The Anthropology of Turquoise: Reflections on Desert, Sea, Stone, and Sky

Being an avid reader and a Utah resident, visiting friends often ask me the best authors to read to better understand the local area. I have always replied Edward Abbey if you want to read a book written by a man and Terry Tempest Williams if you want to read a book by a woman. I now have a third author to add to my list: Ellen Meloy. 'Turquoise" is such a beautifully written book--she expertly melds her sensibilities as an artist and a river rafter to really capture the outdoor spirit and modern struggles of our magical canyon country. Highly recommended for anyone headed to the red rocks or missing them from a distance.

I picked this up thinking it would be a micro-history of turquoise, and found that it was worlds more than that. A blend of nature lit and memoir and meditation, all distilled through a fierce love of one particular place on this big beautiful earth. I think it should only be read outdoors, or at least with a view toward outdoors, in a place that you love.

I love writers who can write eloquently of place. Think Barry Lopez or John McPhee. Ellen Meloy can be put in the same category, with the added bonus of living and writing about the desert southwest United States that I grew up in and know a little about. Her turns of phase, her thinking about ordinary things in extraordinary ways, her love of language and the land around her, make her an absolute delight to read and savor. This is one of those books that earn a place on a special shelf next to my bed, where it can be read over and over again.

Only parts of this book are about the desert Southwest, which is what I was interested in. Subject matter ranges widely from one chapter to the next, and sometimes she goes off on tangents that bewilder me. When she sticks to the subject at hand, whatever it is, she writes beautifully about it. When the writing takes off someplace else, it's either hold on or skip over. I did a lot of skipping over. There is some crossover from chapter to chapter, but best to consider this a book of individual essays loosely linked, land pick and choose the ones that interest you. That said, at her best she writes about the Southwest as well as anyone.

Beautifully written by a cranky, bitchy woman who is probably right to be living far from her neighbors in the desert. I do identify with her POV about the wretched waste and excess of American culture. Best read in small doses, otherwise my attention wandered. I quoted her in my handwritten List Of Books I've Read: "Stories are the binding agent of culture."

Ellen looked at nature in a unique and inspiring way. Her knowledge, depth, and understanding are amazing. She used vivid description, full of allegory and metaphors, color and surprise, to give voice to plants, animals, boulders, and rivers, also to her thoughts and dreams, the miraculous and the impossible.

A lovely, to be savored read about how color (naturally she focuses on turquoise) and light affect culture. She has a wonderful way with words and I enjoyed the memoir-essay-musing feel of this natural history book. I experienced many emotions while reading this and isn't that a good enough reason to read anything??