
• “Iroquois Creation Story” from Sketches of the Ancient History of the Six Nations
• Irving, Washington (1783-1859)
• A Tour on the Prairies, Washington Irving (1835)
• J
• Jeffers, Robinson (1887-1962)
• Jefferson, Thomas (1743-1826)
• Notes on the State of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson (1787)
• K
• Kerouac, Jack (1922-1969)
• The Dharma Bums, Jack Kerouac (1958)
• Kingsolver, Barbara (1955-)
• Prodigal Summer, Barbara Kingsolver (2000)
• Kirkland, Caroline Matilda Stansbury (1801-1864)
• Forest Life, Caroline Stansbury Kirkland (1842)
• Western Clearings, Caroline Kirkland (1845)
• Krakauer, Jon (1954-)
• Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer (1996)
• Krutch, Joseph Wood (1893-1970)
• L
• Las Casas, Bartolomé de (1474-1566)
• A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies, Bartolomé de Las Casas (1552)
• Lawrence, D(avid) H(erbert) (1885-1930)
• Studies in Classic American Literature, D. H. Lawrence (1923)
• Leopold, Aldo (1887-1948)
• A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold (1949)
• Lewis, Meriwether (1774-1809) and William Clark (1770-1838)
• London, Jack (1876-1916)
• The Call of the Wild, Jack London (1903)
• Lopez, Barry (1945-)
• Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape, Barry Lopez (1986)
• Of Wolves and Men, Barry Lopez (1978)
• Lowell, Robert (1917-1977)
• M
• Manifest Destiny
• Marx, Leo (1919-)
• The Machine in the Garden, Leo Marx (1964)
• Mather, Cotton (1663-1728)
• McCarthy, Cormac (1933-)
• Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy (1985)
• The Road, Cormac McCarthy (2006)
• McKibben, William Ernest “Bill” (1960-)
• The End of Nature, William McKibben (1989)
• McPhee, John (1931-)
• The Pine Barrens, John McPhee (1968)
• Melville, Herman (1819-1891)
• Moby-Dick: or, The Whale, Herman Melville (1851)
• Momaday, N. Scott (1934-)
• House Made of Dawn, N. Scott Momaday (1968)
• The Way to Rainy Mountain, N. Scott Momaday (1969)
• Morrison, Toni (1931 -)
• Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison (1977)
• Morton, Thomas (1576?-1647?)
• New English Canaan, Thomas Morton (1637)
• Mueller, Marnie (1942-)
• Green Fires: A Novel of the Ecuadorian Rainforest, Marnie Mueller (1994)
• Muir, John (1838-1914)
• “The American Forests”, John Muir (1897)
• The Mountains of California, John Muir (1894)
• Steep Trails, John Muir (1918)
• N
• Gloria Naylor (1950-)
• Mama Day, Gloria Naylor (1988)
• O
• Oliver, Mary (1935-)
• Red Bird, Mary Oliver (2008)
• Ortiz, Simon J. (1941-)
• Fight Back: For the Sake of the People for the Sake of the Land, Simon J. Ortiz (1980)
• P
• Parkman, Francis (1823-1893)
• The Oregon Trail, Francis Parkman, Jr. (1849)
• Peyer, Bernd ed. (1768-1931)
• “Pima Stories of the Beginning of the World”
• Pirsig, Robert M. (1928-)
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert M. Pirsig (1974)
• Poe, Edgar Allan (1809-1849)
• Pohl, Frederik G. (1919-)
• The Space Merchants, Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth (1953)
• Pound, Ezra (1885-1972)
• Purdy, Jedediah (1974-)
• For Common Things: Irony, Trust, Commitment in America Today, Jedediah Purdy (1999)
• Pyle, Robert Michael (1947-)
• Wintergreen, Robert Michael Pyle (1986)
• R
• Ricketts, Edward F. (1897-1948)
• Between Pacific Tides, Edward F. Ricketts Jack Calvin (1939)
• Roberts, Elizabeth Madox (1881-1941)
• The Great Meadow, Elizabeth Madox Roberts (1930)
• Roosevelt, Theodore “Teddy” (1858-1919)
• Outdoor Pastimes of an American Hunter, Theodore Roosevelt (1908)
• Rowlandson, Mary (c. 1637-1711)
• S
• Santayana, George (1863-1952)
• Sierra Club
• Sigourney, Lydia Howard Huntley (1791-1865)
• Silko, Leslie Marmon (1948-)
• Almanac of the Dead, Leslie Marmon Silko (1991)
• Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko (1977)
• Simms, William Gilmore (1806-1870)
• Smith, Henry Nash (1906-1980)
• Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth, Henry, Nash Smith (1950)
• Smith, Captain John (1580-1631)
• A Description of New England, John Smith (1616)
• The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Iles…, John Smith (1623)
• Snyder, Gary (1930-)
• Turtle Island, Gary Snyder (1974)
• Stegner, Wallace (1909-1993)
• Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs: Living and Writing in the West, Wallace Stegner (1992)
• Steinbeck, John (1902-1968)
• The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck (1939)
• The Log from the Sea of Cortez, John Steinbeck (1951)
• Stevens, Wallace (1879-1955)
• Stratton-Porter, Gene (1863-1924)
• T
• Thaxter, Celia Laighton (1835-1894)
• Among the Isles of Shoals, Celia Thaxter (1873)
• Thoreau, Henry David (1817-1862)
• Cape Cod, Henry David Thoreau (1865)
• Excursions, Henry David Thoreau (1863)
• The Maine Woods, Henry David Thoreau (1864)
• Walden, Henry David Thoreau (1854)
• A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, Henry David Thoreau (1849)
• Toomer, Jean (1894-1967)
• Cane, Jean Toomer (1923)
• Transcendentalism
• Turner, Frederick Jackson (1861-1932)
• “The Significance of the Frontier in American History”, Frederick Jackson Turner (1893)
• Twain, Mark (Samuel Clemens) (1835-1910)
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain (1884)
• Roughing It, Mark Twain (1872)
• U
• Utopian Communities
• V
• Vonnegut, Kurt (1922-2007)
• Galápagos, Kurt Vonnegut (1985)
• W
• War on the Environment
• Warren, Robert Penn (1905-1989)
• Whitman, Walt (1819-1892)
• Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman (1892)
• Williams, Terry Tempest (1959-)
• Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place, Terry Tempest Williams (1991)
• Wilson, Edward Osborne (1929-)
• The Diversity of Life, Edward O. Wilson (1992)
• Winthrop, John (1588-1649)
• The Journal of John Winthrop 1630-1649, John Winthrop
• Wright, Richard (1908-1960)
• Haiku: This Other World, Richard Wright (1998)