Arseniev describes three explorations in the Ussurian taiga along the Sea of Japan above Vladivostok, beginning with his first encounter of the solitary aboriginal hunter named Dersu, a member of the Gold tribe, who thereafter becomes his guide. Each expedition is beset with hardship and danger: through blizzard and flood and assorted deprivations, these two men forge an exceptional friendship in their mutual respect for the immense grandeur of the wilderness. But the bridges across language, race and culture also have limitations, and the incursion of civilization exacts its toll. Dersu the Trapper is at once a witnessing of Russia's last frontier and a poignant memoir of rare cross-cultural understanding. Originally published in 1941, this English translation is reprinted in its entirety now for the first time.

These filmmakers are members of one of the most radical of 20th-century art movements; and yet as radical and individual as they are, their films and their lives are a continuous source of inspiration, not only to young, developing film-artists, but to the makers of commercial movies and videos as well. Brakhage presents them and their work in portraits that are at once critical and anecdotal. One comes away from Film at Wit's End as one leaves an enjoyable, lively evening among friends.

The Mango Tree follows the life of Ramiro Valenzuela, an indigenous Yaqui native, as he embarks on a wild journey that takes him from his homeland in Mexico to the United States, Italy, Greece, the UK, and Canada. Rising out of poverty and through the ranks of post-WWII academia, Ramiro grapples with existential questions of power, identity, climate change, and how to live a meaningful life amid the beauty and terror of an ever-changing world. What follows is a dreamlike tale of nature and man, rendered with lyrical grace and deep, elegiac resonance.

Through the voices of Ramiro and the characters he encounters-including his grandfather, Felipe, enslaved by the Díaz regime; Kurt, a Nazi U-boat captain marooned in Mexico; Mike, a soldier-turned-artist in Italy; and the titular Mango Tree-Cabot tells the story of the twentieth century itself in striking, intimate detail. The Mango Tree is at its heart a novel about love, the land around us, and the bloody consequences of empire across the globe.

Translated by Leland H. Chambers (with Bruce McPherson)