There Was a River

by Bruce Berger

Book Overview

On October 7, 1962, Bruce Berger and three friends embarked on what may have been the last trip taken through the Colorado River's Glen Canyon before the floodgates were closed at Glen Canyon Dam and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816514933
• ISBN13: 9780816514939
• Release Date: September 1994
• Publisher: University of Arizona Press
• Length: 198 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

rediscovering an old friend

I first read Bruce Berger's "The Telling Distance" about ten years ago. It's desert ruminations stayed with me for the long distance. So, I picked it up again and read it again this year. But it ended too soon, so I checked around and found "There Was a River." Once you've spent even a little time in Glen Canyon and the slick rock country, Berger's "There Was a River" takes a permanent place close to you -- like rediscovering an old friend.

very personal and a good read

I got this book as a gift, having never heard of it before. I'd never heard of it before, but am a fan of southwestern stories and about Glen Canyon in particular. Contrary to what I expected from the title, it's not just about the author's experiences rafting the Glen Canyon of the Colorado River. In fact, it's a collection of many essays covering about 30 years of his life in the desert southwest.The essays are very personal and fairly emotionally charged. And yet, I didn't get turned off, because the author has a very conversational tone. There's lots of humor in here too, mainly in his descriptions of the strange people he's met in the desert. All in all, it was an easy and delightful read.The first essay (which is where the book gets its title) alone is worth the price of the book, but I highly recommend reading the whole thing. And here's something that REALLY made reading the story about the Glen Canyon rafting trip a special treat for me. ...