Legends of the American Desert: Sojourns in the Greater Southwest

There have been many books written on deserts. Unfortunately few have been both engaging and accurate (I have searched in vain for a good up to date book on the Sahara, but have always been disappointed.) Thus when I found Alex Shoumatoff's "Legends of the American Desert: Sojourns in the Greater Southwest" I was impressed initially by his no-nonsense style and the recommendations on the back cover. Indeed, he catches the spirit of place in the American Southwest, much like Edward Abby did in "Desert Solitaire" and one is drawn from chapter to chapter by the flow of descriptions and ideas. However, as has been noted by a number of reviewers, Shoumatoff (being a newcomer) really needed a knowledgeable editor or fact checker. His facts sometimes (but perhaps not as often as implied by some reviewers) get all tangled up and in spots are totally wrong. This is a great pity as the book is well conceived and well written. Certainly its very size probably contributed to the problem. In addition to the errors pointed out by earlier reviewers. I will note, rather nit pickingly, that Pat Garrett was not killed in the Tularosa Basin, as seems to be implied on p. 48 (Shoumatoff may be confusing Garrett with Albert Fountain, who was apparently murdered there - his body and that of his son were never found). Garrett was killed, apparently by a neighbor with whom he had a dispute about goats, while he was relieving himself between Organ and Las Cruces on the Mesilla Valley side of Saint Augustine Pass. Still the main points are accurate. A good read and a good concept. I would be even more enthusiastic if I could always be sure of the facts the author quotes. If this book were edited a bit more it would be THE book to read on the greater Southwest.

It's easy to say what this book is not: scholarly treatise, reasoned argument, paean to the glory of the West. It's harder to explain just what it is: lode of notes, memoir, non-linear travelogue, a really good yarn. Interweaving ancient and modern human history, often from first-person accounts, may be confusing but it creates a richly textured, multi-layered impression of a region that most Americans know only by its stereotype. This author is no blue coyote with a pink bandanna, he's the real thing: wily, bold, self-interested, sniffing up anything interesting (no matter how it smells). However, it's sad to see someone who writes English so well abuse Spanish so terribly--some of the mistakes made me blush! Likewise, although we can't expect careful documentation of every fact in a memoir that never claims to be a history book, it is shocking to find the Cape of Good Hope mistaken for Cape Horn. There are many such errors in this book, which should not be printed again without basic editing. Until then, take the "facts" and let the edits go! Enjoy!

I have to admit that what I write may be somewhat biased because I'm the author's oldest son, but I have some information which may be helpful to some readers who might otherwise be disillusioned regarding some of the facts and errors in the book, sloppyness of the editing, and other factors of the book which may contribute to an otherwise "sloppy" read.For one, the book is (hardcover version) exactly 533 pages long. And in each page are at least 3 astute facts or contain at least something interesting, usually odd, but at least ammusing to keep the reader going. In any case, the read actually does work, as seen from evidence from various critics and from many of you guys. Despite your pet peeves (looks like the theme of critics on this particular page is "people who know about the area who are annoyed"), it actually does read well and while one might get bored or be occationally mislead, it is fairly comprehensive, and most importantly ties together the various aspects of culture and history to portray what seems to be *reality* of life in the Southwest and what factors influence that.But otherwise, consider for one that he never really strays from who he is or ever pretend to be someone he isn't. I currently live in Vermont and out of fear (and because I often find myself doing exactly what he's doing, but in rural Vermont), I run Vermont plates. Even when I was 12 (the year we lived in New Mexico), I thought it particularly odd he had no quams about leaving his New York plates on his Chevy pickup, and despite the story he tells, he never goes out of his way to orient the read as if this is a history by a New Mexican for a New Mexican. Consider what the book does. If it was another book by another New Mexico historian about New Mexico, for one, it wouldn't have attracted nearly the attention it did, and secondly it would be considered "a history," and would probably be and would be considered a heck of a lot more boring than Legends of the Desert.In case, the book is designed to *introduce* the reader to the Southwest. Why would someone well versed in New Mexico go out of their way to read about what they already know? I suppose you guys are the exceptions. Remember that this book was on the cover of the New York Times book review, and at the time attracted a lot of attention (certainly a lot more than any of his other books), in terms of positive reviews and general publicity. Despite what may be facts that are wrong, annoyances, it is still *paints the picture* of a place where things are a little different, and certainly very interesting once you get your first glimpse. It paints good sides and it paints bad, but most importantly, it paints. Therefore, take it with a grain of salt and enjoy the read. That's what I did. You'll find it tremendously interesting, and get introduced to a whole new world.

At the end of "Legends" Alex Shoumatoff mentions that the book had 8 editors in the course of its making. Nine must have been the magic number, for I've rarely seen a book published in sloppier form. Misspellings, typos, convoluted grammar, dates flung hither and thither without the slightest regard for accuracy... on p.35 he implies that Teotihuacan was built over 5000 years ago and that corn from this culture reached what is now known as New Mexico by "3600". I enclose that in quotes because he doesn't specify whether he means before the present or before Christ. Either way, it's a long time before Teotihuacan was built. Pre-Columbian history is one of my favorite topics, so I pushed on in spite of this blundering. But on p.45 he pranced right into another pet peeve of mine, the reporting of populations of continents that had no census bureaus. He states the population of the Americas to be "fourteen million or so", at the time of Columbus' "discovery". The quotes around discovery are his, meant to display his politically correct Aboriginal American point of view. Unfortunately, if you're going to go down that road, you have to call it something other than America, because Amerigo Vespucci was European and if the Europeans didn't discover it, they certainly have no right to name it.Editor #9 should place the word "guess" somewhere before the fourteen million. Then he or she should flip forward to p.76 where it is stated that the population in Mexico at the time of the conquest was thirty million. Not the Americas, just Mexico. If we can assume that Mexico's share of the 14 million in 1492 was 5 million, and that in just 27 years it swelled to 30 million, then Alex Shoumatoff has "discovered" the greatest pre-war baby boom in history! At the close of the fifteenth century the Mexicans were adding almost a million babies a year! Before the advent of Catholicism!Granted, some latitude must be given when the title of a book is Legends, but perhaps Shoumatoff should give some little signal (such as italicization) when he's about to take off on his magic carpet to La-La Land. Of course, that still wouldn't give much cover to such egregious blunders as that of the snow snakes on p.44: "...perhaps eleven thousand years ago, the Bering Strait had frozen solid, creating a corridor between Alaska and Asia that enabled many forms of life to cross continents...various reptiles--frogs, snakes, including the pit viper--hopped or slithered over the bridge." Now really, are we to believe that 8 editors and the author himself don't know about cold blooded animals? What if this book were to fall into the hands of some of our nation's third graders? Would they enter the fourth grade thinking rattlesnakes slithered 12 miles across frozen ocean? Think, Alex, think!It's a pity the book is such a mess, since there's much of interest in it. I'd always wondered where the expression "missionary position" came from, and Shoumatoff