Selected Essays
We Made Wildfire an Enemy; It Could Have Been Our Ally — From the New York TImes, an essay on the legacy of the 1910 wildfires
Move Always Toward a Deepening Obscurity — From n+1, excerpts from a fire lookout notebook
Birthday for the Next Forest — From Longreads, an excerpt from A Song for the River
A Boondoggle on New Mexico's Last Wild River — From the Los Angeles Times, an essay on a plan to dam the Gila River
The Gulf of Mexico in the Age of Petrochemicals — From the New York Times Book Review, an essay on the history of the Gulf
Burn Scars — From n+1, an essay about mourning and megafires in the world's first wilderness
Watching the Planet Burn — From the New York Times Magazine, an essay on images of fire in the West
My Lonely Phone Sex Years — From Salon, an excerpt from All the Wrong Places
Confirmation — From n+1, an essay about growing up Catholic in Minnesota
Writing and Catharsis — From the New Yorker Page-Turner blog, an essay on suicide and closure
The Stories We Live With — From Lapham's Quarterly, an essay on a brother's suicide
A Talent for Sloth — From Lapham's Quarterly, an essay on lookout life
A Tough Flower Girl — From the Nation, an essay on Norman Maclean
So Little to Remember — From n+1, a diary of a brother's suicide
Denis Johnson's Higher Power -- From the Virginia Quarterly Review, an essay on Johnson's Tree of Smoke
Diary of a Fire Lookout — From the Paris Review, a record of one season in a fire tower
Where Have You Gone, Edward Abbey? — From Salon, an essay on Abbey and his selected letters
My Life and Times in American Journalism — From n+1, an essay on life at the Wall Street Journal
Move Always Toward a Deepening Obscurity — From n+1, excerpts from a fire lookout notebook
Birthday for the Next Forest — From Longreads, an excerpt from A Song for the River
A Boondoggle on New Mexico's Last Wild River — From the Los Angeles Times, an essay on a plan to dam the Gila River
The Gulf of Mexico in the Age of Petrochemicals — From the New York Times Book Review, an essay on the history of the Gulf
Burn Scars — From n+1, an essay about mourning and megafires in the world's first wilderness
Watching the Planet Burn — From the New York Times Magazine, an essay on images of fire in the West
My Lonely Phone Sex Years — From Salon, an excerpt from All the Wrong Places
Confirmation — From n+1, an essay about growing up Catholic in Minnesota
Writing and Catharsis — From the New Yorker Page-Turner blog, an essay on suicide and closure
The Stories We Live With — From Lapham's Quarterly, an essay on a brother's suicide
A Talent for Sloth — From Lapham's Quarterly, an essay on lookout life
A Tough Flower Girl — From the Nation, an essay on Norman Maclean
So Little to Remember — From n+1, a diary of a brother's suicide
Denis Johnson's Higher Power -- From the Virginia Quarterly Review, an essay on Johnson's Tree of Smoke
Diary of a Fire Lookout — From the Paris Review, a record of one season in a fire tower
Where Have You Gone, Edward Abbey? — From Salon, an essay on Abbey and his selected letters
My Life and Times in American Journalism — From n+1, an essay on life at the Wall Street Journal