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Autobiography, Ecology, and the Well-Placed Self: The Growth of Natural Biography in Contemporary American Life Writing by Nathan Straight (review)

Autobiography, Ecology, and the Well-Placed Self: The Growth of Natural Biography in Contemporary... Gladys Roldan-de-Moras. THE GOOD BOOK. 2013. Oil on canvas. 30"× 24". Book REVIEWs Autobiography, Ecology, and the Well-Placed Self: The Growth of Natural Biography in Contemporary American Life Writing. By Nathan Straight. New York: Peter Lang, 2011. 157 pages, $66.00. Reviewed by Tyler Nickl University of Nevada, Reno In this short but well-executed book, Nathan Straight reads some of the West's best-loved memoirs through an ecocritical lens to locate a turn in life writing and autobiography more generally. This turn toward an emerging genre that he terms natural biography offers us new stories to tell, stories that more fully describe the complexity of what it means to be human in the world. Straight begins by outlining the ideological burdens borne by traditional US life writing. Autobiographers have too often reproduced in their texts a rugged individualism that perpetuates Cartesian mind/body dualism and excises the ordering mind of the narrator from its material environment. In contrast, the author says, stand works that strive to situate the author's identity by examining embodiment and considering interdisciplinary perspectives. Such works conceive of identity as an ongoing process that relates to ecology, region, and culture. Straight offers William Kittredge, Terry Tempest Williams, and http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Western American Literature The Western Literature Association

Autobiography, Ecology, and the Well-Placed Self: The Growth of Natural Biography in Contemporary American Life Writing by Nathan Straight (review)

Western American Literature , Volume 48 (4) – Jul 3, 2014
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Publisher
The Western Literature Association
Copyright
Copyright © The Western Literature Association
ISSN
1948-7142
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Abstract

Gladys Roldan-de-Moras. THE GOOD BOOK. 2013. Oil on canvas. 30"× 24". Book REVIEWs Autobiography, Ecology, and the Well-Placed Self: The Growth of Natural Biography in Contemporary American Life Writing. By Nathan Straight. New York: Peter Lang, 2011. 157 pages, $66.00. Reviewed by Tyler Nickl University of Nevada, Reno In this short but well-executed book, Nathan Straight reads some of the West's best-loved memoirs through an ecocritical lens to locate a turn in life writing and autobiography more generally. This turn toward an emerging genre that he terms natural biography offers us new stories to tell, stories that more fully describe the complexity of what it means to be human in the world. Straight begins by outlining the ideological burdens borne by traditional US life writing. Autobiographers have too often reproduced in their texts a rugged individualism that perpetuates Cartesian mind/body dualism and excises the ordering mind of the narrator from its material environment. In contrast, the author says, stand works that strive to situate the author's identity by examining embodiment and considering interdisciplinary perspectives. Such works conceive of identity as an ongoing process that relates to ecology, region, and culture. Straight offers William Kittredge, Terry Tempest Williams, and

Journal

Western American Literature – The Western Literature Association

Published: Jul 3, 2014

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