RaveThe NationMacfarlane tries to refasten our relationship to nature ... Nature writing has been criticized for being overly dry, but Macfarlane’s is anything but: He pours down unusual verbs, exhaustingly flaunting his superior attention and word choice ... Reading these words, I often failed to attain the same sense of exaltation. Instead, I felt distanced from the world ... At first, Macfarlane might read like another awestruck nature writer. But the lesson he offers is just as subtle: He deliberately demonstrates that nature can’t be \'captured,\' no matter how thoughtful the language.
