A Passion for Nature

The Life of John Muir

By: Donald Worster

Narrated by: Jim Frangione

Length: 19 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

"I am hopelessly and forever a mountaineer," John Muir wrote. "Civilization and fever and all the morbidness that has been hooted at me has not dimmed my glacial eye, and I care to live only to entice people to look at Nature's loveliness. My own special self is nothing".

In Donald Worster's magisterial biography, John Muir's "special self" is fully explored as is his extraordinary ability, then and now, to get others to see the sacred beauty of the natural world. A Passion for Nature is the most complete account of the great conservationist and founder of the Sierra Club ever written. It is the first to be based on Muir's full private correspondence and to meet modern scholarly standards. Yet it is also full of rich detail and personal anecdote, uncovering the complex inner life behind the legend of the solitary mountain man. It traces Muir from his boyhood in Scotland and frontier Wisconsin to his adult life in California after the Civil War and up to his death on the eve of World War I. It explores his marriage and family life, his relationship with his abusive father, his many friendships with the humble and famous (including Theodore Roosevelt and Ralph Waldo Emerson), and his role in founding the modern American conservation movement. Inspired by Muir's passion for the wilderness, Americans created a long and stunning list of national parks and wilderness areas, Yosemite the most prominent. Yet the audiobook also describes a Muir who was a successful fruit-grower, a talented scientist and world-traveler, a doting father and husband, a self-made man of wealth and political influence. A man for whom mountaineering was "a pathway to revelation and worship."

For anyone wishing to more fully understand America's first great environmentalist, and the enormous influence he still exerts today, Donald Worster's biography offers a wealth of insight into the passionate nature of a man whose passion for nature remains unsurpassed.

©2008 Donald Worster (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

The amazing life and mind of John Muir

What did you love best about A Passion for Nature?

I should have liked to have known him. An inspiring life dedicated to the natural world. humanity owes a tremendous amount of gratitude to John Muir

What does Jim Frangione bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Jim Frangione is the perfect narrator. His tone is likable and easy. Jim brings the listened into the story and one actually feels a part of it.

A true gem

What an amazing man. Thank you John Muir.

Great narration. Great content.

Need to get to Yosemite.

Badly read

One of the worst readers ever - mispronunciations, incorrect emphasis throughout. Sloppy work!
However, the story is well written and well worth hearing

London Dry

Very dry and long-winded but had some great anecdotes. Definitely worth a read if you're a friend of conservation

Beautiful story and cause

Worster captures the life or Mr. Muir beautifully. Truly an inspiration to listen to his words. Great work.

Very informative.

Having heard bits and pieces over my life about Muir, I enjoyed learning this more detailed view.

Marquette County Man

great biography of a man who grew up in the same county, even though it was decades apart. Learned a lot about the Sierra club and the national parks and national forest creation. History from a different point of view than I was accustomed to.

A good biography for historical perspective

Where does A Passion for Nature rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The narration of this book somewhat matches the kind of book this is - - it is not literature, nor a paean to greatness, nor an adventure story, as previous Muir biographies have been. Rather, this book goes into depth about Muir's life and puts it into historical perspective, in a fairly academic way. Unfortunately, the performance of this narrator was not nearly as good as most of the audiobook I have come to expect on audible.com.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Passion for Nature?

Muir's entire life was memorable, from his adventures in the mountains and on glaciers, and in his conservation battles.

What didn’t you like about Jim Frangione’s performance?

This is one of the worst - read narrations I have heard in an audio book. The performer spoke in a fairly academic monotone which I suppose in some ways matches the kind of book this is, but several times he mis-pronounced some fairly common scientific terms, like the word "lichen." Jim Franigione may be a professional narrator, but seems to be the kind that reads labels rather than literature.

Although Muir himself clearly had a "passion for nature" which is gloriously expressed in Muir's writings, and included in many of the quotes used here, you would never know it from this narration. For one thing, the narrator read the quotes in the same tone of voice he read the main text. It was thus often very hard to tell what was a quotation and what was Donald Worster's main text. The narrator didn't even seem to try to make the quotes stand out from the rest of the text. I have come to expect far better in most audiobooks.

The publisher should have selected a narrator who is used to reading fiction - many audible audio books have performers that have different "voices" for every different character, and many have a talent for different accents as well. This book cried out for someone who could read Muir with a Scottish accent, and put a little "passion" into Muir's passionate writing, while then returning to a normal narrative for the rest of the text. Unfortunately, that is not the case here. I can't say it ruined the book, because the book itself was good writing - for a historical biography, but it did diminish it.

Any additional comments?

The important thing to remember is that this is a historical perspective of John Muir's life, written by a noted academic. As such, it is not quite as "readable" as some of the earlier biographies of Muir's life, which read much more like an adventure story, as in the case of the Pulitzer prize winning biography by Linnie Marsh Wolfe, which extols Muir's greatness. But if you want to understand better how Muir's life fit in with other things that were happening during his life, in a highly objective manner, this is the best biography for that. The author is a historian, not a novelist or an environmentalist or a story-teller. So his objectivity seems to make this biography a bit more dry than other Muir biographies where the authors quickly get caught up in the excitement of Muir's life. But earlier biographies have their own problems, such as inaccuracies and failing to contain more recent information. This biography is in many ways more thorough and more accurate than prior Muir biographies.

In addition, as well as putting the life of John Muir in context, the author puts quite a bit of his own interpretations into the narrative. This is of interest to those who know something about Muir, whether you agree with him or not, because it can at least provoke discussion. If you don't know much about Muir, then perhaps a more straightforward biography is better for you.

As a history book, it is a good book, for audiences with a more scholarly bent. If you are looking for something more exciting to read about Muir's life, there are several earlier biographies that do that, but may not cover Muir's life as thoroughly.

Great read

Amazing man amazing story a true American hero! The mountains are calling and I must go.

Why don't we learn about John Muir in school

I am not normally a biography/autobiography listener but this book was recommended to me by a friend so I got it. I was drawn into Muir's story and had to think for all he had done from our country and people in general why have I never heard of him before.
To be honest there were some slow parts but in all it was a pretty interesting story. The production was done very well and the Narrator did a very good job.
I would recommend this book to anyone.