New Mexico Books

The area of Mexico covered by Mr. Burton's book is filled with historical, cultural and geographical/geological riches. The problem for me as a resident of this area has been where to find them, and where to learn about them, once you have heard about them. This book has been a god-send as it has allowed us to learn and explore our "neighbourhood" with confidence and always rewarding experiences. If you are interested in more than beach, babes, and beer, then this is a wonderful book to use, or just to read, learn and dream. It is truly a "Mexico" book.

British born Tony Burton is a long time resident of Mexico and an award winning travel writer and naturalist. He has collected and updated the best of his writings over the years into a what is a unique guidebook to western Mexico. Based on his frequent travels and intimate knowledge of the region, Tony offers his special insights into this scenic and culturally rich area of lakes and mountains, colonial towns and Indian villages. From San Blas on the Pacific coast to the celebrated Monarch butterfly refuge in the high Sierra of Michoacan, the author takes us to all of his favorite places along the less traveled roads of the region, revealing their history, ecology and archaeology, as well as their arts, crafts and folklore. I found the book to be especially valuable for his keen observations on, and enthusiasm for the varied natural wonders of western Mexico. Charmingly illustrated by artist Mark Eager, Tony's guide is easy on the eye, It is well organized, packed with suggestions for the traveler, with suggested itineraries and detailed maps. A full bibliography and index is also appended.

Perhaps, as the previous reviewer stated, Witter Bynner was a minor poet. But, when one realizes all of the people with whom he came in contact and influenced in one way or another (as an editor at Macleans he was the first to publish Ezra Pound for example) one soon realizes he was one of the 'powers behind the throne' of American 20th Century poetry. The story of Robert Frost's encounters with Bynner alone make one realize Bynner's impact. Just knowing that Robert Frost had memorized Bynner's poems makes one realize the influence he must have had.

And how could we forget "Spectra"?

A must read for any student of 20th century American Literature.

Here are some answers I gleaned from this book:
1. A minor poet who enjoyed some popularity earlier in this century.
2. A translator who, without expert mastery of languages, managed to convey admirably the spirit of the original text.
3. Homosexual in an era when (even in a hang-loose town like Santa Fe) he had to be discreet and even secretive about it.
4. A devoted partner.
5. A loving son.
6. A pillar of the literary and artistic community.
7. A dear and cherished friend to many.
This is a well-researched and well-written biography of someone who I think was far more interesting as a man than a poet -- although there are those who swear that his translation of Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching" is the best one ever -- and I found it thoroughly enjoyable. Kraft delineates not only Bynner's life but the various environments in which he lived and worked, so it's an interesting social history as well as a biography. A small caution: the selections from Bynner's poetry that Kraft quotes are probably the best of the lot. If you read this biography and the anthology "The Best of Witter Bynner" (edited by Kraft), you've seen all the good stuff; don't knock yourself out trying to find copies of the rest. (I did -- although fortunately that's not hard in this town! -- and it really wasn't worth the effort.)

Richard Maurer's new book chronicles Powell's second expedition through the eyes, words, and illustrations of Fred Dellenbaugh - a 17-year-old boy from Buffalo, NY who, along with some rowing experience on the turbulent Niagara River and a facility for drawing, had the gumption to make his dream come true. This story is very well written and quite compelling and will appeal to those who love adventure stories set in the Old West. The photographs and illustrations are remarkable. My hats off to the author!

I read Dellenbaugh's reprinted "Canyon Voyage" (the much abbreviated title) as a young man in the flatlands of western Kansas in the 1960's. The romance of the period of Dellenbaugh's youth, and the Powell Expeditions in particular (1869-72), stimulated in me an ongoing interest in the history of the region. I have read the edited and published diaries of most of the participants of the two expeditions, and continue to invest in an array of scholarly and coffee table books that even remotely address the subject. My annual crossings of the Colorado and Dirty Devil rivers to pursue research interests in southeastern Utah never fail to regenerate my own wish to have participated in such an epic adventure. Thus, when I saw the notice of publication of Maurer's book about Dellenbaugh on the second Powell expedition, with the expression in the title "the true adventures," I was expecting something on the order of D.D. Fowler's book about Jack Hiller's, another expedition participant. That is, a pretty serious biography of the man and a pretty faithful reproduction of the daily diary kept during his time in the field. Well, it might be the former, but it is certainly not the latter. Unlike the other expeditioners who kept diaries, Dellenbaugh's original diary has never been published. Perhaps this is because his 1908 "Canyon Voyage" was a timeline-based (albeit compressed) narrative and researchers may have believed there was nothing more of value in the original diary. While Maurer read the diaries of all the participants, including Dellenbaugh's, as well as Dellenbaugh's "Canyon Voyage" and the earlier "Romance of the Colorado River," Maurer's timeline is even more compressed than Dellenbaugh's. Consequently the book lacks the rich detail of Dellenbaugh's diary and earlier publications. For example, unlike the present book, the consecutive daily diary entries of "Looked for the Major today but of course he did not come; carried the rations over," "Looked for the Major again," and "Still waiting,"conveys a real sense of frustration at being in the same camp, on the bank of the Colorado, day after day, laying up under a boat to avoid the oppressive August heat, with nothing to do, waiting for the Major and Prof to come in so the party can continue the trip down the river through the Grand Canyon. Maurer acknowledged that in the writing of the book he "sometimes resorted to the methods of historical fiction to flesh out some of the stories" and that "footnotes would be out of place in a book like this." Thus despite having the best possible materials at hand from which to draw, this book was never intended as a scholarly work. In that context, the writing was a success. Maurer did locate some great historical photographs and drawings not published elsewhere, and that alone is an important contribution. More than that, though, the book was a really entertaining read. I can well imagine some person, like me once, never having heard of either Powell or Dellenbaugh, picking up the book and just marveling at what they did. And, interest aroused, they have an avocation.

In the early 1990s the Nature Conservancy purchased the Gray Ranch in the bootheel of New Mexico, the most ecologicially diverse area of the United States. I've always resented that the Conservancy resold the ranch to a private foundation and thus denied public access to a huge (321,000 acres) and spectacular wilderness. This book explains the factors leading to the sale and resale of the Gray Ranch. I now understand the Conservancy's motives -- but I still think the Gray Ranch should have been made accessible, at least on a limited basis, to a public hungry for wide-open spaces.

The owners of the Gray Ranch and a dozen other big ranchers make up the Malpai Borderlands Group in the high, wide, and lonesome country of southwestern New Mexico and adjacent Arizona. The ranchers have put their land in conservation easements to protect it from one of the worst environmental threats to the West: sub-division of big ranches into five acre ranchettes. The Malpai ranchers are also in the forefront of developing new and improved practices of managing rangeland. All in all, they're a damned good bunch of people. I would hope that their dedication to preserving open space would spread, especially to the ranches just across the border in Mexico.

Not mentioned in this book is another huge threat to the environment along the border: the proposed Wall to keep out illegal aliens which will also inhibit the movement of jaguars, ocelots, antelope, deer, and a host of other creatures who need to pass back and forth over the border in search of water and food.

"Working Wilderness" features wonderful photographs -- alas, not all of them labeled -- and an informative text about the Malpai Borderlands and the people who live and work there. There are sections about preserving, endangered species, the use of fire as a management tool, profiles of ranchers and conservationists, and a message that cooperation is possible between cowboys and environmentalists to preserve the greatest asset of the Western United States: open space and room to breathe.

Smallchief

WORKING WILDERNESS: THE MALPAI BORDERLANDS GROUP AND THE FUTURE OF THE WESTERN RANGE may sound so specialized that one would think it limited only to college-level regional holdings - but it's not. The Western range covers the extent of America's western landscape and its history reveals it's one of the most fiercely contested areas in the country when it comes to land management issues. Private lands have lately been changing to residential development, further involving political and social issues conflicts, which are chronicled in WORKING WILDERNESS. Here geography professor Nathan Sayre examines the alliances that have worked to preserve the open range, The Malpai Borderlands Group, and provides an unusual expose of their efforts.

One hallmark of Native American art, a reverence for the earth, is gloriously celebrated in the work of Taos Pueblo artist Pop Chalee, now displayed in a beautiful volume, The World Of Flower Blue.

While it is regrettably true that a score of Native American women artists receive scant attention, Pop Chalee was one of the first to gain national recognition and commercial success. The daughter of a Native American father and Swiss mother, Pop Chalee, who adopted her Tiwa name, Flower Blue, utilized her rich multi cultural heritage to create an enchanted world rooted in ceremonial and daily activities.

It's said that Jackson Pollack, one of the great Abstract Expressionists, may have been influenced by Native American sand paintings, others try to categorize Native American art as expressionism or postmodernism. Chalee's work defies such narrow perimeters, as is seen in her exultant renderings of dancing figures and nature.

A graduate of the noted 1937 class of the Dorothy Dunn Studio at the Santa Fe Indian School, Chalee was trained in what is known as "Traditional Indian Painting," representations of native scenes painted in flat colors with clear outlines. Among the school's goals "was to encourage the study of tribal cultural traditions while allowing for individualism." Chalee was more than an individual, expanding her oeuvre beyond paintings to jewelry, textile designs, and murals.

Chosen by the artist to be her biographer, poet Margaret Cesa has delivered a sympathetic yet candid portrayal, a journey into the world of Native American artists that few visit. In doing so, she, too, helps to smooth the path for those who follow Pop Chalee.

A debt of gratitude is owed to "Flower Blue," who broke down barriers and left the world a rare heritage of magical beauty.

Pop Chalee was a Native American artist trained at the Santa Fe School of Indian Art during the seminal 1930s. Her style was traditional, and consequently her work has been ignored in recent years. This book should restore her reputation. Superb color plates. Winner, Border Regional Library Association's 1998 Southwest Book Award.

I have the original version of this book and I have carried it all over the country and used like a bible for the last ten years. I have gone back to each chapter at random and repeated his exercises time and time again without feeling like I was returning to the same book. Even if you are just journal writing like me this book is a must have and I will be ordering the new version when I am done writing this. I have only found one other book that works just as well in it's powerful simplicity and that is John E. Schwiebert's "Reading and Writing from Literature". Thanks Mr. Murray for the guidance.

Now in a newly revised and expanded edition, Writing About Nature: A Creative Guide by John A. Murray deftly teaches aspiring nature writers diverse exercises and examples with which to hone the communication skills of anyone who has experienced nature and the outdoors and yearns to share what they have seen. Covering a broad range of genres, and conveying a wealth of tips, tricks, techniques, as well as surveying publication issues, and enhanced with a new chapter about nature writing and environmental activism, Writing About Nature is an original, superbly organized and presented resource. Writing About Nature is an excellent skill improvement guide which is a highly recommended addition to any nature writer's instructional reference shelf or reading list.

There are hundreds of books about the southwest. If you can read only one, this is it. If you have any inclination to write you must read this book and listen to the CD.

A terrific book on the meaning of writing & how some writers' go about it. Joy Harjo, Barbara Kingsolver, Edward Abbey, Alberto Rios -- these are writers with depth and some remarkable things to say. Part bio, part political, part inspiration, it's one of those books I've read way more than once.

I actually took classes from Professor Leonard while attending the University of New Mexico. I remember him as a warm and collegial professor who closely observed and cared for those around him. The same man is reflected on the pages of this book, which is filled with vignettes and poems about his experiences as a taxi cab driver. He is a strong writer and a keen observer of humans.

The stories and poems sometimes reflect the portion of Albuquerque that many of us choose to ignore when driving down Central or any of the other major thoroughfares, but the book's underlying theme is optimism. From the prostitute scoring one last fix before heading to rehab who dreams of becoming an accountant to the hopeful country music writer working for a carnival, the characters that inhabit the back of Leonard's cab reflect a very human potential for change. One can tell that some are perhaps lost souls who will never reach their dreams (and perhaps no longer dream). Others we can cheer, and hope that success follows their efforts. Regardless, the poems and stories, which range from humorous to ominously dark, elicited a reaction from me. They made me think and feel, and that is perhaps the greatest compliment I could possibly give any book.

I'm a 20+ year resident of Albuquerque and can recognize the locations Mr. Leonard cites in his book. What I don't recognize are the people, even though they are all around me. This books provides me with a little more understanding of the people and places in Albuquerque that I don't normally see. On top of that, it's a good read!

What a good enjoyable book. This is how archaeologists should try to write most of the times. A book on a little known part of MExico, archaeologically, written in plain english. It provides a great overview of the origins and the rise of Zapotec Civilization until the abandonment of its main site at Monte Alban ca 700 AD. It also provides a refreshing new approach called actin theory, viewing history as determined by the actions of real people, not untangible forces of the environment or society. Classic.

I really, really, really liked this book. If I could have given it 6 stars I probably would have! The authors of Zapotec Civilization have covered the field nicely for this small segment of the perhistoric Middle American world and have set it clearly amidst the other contemporary cultures of the region, most notably that at Teotihuacan. Kent Flannery is one of THE names in the field of Middle American anthropology and archaeology and the quality of the volume shows why. I am less knowledgeable about Ms Marcus, although the vita provided by the book itself suggests an impressive intellectual treasure here as well. I enjoyed the volume enough to keep it to read another time. A rare kudo, believe me.

This is a great book to use as a reference guide to look for and purchase jewelry created by many of the Zuni jewelry artists. Great photographs of a wide selection of jewelry with corresponding artist names. Highly recommended for collectors.

Even though these are obstensibly for the information of collectors, all the Schiffer books that I have ever gotten are magnificent just for the those who wistfully wish they could afford a piece. The reader can't handle the actual pieces, but it's about as close as one will get in a picture. And if one ever does get enough money to buy a piece, one will know what one wants.

This is full of well-done color pictures and packed with a lot of information about the history and contemporary makers. There are other books with gorgeous shots of turquoise and silver, but the reader of this and the Bassman's other books will come away with some real understanding of the different styles, schools, and the cultural milieu of their creation.