Soul of Nowhere: Traversing Grace in a Rugged Land [Hardcover]

Craig Childs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 29, 2002

In Soul of Nowhere, Craig Childs answers the call of fierce places; the more desolate the landscape, the more passionately he is drawn to it. Childs tracks a broad territory: the Sierra Madre Mountains, the canyons of Utah, the White Mountain Apache Reservation, a deserted island in the Sea of Cortez. In his extraordinary nomadic treks, the author finds the land animated and himself enlivened. Childs’s obvious love for seemingly inhospitable places redeems them for armchair travelers and outdoor adventurers alike. Black-and-white photographs and pen-and-ink drawings by the author are included. “Childs is a poet at heart.” — San Francisco Chronicle

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

From the labyrinthine slot canyons of Utah to the deserted island beaches in the Sea of Cortes, the arid lands of the Southwest speak to the acclaimed naturalist Childs. Possessing an extraordinary sense of harmony with these forbidding landscapes, Childs translates their primal voices into a taut and unsentimental narrative of exploration. Step by arduous step, readers follow Childs into the desert's severe mysteries, penetrating deep into regions once home to the cliff dwellers of Salado pre-history and the giants of Seri legend. His intrepid fellow adventurers--a maverick mathematician, a traumatized social worker, a pagan mechanic--mirror Craig's own fierce ardor for stark beauty and fearful silence. Like the ancient ones who inscribed the cliffs with enigmatic spirals, these modern invaders of the dry wilderness probe insatiably into its hidden secrets, fighting their way up sheer cliffs, enduring the unexpected snowstorm, crawling through treacherous mazes. But ultimately all merely human strivings yield to the stark monoliths, the startling waterfalls, and the bleak crevices of a timeless land that embraces and then overshadows all who fall under its spell. Bryce Christensen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Superb...meriting shelf space alongside the best of Edward Abbey, Mary Austin, and Frank Waters. -- Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 2002

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Sasquatch Books (August 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570613060
• ISBN-13: 978-1570613067
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #392,343 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't believe I didn't love this book, February 3, 2003

By 

desert woman (Sierra Vista, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soul of Nowhere: Traversing Grace in a Rugged Land (Hardcover)

Craig Childs' writng is lyrical, personal, dramatic. He lives a life I wish I'd known I wanted to live when I was able to do so. Every one of his books is in my library. Last year I gave at least a half-dozen copies of 'The Secret Knowledge of Water' to friends and family. I look forward with keen anticipation to vicariously participating in his next set of adventures.

So what happened this time? Craig finds and reveals to his readers what it is that he searches for out there in the desert wilderness. Maybe I didn't like so much introspection. I know more about his friends and their private lives than I want to know. And (I don't want to sound prudish...everything has its place) I really don't want to know the color of his wife Regan Choi's various body parts.

That said, I must also say that I think it would be impossible to read anything by this author that does not inspire and impress. He is a gifted, very gifted, writer. And he is a crazy-man explorer of the wild places that are left in this world.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great book about the desert southwest, February 14, 2003

By 

Padraic Gallagher (Kauai, Hawaii) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Soul of Nowhere: Traversing Grace in a Rugged Land (Hardcover)

I heard about this book on NPR and living in the area decided to read it. I have read several books about this area and the desert, in general and this is one of the best. Up there with Edward Abbey's books, but nowhere near as acidic. I have not yet read Child's other books, but he gives a great insight into the vastness of this area, both phyiscally and mentally. From someone who came to this area from back east, I recommend this book to anyone who would wonder why people would want to come to this area to live and work.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, Absorbing, Well Written, April 7, 2003

By 

P. Bergh (NH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Soul of Nowhere: Traversing Grace in a Rugged Land (Hardcover)

I read a lot of outdoor books, and I have to say this is one of the best that I have read in ages. Craig Childs lives, breaths, eats "wild." He writes with a clarity that makes me feel like I am alongside him -- and with a passion that is contagious. I am already planning a trip to visit some of the places he writes about. In the meantime, I'll nurse my desires by trying some of his other books.