The Tangled Bank: Writings from Orion by Robert Michael Pyle

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 OHQ vol. 114, no. 4 The Tangled Bank: Writings from Orion by Robert Michael Pyle Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, 2012. 208 pages. $18.95 paper. The Pacific Northwest’s well-known, vibrant writer and lepidopterist Robert Michael Pyle has given readers a gift of fifty-two pithy essays in the Tangled Bank collection. Those works first appeared over the span of a decade as columns in two periodicals of The Orion Society. The column and book title derive from Charles Darwin’s closing statement in Origin of Species: “It is interesting to contemplate a tangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes. . . .” and other organisms and their many interactions, which “have all been produced by the laws acting around us.” Pyle does not seek to discuss laws of nature in The Tangled Bank, but he marvels in the intricacies of this complex natural world in our own backyards,and he takes us right there with his adventuresome prose. His work is an inspiring blend of creative natural history and creative writing. This is Pyle at his best — far-ranging, rapid-fire connections among critters (mostly spineless), places, issues, and luminaries past and present.The writing is engaging and fresh, evocative of the natural world he loves so deeply. The topics range from contemplation of a 200-year log decomposition experiment to the disdain of fabricated “nature” such as indoor ski runs in Dubai to lament of an election gone bad:“Times like these, I instinctively go outdoors” (p. 120). The geography of the essays stretches from his home in the Gray’s River region of southwest Washington to tick-riddled woods of West Virginia. Pyle is especially adept at tangling with tough issues, such as invasive species and our uncomfortable relationships with some native species. In “With Enemies Like These,” Pyle reports the juxtaposed depictions of Canada geese as icons of wondrous,wild migrations but also as pesky urban poopers. He also advises a nuanced and contextualized view of exotic species; an exotic butterfly in an otherwise barren landscape is a good thing in his value system. In other words, fightingthespreadof exoticsisimportantwork, but we must pick our battles with a critical eye towardpotentialforsuccess.Pyleasserts,“many grayslurkamongthegreen”(p.157).Inafollowup note, he describes the numerous and sharp criticisms that the essay provoked, including many from colleagues he deeply admires. IseePyle’sworkinseveralcontextsof human history,not just natural history.By speaking his mind (and even publicly changing it) on topics such as exotic species,he is participating in and chronicling the “plather” that evolves societal perceptions of challenging topics (p.158).He is also a leader during a period rich in wonderful nonfiction produced by writers with strong science credentials and instincts. Pyle spans the scientist-writer divide with amazing facility that can inspire scientists to extend the reach of their thinking and communicating, and he encourages all readers to find wonder in nature and the craft of natural history. This book will appeal to all readers who savor “the original laptops (by which I mean books)” (p. 171). Frederick J. Swanson Corvallis, Oregon Wild Horse Annie: Velma Johnston and Her Fight to Save the Mustang by Alan J. Kania University of Nevada Press, Reno and Las Vegas, 2012. Illustrations, notes, index. 234 pages. $26.95 cloth Author Alan J. Kania provides a warm, candid , and revealing look into the public and private life of Velma B. Johnston (a.k.a. Wild ...