A Colorado River Reader

By: Fleck, Richard F.

Book Overview

"This canyon world where water yearns toward the ocean is a place so large I can't take it in. Instead, I am taken in, traveling a near dream as we journey by water, contained by rock walls. In order to see this shorn-away world, I narrow my vision to the small and nearly secret. Never mind the stone's illusion of permanence or the great strength of water. I look to the most fragile of things here, to the plant world of the canyon. The other river travelers seem taken in by stone, time, and water, and do not see the small things that tempt my attention, the minute fern between stones, the tiny black snails in a pond of water. I am drawn in by the growing life and not by the passing."
- from 'Plant Journey' by Linda Hogan

The mystique of the Colorado River is no less enduring and powerful than is its physical presence in the landscape of the West. Little wonder that narratives about the Colorado still arouse and intrigue readers, or that the river continues to inspire new writing among contemporary authors. What is surprising is that no anthology offering a comprehensive introduction to these works existed - until now.

A Colorado River Reader spans hundreds of years and many cultures and voices to capture an array of responses to this mighty river and tributaries. The collection opens with a Paiute creation myth set in the Grand Canyon and progresses through time, encompassing the Spanish and American exploration narratives of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and culminating in the adventure and nature writings of the twentieth.

This is a book that deserves a place next to every armchair and in a pocket of every backpack.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 087480647X
• ISBN13: 9780874806472
• Release Date: April 2000
• Publisher: University of Utah Press
• Length: 210 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.2" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Reader Beware - Enjoyment Ahead

This compilation of exceptionally well-written excerpts is a wonderfully varied introduction to, or refresher of, longer works from some of the best authors of books about the Colorado River and its environs. The works range from the predictable, e.g., the writings of John Wesley Powell, Edward Abbey, and Ann Zwinger, to the unexpectedly insightful, e.g., the Paiute Indian Legend and a chapter about the Datura plant by Linda Hogan. Author Richard F. Fleck has carefully chosen writings that portray a variety of perspectives, each an invitation to a longer, more developed work of comparable quality. This is not the only collection of writings about the Colorado River, but it is one of the best edited. If you are looking for a listing of masterworks as recommendations for further reading you have to look no further than the Table of Contents of A Colorado River Reader. But beware, this introduction to the mythology, history, sport, philosophy, ecology, geology, and biology of the Colorado River may cause you to spend additional money on the books from which these passages were excerpted. Of course, and I know from personal experience, money spent on any of these books will be money well spent.