The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating - Paperback

by Elisabeth Tova Bailey (Author)

In a work that beautifully demonstrates the rewards of closely observing nature, Elisabeth Tova Bailey shares an inspiring and intimate story of her encounter with a Neohelix albolabris--a common woodland snail.

While an illness keeps her bedridden, Bailey watches a wild snail that has taken up residence on her nightstand. As a result, she discovers the solace and sense of wonder that this mysterious creature brings and comes to a greater understanding of her own place in the world.

Intrigued by the snail's molluscan anatomy, cryptic defenses, clear decision making, hydraulic locomotion, and courtship activities, Bailey becomes an astute and amused observer, offering a candid and engaging look into the curious life of this underappreciated small animal.

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating is a remarkable journey of survival and resilience, showing us how a small part of the natural world can illuminate our own human existence, while providing an appreciation of what it means to be fully alive.

Front Jacket

THE EARTHLY ADVENTURES OF A WOMAN AND A GASTROPOD

Winner of the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing
Winner of the John Burroughs Medal
Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award in Natural History Literature

"Brilliant." --The New York Review of Books

"How interesting can a snail be? Entirely captivating, as it turns out. [Bailey] is a marvelous writer, and the marriage of science and poetic mysticism that characterizes this small volume is magical." --Minneapolis Star Tribune

"[A] gem." --Susan Stamberg, NPR's Morning Edition

"Survival, resilience, and intellectual curiosity . . . Deeply moving. . . Extraordinary." --Literature and Medicine, the journal of the Institute for the Medical Humanities

"An exquisite meditation on the restorative connection between nature and humans . . . As richly layered as the soil she lays down in the snail's terrarium: loamy, potent, and regenerative." --The Huffington Post

"[A] small, quiet masterpiece, already destined to become a classic." --The Washington Times