A modern-day mountain man, a dedicated naturalist, and a writer's writer, David Petersen spends a lot of time outdoors in the Rocky Mountain West. Whether wandering the aspen groves surrounding his cabin in Colorado's San Juan Mountains near Durango, watching grizzlies in Montana, or visiting the hidden desert grave of his friend and mentor, Edward Abbey, Petersen goes places many of us will never see--except through his evocative words. He writes with great clarity and elegance of expression, while constantly renewing and reexamining his special relationship with nature. The Nearby Faraway is an abridged autobiography of the author's life and travels, both geographical and spiritual, throughout the American West--a rich and moving collection from one of the West's most thoughtful, honest, and down-to-earth writers.