Always the Mountains

David Rothenberg is one of our most eloquent observers of the interplay between nature, culture, and technology. These nineteen pieces exemplify what has been called Rothenberg's "amiable" mix of interests, styles, and approaches.

In settings that range from wildest Norway to his own front porch in upstate New York, Rothenberg discusses the Hudson River School of painters, the hazy provenance of Chief Seattle's famous speech, ecoterrorism, suburbia, the World Wide Web, and much more. He asks if we can save a place less obtrusively than by turning it into a park. He muses on the plight of a pacifist beset by a swarm of mosquitoes. He ascends Mt. Ventoux with Petrarch and Mt. Katahdin with Thoreau.

In Always the Mountains, Rothenberg dares us to "enjoy the fundamental uncertainty that grounds human existence," to wean ourselves from the habit of simple answers and embrace the world's vastness.

Philosopher, musician, and writer Rothenberg collects 19 articles from various publications in which he reflects on nature, culture, eastern and western thought, and other interests. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

David Rothenberg is a philosopher, musician, and writer. He is the author of Why Birds Sing, which will be published in five languages and has been turned into a BBC television series. His other books include Sudden Music (Georgia), Hand's End, and Blue Cliff Record. His essays have appeared in such publications as Parabola, the Nation, Wired, Dwell, Sierra, and Orion. Rothenberg's five CDs, on which he plays clarinet, include Before the War and Bangalore Wild. Rothenberg is a professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.