Closer to the Ground - by Dylan Tomine

Book Synopsis

Now completely revised and updated, with full-color photographs and family-friendly recipes throughout.

The deeply personal story of a father learning to share his love of nature with his children, not through the indoor lens of words or pictures, but directly, palpably, by exploring the natural world as they forage, cook and eat from the woods and sea.

This compelling, masterfully written tale follows Dylan Tomine and his family through four seasons as they hunt chanterelles, fish for salmon, dig clams and gather at the kitchen table, mouths watering, to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Closer to the Ground captures the beauty and surprise of the natural world -- and the ways it teaches us how to live -- with humor, gratitude and a nose for adventure as keen as a child's. It is a book filled with weather, natural history and many delicious meals.

From the Back Cover

Now Updated with Full-Color Photographs and Family-Friendly Recipes Throughout

Honorable Mention, National Outdoor Book Awards, 2013

"A pleasure to read . . . buoyant, irrepressible . . . entirely winning."
--David Guterson, author of Snow Falling On Cedars

A deeply personal story of a father learning to share his love of nature with his children, not through the indoor lens of words or pictures, but directly, palpably, by exploring the natural world as they forage, cook, and eat from the woods and sea.

Closer to the Ground captures the beauty and surprise of the natural world - and the ways it teaches us how to live - with humor, gratitude and a nose for adventure as keen as a child's. It is a book filled with weather, natural history, and many delicious meals.

Dylan Tomine, formerly a fly fishing guide, is now a writer, conservation advocate, blueberry farmer, and father, not necessarily in that order. His work has appeared in The Flyfish Journal, The Drake, Golfweek, The New York Times, and numerous other publications. He lives with his family on an island in Puget Sound.

Review Quotes

. . . An eloquent chronicle of a likable family's attempt to live a more nature-centric life. . .. A refreshingly unsanctimonious take. . . . A lovely homage to the oldest seductress around: Mother Nature. -- The Washington Post

A conservation advocate and blueberry farmer shares his love of nature with his children by teaching them to forage, fish, and find firewood. -- O Magazine

"Tomine is too modest to boast, but he's clearly an adept writer, and Closer to the Ground is as understated as its author, a quietly compelling account of four seasons of foraging just out the back door... This is some of the most evocative, mouthwatering food writing I've ever read... The strength of the book, of course, is that, like Tomine, it leads by example. It's a paean to eating locally without ever being preachy." --Outside

"...Tomine expresses peace, gratitude, and satisfaction with life and Mother Nature in an homage reminiscent of Noel Perrin's ruminations on the pleasures of the simple life... While Tomine's memoir is decidedly food-focused (particularly food specific to the Pacific Northwest), he also shares thoughts on matters large and small, whether the many uses of plastic buckets or the trade-offs that must be made in choosing a budget-friendly sustainable lifestyle. That their lifestyle creates quality time for the family is evident from a conversation with his daughter and sweet moments in the woods with his son."
--Publishers Weekly

"Tomine weaves his memoir with lyrical passages, family dialogues and accounts of gathering shellfish and chanterelles--as well as delicious descriptions of cooking them--in an engaging, slightly self- deprecating tone... Closer to the Ground inspires readers to examine their own daily lives and rediscover their surroundings." --Shelf Awareness

"Tomine finds...a way for regular people to live a little more consciously in a world that underpins the contrails and Twitter feeds of our twenty-first-century civilization. Closer to the Ground is accessible, well written, and optimistic. It is a warm reminder that even on the days when salmon are scarce, it is a kind of sustenance to be in the boat together under the sun and to feel the tension on the lines and the rhythm of shifting water in our bodies. -Orion

"When Dylan Tomine was young, he and his friends would scamper throughout the neighborhood picking blackberries. 'If you pick 'em, I'll bake it, ' his mom would tell him. It was the remembrance of his mom's steaming, fragrant pies, fresh out of the oven that years later would, in part, make wild food gathering a way in which his family could spend time together in the outdoors. In this beautifully written and heartfelt account, Tomine describes his family's forays into nature. They grow vegetables, fish for salmon, dig for oysters, forage for mushrooms, and hunt for deer. The book is not about survival. Tomine fully admits that they still get much more of their food from the grocery store, but, rather it's a way to raise a family in modern times while remaining grounded with the natural environment." --National Outdoor Book Awards

"I was especially drawn to Dylan's descriptions of teaching his children and their process of developing a deep relationship with the land. An important book that I will read again." Ed Roberson, Mountain and Prairie podcast

About the Author

Dylan Tomine, formerly a fly fishing guide, is now a writer, conservation advocate, blueberry farmer and father, not necessarily in that order. His work has appeared in the Flyfish Journal, the Drake, Golfweek, the New York Times and numerous other publications.

Thomas Francis McGuane III is an American author. His work includes ten novels, short fiction and screenplays, as well as three collections of essays devoted to his life in the outdoors.