Muir's prose is a miracle of immediacy. His books are illuminated by sunshine and starlight. The cold mineral air of the mountains and the resiny reek of coniferous forests lift bracingly off his pages. No other writer is so ceaselessly astonished by the natural world as Muir, or communicates that astonishment more urgently. Muir lived "in an infinite storm of beauty", and his readers live in it with him -- Robert Macfarlane An inspirational figure for modern environmentalism . . . his enthusiasm and heart-felt love of nature is immensely impressive. Thankfully the wilderness blooms again in Muir's evocative prose * * Guardian * * Brilliant description is the currency of My First Summer in the Sierra . . . Religious awe and powerful terrestrial awareness mark [ Muir's] prose in what is essentially a song to nature's marvels and to our humanness of being * * Scotsman * * The richness of Muir's writing roots deeper into the terrain than any other wilderness writer known to me * * Los Angeles Times * * Muir was a geologist, an explorer, philosopher, artist, author, and editor, and to each of his avocations he devoted that deep insight and conscientious devotion which made him its master * * New York Times * * The great mountain man . . . [ John Muir] remains a towering presence in American cultural life, and is internationally acknowledged as one of the founding fathers of modern conservation -- Mark Cocker, author of Crow Country As more and more of us grow aghast at what we have done to the world we started with, Muir's reverence and devotion will seem keenly germane, and our regret may be transmuted into a fight for the future -- Edward Hoagland
