Erosion

Essays of Undoing

This program is read by the author.

Timely and unsettling essays from an important and beloved writer and conservationist

In Erosion, Terry Tempest Williams's fierce, spirited, and magnificent essays are a howl in the desert. She sizes up the continuing assaults on America's public lands and the erosion of our commitment to the open space of democracy. She asks: "How do we find the strength to not look away from all that is breaking our hearts?"

We know the elements of erosion: wind, water, and time. They have shaped the spectacular physical landscape of our nation. Here, Williams bravely and brilliantly explores the many forms of erosion we face: of democracy, science, compassion, and trust. She examines the dire cultural and environmental implications of the gutting of Bear Ears National Monument—sacred lands to Native Peoples of the American Southwest; of the undermining of the Endangered Species Act; of the relentless press by the fossil fuel industry that has led to a panorama in which "oil rigs light up the horizon." And she testifies that the climate crisis is not an abstraction, offering as evidence the drought outside her door and, at times, within herself.

These essays are Williams's call to action, blazing a way forward through difficult and dispiriting times. We will find new territory—emotional, geographical, communal. The erosion of desert lands exposes the truth of change. What has been weathered, worn, and whittled away is as powerful as what remains. Our undoing is also our becoming.

Erosion is a book for this moment, political and spiritual at once, written by one of our greatest naturalists, essayists, and defenders of the environment. She reminds us that beauty is its own form of resistance, and that water can crack stone.

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💜

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.