WILD TO THE HEART <i> by Rick Bass (W. W. Norton: $7.95, illustrated) </i>

Unlike his short stories, which flounder through their oppressively Southern settings, Rick Bass’ essays are crisp, neatly structured and highly entertaining. His first- person accounts of camping, fishing and canoeing capture the lure of the wilderness and the camaraderie of the people who love it. Bass’ spare prose has a studied artlessness reminiscent of Japanese brush painting. The description of the summer afternoon in “Fish Fry,” when the most important decision the author faces is whether to take off his tennis shoes and socks, captivates the reader with its casual intimacy--while concealing the effort needed to achieve that easy informality.

Bass insists that he prefers the rugged Utah mountains he explored as a youth to the flat, wet Mississippi landscape of his current home, but his love for all of nature is so infectious that people who regard staying in a hotel as “roughing it” may find themselves daydreaming about tents in pine forests after they finish this delightful book.