A Field Guide to Getting Lost

A Field Guide to Getting Lost
Rebecca Solnit

Approach Rebecca Solnit's essay collection A Field Guide To Getting Lost with an open mind and an inquisitive eye. Solnit holds up a single word, “lost,” and then twists it, pulls it apart, reconstructs it, melts it down, and examines what is left. As you make your way through the passages of the collection, you may ask yourself why you're reading about the interaction between Spanish explorers and the tribes they discovered upon reaching the new world, or what punk culture has to do with anything, or what is so important about the habits of tortoises. Don't worry, you are in good hands. Solnit takes what seems to be a mass of disparate elements and then ties them all together, with loss as the common thread between them. She masterfully blends “personal memoir, philosophical speculation, natural lore, cultural history, and art criticism” (LA Times). Take her advice and feel free to wander, mentally or geographically, as you read. It's okay if you get lost.

- Julian Del Bel Belluz

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