This book was sitting on an outside shelf at Wonderbooks in Frederick, obviously crying, "Take me away. I'm not wanted here. They either have too many of me or I'm hopelessly out of date!" I took pity on it based on the "High Praise for The Night Country" on the back cover. In this case, the blurbs did not overstate how good the book is. Eiseley portrays himself as a bone hunter and he taught at the University of Pennsylvania until his death at age 69. But his writing, while it deals with aspects of his trade, is something else entirely. It is timeless. He isn't trying to (at least directly) teach you anything about old fossils; rather he is describing moment in his life that have given him some sort of glimpses into what perhaps may be truths. These pieces, whether they take place at night or not, are all about shadows, whether literal or spiritual. Eiseley was not a religious person, but he was familiar with religious teachings and with Shakespeare, Bacon, Bunyan, and probably just about every other important writer, and he weaves all of this knowledge into pieces that read like fiction. At any moment, you expect a monster to jump out. I don't think it is surprising that Ray Bradbury was a huge fan; there is really much in common in their perspectives--I can easily see Eiseley as a character in The Martian Chronicles, for instance. Not long after starting reading this I went crazy, logged on to abehbooks.com, and bought all but one of Eiseley's other books. The one holdout seemed a bit expensive at the time. The others, like this one, apparently exist in great numbers and are not collectors items. Pick up one of these orphans at your next visit to a used book store and see if you aren't engaged and amazed also. Eiseley is simply one of the best pure writers I have ever read. Obviously, not every piece is as good as his best, but each has moments of pleasure and wonderment. ( )

Excellent philosophy, science, autobiographical book. ( )

Loren Eisley has sadly become less known; as a scientist, he was sui generis. He described his identity as an archaeologist as a "bone man"; The Night Country is a vivid sensory/ poetic exploration of his bone-picking. As a boy, Eisley was a hobo; as a philosopher, he illuminated the lives of dogs, the bitterness of death's fingerings, and a remarkable analysis of the impact of Christianity on civilization that is illuminative, yet not harmful, to one's secularist tendencies. Eisley was not a science populaizer, but a humanizer of science...alone, and a titan, in his field. ( )

Actually, i have only read far older copies but i am delighted to learn of this reprint and clicked on it. Only the Japanese translation is with me now. I helped the translators so much with it that they asked the chief editor if I might do the explanation (kaisetsu), a postscript standard for translators in Japan. I did. One thing noted in the postscript was that Annie Dillard in Best American Essays 1988 gave Eiseley credit for reviving nonfiction with his symbolic essays. (She also made a good case for nonfiction being offering more freedom than fiction. After which, her next book was a novel, which infuriated me to no end!). "The Star Thrower" (which we also got translated)has most of Eiseley’s best essays and some awful poems not published elsewhere. As a single book, "Night Country" may be his best.