Reviews

Moore (Pardons: Justice, Mercy, and the Public Interest, Oxford Univ. Pr., 1989) concentrates on 20 different rivers in each of these essays, which explore, in one way or another, the recurring philosophical question "How shall I live my life?" As Moore explains, each piece searches the quiet places of the mind where "countless converging streams" flow below the surface of the natural world. "The Williamette," for example, probes the author's hopes and desires for her grownup and departing daughter; in "The Deschutes River," she marvels at her son's close observation of the smallest of natural creatures but his stoic self-restraint when it comes to personal disclosure. Other essays concern the process of aging ("The Clackmas River") and the human and universal need to nest ("The Smohalla River"). In each brief chapter, Moore's intense love for and close observation of nature combine with a keenly philosophical mind, reminiscent of the work of other fine philosopher-naturalists such as Thoreau, Dillard, and Muir. For literary collections.-Marie L. Lally, Alabama Sch. of Mathematics & Science, Mobile