Under the Stars: How America Fell in Love with Camping

Can anyone write a 350 page book on camping? It seems author Dan White could in Under the Stars. The book is almost entirely text with an occasional small illustration of historic camping photos and simple sketches of people he is writing about. The book is not so much about camping (and is certainly not a camping guide with checklists, warnings, and advice), but rather a book in which camping, nature, and wilderness are the central focus of many, many stories that happened to White while camping and hiking. The stories (and White’s writing) are humorous, though the humor often appears somewhat forced and not to everyone’s taste, such as trying to rent a car with a long-expired driver’s license in Montreal. Each episode is in a chapter – rather long chapters – like his camping trip in the Adirondacks, a full thirty pages of text. Obviously, White’s writing is rather verbose and many readers are likely to lose interest trying to follow the stories. The chapters are filled with historic musings of camping, wilderness, and significant eighteen-century characters as well as colorful characters of wilderness guides and fishing guides in White’s life. Extensive chapter-by-chapter notes close the book.