Southwest Books of the Year
Top Picks 
Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend
Serious fans of western non-fiction, novels and movies may think they know about as much as there is to know concerning the consumptive John Henry Holliday. Certainly much is known. After all, there have been a huge number of books, articles and movies about Tombstone, the Earps and such, and not all of them have been total fabrications! Roberts, however, really has read all the literature and "been over the ground" with the result that we now can be certain of the facts and knowing about the fiction. This biography should stand for decades, possibly as long as anyone cares about the OK Corral, as the definitive work on Doc. That is, at least, until some now-hidden treasure trove of new information is unearthed.
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A border overrun with illegal activity. Enraged local citizens demanding action. Greatly outnumbered lawmen hamstrung with limited resources, inept bureaucracies, interagency rivalries, and ill-informed, politically expedient decisions from higher up. Sound familiar? It's back to the future in southern Arizona 125 years ago. Not only does this thoroughly researched comprehensive biography by prominent western historian Gary Roberts reveal much more of the reality of this mysterious western icon, it also greatly clarifies what the famous shootout in Tombstone was all about, with details of what led up to it and the surprising events that followed
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Roberts draws on decades of meticulous research in this definitive biography of the consumptive Georgia dentist who strode into history and legend with the Earp brothers at the OK. Corral gunfight. Not the least of Roberts's accomplishments are the insights he brings to Holliday's familial and cultural background and his thoughtful dissection of the Holliday legend. Doc Holliday will stand the test of time alongside Casey Tefertiller's Wyatt Earp: The Man Behind the Legend.
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Inferno
There are certain words, mostly nouns and adjectives, that force themselves upon the minds of the readers of Bowden's books, words like abrasive, cataclysmic, devastating, obliterating, cathartic, damned, even soul-less. More careful thought produces other words: brilliant, enthralling, magical, sensual, thoughtful, and many, many more. This volume is about love of places, and those places are the southwestern deserts that Bowden walks through, sleeps in, wanders around and describes with such gut-wrenching accuracy that those of us who also love these deserts realize our love cannot rise to these heights nor sink to these depths. We are pikers by comparison.
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"My dreams now feel cramped." Furiously boiling with imagery, rhythm, and symbols and sound, this book probes and pierces the inflamed ground of the Southwest. It's half lament, half battle cry. Charles Bowden is "in the mood for settling some scores with myself, for moving past the reasons and into the hunger." He explores the geography of self and maps our fears as well as our hopes. Sometimes his glare is too intense, too stark, too libidinous, too personal, too frank for some readers, but many more will praise it for precisely those reasons. Michael Berman's riveting photos range from ironic to scenic, grim to humorous, and intensify Bowden's unforgettable voice raging about the primordial hunger of human nature for its Nature side.
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In a book that pushes the boundaries of the senses, Bowden writes in a self-described "white heat" about his personal affair with the seared landscape of what is now the Sonoran Desert National Monument. Michael Berman's black-and-white photographs highlight Bowden's raw portrait of nature that is at once honest and unforgiving.
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Landscapes of Fraud: Mission Tumacacori, the Baca Float, and the Betrayal of the O'odham
Tom Sheridan looks at three centuries of history in Arizona's Santa Cruz Valley as it evolved from a community of Native farmers through the colonial period, as a commodity to be bought and sold. The Tohono O'odham were the losers as speculators playing with fictitious capital, filing numerous law suits over many years, and evicting farmers from what was known as Baca Float #3. The shady developers moved in during the 60s and 70s promising a fabulous community at Rio Rico. And throughout, extractive industries played with the landscape. The losers were the Native peoples, when the land "was transformed from a communal resource into a commodity, bought and sold for its future value."
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This lively and authoritative narrative analyzes what happens when land speculators overwhelm the plain folks who live on and work that ground. Sheridan artfully traces the 300-year history of two enormous land grants surrounding the Tumacacori Mission in southern Arizona. From the dispossession of the Tohono O'odham to modern squabbles over subdivisions, the story is fraught with greed and deceit, grand plans and, occasionally, noble deeds. An underlying theme is the value of open space around densely-packed communities. It is intriguing scholarship in a well-told account of the brawls that led to urban sprawl.
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Lasting Light: 125 Years of Grand Canyon Photography
This luminous volume is a celebration of photography of Arizona's iconic geological marvel from 1871 to 2006, based on a juried exhibition sponsored by the Grand Canyon Association. Award-winning Arizona ecologist, writer, editor and photographer, Stephen Trimble, has assembled striking images of the beloved Canyon collected from more than 25 of its best-known photographic admirers, including the Kolb brothers, Ansel Adams, Eliot Porter, Josef Muench, Phillip Hyde, David Muench, Jack Dykinga and Gary Ladd. It's not just the great photos, but also the interesting information, history and discussion about the Grand Canyon, photographers and photography that make this an exceptional book.
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It should not surprise anyone with an interest in photography that Trimble, an excellent photographer himself, is also an expert when it comes to the history of his profession as well as the aesthetics of the work of others. He begins this overview (in large format and containing more than 150 reproductions) with a brief survey of the black-and-white years (up through 1935) followed by a slightly longer study of "the middle years" (1936 - 1975) which includes such well-known photographers as Ansel Adams, David Muench and Eliot Porter. Then he gets down to the serious business of commenting upon his contemporaries, the oldest of which is Native American John Running, and includes such well-knowns as Jerry Jacka, Jack Dykinga, Tom Till, Michael Collier and even Trimble himself. Splashy, colorful, thoughtful and many other adjectives fit these images that show us a world of GC possibilities from lightning strikes and waterfalls to boiling rapids and inflated rafts. Mini-biographies, and "mug shots" of the image makers are included.
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Puebloan Ruins of the Southwest
Remember when family vacations were two weeks by car visiting some region of America? You met some real people, had a few adventures, and came home invigorated with an authentic appreciation of your country. This book is that vacation. The authors take us to more than 60 unoccupied pueblos of the Chaco, northern Rio Grande, Little Colorado, Mesa Verde, northern San Juan, and Kayenta regions. Clear and interesting text explains the archaeology and anthropology, and in one grand tour we begin to understand and appreciate the scope of indigenous life over the past 2,500 years in the Four Corners region. Excellent color photos and maps show what we can see first hand.
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This spectacular revision of Anasazi Ruins of the Southwest reflects new terminology for the ancient southwestern puebloans. The term Anasazi is out; now we talk about the ancient puebloans, a designation that nicely covers the linguistically-diverse people who inhabited the Four Corners area for more than 2000 years, thought to be ancestors of the modern pueblo people. Following a detailed introduction, the authors discuss ruins that can be visited by region: Northern San Juan, Kayenta, Chaco Canyon, Little Colorado River, and Northern Rio Grande Valley. Floor plans of individual ruins are presented along with colored maps, aerial photographs, and hundreds of illustrations. This is a good one for the car library.
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Reaper's Line, The: Life and Death on the Mexican Border
Morgan, a retired special agent for the U.S. Customs Service, files an unvarnished report from the front line of America's war on drugs and illegal immigrants. While alternately railing against corrupt Mexican officials and his inept, uninformed, and unengaged rear-echelon superiors, Morgan offers eye-opening and hair-raising first-hand insight into a violent world complicated by politics, greed, and bigotry--and he isn't afraid to name names. Behind his bombastic, profane, no-holds-barred literary style, Morgan writes with sympathy and understanding about complicated border issues.
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The author returned from Vietnam with a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart, but says the danger there was nothing compared to his service with the U.S. Border Patrol on the Arizona Border, which he describes as "one of the most violent places on Earth." There, greatly outnumbered lawmen are hamstrung by limited resources, inept bureaucracies, interagency rivalries, ill-informed, politically expedient decisions from higher up and corruption on all sides. In this hard-hitting expose, the retired Special Agent offers striking insight into why America is losing the border war.
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Shape Shifter, The
Hillerman demonstrates that he is still the grand master in his tightly-plotted 22nd novel. In typical Hillerman fashion, readers learn important lessons about Navajo history and culture as retired tribal policeman Joe Leaphorn unravels a mystery involving an arson death and the disappearance of a distinctive rug. In the process, Hillerman also paints an affecting portrait of a widower coping with loneliness and the annoying infirmities of advancing age. A completely satisfying read.
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It all started with a photograph of a rare Navajo rug and an obituary of a man who was not dead. Here was a case that the legendary and now retired Joe Leaphorn had failed to solve. Since his usual sidekicks Jim Chee and Bernie Manuelito were on their honeymoon, it was fortunate that Leaphorn was able to enlist help from an unlikely source -- a Hmong immigrant with the name of Vang. This is billed as Leaphorn's "last case." We certainly hope not. To those of us who have followed him over the years, Leaphorn has become a living person, and is no longer a fictional character.
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The Grand Master is back with a welcome new novel in his popular Navajo detective series. Legendary Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn may be retired, but trouble still seeks him out. A call from an FBI pal turned private eye leads Leaphorn to take up an old case that eluded him when he was young and has haunted him since. However, this is a very different Leaphorn than we saw in the first novels. He has grown, matured and, with the death of his beloved wife, Emma, is now having to seek balance and completion within himself. In rising to the challenge, Leaphorn finds strengths and wisdom that had also eluded him before. This is a multifaceted and multilayered story that is Tony Hillerman at his finest.
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Now many years retired from the Navajo Nation police force where he became known as the "legendary lieutenant," Joe Leaphorn is once again drawn into an investigation involving the FBI, this time as an ally looking into an old, unsolved case from his active days. The legions of Hillerman fans will welcome this latest addition to the series. Joe’s wistful memories of his late wife Emma provide a layer of the past that is positive, yet sad, while an old unsolved case is negative, yet provides the excitement of the chase. As usual with his Leaphorn/Chee mysteries, Hillerman gives us insights into traditional Navajo culture and beliefs, providing a rich reading experience for anyone interested in the American Southwest.
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Sunshot: Peril and Wonder in the Gran Desierto
El Gran Desierto, a name to conjure with; even non-Spanish speakers can probably translate that! It is a large irregularly-shaped piece of the Sonoran Desert spanning the US-Mexico border across which the fabled Devil's Highway, so-named by the early Spanish explorers who found it daunting if not entirely unpassable. Broyles knows this piece of lovely but desolate terrain well, and he clearly loves it! After reading his beautifully written personal accounts of treks throughout the area you might also come to think it is possibly loveable. Fine black and white photographs add a dimension to the reader's understanding. This is one of the many terrific books in recent years supported for publication by Joe Wilder as director of the University of Arizona's Southwest Center.
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With his latest work, Bill Broyles joins Edward Abbey, Charles Bowden and others in the pantheon of great southwestern writer-explorers who share their knowledge and understanding of the real desert in moving and profound ways. His vivid descriptions from years of exploring the Gran Desierto authentically invoke the stark beauty and dazzling wonder of this unique region. For those who love the desert, this is a must-read, a memorable experience in itself. The stunning photographs of Michael Berman are an apt accompaniment in this beautiful publication from the University of Arizona Press. Highly recommended.
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It is easy to say that this is the best book I have read during 2006, and it is just about time that Bill Broyle's adventures in the Pinacate region of northern Mexico and Southwestern Arizona were in print for everyone's enjoyment. He has trod almost every inch of the gran desierto, a land he says that was "got up in torment" where there is mostly sand, rock and hardly any water. Most don't go there. But Bill Broyles enjoys this environment in spite "of the heat, the fangs, and the blisters." "Out here," he says, "even the perils become wonders." His reminiscences are so vivid we can feel the heat, shiver in a rainstorm, be grateful for a rain shower, or revel in a blue sky as he follows the footsteps of early explorers. Nor is he one to retreat in the presence of a snake. More likely, he'll get as close as he can for study and a photo. In addition to his own photographs are 103 spectacular prints by Michael Berman along with a fine map.
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The Devil's Highway is crisscrossed with footprints, and many of those footprints belong to Bill Broyles. In a book that is at once intimate and humbling, readers accompany Broyles as he hikes desert trails from Ajo to Yuma and from Wellton to the Sierra Pinacate, pausing along the way to reflect on the landscape and man's relationship to this vast emptiness. Michael Berman's awe-inspiring black-and-white photographs provide the perfect visual backdrop for Broyles' elegant prose. A must for every southwestern bookshelf.
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