Cathedral of the World

The curved lines of a sailing ship resemble the inverted dome of a great cathedral surrounded not by soot-covered buildings and crowded streets but by a vast liquid wilderness. This physical and symbolic connection is at the thematic heart of Cathedral of the World a collection of essays in which writer and professional small-boat sailor Myron Arms sets out on a journey both physical and spiritual seeking to explore what he calls the primal spaces and to articulate the sailor's age-old quest to understand his world and himself.. Arms author of the Boston Globe bestseller Riddle of the Ice weaves the experiences of four decades at sea into a series of reflections that range across half a lifetime and thousands of ocean miles. During these journeys he takes readers to some of the last wild places on Earth climbing the hills of the North Atlantic in a full gale watching the flight of seabirds listening to the night-breath of whales and pondering the questions that all such encounters inspire. . What John Muir did for western forests what Edward Abbey did for the desert Arms now does for the ocean. In a voice that is reverent impassioned and clear-sighted he celebrates the wilderness he has come to love mourns its wounds and demonstrates for all of us its power to heal.