Customer Reviews

Under the Sun: A Sonoran Desert Odyssey

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I have to admit, first of all, that Adriel Heisey and I were best friends in high school--in fact my oldest son's middle name is Adriel. So, as I read "Under the Sun" I had the advantage of knowing the author. Adriel has always been a wonderful writer. His descriptions of the Sonoran Desert and his flights over it made me feel as if I was along for the ride: "...the plane is balanced and steady; the air like silk. I strap the control stick to my knee and lift both hands up into the airstream as if I'm palpating the flanks of an invisible creature. The stuff that lets me fly rushes softly through my fingers. I am in the mystery." Yes, he is in the mystery and through his engaging prose and photographs, we can be "in the mystery" too.

Heisey takes us along on his flights over the Sonoran Desert -- in both word and picture. As a pilot, I could relate to the wonder of flying, the beauty seen from that perspective and some of the fears associated with flying low and slow.

For the non-pilot, this is a problematic book. The pictures are certainly beautiful, but -- isn't there always a "but" -- there is little contex and often only a weak connection to the text. Each of the text pieces seemed a separate, stand-alone account. The same for the pictures.

Lacking context or connection, all you can say is "that's pretty" or "interesting". But, where's the story?

Heisey talks of learning about and developing an appreciation for the desert before it disappears beneath our ever expanding suburban developments, highways, reservoirs and golf courses. He fails to tell the story of the desert. What is it that we need to learn? Why the particular selection we have here?

The the only thing that makes this collection of photos and journal entries a book is the fact that they happen to be glued between two covers.