Product Description

Nobody writes about nature and the American landscape the way Craig Childs does. Answering the call of the fiercest of terrains, he opens up to us sites that we would otherwise never visit and, through his uncanny powers of description, makes us feel that we have experienced the very essence of these places. The death-defying and life-affirming journeys that Childs records in SOUL OF NOWHERE make up an exhilarating exploration of his own (and our collective) attraction to remote and forbidding landscapes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59440 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

From Booklist
From the labyrinthine slot canyons of Utah to the deserted island beaches in the Sea of Cortes, the arid lands of the Southwest speak to the acclaimed naturalist Childs. Possessing an extraordinary sense of harmony with these forbidding landscapes, Childs translates their primal voices into a taut and unsentimental narrative of exploration. Step by arduous step, readers follow Childs into the desert's severe mysteries, penetrating deep into regions once home to the cliff dwellers of Salado pre-history and the giants of Seri legend. His intrepid fellow adventurers--a maverick mathematician, a traumatized social worker, a pagan mechanic--mirror Craig's own fierce ardor for stark beauty and fearful silence. Like the ancient ones who inscribed the cliffs with enigmatic spirals, these modern invaders of the dry wilderness probe insatiably into its hidden secrets, fighting their way up sheer cliffs, enduring the unexpected snowstorm, crawling through treacherous mazes. But ultimately all merely human strivings yield to the stark monoliths, the startling waterfalls, and the bleak crevices of a timeless land that embraces and then overshadows all who fall under its spell. Bryce Christensen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
Superb...meriting shelf space alongside the best of Edward Abbey, Mary Austin, and Frank Waters. -- Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 2002

About the Author
Craig Childs--naturalist, adventurer, desert ecologist, and freqent contributor to National Public Radio's Morning Edition--lives in Crawford, Colorado. His previous books include The Secret Knowledge of Water and Crossing Paths.

Customer Reviews

I couldn't believe I didn't love this book
Craig Childs' writng is lyrical, personal, dramatic. He lives a life I wish I'd known I wanted to live when I was able to do so. Every one of his books is in my library. Last year I gave at least a half-dozen copies of 'The Secret Knowledge of Water' to friends and family. I look forward with keen anticipation to vicariously participating in his next set of adventures.

So what happened this time? Craig finds and reveals to his readers what it is that he searches for out there in the desert wilderness. Maybe I didn't like so much introspection. I know more about his friends and their private lives than I want to know. And (I don't want to sound prudish...everything has its place) I really don't want to know the color of his wife Regan Choi's various body parts.

That said, I must also say that I think it would be impossible to read anything by this author that does not inspire and impress. He is a gifted, very gifted, writer. And he is a crazy-man explorer of the wild places that are left in this world.

a great book about the desert southwest
I heard about this book on NPR and living in the area decided to read it. I have read several books about this area and the desert, in general and this is one of the best. Up there with Edward Abbey's books, but nowhere near as acidic. I have not yet read Child's other books, but he gives a great insight into the vastness of this area, both phyiscally and mentally. From someone who came to this area from back east, I recommend this book to anyone who would wonder why people would want to come to this area to live and work.

Fascinating, Absorbing, Well Written
I read a lot of outdoor books, and I have to say this is one of the best that I have read in ages. Craig Childs lives, breaths, eats "wild." He writes with a clarity that makes me feel like I am alongside him -- and with a passion that is contagious. I am already planning a trip to visit some of the places he writes about. In the meantime, I'll nurse my desires by trying some of his other books.