Southwest Books

A society under stress must change or be destroyed. A pre-columbian Native American village in the Southwest has endured many years of drought and has reached its breaking point. Will the external forces of nature or the internal strife of the people be the hammer that shatters the village? This question is explored through the eyes of a boy, named Salt in the language of his people. Salt survives the machinations of a powerful member of his tribe, then begins a quest to find salvation for his people. Ostensibly a novel for young adults, Runner in the Sun presents a complex metaphor to explore the forces of societal change within a familiar hero-quest plot. The story seems simple but has rich soil in which anthropological and linguistic fruit may grow. Even the boy's name, Salt, carries metaphorical depth. As the village's water evaporates in drought, what is left is the people's true essence--the minerals the water carried. D'Arcy McNickle's lifelong focus on the shape of Indian society and its relationship to its surrounding world are expressed in the mythic context of Runner in the Sun (which is also a plain good read, too).

I love this book!! It is funny and teaches me more than the Eyewitness Tudor book did!! I also like the sequel, Even more terrible tudors!!!

They say that every Texan has two hometowns: his own and San Antonio. My father brought his family to San Antonio in 1955, and at sixteen I found a true home there. I am the eldest child, so I never stayed in San Antonio for very long, but I would keep coming back to S.A. This book is food for the heart of the exile. Every photograph is enough to make one sigh for the city that Will Rogers said "has something no Chamber of Commerce can destroy." O. Henry said, "Owlish, polyglot San Antonio." I love this book and I love that city.

"The cranes called to me one windy autumn night. I lay on the couch, absorbed in a novel when a distant sound--compelling, familiar--propelled me upright to listen. There it was again, faint but unmistakable: 'khrrrrr, khrrrrr,' the throaty cry of sandhill cranes."

In "The San Luis Valley: Sand Dunes and Sandhill Cranes," as in her earlier books, Tweit is a poet. Her opening paragraph, quoted above, compels the reader to listen and read on. Luminous reflective passages occur throughout the book, passages in which Tweit explores such subjects as the meaning of "home" (25) or where our "profound and courageous" visions may come from (43).

These exquisitely wrought personal responses to some of the mysteries we share with our fellow creatures, as well as with one another, are woven into beautiful descriptions of the birds and the landscapes they inhabit, along with a lively and detailed history of the San Luis Valley--a stunning tapestry.

This item has unique pictures of the San Simon Valley and of the town of San Simon, AZ. The pictures were taken by Ten Broeck Williamson during the 1930s as part of a federal governmental survey of economic conditions in the valley. The funding for the study was provided by the SCS and a copy was forwarded to Director William Bennett's office in Washington DC. The purpose of the photographic images was to provide a human face to the economic plight of the region as represented by the overall economic depression of the 1930s. The study may have been partly funded by WPA. Ten Broeck also wrote a report to accompany this study. Both can be viewed at the University of Arizona Special collections Library.

Kelly Altenhofen
The University of Arizona Office of Arid Lands Studies

I found this book in the small gift shop attached to the New Camoldolese Hermitage high above the town of Lucia on California's Big Sur Coast. For those looking for a place to retreat from the interruptions of everyday life, a monastery, hermitage, abbey, retreat center or sanctuary can?t be beat. Whether you're seeking a quiet place to finish The Great American Novel or a place to find spiritual renewal, you'll surely find many good suggestions in this book. More than 200 centers are listed within Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington, including location, history, prices, accommodations, and spiritual activities.

A great story about settling in Woodward County, Oklahoma. Mrs. Laune is a wonderful storyteller, I felt as if I were there too!

Writers have come to Santa Fe for decades en masse, for well over a century in a handful of cases, and for many hundreds of years if you include the fragments of myths and history hinted at through rock-pecked petroglyphs.

It was not until 1916, however, that enough writers began moving to Santa Fe that people began to refer to them all as a writers' colony. It was in 1916 that poet Alice Corbin Henderson first moved to the city, desperately hoping that New Mexico's desert climate would help to dry the tuberculosis from her lungs. As Corbin Henderson recovered, she began inviting her friends to come to visit her from other states. Many of these friends were poets and writers, and many found themselves strongly influenced by the worlds of the Western desert, the exotic mix of cultures, and the ancient past that Santa Fe had suddenly shown to them. Years went by, a spirited rivalry with the writers of Taos evolved, and writers continued to discover Santa Fe for themselves.

Some stayed for years, such as Mary Austin, author of the classic 1903 "Land of Little Rain"; and poet Witter Bynner, a man perhaps less well-known today for such books as "An Ode to Harvard and Other Poems," than for being openly homosexual in the 1920s, and for pouring a glass of beer over the head of visiting poet Robert Frost, in 1935.

Others, such as Willa Cather---who found in Santa Fe the inspiration and setting for her controversial classic, Death Comes for the Archbishop--stayed merely long enough to get an idea, get motivated, or be inspired.

Marta Weigle--a Santa Fe writer herself--is undoubtedly one of New Mexico's best historical writers, and this is one of my favorite books of hers. It's co-written with Kyle Fiore. The book details the dramatic histories of both the Santa Fe and Taos writers' colonies, and does so clearly and entertainingly, drawing effectively from the authors' rich knowlegdge of New Mexico history in general. It's full of terrific photographs, and well worth whatever you pay for it.

Highly recommended, and an excellent companion to Lynn Cline's "Literary Pilgrims," and Barbara Harrelson's "Walks in Literary Santa Fe."

As a native and life-long resident of Santa Fe, I was impressed by Andrew Leo Lovato's ability to capture the history and cultural minutiae of New Mexico so succintly and smoothly. For the informed Hispanic or New Mexican native, "Santa Fe Hispanic Culture: Preserving Identity in a Tourist Town" is essential. The book, a quick but dense read, is a worthwhile experience for anyone interested in the dynamic and controversial history facing today's Hispanos, Anglos and Native Americans. Lovato is one of New Mexico's prized cultural literati and his debut is informative, smoothly written and highly recommended.

I recommend this book as not only very readable but also I found the content to be what I was looking for: facts concerning this time period. They were entertaining as well as a learning curve for me. I love finding out new facts about a subject I thought I knew a great deal about.