An Award-Winning Naturalist Explores the Four Great Deserts of the Southwest
by Ann Haymond Zwinger
Naturalist writing at the best--slow and deep, patient and prickly. She wanders about in what seems like an aimless, endless digression on the plants and things she encounters, but always managing to tell something worth knowing about the objects encountered. Not everything--where's the mystery in that?--but always something. And something interesting.
I think the book would be best enjoyed if you were yourself exploring the deserts she walks. And in small chunks. The chapters are short, so one of them or a half of one would be ideal. I tried to read it offline, in the silence of my home far away, and I often found myself losing track of what I was reading; getting distracted, setting it down and not wanting to pick it back up.
But this is a fault of my concentration, not the writing--which is pure poetry--or the adventures she explores. Most are very, very small, almost at a microscopic level. but still so very intriguing.
No comments:
Post a Comment