A Natural History of Empty Lots

Brown had become fascinated with these empty lots around Austin, so-called “ruined” spaces once used for agriculture and industry awaiting their redevelopment. He discovered them to be teeming with natural activity, and embarked on a twenty-year project to live in and document such spaces. There, in our most damaged landscapes, he witnessed the remarkable resilience of wild nature, and how we can heal ourselves by healing the Earth. Beautifully written and philosophically hard-hitting, A Natural History of Empty Lots offers a new lens on human disruption and nature, offering a sense of hope among the edgelands. “Brown lives far from any conventional battlefield, but he is surrounded by the wreckage of a different war, and he, too, finds hope in cultivating the ruins of nature… A Natural History of Empty Lots is less a departure from the nature writing tradition than a welcome addition to its edgelands.” — New York Review of Books "The nature writing we need now." —Michelle Nijhuis, author of Beloved Beasts "Incredible" —Kelly Link, Pulitzer Prize finalist Read more