Books by Brenda Peterson

After the success of Living by Water, novelist and nature writer Brenda Peterson turns her eye on the nature in human nature. Her focus in mainly the feminine body -- of earth and women, of animals, human and nonhuman. Whether writing about whales or women''s bathing rituals, salmon or friendship, rain forests or life-saving dreams, Peterson weaves a compelling story of the bond between nature and ourselves.This rich, expanded collection was first hailed by critics as "lyrical and life-enhancing...with large doses of wonder, humor, and warmth." The new essays include a moving appeal to seek compassion in healing our sexual lives during this time of AIDS. There are also chronicles of the birth, death, and afterlife of a baby beluga whale, and of the seagull''s memory for human faces. Peterson''s passionately observed subjects range from lullabies to abortion, dolphins to old-growth forests, fundamentalism to fishing.Combining her skills as a mesmerizing storyteller and nationally acclaimed nature writer, Peterson explores the healing, vital symbiosis between the sacred, sensual body of our earth and the feminine -- and intimacy which instructs and inspires, but most of all sustains us.

Though women have long felt kinship with animals, in the past, they seldom participated in the study of them. Now, as more women make animals the subject of their investigations, significant new ideas are emerging--based on the premise that animals are honored co-sharers of the earth. This unprecedented anthology features original stories, essays, meditations, and poems by a vast array of women nature writers and field scientists, including:DIANE ACKERMAN - VIRGINIA COYLE - GRETEL EHRLICH - DIAN FOSSEY - TESS GALLAGHER - JANE GOODALL - TEMPLE GRANDIN - SUSAN GRIFFIN - JOY HARJO - BARBARA KINGSOLVER - URSULA LE GUIN - DENISE LEVERTOV - LINDA McCARRISTON - SUSAN CHERNAK McELROY - RIGOBERTA MENCHÚ - CYNTHIA MOSS - KATHERINE PAYNE - MARGE PIERCY - PATTIANN ROGERS - LINDA TELLINGTON-JONES - HAUNANI-KAY TRASK - GILLIAN VAN HOUTEN - TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS

"Peterson writes of nature with an intimacy that tugs at the reader's deep memory."-Orion