Daniel, John. Rogue River journal; a winter alone.

DANIEL, John. Rogue River journal; a winter alone. Shoemaker Hoard, Avalon. 352p. bibliog. c2005.1-59376-105-8. $16.00. SA

John Daniel has written eight books of nonfiction and poetry. Here he writes of his experience living in a small cabin in the Rogue River Valley in Oregon from November 2000 to March 2001 in complete solitude. He did this to see if he could survive without other humans and if his time alone would lead to purer reflections on his own life, on the life of his father, Franz Daniel, a labor organizer, and on nature and civilization--not a small task to accomplish in four months. While he took some safety precautions, including setting up a method to call in, but not talk, to his wife on a regular basis, he depended on himself for entertainment and inspiration. He raised vegetables, fished, and wrote about life with his parents, his relationship with his father, his experiences as a young man in the 1960s who dropped out of college, refused to be inducted into the army, worked as a lumberjack, and experimented with drugs, love and careers, until he became a writer. His observations about our culture, including the fact that he left before the 2000 Presidential election was decided, are always thoughtful, sometimes funny and self-deprecating and will keep you wondering how you would do, alone in the woods for four months. Nola Theiss, Sanibel, FL

S--Recommend for senior high school students.

A--Recommend for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.