Bonelight: Ruin And Grace In The New Southwest

by Mary Sojourner

When upstate New Yorker Mary Sojourner reluctantly agreed to visit the Grand Canyon of Arizona, she little suspected that she was about to lose her heart to the beauty of the Southwest, or that she would shortly find a passion for the land, and a cause in protecting it. She has since gained notoriety as an environmental writer and as a grass-roots activist protesting the heedless development of the Southwest's increasingly precious and embattled open spaces. The essays collected here reflect Sojourner's journey from greenhorn to old-timer, from tourist to committed defender of the land and the human communities that share it. She writes of exploring the deserts, forests, mountains, and river rapids of the Southwest, and of her love for this austere and ravishing landscape; of family, friends, and lovers; of the ways that development is destroying the Southwest's fragile beauty; and of the greed and spiritual emptiness that motivate much of this development. There is humor here, and adventure, and the intensity of a writer who confronts the world around her with bold candor and a lover's tender gaze.

Genres: Environment, Nonfiction

180 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

Reviews

[Deborah Poe · Rating 3 out of 5]

between a 3-4

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 3 out of 5]

An east coast pagan feminist of the second Wave moves to the Southwest and finds anew the power of place, of the earth she calls "beloved." Rather than devolve into hokey New Age spiritualism however, Sojourner finds herself battling developers, mining companies, and people's ignorance and prejudices about the land, the Native People's, and women growing older. While some of the witchy, spiritual aspects weren't my thing, this was mostly a fierce, well-written, and engaging (enraging) collection.

Over a decade has passes since she fought and chronicled the insane development of the Southwest. I wonder what her take on the area is now, after the real estate bubble burst and with the economy down.

[Melanie Ullrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mary Sojourner is an interesting author where as her love, passion, and spirituality for nature, and her vices go hand and hand. The devastation of the west seems to hurt her personally, and the beauty that comes from that hurt makes for some a raw, thoughtful essays. I walked away from this book feeling a true ache to be back out west!

[T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

between a 3-4

[Patricia Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The earth is not here for our use, wise or otherwise. We are temporary. We are stewards."