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Portrait of Cal Flyn

Reading List

Cal Flyn

Author and Journalist

Cal Flyn left a reporting job on the Sunday Times in 2012 to work at a dog-sledding kennels in Lapland, which turns out to be characteristic. Thicker Than Water traced a distant relative implicated in violence against Aboriginal Australians; Islands of Abandonment visited Chernobyl, Detroit and the Scottish shale bings to ask what land does once people go. She was the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year in 2022, and is deputy editor of Five Books.

Wikipedia

5 books · Updated August 2026 As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
01 Book cover of The Great New Wilderness Debate by ed. J. Baird Callicott and Michael P. Nelson

The Great New Wilderness Debate

by ed. J. Baird Callicott and Michael P. Nelson

“There’s lots and lots to read in this book. My copy is almost 700 pages long, and there’s a follow-up collection with the same editors called The Wilderness Debate Rages On if you want more of the same. These also aren’t the kind of books to sit down and read from cover to cover, but rather to pick out the sections that are of special interest to you.” — via Interview, July 2026
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02 Book cover of The Desert Fathers by ed. Benedicta Ward

The Desert Fathers

Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

by ed. Benedicta Ward

“The ‘Desert Fathers’ of this book were a loose conglomeration of early Christian ascetics living in the Egyptian deserts, from the third century onwards. Their pared-back approach to worship—abandoning theological texts in favour of direct revelation—and extreme living conditions would trickle down to influence the monastic traditions of both the eastern and western arms of the Church.” — via Interview, July 2026
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03 Book cover: The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard

The Worst Journey in the World

by Apsley Cherry-Garrard

“Often they, like Cherry-Garrard, are beautiful writers, or, at the very least, recording strange and beautiful natural phenomena, which can be utterly bewitching to encounter through prose.” — via Interview, July 2026
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04 Book cover: Wilderness and the American Mind by Roderick Nash

Wilderness and the American Mind

by Roderick Nash

“Anyway, the Nash book is a highly readable work of cultural and environmental history, and the latest edition includes extra content by Nash responding to critiques of his work and new research.” — via Interview, July 2026
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05 Book cover: A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit

A Field Guide to Getting Lost

by Rebecca Solnit

“Getting lost or surrendering oneself in the way Solnit is talking about can be achieved much closer to home.” — via Interview, July 2026
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