Frog Mountain Blues

This is a great little book about a place I've never been to and don't ever plan to visit--but it's a place which is everywhere, all around the country, and which we can all relate to. In this case, the book's about Tucson and more specifically, the nearby mountains and how they've been "developed" as human population and technology have increased. Bowden offers us glimpses of local history from the 19th and 20th centuries mixed with his own experiences hiking there and remembrances of his boyhood in the upper Midwest. The many photos provide examples of both beauty and ugliness. All of that is interesting enough but the book really hits its peak when he writes with passion about how he feels about our connection with and respect for (or more commonly the lack of it) the natural world. His "unrealistic" vision of the future is what needs to happen, and what will happen--the only questions are the means and the time frame, not the end. Excellent book--I read a library copy, but I'll be buying one for myself.

All you ever wanted to know about the Catalina Mountains and the people who braved them. Bowden has a way with words to capture your interests--even through the historical factual info. Aldo would be proud of him