Reading the American Desert
Read and Recommended
Edward Abbey
Written during Abbey’s stint as a seasonal ranger at Arches National Monument, Desert Solitaire (1968) mixes grumpy Thoreau‑like rants at “flabby tourists” with sharp, sensitive reflections on preserving nature amid industrial onslaught. Essential reading for anyone drawn to the American wilderness.
Barry Lopez
As the blurb says, this book is “like Carlos Castaneda but without the drugs,” which perfectly captures Barry Lopez’s appeal. In this early collection of strange, sensuous contemplations, he uses the desert as a site of self‑discovery.
Ken Layne
A pocket‑sized magazine exploring the stranger side of American desert life. The Desert Oracle’s weird Mojave tales have become a cult favourite. Print‑only, deliberately old‑school, with the feel of a punk zine — sold in indie bookshops and cafés across the US. (It is on Amazon too, thankfully.)
Amy Irvine
Amy Irvine wrote Desert Cabal as a female response to Abbey’s classic. Addressing him directly, she honours his influence while challenging the “lone male” myth at the heart of US wilderness writing. It made me want to revisit Desert Solitaire with new eyes.
Mary Austin
First published in 1903, this collection of fourteen vignettes captures the land and people of what is now Death Valley and the Mojave. Part travel journal, part fiction, part environmental text, Austin’s lyrical observations resist classification.
Craig Childs
A pocket‑sized set of essays on the elemental nature of the desert. Named for virga — rain that evaporates before touching ground — the book follows Childs across the arid lands he knows intimately. Whether tracing ancient trade routes in northern Mexico or flying through virga over Monument Valley, I felt like his travelling companion.
Links go to Amazon. All non‑affiliate.