Talking to the Ground: One Family's Journey on Horseback Across the Sacred Land of the Navajo [Paperback]

Douglas Preston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1996

In 1992 Doug Preston and his family rode horseback across 400 miles of desert in Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. They were retracing the route of the Navajo deity Naayee neizghani, the Slayer of Alien Gods, on his quest to restore beauty and balance to the Earth. More than a travelogue, Preston's account of the journey is a tale of two cultures meeting in a sacred land.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Previously, Preston (Cities of Gold) had traveled on horseback along the ancient roads of the Anasazi, retracing Coronado's search for the Seven Cities of Gold. Three years ago, he took his fiancee, Christine, and her nine-year-old daughter, Selene, on a 400-mile horseback ride across Navajo land on the sacred path of the Navajo deity Monster Slayer. Starting at Navajo Mountain in Utah, they set out eastward for Monument Valley in Arizona. The route led them through sparsely settled country where water and shelter were scarce. They learned to depend on each other and on the hospitality of the Navajo for their lives. Preston deftly blends adventure with local history and Navajo culture for an engrossing story. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"As fresh and charming as it is originally conceived and smartly executed." (Outside )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 284 pages
• Publisher: University of New Mexico Press (September 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826317405
• ISBN-13: 978-0826317407
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #659,186 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Douglas Preston, who worked for several years in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, is the author of the acclaimed nonfiction works Dinosaurs in the Attic and Cities of Gold, and the novel, Jennie. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a must-read for anyone interested in American culture, October 16, 1999

By 

Lisa Jadwin "jadwin59" (Rochester, NY, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Talking to the Ground: One Family's Journey on Horseback Across the Sacred Land of the Navajo (Paperback)

This book and its predecessor, Cities of Gold, chronicle the amazing, arduous, foolhardy, inspired journeys of a "yankee" in search of the traces of cultures his own people have nearly annihilated. Unlike many memoirists, Preston doesn't shrink from chronicling his own failures and misjudgments, and that's what makes him so accessible to the people he meets along the way, and to the reader him or herself. Most of us will probably never have the guts to make these journeys or get to know all these people - that's what makes this book such a radical act of anti-tourism. Above all it's a poignant homage to "the people." (They know who they are!) If you're a horse person, a traveler to the southwest, or if you're just interested in the question "what is American?" you have to read these books now. And don't miss the great story about the skinwalkers - it's enough to keep you cold in July.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A narrative of a journey of journeys, June 26, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Talking to the Ground (Hardcover)

Preston's TALKING TO THE GROUND is one of the most gripping narratives I have read. Why? He takes us along with him (and family) to the dusty trails of Navajo Mountain on horseback down into Navajo Lands including Monument Valley and eventually Shiprock. As we ride the pilgrimage trail with the author, we too become faint and dizzy as we pick our way down incredibly steep, almost trailless cliffs. We hope, as we follow the route of the mythological monster slayer, that there will be some little spring or seep for our horses to take a drink. We hope we will get to the next Navajo dwelling where we might purchase some hay for our tired and hungry animals. We are elated when Preston and family make it to safe terrain after weeks of hardship. No novice to this marvelous country of the American Southwest, Preston had studied Navajo mythology and mysticism deligently during his days as a researcher at the American Museum of Natural History. He had also studied maps and made inquiries about the possibility of riding across the entire Navajo Nation to gain spiritual strength and wisdom. It is as shocking to the reader as it was to Preston when he was told by sunglassed young Navajo turks at Monument Valley that he couldn't possibly know a damn thing about Navajo lands and culture on such a superficial trip as this--riding horseback for several hundred miles and reading other honkies' books. Yet this moment of humility strengthens the narrative by allowing for soul searching and further journeying into wonder to trail's end at Shiprock

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars scholastic reality, February 23, 2006

By 

Thomas Dering "listening to the air" (in California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Talking to the Ground: One Family's Journey on Horseback Across the Sacred Land of the Navajo (Paperback)

It's a pleasure to enjoy the author's background studies (dry) and then his reality (with large hail stones) on a search that leads to more respect... for everything.
Reading this book caused me to yearn for some concrete search of my own, and that is the dream this book passes along. It was given to me as someone else's favorite book. I can see why. Thanks.