John Muir, Mary Austin, and Gary Snyder are perhaps best known for their connection to specific California ecological regions--Muir's Sierra Nevada "Range of Light," Austin's southern "Land of Little Rain," and Snyder's "Kitkitdizze" region of the north. In Reading the Trial, ecocritic and outdoorsman Corey Lewis proposes a provocative new way to read and interpret the classic works of these major nature writers and to bring their ideas into the discussion of ecological values and viable responses to the current environmental crisis. The literary work of Muir, Austin, and Snyder reflects...