Mary Austin and the American West

Most readers will recognize Mary Austin as the author of The Land of Little Rain (1903), which still stands as a masterpiece of environmental writing. Originally published as a holiday book, that slender volume established Austin as a professional writer. She left the desolate Owens Valley, the setting for The Land of Little Rain, and spent the next decades moving restlessly from one bohemian enclave to the next, making stops in Carmel, London, Greenwich Village, and finally Santa Fe. Mixing fiction, poetry, journalism, plays, and political advocacy, Austin eventually produced a large body of work and an impressive literary network. In this worthy biography, Susan Goodman and Carl Dawson consider Austin's work, travels, and lively personality. They pore over her spirited correspondence and map her extensive contacts, which came to include Jack London, Herbert Hoover, D.H. Lawrence, and Willa Cather. They track her advocacy on women's issues and the preservation of Indian and Mexican culture in the southwest. Sifting through her published work, they frankly acknowledge its shortcomings and attribute them to her need for income. They compare her to contemporary writers, including John Muir, who shared Austin's astonishing powers of observation but lacked her feeling for people and culture. They also consider her influence on the work of Cather, Ansel Adams, and Edward Abbey. Although I couldn't quite accept the authors' claim that Austin was "the voice of the American West," their book offers a full and honest portrait of a strong female writer. It also makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the literary west. Very worthwhile.