In this important book -- part memoir and part lament for the wild -- Robert Hilles investigates what we mean by the word "wild" in a world where it is a rapidly depleting commodity. Drawing extensively from his northern Ontario childhood, Calling the Wild is about a time when it was still possible to believe the wilderness mattered. Northern Ontario is game country and for over century has been a magnet to hunting and fishing enthusiasts. Through the memories of his parents and friends Hilles takes us back to the time when fish and game were plentiful and when SUVs didn't hunt the backcountry. He also focuses on his family's experiences living with the wilderness still very present.

Calling the Wild also laments a way of life this new century knows less and less about. In so doing Hilles articulates our longing for the wild and our need to call it back into our lives before it is too late.