The Search for the Genuine: Nonfiction, 1970–2015

New and previously published essays, reviews, and travelogues by Harrison (1937–2016) come together in this rewarding trove of true-life tales and reflections from the restless Legends of the Fall author. The entries are grouped thematically and take readers through Harrison’s thoughts on “love, spirit, and literature,” lifelong passion and reverence for hunting (mostly game birds, with lovingly astute attention paid to his hunting dogs), contemplation of his home turf in “Michigan, Montana and other sacred places,” and passion for fishing and being on the water. In “Meditations on Hunting,” he muses that “the natural world is an enormous mystery and I married her very early,” while in “Thoreau,” he covers his “idiosyncratic relation” to the writer’s work. One of the longer pieces, “Life on the Border,” delivers a picturesque take on the frontier region where Arizona and Mexico meet: “Those in the border states see the horror no one else sees,” he notes, “because it is not a discursive media abstraction, but flesh-and-blood suffering.” When read chronologically, the pieces evince an evolution in tone and style and document the author’s assured knack for his craft. Harrison devotees will eat this up. (Sept.)