Autobiography, Ecology, and the Well-Placed Self

Nathan Straight is Associate Professor of English at Utah State University in Brigham City, Utah. He received his PhD in British and American literature from the University of Oregon. Dr. Straight's research includes U.S. regional literature, autobiography studies, ecocriticism, and New West cultural studies.

"This study of natural biography - the 'absolutely particular' ways in which self and story and place are co-mingled - is an illuminating pleasure to read and an important contribution both to ecocriticism and the study of memoir." (Christopher Cokinos, University of Arizona; Author of 'The Fallen Sky: An Intimate History of Shooting Stars') "I have long felt that autobiography is one of the best generic lenses through which to appreciate and analyze environmental writing. Nathan Straight's concept of the 'well-placed self' is an exciting angle on 'environmental life writing,' helpfully extending the field of ecocriticism." (Scott Slovic, University of Nevada, Reno; Author of 'Going Away to Think: Engagement, Retreat, and Ecocritical Responsibility') "What a refreshing new view of the American West Nathan Straight offers in this study of three 'natural biographies' that challenge the cowboy myth. In nuanced readings of life writing by William Kittredge, Terry Tempest Williams, and Mary Clearman Blew, he shows how autobiographers can questioningly situate themselves in distinctive landscapes and ecosystems, destabilizing traditional narrative authority to create complex new modes of inhabitation." (Louise Westling, University of Oregon; Author of 'The Green Breast of the New World: Landscape, Gender, and American Fiction')