[.ca] Patagonia: Notes from the Field (ISBN 081182604X)

From Amazon.com:
A coffee-table book that should be read as much as it is simply admired, Patagonia: Notes from the Field is a collection of photographs and essays that stir the senses. Commissioned for Patagonia, the outdoor clothing and gear company, and with an introduction from its legendary founder, Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia delivers in both image and word. The pages turn slowly--if at all--as each momentary vision and each crafted essay casts a spell that seems to have traveled from some half-forgotten end of the earth: a kayak pulled across the ice floes off Baffin Island, a snowy river in Idaho, a choppy sea and a solitary mast, a crack of lightening, a snowboarder streaking down an unthinkable slope. "I've always chosen my climbing partners carefully," recalls Chouinard in the introduction. "I learned that someone's value to an expedition could largely be determined by their storytelling skills." Following this lead, editor Nora Gallagher has skillfully chosen a team of writers, with headliners such as Gretel Ehrlich, Rick Bass, and Thomas McGuane, to tell the stories from the sea and snow, crannies and couloirs of the world. As well as being keen and thoughtful glimpses into far-flung adventures, these brief tales often possess an environmental ethos that runs strong. In all, Patagonia testifies to the integrity and magic in this world. --Byron Ricks

bzgone:
I can't say that I've read the whole book but it looked pretty awesome. One warning, I didn't read the review carefully enough and I bought it thinking all of the field notes were actually from the place Patagonia. This is not the case. The writings are from the Patagonia magazine and include all areas of the world. Pretty cool if that is what you are looking for. THIS BOOK IS NOT SOLELY ABOUT PATAGONIA!

Notes from the publisher's site:
As there was no description for this book, I have taken the liberty to add the following from the publisher's (Chronicle Books) web site: "The people who use Patagonia® gear have explored the furthest extremities of wildness-from the icy waters of the Labrador Sea to the baking hot, vertical granite of El Capitan. Patagonia: Notes from the Field delivers an intense glimpse of those front lines in a spectacular collection of essays and photographs commissioned for Patagonia. Authors such as Paul Theroux, Gretel Ehrlich, Russell Chatham, Rick Ridgeway, and Tom McGuane offer first-hand perspectives-often off-beat and sometimes unsettling-on our relationship to the natural world. Their words capture life-threatening moments and sudden insights into the soul of a sport. The accompanying images may command silence (the tiny silhouettes of climbers on a distant snowy ridge) or elicit a whoop of joy (a kayaker dropping off a 20-foot waterfall). Editor Nora Gallagher has collected the best essays and images from Patagonia's award-winning catalog and melded them with newly commissioned material to create an intelligent, powerful, and vital portrait of "life out there." Patagonia: Notes from the Field will appeal to adventurers, travelers, and dreamers everywhere. "