The city mouse without his country cousin.

Memoir-style essays poetically describe Lisa Couturiers efforts to find and appreciate nature's pure presence in the places where man has attempted to completely alter it in The Hopes of Snakes (Beacon Press, $23). Whether they are mice in New York City subways or crows in the suburbs, the stories Couturier tells about our fellow creatures reveal the author's passion and connection to all living things. She describes creatures that have adapted to the confines of man's constructed world, but are no less intuitive or majestic for it. Readers will learn about snowy egrets, peregrine falcons and red-tailed hawks that make their homes in America's most densely populated county. Even coyotes can be found at the fringes of our cities. Through her well-trained eyes and thought-provoking descriptions, Couturier reminds us that looking for the details in unsuspected landscapes can reveal reasons to revere life.