Excerpts
"I am not from anywhere. I am of the rivers. I am of the mountains. Of the hollows. The animals who have made me. I am of the horse. The dog. I am of the wild."
"Wildness can heal, but it can also teach. I have come to know this world in many ways. The wisdom of wild things being one."
"If there were gods for wild things or any things, they live in those hues."
"My greatest fear has always been that I would become a man afraid to be himself."
"To be wild in this moment, to be caught in the primal stare between predator and prey meant navigating a millennium of evolution, of time, instinct, and discipline to confront the animal within and the fluidity of what it means to be human."
Advanced Praise
"What happens when we move too far from nature, from our natural selves? What is the price of urbanization? In his memoir, Weidner traces his roots from the deep hollows of Ohio to the California coast, an extraordinary journey of the soul and body. His connection to equines is both his salvation and his downfall. There is a wildness in all living creatures, and in that recognition, in that twinning of souls, there is also a kind of redemption."
"The Gods of Wild Things is tale of brutal honesty, radical self reflection, and the vulnerable confrontation so many men are forced to contend with as they reconcile both the humanity of the man who has raised them, and who they have been raised to be.
With prose that feels like it’s part country song, and part survival field guide, Ned Weidner weaves together stories that will send you on a nostalgic walk along streams and meadows and yet bring to the edge of your seat in hopes that the story doesn’t suddenly end there — all by sharing the pain and longing of the boy he once was and the the man he himself grew into. A man unprepared to be the man.
Sit down, buckle up, and get ready to be taken on a beautiful ride."
"The Gods of Wild Things is a breathtaking, honest account of the journey of a young man who straddles his need to connect to nature and his need to find his place in a world filled with temptations, competition, and self-interests.
Within these pages, readers will identify with the universal desire to be free of the binds of social constraints, with a nod to the flow and rhythm of nature’s simple, and at times forceful, beckoning. Those who love horses will see themselves in Weidner as he validates his own identity in the eyes of animals who are always just one stride away from being wild. And, we will all find solace in realizing the fact that animals really can save our lives.
Weidner created a masterpiece with astonishing imagery, candid and raw language, and his pure message of hope. The Gods of Wild Things is a beautiful and powerful memoir that connects man to animal to nature, and it reminds us all that we must give ourselves permission to trust and to know when it is time to listen and when it is time to feel."
“In straight-forward prose, Weidner captures the time and space that built his character. His story is one of rewilding: breaking free of the stories we tell ourselves that, if not liberated, become a destiny. Brilliantly, in the unfolding of the moments that have constructed the man, we witness the process of the author himself becoming more free and more disentangled from his past. In essence, we bear witness to the rewilding of the author by the end of the memoir. Like his prose, the process is brutal, yet beautiful in its truthfulness and wildness. In the landscape of Weidner's memoir, truth is wildness and only in the wild is there truth.”
"The Gods of Wild Things is a profound journey into wilderness within, guided by the ancestral teachings of Nature, that resonate deeply with the primal instincts rooted in our beings. Ned invites us, and at times compels us, to cross threshold after threshold through intense rites of passage, transforming our understanding of existence through the rawness of his authentic experience. This book is a must-read for those yearning to grow towards and into the real self, who thrives in the untamed, and oftentimes, uncharted territory within, where the essence of our humanity is both celebrated and put to the test. Get ready to witness your own reflection in the wise trees who stand as ancient sentinels, singing rivers who echo your innermost thoughts, in the wild horses who will remind you of your birth right to freedom, and in the beauty and heartache of the human experience that weaves itself into the natural world, beckoning you to face your deepest fears and highest aspirations."
- Jennifer Olds, author of The Half-Acre Ranch, Rodeo and the Mimosa Tree, and Good Night, Henry.
"The Gods of Wild Things is tale of brutal honesty, radical self reflection, and the vulnerable confrontation so many men are forced to contend with as they reconcile both the humanity of the man who has raised them, and who they have been raised to be.
With prose that feels like it’s part country song, and part survival field guide, Ned Weidner weaves together stories that will send you on a nostalgic walk along streams and meadows and yet bring to the edge of your seat in hopes that the story doesn’t suddenly end there — all by sharing the pain and longing of the boy he once was and the the man he himself grew into. A man unprepared to be the man.
Sit down, buckle up, and get ready to be taken on a beautiful ride."
- Traver Boehm, author of Today I Rise, ManUncivilized, and 28 Days in Darkness
"The Gods of Wild Things is a breathtaking, honest account of the journey of a young man who straddles his need to connect to nature and his need to find his place in a world filled with temptations, competition, and self-interests.
Within these pages, readers will identify with the universal desire to be free of the binds of social constraints, with a nod to the flow and rhythm of nature’s simple, and at times forceful, beckoning. Those who love horses will see themselves in Weidner as he validates his own identity in the eyes of animals who are always just one stride away from being wild. And, we will all find solace in realizing the fact that animals really can save our lives.
Weidner created a masterpiece with astonishing imagery, candid and raw language, and his pure message of hope. The Gods of Wild Things is a beautiful and powerful memoir that connects man to animal to nature, and it reminds us all that we must give ourselves permission to trust and to know when it is time to listen and when it is time to feel."
- Meri (Sheffler) Marsh, Riding Instructor, Director of Equestrian Studies, and Equine Management, University of Findlay
“In straight-forward prose, Weidner captures the time and space that built his character. His story is one of rewilding: breaking free of the stories we tell ourselves that, if not liberated, become a destiny. Brilliantly, in the unfolding of the moments that have constructed the man, we witness the process of the author himself becoming more free and more disentangled from his past. In essence, we bear witness to the rewilding of the author by the end of the memoir. Like his prose, the process is brutal, yet beautiful in its truthfulness and wildness. In the landscape of Weidner's memoir, truth is wildness and only in the wild is there truth.”
- Ashley Delaune, retired professor of English, co-founder of Kumankaya Healing Center, Curandera.
"The Gods of Wild Things is a profound journey into wilderness within, guided by the ancestral teachings of Nature, that resonate deeply with the primal instincts rooted in our beings. Ned invites us, and at times compels us, to cross threshold after threshold through intense rites of passage, transforming our understanding of existence through the rawness of his authentic experience. This book is a must-read for those yearning to grow towards and into the real self, who thrives in the untamed, and oftentimes, uncharted territory within, where the essence of our humanity is both celebrated and put to the test. Get ready to witness your own reflection in the wise trees who stand as ancient sentinels, singing rivers who echo your innermost thoughts, in the wild horses who will remind you of your birth right to freedom, and in the beauty and heartache of the human experience that weaves itself into the natural world, beckoning you to face your deepest fears and highest aspirations."
- Yamin Chehin L.Ac Dipl O.M., Council Trainer, Rites of Passage Guide.