Winner of the National Book Award
This bestselling, groundbreaking exploration of the Far North is a classic of natural history, anthropology, and travel writing.
The Arctic is a perilous place. Only a few species of wild animals can survive its harsh climate. In this modern classic, Barry Lopez explores the many-faceted wonders of the Far North: its strangely stunted forest, its mesmerizing aurora borealis, its frozen seas. Musk oxen, polar bears, narwhal, and other exotic beasts of the region come alive through Lopez’s passionate and nuanced observations. And, as he examines the history and culture of the indigenous people, along with parallel narratives of intrepid, often underprepared and subsequently doomed polar explorers, Lopez drives to the heart of why the austere and formidable Arctic is also a constant source of breathtaking beauty, beguilement, and wonder.
Written in prose as memorably pure as the land it describes, Arctic Dreams is a timeless mediation on the ability of the landscape to shape our dreams and to haunt our imaginations.
Look for Barry Lopez's new book, Horizon, available now.
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"Dazzling. . . . Treats the distant, snowy world of the Arctic as a place that exists not only in the mathematics of geography but also in the terra incognita of our imaginations."
— Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
Lopez is. . .the most important living writer about wilderness. . . . [Arctic Dreams is] his masterpiece.
— The GuardianExtraordinary. . . . A master nature writer.
— The New York Times Book ReviewOne of those landmark works of travel writing.
— The New YorkerBarry Lopez (1945-2020) was an essayist, short story writer, and award-winning author who traveled extensively in both remote and populated parts of the world. His Arctic Dreams won the National Book Award, and his Of Wolves and Men, won the John Burroughs and Christopher medals and was a finalist for the National Book Award. His work appeared in Outside, the Georgia Review, the Paris Review, and other magazines, as well as in dozens of anthologies, including Best American Essays, Best Spiritual Writing, and the “best” collections from National Geographic.
James Naughton is an actor and director. He first came to prominence in the television series adaptation of the Planet of the Apes movie series of the same name. Since then, he has starred in dozens television shows and appeared in numerous Broadway plays. He is a two-time Tony Award winner, one for his performance as Sam Spade in City of Angels and the other portraying Billy Flynn in the 1997 revival of Chicago.