This is an epic brick of a book. I went into it recalling some Gary Snyder nature poems that I'd been moved by many years ago, and otherwise not knowing what to expect. Turns out, the range was wide and the experience marked by a lot of love and hate. The misogyny is rampant, especially in the earlier decades, and there's also a sense of women as alien creatures that befuddle the poor male brain. There's graphic nudity at times semi-erotic and at times brutally clinical. Most disturbing were poems about his children's private parts, which nearly made me figuratively throw the book across the room, but I realized he seemed to be trying to contextualize the human animal in light of other mammalian biology. But part of me still feels queasy at the thought of him exploiting his kids' bodies for art when they were unable to consent. Of course, it's 2022 now. #Metoo happened, and the world has changed quite a bit. OTOH, I'm possibly reacting to tone: when mothers write poems about bathing their young children, there's often a loving, amazed narrative voice. It could be the clinical analysis of the biological specimen that bugs me.

It isn't fair to single out a handful of works that disturbed me, though. The nature poems are by and large lovely. The poems delving into anthropology are interesting, especially from the pov of a man, born in 1930, who grew up very poor in the pacific northwest and has spent his life living off the land by avocation, rather than necessity.

He made me want to go camping. And look under rocks to see what critters are there. And to go outside at night and stare at the moon (if not the stars, as so few are visible anymore). Snyder's poems themselves are fairly straightforward; he doesn't go in for soft feelings or metaphor. But as a body of work the variety is complex, as if he's taken a million snapshots of moments in his life and stitched them all together. It's partly a self-portrait and largely a portrait of the West, as it was, without ubiquitous strip-malls and fast food joints. Before capitalism took so many forests and grasslands and wetlands away.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Library of America for an advanced copy of this collection by an American man of letters.

A life well lived is one that a person is able to do what they love, what they are best at, which allows them to be happy, to make others happy, and makes a difference in the world. That is just my theory, but it seems something to strive for, though society seems to frown on it. Gary Snyder has been living his best life for over 90 years, seventy of those years writing poetry, essays, or just putting words on paper for any reason he wants to. The Library of America has collected almost all of Mr. Snyder's works in one volume, Gary Snyder Collected Poems (Library of America #351), edited by Anthony Hunt and Jack Shoemaker.

Starting with poems written in the forests that he worked either logging of as fire spotted in the national parks, Mr. Snyder began writing about the trees, the land, the men who traveled it and the feelings it gave him. The influence of the Beats, was predominant in his early works, until his return to school and his fascination with Asian art and poetry began. Soon he was translating many Zen poets, offering those to western readers for the first time, along with more poems about his travels in Japan, and on the Pacific where he worked as a sailor on many a tramp freighter. Included are works like Turtle Island, which won a Pulitzer, Axe Handles which won the National Book Award, and his epic poem in both length and time it took to writer Mountains and Rivers Without End which was created and formed over four decades.

The poems tell of men, women nature, love, life, and his children growing. Essays are included,pieces about his family, his life, and his love of nature and conservancy. Some poems are short, some are long, but the imagery is usually powerful. As with anything some of the works have not dated well, attitudes change, maturity sets in, but most seem fresh and as new as when they were written. The notes section is very informative, and comprehensive with an full publishing history for many of the poems, that is fascinating to read. Some of the works have never before been published, so that is also a treat.

Recommended for poetry fans, fans of the beats, of nature, Zen, and good poems. Library of America always makes beautiful collections and this one is no exception. A great addition to any reader's collection.

I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley for review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is a comprehensive collection of the works of Gary Snyder. The compilation includes his early works from his logging days, his Zen Buddhist religious quest for meaning in life, his beat life and homesteading nature poems. Interesting view on life in America over a significant period of history. Recommending to historians and poetry study students.

A great collection of poems. I have found reading them slowly and allowing time to sit with the words is very enjoyable. Thank you for the opportunity to read for a fair review.