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Summary: a tenderhearted, enticing window into our natural heritage
Review: David Wicinas captures readers with a mesmerizing revelation of natural wonders within and surrounding the urban LA/Orange County area. It's hard enough to imagine anything natural surviving the relentless onslsaught of human "improvements," but Mr. Wicinas convinces us that such natural areas survive, and gives us evidence we can check out for ourselves. Which, of course is the inspirational essence of his wonderful book. This is one of those rare books that makes the reader want to run out and buy several copies of to give as gifts to his dearest friends. I want to meet Mr. Wacinas.
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Summary: Is nature in Los Angeles an oxymoron?
Review: Wicinas admits that the highway-addicted, real-estate-worshipping city of Los Angeles is a strange place for a nature lover, but he manages to make something of it nonetheless. This is a collection of essays about some of the few remaining natural parts of the LA basin.The first, interestingly enough, was familiar to me, as he undertakes to hike Sepulveda Pass. That's the gap that the San Diego Freeway (better known as the I-405) takes from Los Angeles to Van Nuys and the San Fernando Valley, going past the Getty Center, among other landmarks. I know it because of a convention I attend every year in Van Nuys, just a few miles north of the pass. So that made the chapter particularly interesting to me. I found the rest of it a mixed bag. Wicinas has an interesting perspective, but he's no Annie Dillard, and his narration frequently falls flat. My favorite chapter focuses on Caspers Wilderness Park in Orange County, which has seen attacks on people (particularly children) by mountain lions. As with the other chapters, he interweaves historical and natural information with a first-person account of his visit and hiking around. Perhaps because of the romance of such a large wild animal in the LA area, this chapter comes to life more than most. Still, it's an interesting book, and I'd recommend it to someone who's interested in the more natural areas around Los Angeles.
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