Old School with Shilo Brooks MeatEater’s Steven Rinella on Lessons from the Wilderness
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Oct 9, 2025 
Steven Rinella, an outdoorsman and founder of MeatEater, explores the profound influence of Jim Harrison's novel *Wolf*. He delves into the protagonist's struggle with bitterness and aimlessness, relating it to young men's search for meaning. Rinella discusses how Harrison’s chaotic writing style resonates today, while reflecting on the novel's themes of nature and personal restoration. His insights on raising children to connect with nature and the value of both consumptive and non-consumptive uses of the wild highlight a nuanced view of stewardship.
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Literary Style Meets The Wilderness
- Wolf uses stream-of-consciousness to blur time and place, creating a disorienting literary flow.
- Harrison brings high-literary techniques into a rural wilderness setting to striking effect.
A Disoriented Quest For Meaning
- Wolf follows Swanson, a poor, disaffected Finn-American who wanders the country and seeks a wolf in Michigan's backcountry.
- The narrative intentionally collapses chronology to convey inner chaos rather than plot-driven action.
Bitterness Born Before Trauma
- Swanson's core sickness is an ingrained, pre-existing bitterness and apathy toward others rather than a single traumatic cause.
- Rinella recognizes the feeling from his own upbringing among disgruntled rural peers.
