Biography
of a Landscape
Pairing
Landscape and Science
in New and Better Ways
You of course remember the song, “A Few of My Favorite
Things!” Here is a book that does for me what that song
does for young people . Let me count the ways:
Archaeology.
Anthropology. Environment Issues. Humor (even a touch of irony
here and there!). Memoir. National Parks and Monuments. The
Desert. And Utah. These may not top your list, too, but I
bet a few of them do.
Enter
archaeologist (and author) R. E. Burrillo. I have read lots
of books on this topic and Burrillo’s is the first in
a long time that helped me (truly!) understand the discipline
better (and in new ways). That would be enough. But making
it painless—even chortle- worthy—is beyond any
expectation I might have been able to conjure.
Memoir?
It’s his personal touch. I finished the book wanting
to know him better, read more of his work, maybe take a class
from him.
And
it isn’t just the author. Kudos to Regina Lopez -Whiteskunk.
Her two-page foreword is a veritable prose poem.
And
about the Timeline in the frontmatter. Why have none of the
texts I’ve read done it this well?
And
those long chapters that Burrillo makes no apologies for?
They help even an avid fan immerse themselves in that timeline,
understand the points he makes. Read like a story. A believable
story.
And
Torrey House Press? There they are, just waiting for the modern
reader with eclectic preferences. A new resource for books
dedicated to “…environmental justice and stewardship
for the human and more-than-human world by elevating literary
excellence from diverse voices.”
There
are a few more “ands,” but I will spare you. As
a born and bred Utahan with divided feeling about my roots
and the place, I wouldn’t want you to think I have an
agenda. Please trust me, this little rave (rant?) comes from
a spot in my heart perfectly willing to criticize as necessary.
If I must reread a book to find a flaw for a review—any
book—I am not inclined to do that. I want the reader
of my reviews to come to a book without expectations likely
to spoil the experience for them.
I
believe there is no danger of that with Behind the Bears
Ears: Exploring the Culture and Natural Histories of a Sacred
Landscape. Not if you love any one of the topics on my
“favorite things” list in the first paragraph.
|
