The Small Heart of Things
Being at Home in a Beckoning World
- 2013 INDIES Finalist
- Finalist, Ecology & Environment (Adult Nonfiction)
To understand Julian Hoffman’s goals in The Small Heart of Things, you must consider two ideas from his preface: 1) “Awareness is becoming acquainted with environment, no matter where one happens to be,” in the words of Sigurd Olson, and 2) in describing the essence and beauty of place, Hoffman writes, “The way anywhere can take hold, and burrow deep within. … Which is why these days I prefer to think of place as wherever I happen to be, and the relationship that can be brokered with it.”
In writing this remarkable work of environmental and natural-history literature, Hoffman resided in the Prespa Lakes Transboundary Park shared by Greece, Albania, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. These seventeen short essays capture an intensely focused, curious, tireless, supremely gifted writer as he acquaints himself with himself and one of the world’s most unique places.
Reviewed by
Matt Sutherland
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
