Southwest Books of the Year
Steven Phillips's Picks
Steven Phillips, editor for Western National Parks Association, is the former publications manager at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. He continues to produce publications for the Desert Museum and other clients as an independent contractor.
Bats of the Rocky Mountain West
by Rick A. Adams. University Press of Colorado.
Bats are one of our planet's most highly evolved mammals. These gentle, attractive, exceptionally clean animals also play an important role in the health and stability of many ecosystems. Unfortunately, many species of bats are critically endangered, which inspired Adams to write this book. Intended for the layperson and the specialist, Bats of the Rocky Mountain West is both thorough and accessible. The 31 species accounts are accompanied by maps and color photographs. Curious about the fine points of bat echolocation, or how bats can hang upside down for months with no ill effects (humans would die within eight hours!), or what makes them nature's premier aerial acrobats? The answers are all here. By far, my favorite natural history book of the year!
The Beast in the Garden: A Modern Parable of Man and Nature
by David Baron. W. W. Norton.
This extraordinary book follows the events leading to the killing of a Boulder, Colorado high school student by one of North America's most elusive and powerful predators, the mountain lion. Boulder, much like Tucson, Sedona, and many other southwestern towns, has encroached upon and altered nature, leading to, among other things, a marked increase in human-cougar encounters. This changing relationship between man and nature, as this book so chillingly demonstrates, requires an adjustment in our cultural attitudes. As Boulder learned all too well, the hand of man has changed nature to such an extent that we can no longer afford to be passive observers; rather, "we must manage nature in order to leave it alone." As riveting as it is cogent, this book is one you'll find hard to put down and impossible to forget.
Beloved Land: An Oral History of Mexican Americans in Southern Arizona
collected and edited by Patricia Preciado Martin, with photographs by José Galvez. The University of Arizona Press.
Respected Tucson oral historian Patricia Preciado Martin has teamed up with Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer José Galvez to document through interviews and pictures the struggles, hardships and triumphs of 10 pioneering Latino families in Southern Arizona. "This hard, self-reliant way of life is nearly gone north of the international border," writes historian Tom Sheridan in the foreword, "and the end of this way of life is a profound loss." Beloved Land is therefore both a love story and a eulogy: a triumphant tale of hardy Mexican American farmers and ranchers committed to a harsh, unforgiving land and a sad goodbye of a way of life that has given way to the unrelenting pressure of Anglo ranchers and developers. We owe a great debt of gratitude to Martin for keeping the memories alive.
Hard Line: Life and Death on the U.S. - Mexico Border
by Ken Ellingwood. Pantheon.
Hard Line explores the people and policies, the anger and frustration, the danger and injustice, but most of all the painful reality found along the U.S. - Mexico border. "The border has always been a site of conflict and of contradictory meanings," writes the author. "It is at once an exit and entrance, the porous membrane between two cultures, a gateway and a wall." Why hasn't the U.S. government been more effective in stemming the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States? Is it even possible or desirable to do so? Who are the real victims: border crossers, border residents, displaced American workers? As Ellingwood so convincingly chronicles, the answers to these questions are both complex and illusive. This is a sobering book but one that deserves attention.
In Search of Chaco: New Approaches to an Archaeological Enigma
edited by David Grant Noble. SAR Press.
For anyone interested in the prehistoric cultures of United States, few sites can compare to Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Many visitors leave this amazing place with a head full of questions: What was the purpose of the "great houses"? How did Chacoans use sacred geography and astronomy in organizing their spiritual cosmology? Why did they select this barren, isolated canyon as the center of their world? Why did they leave the canyon after 600 years of occupation? This attractive and eminently readable book collects the knowledge of many noted Chaco scholars, including representatives from three Native American groups, to review current research and interpretations of the "Chaco Phenomenon." A great read for any Chaco enthusiast.
Indian Country: Travels in the American Southwest, 1840-1935
by Martin Padget. University of New Mexico Press.
This book was both less and much more than I expected. With a title of Indian Country, I expected a collection of colorful accounts of the lives and traditions of southwestern Indians prior to 1935. What I found was a very thought-provoking examination of how explorers such as John Wesley Powell, writers such as Charles F. Lummis and Helen Hunt Jackson, and artists such as Elbridge Ayer Burbank, played a significant role in shaping the public's perception of this distinctive region of the country, and how their often distorted, Eurocentric views, along with the influx of Anglos, forever changed, even molded, the lives of Indians. After reading this book one can better comprehend why Anglo Americans have such a sad history of misunderstanding, maligning and manipulating the indigenous peoples of the Southwest.
Mimbres Archaeology at the NAN Ranch Ruin
by Harry J. Shafer. University of New Mexico Press.
Prehistoric southwestern cultures are known for their architectural achievements: Pueblo Bonito and Aztec of the Chaco Anasazi, the platform mounds, irrigation canals, and great houses of the Classic Hohokam. For the ancient Mimbreños, however, it was their painted pottery that set them apart from the other ancient cultures of the Southwest. This book reports on the NAN Ranch Ruin archaeological excavations, the only extensive scientific investigation of a large Mimbres pueblo since the 1920s. For those with a serious interest in southwestern archaeology, this book is a must-read. In a succinct, no-nonsense manner, it explores the social and ideological contexts that nurtured the development of this fascinating prehistoric tradition.
Roadside New Mexico: A Guide to Historic Markers
by David Pike. University of New Mexico Press.
Who hasn't driven by a roadside marker and thought up some lame excuse for not stopping? Or, even worse, tried to read the marker while whizzing down the Interstate at 75 miles per hour? Well, no more excuses needed – at least in New Mexico. Roadside New Mexico provides the location, marker text, and additional information for hundreds of New Mexico's roadside markers. The markers, and therefore the book, describe the historical events, the people, and the geological features that make New Mexico, well New Mexico. The book would be a nice addition to your car library as you travel through the state, but it's also a lot of fun to just thumb through. It might even give you some interesting trip ideas!
Waterborne: A Novel
by Bruce Murkoff. Knopf.
This superbly written, ambitious book follows the lives of three tortured souls: Filius Poe, an engineer from a privileged background trying to escape a profound personal tragedy, Lena McCardell, a young woman shaken to the core when her husband's secret life is revealed, and Lew Beck, a vindictive roughneck who leaves a trail of misery in his endless quest for self-acceptance. The story culminates in the Nevada desert in the 1930s during the construction of the Hoover Dam. It is in this harsh but beautiful landscape that the paths of all three characters converge. What emerges is an epic tale of transformation and redemption, of humankind's quest to conquer nature, and tame the beasts that ravage the soul.