Author Talk: Obi Kaufman

Growing up in the East Bay, Obi Kaufmann spent most of his weekends mapping Mount Diablo’s creeks, oak forests, and sage mazes. Into adulthood he would regularly journey into the mountains, spending more summer nights without a roof than with one. Based on decades of exploring the backcountry of the Golden State, Kaufmann’s lavishly illustrated atlas takes readers off the beaten path and outside normal conceptions of California. His book blends science and art to illuminate the multifaceted array of living, connected systems like no book has done before, and outlines the epic narrative of the California backcountry, which holds enough art, science, mythology, and language for a hundred field atlases to come.