National Book Award–winning author Barry Lopez explores the challenges and joys of the human experience through the frame of the natural world in fourteen arresting and extraordinary essays. In Crossing Open Ground, award-winning literary writer Barry Lopez offers prescient, beautiful, and thought-provoking reflections on how the natural world can define and illuminate our sense of self. Whether he's traversing the Arctic tundra or the deserts of the American Southwest, recalling the devastating beaching of forty-one sperm whales along the Oregon coast or reveling in the remarkable migrations of wild geese, Lopez shows readers the world's special places, its remarkable people, and stunning natural events. He thoughtfully explores humankind's place in this vast natural scheme, and opens our eyes to its breathtaking complexity. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Barry Lopez including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author's personal collection.