Review by Choice Review
Taylor, an English professor at Transylvania University and former poet laureate of Kentucky, has crafted a historical, cultural, and environmental history of Elkhorn Creek, a Kentucky River tributary. Situated in central Kentucky's bluegrass region, Elkhorn played a significant role in Kentucky's early settlement, which is partly why Taylor chose it as his subject. Since 1975, though, he also has lived there and developed an abiding devotion to the area. He employs Yi-Fu Tuan's notion of topophilia (sense of place) coupled with David Orr's habitat to explore how one's experiences in a place entwine with one's feelings for it. Drawing from his deep research, Taylor presents Elkhorn's prehistoric times, its native populations, pioneers, settlers, surveyors, and select individuals such as judge Harry Innes (1752--1816), the first federal judge appointed east of Appalachia, or Paul Sawyier (1865--1917), an acclaimed Kentucky artist. Further, he explores Elkhorn's historical remnants and what they convey, ending with a socioecological meditation on Elkhorn today, including its environmental problems but also its social adherents. A work of sociocultural ecology, Elkhorn provides the reader with a beautifully written introduction to this rural hub in Kentucky. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. --John B. Wolford, formerly, University of Missouri--St. Louis
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
