nature

From April to August since 2002 Connors has parked himself in a Depression-era lookout tower on the top of 10,000 foot Apache Peak in the "epicenter of American wildfire", New Mexico's Gila Wilderness. As a employee of the U.S. Fire Circus his duties are spare: report the weather, answer the radio, relay messages, and "call in new smokes." But the life of an lyrically observant lookout (motto: "Every day spent in a lookout is a day not subtracted from the sum of one's life.") is far from boring.

Four season's worth of observations on a slim peninsula of land in New York's Long Island Sound provide the skeleton of a lyrical, intelligent exploration of the state of the planet. It's a grim picture but, unlike many of those who write on this topic, Safina does not leave us without hope. The author travels far from Lazy point (Southeast Alaska, Palau, Antarctica, Bonaire) to support his main point: the interconnectedness of life. Best savored slowly the book argues for a new social contract with the planet, one focused on an ethics of compassion. A beautifully written book.