Notes on a Shared Landscape: Making Sense of the American West

This is a book of short personal essays on the American West by David Bayles. Many of them start in the form of a Socratic question, such as "what is the West," "where would you find the heart of the West," and so forth. In these particular essays, Bayles continues the Socratic theme by demolishing, overturning or in some way reframing the motive idea that lay behind the original question. In other essays, he slaughters sacred cows, or points out to the reader that many people in the West have not yet become that discerning about the West. Again, as noted, the essays are very good as far as they go. But they don't always wrestle with their issues deeply enough. It also seems that the essays, as nebulous as they are, could still be organized and grouped in some way, with "meta-essays" for each section.

Notes on a Shared Landscape is a singular and important book, unlike anything I have experienced before. It's a seamless blend of personal and global, with an almost conversational, yet sophisticated writing style. It's about the Western United States only in the sense that the West was recently settled by Euro-Americans, and because the Author grew up there. But it's really about the interaction of humans and land everywhere, and is pertinent to everyone.