Reviving Artemis

Reviving Artemis is a provocative, often funny, and moving memoir about a middle-aged woman's quest for the knowledge and skills necessary to fully inhabit the northern forest. The story chronicles writer Deborah Lee Luskin's gradual metamorphosis from an urbanite with strong aversions to untracked woods, guns, and hunting, into a longtime Vermonter determined to "eat the landscape," first as a homesteader and then as a deer hunter. She shares lively portraits of her mentors--a traditional Vermont woodsman and a hunter steeped in spirituality and myth--who educated and encouraged her to learn how to navigate the untracked forest by following the deer. Luskin challenges reader assumptions along with her own, about hunters and guns, by revealing their legacy and the discovered role they play in balancing ecosystems. Reviving Artemis tells a personal story of stepping off the obvious path of your life; accepting the challenges of learning skills outside your comfort zone; liberating yourself from a lifetime of learned limitations and fears; and aging fiercely in the face of mortality. Luskin's story will bring readers face to face with where they stand in the natural world.