Erosion

Essays of Undoing

By: Terry Tempest Williams

Narrated by: Terry Tempest Williams

Length: 9 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

This program is read by the author.

Fierce, timely, and unsettling essays from an important and beloved writer and conservationist

Terry Tempest Williams is one of our most impassioned defenders of public lands. A naturalist, fervent activist, and stirring writer, she has spoken to us and for us in books like The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks and Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place. In these new essays, Williams explores the concept of erosion: of the land, of the self, of belief, of fear. She wrangles with the paradox of desert lands and the truth of erosion: What is weathered, worn, and whittled away through wind, water, and time is as powerful as what remains. Our undoing is also our becoming.

She looks at the current state of American politics: the dire social and environmental implications of recent choices to gut Bears Ears National Monument, sacred lands to Native People of the American Southwest, and undermine the Endangered Species Act. She testifies that climate change is not an abstraction, citing the drought outside her door and at times, within herself. Images of extraction and contamination haunt her: “Oil rigs lighting up the horizon; trucks hauling nuclear waste on dirt roads now crisscrossing the desert like an exposed nervous system.” But beautiful moments of relief and refuge, solace and spirituality come - in her conversations with Navajo elders, art, and, always, in the land itself. She asks, urgently: “Is Earth not enough? Can the desert be a prayer?”

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Terry Tempest Williams (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

Williams wrenches the heart

TTW once again wrenches the heart with her poignant, autobiographical musings on our relationship to the natural world. Such a relationship is gained and surrendered by degrees, according to Williams. Her lyrical language dwells excessively on the pain of death and the travesty of environmental injustice. Her experiences as an environmental writer and advocate are both beautiful to witness and hard to listen to. From the rending of political protection of Bears Ears National Monument to the inevitable self-destruction of a brother, William's essays transmute loss of the sacred into the very human notion of accepting change and death. There is hope in this book, but it is spare and struggling, like a lone desert flower.

Absolutely incredible

I read this book while on a hike deep in the Oregon wilderness and it was the perfect setting indeed. TTW is the advocate of our time.

Stunningly Intimate

Stunningly intimate, I’d say even confessional. And, as every book of hers, TTWilliams sees beauty even in the very darkest of places. Her courage stands tall along side her most sacred, quiet, delicate and fragile sensibilities.

This book will break your heart open. If you allow it, you will be inspired to stand in your tough places with bare awareness and a compassionate heart.

astounding

Everything - Terry's voice, her delivery, her message - listen, again and again. I'm buying the book for my 87 year old mother who believes we can simply abandon the mess we humans have made of our beautiful blue planet and move to Mars. I hope and pray she will hear you, Terry. Thank you, for everything💜

Inspiration

Not just a wake up call present for very recent times,but also of resonance for us who have engaged in the movement to protect the wild in our daily lives and how we interact with, and in minimal support of the dominant / consumerist culture. In my case, 50 years of devotion to changing my way of life in constant consideration of Creation, following the paths laid out for us by our ancestors and First Nations elders to the best of our abilities. I feel strengthened by the wise and grounded words here....

A beautiful book that will resonate

If you are a fan of Terry Tempest Williams’ you will love this book. It’s a treat to listen to Terry read each of these essays. If this is your first time coming across this author, give it a listen, you won’t regret it.

Conservative Crunchies Will Gain Insight

This was the third of Terry's books I have enjoyed listening to. Her voice is so calming. Her life experiences, poetry, and many stories are beautifully told and woven into her passion for environmental issues. I am more conservative than most environmentalists I know. Sometimes. it is difficult for me to hear politics thrown into discussions. Terry is able to share her views and stand for what she believes in, while not offending those of us who lean more to the right. I believe that the inability to listen, without holding tightly to our labels, groups, allegiances, is by far the most profound factor of climate crisis today. If we were open to hear other perspectives and experiences, other stories, I think the issues we are seeing today might disappear. Thank you for sharing the experiences of the many activists and lovers of nature, from their own words and from your own experiences, Terry. Please keep on sharing. The world needs more voices like yours. Namaste.

Powerful, clarifying and healing

It’s so soothing and healing to listen to Terry Tempest Williams read her own powerful words. This collection of writings offer personal reflection and stories on her relationship with the lands, and the intersectionality of climate, laws, justice and our principles as humans. I listened to the reading before bed and it’s like a guided meditation. Everyone needs to read this.