House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest [Paperback]

Craig Childs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 3, 2008

In this landmark work on the Anasazi tribes of the Southwest, naturalist Craig Childs dives head on into the mysteries of this vanished people.


The various tribes that made up the Anasazi people converged on Chaco Canyon (New Mexico) during the 11th century to create a civilization hailed as "the Las Vegas of its day," a flourishing cultural center that attracted pilgrims from far and wide, and a vital crossroads of the prehistoric world. By the 13th century, however, Chaco's vibrant community had disappeared without a trace.


Was it drought? Pestilence? War? Forced migration, mass murder or suicide? Conflicting theories have abounded for years, capturing the North American imagination for eons.

Join Craig Childs as he draws on the latest scholarly research, as well as a lifetime of exploration in the forbidden landscapes of the American Southwest, to shed new light on this compelling mystery. He takes us from Chaco Canyon to the highlands of Mesa Verde, to the Mongollon Rim; to a contemporary Zuni community where tribal elders maintain silence about the fate of their Lost Others; and to the largely unexplored foothills of the Sierra Madre in Mexico, where abundant remnants of Anasazi culture lie yet to be uncovered.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Although less well known than the Mayans, the Anasazi, who flourished in the region now known as New Mexico, also vanished without a trace. Now, eight centuries after their thriving, 2,000-year-old civilization disappeared as though it had never existed, naturalist and adventurer Childs undertakes to find out where the Anasazi went and why. But discovering the fate of an entire race of people, 800 years after the fact, is not like tracking down a missing person. Childs' investigation relies heavily on scholarly literature, oral tradition, and lots of reading between the lines of history. There are no definitive answers here, but Childs ask plenty of tantalizing questions. The book is finally not so much about what happened to the Anasazi as it is about our own fascination with lost civilizations. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

'And adventure story, a history, and a cultural analysis all wrapped in exceptional writing.' - Pete Warzel, Rocky Mountain News 'Craig Childs succees in translating a good hunk of Southwestern archaeology while providing us with the kind of inductive visceral experience he does better than any other naturalist.' - Katharine Niles, Denver Post 'Childs excites the imagination and creates a haunting portrait of a people and a way of life that will last long after the reading is finished.' - Clay Reynolds, Dallas Morning News

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Back Bay Books (July 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316067547
• ISBN-13: 978-0316067546
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,230 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Essays
  • #53 in Books > History > Americas > Native American

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tracking the Ghosts of a Lost Civilization in the American Southwest, February 12, 2007

By 

Wildness (Colorado Plateau) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest (Hardcover)

Craig Childs, who has spent a lifetime exploring the hidden corners of the American Southwest for even the faintest signs of water, adventure, and discovery in his previous books such as The Secret Knowledge of Water, Soul of Nowhere, and The Way Out, has turned his keen senses and ever inquisitive spirit in search of the secrets to what happened to the ancient Anasazi (or Ancestral Puebloans) of the region.

Through his reading of scholarly sources and history, seeking out of oral histories and traditions, and hundreds of miles of walking the landscape in search of clues, Craig Childs has turned his considerable talents for reading the landscape and turning his observations into wonderful prose towards the mystery of what happened to the Anasazi of 800 to 1000 years ago. He has canvassed the region, including Northern Mexico, to find out how this ancient civilization converged on places like Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde, where its culture thrived and flourished. And why these hubs of civilization dried up and its people seemingly scattered into the wind.

House of Rain isn't about finding definitive answers to the questions concerning these ancient peoples - the details we may never know; instead, this book is about the discovery and exploration of the mysteries of those who came before us on this land. We seek out these ancient civilizations because we hope, no we believe that through the journey of discovery we will find a piece of ourselves...and then maybe the answers we hope will help us in our future.

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A Guide to my Book Rating System:

1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Work, April 14, 2007

By 

Abbeyphile (Earth) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest (Hardcover)

This is one of the best books written on the native peoples of the Southwest. Childs uses his travels, his inquisitiveness and imagination to write a plausable history of the Anasazi... tracing their exodus from Chaco and the Colorado Plateau south into Mexico. An academic could never leap to the conclusions that Childs postulates, however most archeological papers don't touch the soul. Child's book does. He brings the Anasazi back to life and paints their culture with a colorful brush. I'll never look at an Anasazi ruin in the same way again.

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What Happened to the Anasazi?, March 4, 2007

By 

Wantz Upon A Time Reviews (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest (Hardcover)

The fate of the "Anasazi" people is one of the Southwest's greatest mysteries. Scholars continue to debate what happened to wipe this culture from existence. Archaeological evidence points to a highly intelligent people who accomplished many great things over several centuries. So where did they go?

In HOUSE OF RAIN: TRACKING A VANISHED CIVILIZATION ACROSS THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST, Craig Childs chronicles his studies of the lost Anasazi through exploration of ruins and pottery finds.

While this may sound dry at first glance, Childs succeeds at assembling his research and adventures into readable form. Part narrative and part scholarly writing, HOUSE OF RAIN is informative without being dull, which opens it to not only students in the field, but also to people genuinely interested in history and archaeology.

Although Childs's style in engaging, the constant transitions between stories of his on-site explorations and the offering of hard fact can be confusing. Childs frequently skips between memories of various digs, walking journeys, and times when he's been allowed access to artifacts and secluded sites. It's hard to keep track of where and when he's talking about when he skips around in this manner.

Aside from the mild confusion occasionally elicited by the scattered narrative, HOUSE OF RAIN has a great deal to offer history buffs. Readers' eyes will be opened by Childs's observations and depth of knowledge. There are no set answers, but he offers salient points that may go a long way to suggesting what really happened to the mysterious Anasazi.

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
03/04/2007