The Mysterious Lands - Hardcover

Zwinger, A. H.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0525245464 ISBN 13: 9780525245469

Publisher: Dutton, 1989

Synopsis

Naturalist Ann Zwinger captures the magic and challenges of life in the Southwest desert--from the Mojave, Great Basin, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan desert regions. 2 cassettes.

About this title

Reviews

Author of the prize-winning Run River Run , Zwinger has few peers in the field of nature writing, and this volume may be her finest to date. Not many will have the opportunity to explore in depth the great desert regions of the U.S.; here, Zwinger offers a compelling, vicarious experience. In the Chihuahuan Desert of Texas and New Mexico we find a "light-absorbing, heat-inhaling landscape that translates heat into wavering light and light into shimmering heat." Dominant plant in the Sonoran Desert (Arizona) is the saguaro cactus; Zwinger spent six days alone in a wildlife refuge here counting bighorn sheep in June temperatures of 110-112. She discusses the physiology of water loss and intake, the adaptations needed for survival in the desert. From a plane, notes Zwinger, the Mojave Desert shows exquisite but intimidating landforms. She points out changes in plant life and explains the different systems of photosynthesis that enable desert flora to survive. The Great Basin desert, stretching from Nevada to Oregon, is mostly above 4000 ft.; it is a cold steppe desert with jackrabbits and horned larks, sagebrush and greasewood. Zwinger gives us a masterly interpretation of these mysterious lands.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In this book, the author, an award-winning naturalist, describes the flora and fauna of the Chihauhuan, Sonoran, Mohave, and Great Basin deserts of the American Southwest. From how desert snails retain moisture to the movements of sand dunes, she captures the spirit of the land. Her illustrations were not available at review time, but judging from her previous works, A Desert Country Near the Sea: A Natural History of Cape Region of Baja California ( LJ 9/1/83), Wind in The Rock ( LJ 10/1/78), and Run, River, Run: A Naturalist's Journey Down One of the Great Rivers of the West (Univ. of Arizona Pr., 1984), they will be accurate and appealing. Excellent nature writing for a general audience.
- Katharine Galloway Garstka, Intergraph Corp., Huntsville, Ala.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Dutton
• Publication date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0525245464
• ISBN 13: 9780525245469
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 388