Writing Down the River: Into the Heart of the Grand Canyon [Paperback]

Leila Philip (Author), Kathleen Jo Ryan (Author, Photographer), Gretel Ehrlich (Foreword), Teresa Jordan (Contributor), Denise Chavez (Contributor), Linda Ellerbee (Contributor), Judith Freeman (Contributor), Linda Hogan (Contributor), Ruth Kirk (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2004

Over the course of one summer, fifteen of today's best women writers descended into the heart of the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River. It was the chance of a lifetime-to do something most had never done before, to have life-changing, even dangerous experiences and share them in this trailblazing book.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Photographer Kathleen Jo Ryan first witnessed the awe-inspiring spectacle of the Grand Canyon in 1987. A year later she rafted the Colorado River into the canyon, emerging from this transforming experience with the idea for a book: "Going down the river into the heart of the canyon is adventuring into a place of spirit. I hold a warm, overwhelming feeling of gratitude, respect, and humility for having been allowed to float and play through this majestic canyon." In Writing Down the River Ryan shares her gratitude by inviting women writers to venture down the Colorado and contribute their "personal journeys." Gretel Ehrlich provides context--historical, geographic, and biographical--in the foreword, and 15 other writers join the celebration with their individual voices.

Sharman Apt Russell, author of When the Land Was Young: Reflections on American Archaeology, describes her initial peek: "My heart starts beating fast when I first see the Grand Canyon, looking down from the South Rim, the vertigo of too much space. My bones feel hollow, like a bird's bones." Annick Smith, editor of The Last Best Place: A Montana Anthology, writes about the roar of the rapids: "Then comes the fifth wave. We climb up and up, stroking hard, but we do not cut through. The wave grows. It's a demon curling above us. Its foaming dragon breath is distinct as a Japanese painting, alive. Now I am stroking air." Judith Freeman, author of A Desert of Pure Feeling, writes of the lingering aftereffects: "For many nights after I left the river I awoke in darkness with the feeling I was still in the canyon. I sat up suddenly in strange beds, in desert motels and distant cities, certain that I was still sleeping on a rock ledge or a spit of sand."

Ryan's photographs of rock, water, and sky round out this evocative portrait of a place unlike any in the world. Taken as a whole, Writing Down the River is a collection of personal reflections as well as a tribute to the unifying power of landscape. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 134 pages
• Publisher: Grand Canyon Assn (May 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0938216805
• ISBN-13: 978-0938216803
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 9.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,058,099 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #93 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Outdoor Recreation > Rafting

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Did It All in the Grand Canyon, June 10, 2000

By 

Mrqcace (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Writing Down the River: Into the Heart of the Grand Canyon (Hardcover)

Very good reading, with excellent comments on the Grand Canyon, the experiences of rafting the river and essays on how the canyon touches people in different ways. I have just completed an 8 day trip of over 280 miles in the canyon and experienced every emotion and awe-inspiring moment described in the book. The photographs are worth the purchase price alone. A must read before and after taking a trip down the wonderous Colorado in the Grand Canyon

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful book about the most beautiful place on earth., June 30, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Writing Down the River: Into the Heart of the Grand Canyon (Hardcover)

The women who wrote the essays in this book rafted the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon during the same summer I did. Reading this book was like being there again. Each essay looks at the canyon from the unique perspective of the author. They give voice to the many feelings the canyon brings to the surface -- from the fear that you won't make it through the rapids to the pure joy at seeing Deer Creek Falls or Havasu Creek. The pictures are lovely and fitting so you can see what the authors are writing about. Sometimes the pictures include the authors such as Linda Ellerbee.

If you have rafted through the Grand Canyon, you will love this book. If you haven't been, read this book and you will want to go.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First-ever WILLA Literary Award winner for Memoirs, April 16, 2000

By 

Sybil Downing (Boulder, Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Writing Down the River: Into the Heart of the Grand Canyon (Hardcover)

Writing Down the River grabs your heart and broadens your understanding of the power of the western landscape. The photographs are amazing in themselves; the essays stunning.

Sybil Downing, award winning author of Ladies of the Goldfield Stock Exchange