The New Desert Reader (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780874808711)

The New Desert Reader brings together a historical cross section of writing about the American Southwest in selections that demonstrate how thinking about American deserts has changed from the earliest times to the present day. Beginning with the centuries-old legends of the Tohono O'Odham Indians, it moves through the foresighted observations of John Wesley Powell, one-armed explorer of the Grand Canyon; continues with the delicate appreciations of Mary Austin and Joseph Wood Krutch; includes examples of the keen activist writings of Wallace Stegner and Edward Abbey; and finishes with such contemporary desert writers as Tony Hillerman and others.
A slow change in outlook dominates the book, as attitudes shift from viewing the desert as a place to be despised or exploited to an appreciation of it as a special place, an arena of highly complex natural communities, and a wild refuge for the human body and soul. Comprehensive and brightly informative, The New Desert Reader will be invaluable to anyone interested in the history, literature, and beauty of North America's treasured desert places.

Author: Peter Wild
ISBN-10: 0874808715
ISBN-13: 9780874808711
Publisher: University of Utah Press
Language: English
Published: 05/05/2006
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 8.92h x 6.46w x 0.87d

Review Citation(s):
Reference and Research Bk News 08/01/2006 pg. 89