The first general nonfiction title in 30 years from a giant of American letters, THE SEARCH FOR THE GENUINE is a sparkling, definitive collection of Jim Harrison's essays and journalism --- some never before published.

New York Times bestselling author Jim Harrison (1937–2016) was a writer with a poet’s economy of style and a trencherman’s appetites. Praised as a “national treasure” (Chicago Tribune) and published in 27 languages, he was one of this country’s most beloved and critically acclaimed authors. Best known for his poetry and fiction, such as LEGENDS OF THE FALL, DALVA and RETURNING TO EARTH, Harrison was also a prolific nonfiction writer, with columns running in Sports Illustrated and Esquire, and work in Outside, Field & Stream and others. The first collection of Harrison’s general nonfiction in 30 years, THE SEARCH FOR THE GENUINE is a sparkling, definitive volume of essays and journalism --- from the near-classic to the never-published.

With his trademark ribald humor, compassion and full-throated zest for life, THE SEARCH FOR THE GENUINE pays tribute to writers from Bukowski to Neruda to Peter Matthiessen, and examines the distance between literary reputation and the work itself; he attains something like satori in the field hunting grouse; he reports on Yellowstone for the park’s 100th anniversary, when he was merely a tourist to the part of Montana he would eventually call home; he takes to the open sea in pursuit of roosterfish, marlin, tarpon and, once, to observe a scientific mission tagging sharks; he delivers a heartbreaking essay on life --- and, for those attempting to cross in the ever-more dangerous gaps, death --- on the US-Mexico border. Always he comes back to the spirit and to connection with the natural world and the people who sustained him; throughout the book his feeling for the American landscape rings out.

Lovingly introduced by acclaimed novelist, poet and essayist Luis Alberto Urrea, THE SEARCH FOR THE GENUINE is a feast that captures a lifetime of reading, writing, and living to the fullest, from a true “American original” (San Francisco Chronicle).