Praise from Scott Russell Sanders

One of my favorite essayists, Scott Russell Sanders, has written a lovely jacket blurb for my new book, WHAT THE RIVER CARRIES, which is forthcoming from the University of Missouri Press in March of 2012. Here it is:

A river gathers the countryside, drawing the current of tributary

streams into a single flow, offering passage to travelers, nurturing

all manner of creatures, and eventually, perhaps by way of larger

rivers, delivering its waters to the sea.  Just so, in the hands of a

skillful writer like Lisa Knopp, an essay draws material from a varied

terrain of memory, history, folklore, observation, and reflection,

gathering far-flung sources into a forceful narrative.  Linked

together, these narratives trace the ways in which three great rivers

have been used, abused, and partly restored by humans over the past ten

thousand years—a panoramic history that should be of interest to any

reader who’s curious about the shaping of America’s interior.

 Sanders is the author of EARTH WORKS, A CONSERVATIONIST MANIFESTO, The PARADISE OF BOMBS, STAYING PUT, WRITING FROM THE CENTER, and many other books.