9 h 18 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What books belong beside a saddle, and what can wild country teach that a study cannot?
In A Book-Lover's Holidays in the Open, Theodore Roosevelt brings together his loves of wilderness, animals, and reading. The hunter, rancher, and naturalist writes about wild country, the people who live close to the land, and the books he carries on his travels. For him, a day outdoors and an evening with a book belong together.
This collection explores how wild places test character, how to choose reading for camp, and why close observation matters. Roosevelt looks carefully at birds and animals, seeking nature as it is rather than as a storyteller might wish it. His concern for protecting wild land adds another question: what do we leave for those who follow?
What you’ll discover
- Character in wild country Explore Roosevelt's belief that hard days outdoors strengthen both the body and the mind.
- Books beside the saddle Discover the place reading holds on journeys far from home and close to nature.
- A naturalist's close attention Follow a careful observer who wants birds and animals described as they truly are.
- People close to the land Meet the people in Roosevelt's outdoor writing, alongside the country and creatures around them.
- Wild land worth protecting Consider the care for future generations behind Roosevelt's support for reserves and national forests.
Who will love it
For readers who love true adventure, wild places and animals, and the pleasure of a good book beside a campfire. Also for anyone curious how an American president saw nature, travel and conservation.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A canyon holiday starts with sons and hounds
- Cougars teach respect for the hounds
- Protecting wild creatures keeps the hunt open to all
- The Navajo desert opens a hidden Southwest
- The Hopi snake dance is watched with care
- Native education should be gradual and keep native arts
- South American ranches and passes show a changing frontier
- African plains and California tar pits link past to present
- Read what you love and carry it into the wild
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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A Book-Lover's Holidays in the Open
by Theodore Roosevelt · 1916
Roosevelt hunts cougars on the Grand Canyon rim with his sons and rides on to a Hopi snake dance.
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In short
Would you take a pack train, two teenage sons and a pack of cougar hounds down into the Grand Canyon? In A Book-Lover's Holidays in the Open, Theodore Roosevelt does just that.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A canyon holiday starts with sons and hounds
The book opens in July 1913 at the El Tovar Hotel on the edge of the Grand Canyon. Roosevelt gathers his sons Archie and Quentin and their cousin Nicholas, along with Jesse Cummings, who serves as cook, packer and horse wrangler. He argues that the wilderness belongs to anyone with the heart to claim it, and his sons are learning that lesson.
The trip begins with a mishap. The hired men and the outfit fail to meet the party at the canyon floor. Cattlemen from the Bar Z ranch step in, lend mules and horses, and carry the travelers across the Colorado on a trolley. After an early breakfast and packing, they start up the Bright Angel Trail in darkness. They reach the rim eight hours later.
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What is A Book-Lover's Holidays in the Open about?
It is Roosevelt's travel memoir of hunting and exploring, from the Grand Canyon and Navajo country to South America, with chapters on Africa, ancient animals, bird refuges and reading.
Where does Roosevelt travel in this book?
He visits the Grand Canyon rim, the Navajo and Hopi lands of Arizona, Argentina, Brazil and Chile, plus Louisiana's Gulf islands and a Quebec hunting club. He also recalls African trips.
What is the Hopi snake dance he describes?
It is a Hopi ceremony at Walpi, asking for rain, in which priests wash snakes in the kiva and carry them in their mouths in the dance. Roosevelt watched both parts.
The author
Theodore Roosevelt
1858–1919 · American president and historian
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) was born in New York City and died at Oyster Bay, New York. He served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He wrote books about history, hunting, and his life, including Outdoor Pastimes of an American Hunter (1905) and his autobiography (1913).
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