New Directions In the Sierra: Mountain Writings Paperback – 10 April 2012

A fine collection as the title would suggest of poems, prose, letters and newspaper articles of Rexroth's time spent in the Sierra mountains. He would visit these mountains almost every summer from 1927 to 1967 and come to know them very intimately, his writings convey the love he had for this wilderness and how important and precious they were to not only himself but also for everyone. One can see how a young Gary Snyder would be influenced by Rexroth and himself become an eco-poet, he was also an influence on Allen Ginesberg , Jack Kerouac and others of the Beat Generation. A good volume of work and well presented by Kim Stanley Robiinson who gathered all these writings and put them together into one book.

If you love poetry and Kenneth Rexroth as much as I do you will want this superb, elegant and bijoux volume in your library. At once passionate, idiosyncratic and full of meditative wonderment for the splendor and grace of his beloved mountains this book has it all. New Directions should republish it in hard cover so it can have a proper home. If you are thinking of going back into the Sierras this might be all the inspiration you need. Kenneth will be up there somewhere . . .

Superb collection. Having known of Rexroth for 50+ years but not getting to know any of his work this is a great intro.

This was a Christmas present. Enjoyed by the recipient. Good news for them and the donor, me.

The combination of poetry Rexroth wrote while backpacking and camping in the mountains with essays, guides, letters etc creates a pretty interesting pastiche that captures different elements of his relationship with nature- from the practical to the lyrical. I tended to skim the non-poetry elements, but the poems themselves were well worth it.