Point Last Seen: A Woman Tracker's StoryRecently escaped from an abusive marriage, her children abducted by their father, Hannah Nyala turns for physical and spiritual survival to self-taught tracking in the Mojave Desert and eventually joins a National Park Service search-and-rescue team. But overshadowing Nyala's experience as an increasingly capable tracker is the fact that she herself is a tracked woman. For her, the ability to see a "footprint in soft grass outside a bedroom window" becomes a matter of survival. Nyala recounts life-and-death rescue missions yet questions the "action-junkie" approach to tracking lost people. Her exploration of the mechanics and cultural meanings of tracking recalls her rural Mississippi childhood...and eventually leads to a journey to the Kalahari to learn from the famed Ju/Wasi and !Kung Bushmen trackers. Finally, Nyala's passionate immersion in the art and science of tracking leads to the first safe place Nyala and her children have known. Point Last Seen is a wholly original account of one woman's life and an intriguing glimpse at the meaning and power of following footprints. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - KurtWombat - LibraryThingI have often puzzled over how to express what makes a memoir different from an autobiography. Reading Hannah Nyala's POINT LAST SEEN has helped solve this for me. A memoir is jazz to a biography's pop ... Read full review
POINT LAST SEEN: A Woman Tracker's Story
User Review - KirkusIn this beautifully rendered narrative, a woman reveals the art of tracking both in the wilderness and in autobiography. Nyala became a professional tracker almost by chance. Having grown up in rural ... Read full review
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Common terms and phrases
ahead animals asked Base become began better called close dark decided desert Eldon entirely eyes face fear feel feet finally flowers follow foot footprints Frank front getting ground hand hard head hope human hunting inside keep Kevin later least leave less live look lost Mammaw Mandy marked matter means meant miles minutes months morning mother move Nature never night once Park person prints probably question quickly ranger remember road rock running Ruth Ruthie sand seemed seen Service side signs simply sitting snakes someone soon sound Springs standing started stay step stopped sure tell things tracker tracking trail Tree trying turn walk watching woman woods young
Bibliographic information
| Title | Point Last Seen: A Woman Tracker's Story |
| Author | Hannah Nyala |
| Publisher | Beacon Press, 1997 |
| Original from | Pennsylvania State University |
| Digitized | Mar 23, 2011 |
| ISBN | 0807070920, 9780807070925 |
| Length | 168 pages |
| Subjects | › Biography & Autobiography / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |