Staff Book and Media Recommendations

The Secret Knowledge of Water: Discovering the Essence of the American Desert

by Craig Childs

Let me begin by stating I don’t care for the desert.  I don’t care to be hot, it makes me grouchy.  I also have a real thing for trees, dark green leafy trees and lots of them.  Give me a lush forest any day.  Add to this the fact that the animals which usually preside in the desert always seem to be the scaly, creepy variety and I’m out. 

Perhaps to challenge my own perspective, for this book review I chose a book by my spouse’s favorite author, Craig Childs, entitled The Secret Knowledge of Water. 

What I found was insight from a man with a deep, abiding love for the desert; not unlike my husband.  Somehow Childs creates a text which is informative, scholarly and poetically thought-provoking.  His vast knowledge of the land combined with sources which include archeologists, ecologists, ranchers, geologists, Native American legends, tales of backpackers and a 300-year-old desert map meld perfectly allowing the reader to enter a true adventure the likes of which we are not likely to experience ourselves.  Since finishing this title I have journeyed on with Craig Childs to read his Soul of Nowhere , which I must also highly recommend.  I have walked away from these books with a new appreciation for the beauty and the mystery of our nation’s desert terrain. ~ Lori Wylie

Reviewed November 2012