Watershed

""Here is a world of wild wonders--bison, pelicans, microbialites--an exaltation of miraculous beings all thriving in or near the sacred waters of the ever-shrinking, dangerously-compromised Great Salt Lake. Hymns of praise, songs of mourning--these essays expose intimate loss and environmental desecration entangled with Joel Long's irrepressible joy, his curious mind and exuberant heart, capacious enough to embrace every vulnerable creature, every potent entity, every stranger he encounters."" --Melanie Rae Thon, author of If Fire Could Find Us, among others ""There is true sadness in these essays. Also, true beauty. Bring such truths together, thanks to mind-blowing metaphors, acumen for the patterns of natural life, and deep knowledge about place, Long nearly breaks us. But then, he takes us to the water's edge where perspective lengthens and we find we can knit ourselves back together."" --Nicole Walker, author of How to Plant a Billion Trees: Child Trauma and the Healing Power of Nature ""In this stunning debut collection of essays from poet and wildlife photographer Joel Long, he asks: 'How do I know the difference between who I am and what I see?' Each essay brings us deeper into the Utah landscapes that shape his life, his memories, and his relationships. Part nature writing, part memoir, part elegy for our endangered world, Watershed demonstrates how careful attention can transform both sorrow and wonder into enduring art. 'We turn from what is beautiful, ' he writes, 'but a taste remains on the tongue, a sweetness that lasts...I am made new by every glance.' And so are we."" --Brenda Miller, author of A Braided Heart: Essays on Writing and Form