A Natural History of Empty Lots

'Brown lives far from any conventional battlefield, but he is surrounded by the wreckage of a different war, and he, too, finds hope in cultivating the ruins of nature...A Natural History of Empty Lots is less a departure from the nature writing tradition than a welcome addition to its edgelands.' -New York Review of Books 'The nature writing we need now.' -Michelle Nijhuis, author of Beloved Beasts 'Incredible' -Kelly Link, Pulitzer Prize finalist 'An instant classic' -Jeff VanderMeer, New York Times bestselling author During the real estate crash of the late 2000s, Christopher Brown purchased an empty lot in an industrial section of Austin, Texas. The property-abandoned and full of litter and debris-was an unlikely site for a home. Brown had become fascinated with these empty lots around Austin, so-called 'ruined' spaces once used for agriculture and industry awaiting their redevelopment. He discovered them to be teeming with natural activity, and embarked on a twenty-year project