Beating the Odds in Big Sur

Authors

  • Michael L. Shuman University of South Florida Author

Keywords:

Robert J. Begiebing, literary journalism, New England writers, environmentalism, Henry David Thoreau, The Castle in the Forest

Abstract

Michael L. Shuman reviews Robert J. Begiebing’s The Territory around Us: Collected Literary and Political Journalism, 1982–2015 (The Troy Bookmakers). Shuman describes the political essays, which call on Thoreau and Ray Bradbury against corporate power, military spending, and environmental neglect, and the literary profiles of New England writers such as Sydney Lea, Merle Drown, Wesley McNair, Baron Wormser, and Laurel Ulrich, which stress persistence and hard work. A separate section gathers Begiebing’s Mailer pieces, including a 1983 interview and an essay on The Castle in the Forest. Shuman traces a consistent commitment to art, individual courage, and the natural world across the collection and praises it as the fruit of a long career.

Author Biography

  • Michael L. Shuman, University of South Florida

    Michael L. Shuman had long careers in both newspaper management and software development before earning his Ph.D and joining the Department of English at University of South Florida, where he teaches writing for the technical professions and coordinates the department’s internship program. Dr. Shuman is Deputy Editor of The Mailer Review.

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Published

2016-09-28

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 1 (2016): 10th Anniversary Issue

Section

Book Reviews

How to Cite

Shuman, Michael L. “Beating the Odds in Big Sur”. The Mailer Review, vol. 10, no. 1, Sept. 2016, pp. 428–435, https://mailerreview.org/journal/article/view/586.