Books & Reading
Southwest Books of the Year
Richard D. Quartaroli's Picks
Richard D. Quartaroli, the special collections librarian in the Northern Arizona University Cline Library, has been a Grand Canyon boatman for almost 30 years. He is a past president of Grand Canyon River Guides. He is a former research librarian at Glen Canyon Environmental Studies.
American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, September 1857
Sally Denton. Alfred Knopf. 306pp. $26.95.
Although a book about the Mountain Meadows Massacre, Blood of the Prophets by Will Bagley, made last year's list, Denton's is by no means redundant. Where some might find the former daunting, they will discover the latter entirely accessible. A well-written, easily readable version, it is still not easy to understand the justification for the disturbing events that took place at Mountain Meadows. An excellent companion piece, Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith, leads to the "extremes of religious belief within our own borders." Try intermingling the reading of both books for an interesting juxtaposition of related times and events.
Arizona's War Town: Flagstaff, Navajo Ordnance Depot, and World War II
John S. Westerlund. University of Arizona Press. 280pp. $39.95.
Westerlund wrote several Journal of Arizona History articles and his dissertation on the Navajo Ordnance Depot. However, here he expands those into much more than just a re-hash by documenting how "this linchpin in the war effort marked a turning point in Flagstaff's history, bringing considerable social, cultural, and economic change to the region." Northern Arizona readers, in particular, will find this helpful in understanding the evolution of "modern-day" Flagstaff.
Blanket Weaving in the Southwest
Joe Ben Wheat, edited by Ann Lane Hedlund. University of Arizona Press. 440pp. $75.
Reviewed by another panelist.
The Changing Mile Revisited: An Ecological Study of Vegetation Change With Time in the Lower Mile of an Arid and Semi-Arid Region
Raymond M. Turner, Robert H. Webb, Janice E. Bowers, James Rodney Hastings. University of Arizona Press. 334pp. $75.
Reviewed by another panelist.
Ecological Restoration of Southwestern Ponderosa Pine Forests
Peter Friederici, foreword by Gary Paul Nabhan. Island Press. 561pp. $30.
Perhaps too specialized for general recommendation, this book will be required reading for anyone attempting to decipher the alternatives concerning management of our local ponderosa pine forests. The so-called "Flagstaff Model" is a possible "template for cooperative restoration efforts elsewhere"; the Greater Flagstaff Forests Partnership is this area's collaborative effort. Some of the contributors are associated with the Ecological Restoration Institute at Northern Arizona University, which conducts federally funded projects regarding restoration. Even though one of the reviewers was Kieran Suckling, Executive Director of the Center for Biological Diversity, readers should also consult other sources and organizations regarding this highly controversial topic. Twenty-four detailed chapters in four parts and an extensive reference list make this a must-have work for those living in the drought-ridden Southwest.
Every Rapid Speaks Plainly: The Salmon, Green and Colorado River Journals of Buzz Holmstrom, Including the 1938 Accounts of Amos Burg, Philip Lundstrom and Willis Johnson
Brad Dimock (editor). Fretwater Press. 252pp. $15.95.
Dimock previously co-authored a biography of legendary boatman Buzz Holmstrom, primarily known for being the first solo Grand Canyon river runner. Here, with introductory material, Dimock transcribes the river journals of Buzz and his boating buddies. Buzz's skills as a boat builder and boatman are becoming increasingly well-known, "[b]ut it is his soul, his vision, his sensitivity all expressed in his writings that draws Holmstrom into our hearts." This should put to rest the criticism of some river historians that Buzz couldn't write and that his poet mother "improved" his work with heavy editing.
The Mountains Know Arizona: Images of the Land and Stories of Its People
Rose Houk, photographs by Michael Collier. Arizona Highways Books. 272pp. $39.95.
About ten years ago, Rose Houk and Michael Collier combined talents to produce books about the Great Smoky Mountains and White Sands National Monument. Traveling 30,000 miles over two years, their collaborative focus this time is ten Arizona ranges, some of the geography and geology of the high areas of the state. Collier's photographs, including a few of his classic aerials that the editor allowed, either make you want to travel to their location or else serve as a fine substitute for not being able to. But it's not just the physical and biological aspects portrayed, for Houk's evocative narration takes you on their journey yet allows your imagination to tag along.
The Parrot Trainer
Swain Wolfe. St. Martin's Press. 288pp. $24.95.
Reviewed by another panelist.
Talking Birds, Plumed Serpents and Painted Women: The Ceramics of Casas Grandes
Joanne Stuhr (editor). Tucson Museum of Art; distributed by the University of Arizona Press. 90pp. $35.
A binlingual catalog for a recent exhibition at the Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block, Talking Birds is a fantastic introduction for me to the magnificent ceramics of the Casas Grandes culture of Chihuahua, Mexico. The imaginative, creative, and humorous qualities of almost all of the exhibitions, approximately one hundred examples from private and public collections in the United States, have me in awe of their artistic ability. While some of the accompanying scholarly essays provide repetitious information and could use some sharper proofreading, the Van Pools' "Dichotomy and Duality: The Structure of the Casas Grandes Art" is superb.
Tamales 101: A Beginner's Guide to Traditional Tamales
Alice Guadalupe Tapp. Ten Speed Press. 190pp. $19.95.
What is the Southwest without its distinctive food? And tamales are among the most recognizable culinary delights of what we call Latin America, regardless of their regional name variations, wrappings, and ingredients. Tapp supplies helpful tips to ease the transition from beginner to practitioner, but, in addition to being a cook, I am also a reader of cookbooks and I enjoyed the tamales history as well as the recipes. Additionally, the family owns a restaurant serving many types of tamales; so, when I'm in the Los Angeles area, I'll make it a point to sample the expert's.