The Seasons Of Fire: Reflections On Fire In The West (Environmental Arts and Humanities Series)

Fire is a fearsome constant in the America West. As the author David J. Strohmaier notes, "Whether we have tended a campfire along Oregon's Deschutes River in March, engaged the advancing front of a Great Basin wildfire in the torrid heat of August, or watched fire settle into the subdued, smoldering leaf piles of October, all of our lives, to one degree or another, are bracketed by fire." In __The Seasons of Fire__, Strohmaier effectively blends nature writing, personal essay, and philosophical analysis as he deliberately crosses disciplinary boundaries. He discusses the "moral" dimensions of fire—not only whether fires are good, bad, or indifferent phenomena, but also how fire, more generally understood, shapes meaning for human life. The consequences of discussing the moral side of fire speak directly to the contours of the human soul, and to our sense of our place on the land. Strohmaier, a long-term firefighter himself, includes accurate and sometimes gut-wrenching descriptions of the firefighter's experience.

Fire is a fearsome constant in the America West. Everyone who lives in the West confronts fire intimately or frighteningly at some time. As the author David J. Strohmaier notes, Whether we have tended a campfire along Oregon's Deschutes River in March, engaged the advancing front of a Great Basin wildfire in the torrid heat of August, or watched fire settle into the subdued, smoldering leaf piles of October, all of our lives, to one degree or another, are bracketed by fire. In The Seasons of Fire, Strohmaier effectively blends nature writing, personal essay, and philosophical analysis as he deliberately crosses disciplinary boundaries. He discusses the moral dimensions of fire-not only whether fires are good, bad or indifferent phenomena, but also how fire, more generally understood, shapes meaning for human life. The consequences of discussing the moral side of fire speak directly to the contours of the human soul, and to our sense of our place on the land. Strohmaier, a long-term firefighter himself, includes accurate and sometimes gut-wrenching descriptions of the firefighter's experience, including the philosophical wanderings and the downright boredom that may dominate between direct confrontations with the searing, terrifying flames.

University Distinguished Professor and Professor of Philosophy, Colorado State University - Holmes Rolston

Firefighters can hardly avoid philosophical moments, but here is a philosopher of fire par excellence, a quite penetrating and literary stream of consciousness in ongoing analysis and encounter. Strohmaier discovers fire to be 'an entry point into understanding who we are, what sort of world we live in, and how we come to know what is inherently valuable about each.' Fire promotes life as it destroys it, becomes a perennial sacrament of life persisting in the midst of its perpetual perishing. This is provocative reading for all who wonder about the wonders of fire.

"Fire is a powerful constant in the American West. Everyone who lives in the region confronts fire intimately or frighteningly at some time. As author David J. Strohmaier notes, "Whether we have tended a campfire along Oregon's Deschutes River in March, engaged the advancing front of a Great Basin wildfire in the torrid heat of August, or watched fire settle into the subdued, smoldering leaf piles of October, all of our lives, to one degree or another, are bracketed by fire." In The Seasons of Fire, Strohmaier effectively blends nature writing, personal essay, and philosophical analysis as he discusses the moral dimensions of fire - not only whether fires are good, bad, or indifferent phenomena, but also how fire, more generally understood, shapes meaning for human life. The consequences of discussing the moral side of fire speak directly to the contours of the human soul, and to our sense of place on the land."--Jacket.