The Search for the Genuine

Nonfiction, 1970–2015

By: Jim Harrison

Narrated by: Traber Burns

The first general nonfiction title in thirty years from a giant of American letters, The Search for the Genuine is a sparkling, definitive collection of Jim Harrison’s essays and journalism—some never before published.

New York Times bestselling author Jim Harrison (1937–2016) was a writer with a poet’s economy of style and trencherman’s appetites and ribald humor.

In The Search for the Genuine, a collection of new and previously published essays, the giant of letters muses on everything from grouse hunting and fishing to Zen Buddhism and matters of the spirit, including reported pieces on Yellowstone and shark-tagging in the open ocean, commentary on writers from Bukowski to Neruda to Peter Matthiessen, and a heartbreaking essay on life—and, for those attempting to cross in the ever-more-dangerous gaps, death—on the US/Mexico border.

Written with Harrison’s trademark humor, compassion, and full-throated zest for life, this chronicle of a modern bon vivant is a feast for fans who may think they know Harrison’s nonfiction, from a true “American original”.

©2022 the James T. Harrison Trust. Introduction © 2022 by Luis Alberto Urrea (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

Critic reviews

“New and previously published essays, reviews, and travelogues by Harrison come together in this rewarding trove of true-life tales and reflections…When read chronologically, the pieces evince an evolution in tone and style and document the author’s assured knack for his craft. Harrison devotees will eat this up.”

(Publishers Weekly (starred review))

“The boozy gourmand and superb writer recounts a long life of misbehavior, fishing, books, and wandering…in this collection of magazine pieces and other oddments…Readers…[may] want to retrace Harrison’s travels in places like the northerly canyons of the Yellowstone River and the Sandhills of Nebraska. An essential installment in the Harrison canon.”

(Kirkus Reviews (starred review))

Great historical background of JH life

For fans of Jim Harrison this book stitches together many of his stories and his personal experiences.

Rewarding

Great insights from a remarkable man. Great delivery by the narrator. A fully rewarding and inspiring experience from an artist of immense passion, appetites and storytelling talent.

Classic Harrison.

A collection of gems. A delight. If you are missing JH this will be for you.

Great author. Great essays. Great performance. Bravo!

My title says it all. If you like Harrison at all, you’ll love this audio book.

A Life Well Celebrated

As I listened to this book I was transported to places that I have never experienced and I felt like I had missed something. I have been a fan of Jim Harrison's fiction for a long time having encountered it in many of the magazines I read as a young man, but I never really read his non-fiction. I found this book truly revealing of a passionate man for the outdoors. Listen to this if you are a hunter, birder, fisherman, or a lover of nature and you will know what the world without Jim will be like.