Nature's State

“A thoroughly researched and well-argued book on the role that Alaska has played in the national psyche. . . . Highly recommended for those wishing to build an understanding of the way Alaska and the concept of wilderness have influenced the American concept of self.” — CHOICE

“Kollin examines how accurate the meanings and values assigned to Alaska have been. . . . The literature of the American West, women’s studies, environmental studies, and multicultural literature. All of those fields contribute to Nature’s State, in which the approaches of environmental studies and cultural studies merge.” — Chronicle of Higher Education

“Kollin’s well-organized study uses a wide array of literary and historical sources to explore the ways that Alaska was transformed from Seward’s Folly into a 'fetishized' pristine nature that functions as an environmental safety valve for modern Americans. . . . An insightful and well-written book that raises important questions about environmentalism and national identity that transcend Alaska.” — Journal of American History

“Lively and well-written. . . . A welcome addition to the field of cultural studies, and overall an engaging and informative read.” — Environmental History

“Kollin’s book shows how Alaska has been constituted as a natural object, leaving no doubt that the 'natural wonder' of Alaska is a deeply cultural phenomenon. Her analysis is careful and prudent, but it’s also lively and persuasive. Nature’s State should enter the genre as a leading example of cultural inquiry into natural contexts.” — Bill Chaloupka, University of Montana, Missoula

“Based on scholarship in a wide variety of fields, from postcolonial studies to the environmental justice movement, attentive to the concerns of Native writers, Nature’s State is an eminently readable book. Kollin is particularly insightful in exploring both connections and disjunctions between the imaginary and the historical as she analyzes how popular imagery associated with Alaska generates larger meanings about the relationship between the myths of national identity formation and the ‘reality’ of how the United States has ‘developed’ its natural resources. With its focus on the rhetoric of nature advocacy and justifications for ‘multiple uses’ and its analysis of the formation of environmental policy, Nature’s State is a particularly timely book as government officials push increased oil drilling in designated wilderness areas.” — Melody Graulich, editor, Western American Literature