The New Desert Reader

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.