Description
A collection of 44 prose meditations inspired by the transitory and bird-rich environment of the Klamath marshes on the Oregon/California border. "In order to accept the enormous responsibility that comes of being in the world, we must first conceive, in spite of all the obstacles, the state of actually being the world." It is for this reason that John R. Campbell came to the Klamath marshes, a wetland in southern Oregon formed by three ancient, shallow lakes, a vast emptiness that is paradoxically home to an amazing diversity of life, of untold thousands of birds both migratory and resident, of all the interconnected life forms that make up one of North America's richest natural environments. Absence and Light is Campbell's account of his exploration of the marshes and a meditation on the world he found there, on his growing understanding of the physical, emotional, moral, and aesthetic meaning of that world, on his own growth as a man. Through Campbell's eyes, we observe the stirring and astonishing beauty of the marshes and their creatures, and the utter poignancy of their fragility before the heedless ambitions of humankind. This is nature writing at its most profound and moving, writing that in examining and defining the world of nature helps us to understand the very complicated and contradictory realities of being human. Campbell's luminous descriptions and mystical insights will long linger in the reader's memory.

Reviews
"Absence and Light is at once a heartfelt, poetic work of nature writing and an eloquent discourse about how humankind must rethink certain beliefs in order to slow the Earth's destruction." —Sarah Gianelli, The Sunday Oregonian, 18 August 2002

"This place — its paradoxical fullness and emptiness — and its birds serve as both muse and metaphor for Campbell as he ponders the mysteries of life and death and the often uneasy coexistence of life on this planet. In the best tradition of natural history writing, his powers of description are marvelous.... His Absence and Light is a book of great spirit, both poignant and full of life." —Lori D. Kranz, The Bloomsbury Review, July/August 2002

"Campbell draws on a wide range of literary and poetic influences such as Rilke, Thoreau, Merton, Jeffers, and Dogen, and his spare, elegant yet forceful notes are recommended for those who are curious to peel back the controversy and see the hidden context to the troubles of the Klamath Basin, this 'poignant ground for unfathomable pockets of life.'" —Ken Pirie, Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built & Natural Environments, Summer/Fall 2003

"...a collection of meditations that can be read as might any poetry collection gathered under one theme: as a whole, in related sections, or as individual pieces. The prose is careful, beautifully descriptive, and thoroughly engaging." —Douglas Carlson, The Georgia Review 59.4, Winter 2005