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Soul of Nowhere
Childs answers the call of fierce places; the more desolate the landscape, the more passionately he is drawn to it. For Childs, these are the types of terrain that sharpen the senses, and demand a physicality the modern civilized world no longer requires. Includes black-and-white photos and pen-and-ink drawings by the author.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
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About the author
Craig Childs
32 books406 followersCRAIG CHILDS is a commentator for NPR's Morning Edition, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Men's Journal, Outside, The Sun, and Orion. He has won numerous awards including the 2011 Ellen Meloy Desert Writers Award, 2008 Rowell Award for the Art of Adventure, the 2007 Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award, and the 2003 Spirit of the West Award for his body of work.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
February 26, 2011
Craig Childs seems to sort of breathe in nature -- not a deliberate inhalation, mind you, just a sort of unthinking absorption that occurs just by being in a place -- and then breathes out these words. His writing style can get a little heady, but hang in there; wait for a gentle mood, let yourself get intoxicated by the secret places in the desert you can only find by wild luck and sheer courage and craftiness and knowing friends. There is no thesis, no concrete point you can carry away from this book except how amazing these abandoned places can be, and how people of ancient times once fit their lives into their settings. What remains of them. How they echo into the present and move us upon their quiet, unexpected discovery.
November 4, 2010
More of a philosophical and introspective journey through the deserts of the Southwest. Interesting, but I never got the feeling I knew where he was; he seemed to want to keep every place secret to himself, but also write a book about it.
May 29, 2013
I love Craig Childs and I thoroughly enjoy the way he honors nature. He treats the earth like a lover as she continually seduces him. This was not my favorite book of his but it's still poetic and stimulating. It's difficult to separate him as an individual from his surrounding landscapes. There are minimal boundaries. He inhales the natural world and we are fortunate to be the benefactors of his passion.
August 7, 2018
This was a great book, describing the journey of someone who clearly revels in outdoor adventure! Some parts are hard to imagine/ read for those of us that get even a bit squeamish about heights. I found some sections tricky to understand and wanted more pictures! The authors huge degree of respect for cultural artifacts was noted and appreciated.
November 3, 2018
I plunged into this book and Craig's urge to melt himself into land with cellular understanding and response. It was a comforting place to land throughout my days, coming back to this book. Craig Child provides a space full of searching and hence meaning, and leaning into his books invariably provides balance for me.
November 16, 2019
A perfect read for contemplating losing oneself on ancient trails in Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, memory preserved in the landscape by being human-passable routes through inhospitable arid emptiness for 1000s of years. Leaving "a skein of my presence throughout this maze, ... stretching myself through these corridors until my body was only a mark along the way"
November 28, 2021
Effortlessly he writes about how it feels to be immersed in the SW desert areas. Wonderful writing and his adventures span the US and parts of Mexico. Having grownup in the Arizona, he understands at a fundamental level what it is like to be in 'nowhere' spots. I envy him.
Never will any human be able to see it all, but being there with Childs is a treat.
Never will any human be able to see it all, but being there with Childs is a treat.
September 22, 2025
An existential book. Childs writes about himself, his soul as he finds it in the desert. It is a very personal book.
For anyone who likes the desert, for anyone who understands being in the desert, for anyone who enjoys the desert, who enjoys being alone, this book reveals some experiences you may have had yourself.
Childs has pushed himself farther into the desert than I have, and that makes me envious.
He writes mostly about the deserts of SW US and Northern Mexico. If you have hiked any desert you will understand this book.
Quotes
I believed even worse would happen to us if we abandoned this wilderness.... We would become nothing without deep and pressing country, places we can never name or possess.... Our minds would become bitter and self-absorbed.... But I knew that without these far places we were risking ourselves as a species. We need these anchors in the land.... "If we didn't have a place like this, we'd die without ever knowing we were dead,"...
-- p. 181
For anyone who likes the desert, for anyone who understands being in the desert, for anyone who enjoys the desert, who enjoys being alone, this book reveals some experiences you may have had yourself.
Childs has pushed himself farther into the desert than I have, and that makes me envious.
He writes mostly about the deserts of SW US and Northern Mexico. If you have hiked any desert you will understand this book.
Quotes
I believed even worse would happen to us if we abandoned this wilderness.... We would become nothing without deep and pressing country, places we can never name or possess.... Our minds would become bitter and self-absorbed.... But I knew that without these far places we were risking ourselves as a species. We need these anchors in the land.... "If we didn't have a place like this, we'd die without ever knowing we were dead,"...
-- p. 181
February 7, 2024
Book rating 3.5
The book is mostly a group of essays, no plot or forward movement. Each chapter is a new location, where Childs walks and climbs around these desolate areas, primarily in the desert, where people used to live. Sometimes one other person is with him, or several, occasionally he goes alone.
They find remnants of past lives, typically broken bits of pottery, and on a rare occasion a pot that is unbroken. There are other signs. It starts with the cliff dwellers, so they explore a few of these homes high up on the cliffs. They do not take these objects, they put back exactly as found when picked up. Only sketches are taken, some are replicated in the book.
Childs writing style is dense with imagery but sparse on story. We don’t know what he does for a living other than wandering around these desert locales. He goes out for not days, but weeks at a time, and occasionally alone. Sometimes he provides the smallest bit of information about who his companions are - his wife, a friend, but not himself; he purposefully wants the focus to be on the land and the past. The land is harsh, difficult terrain and finding a way through, or a path, that appears to be their purpose. They also battle extreme weather, cold or very hot, and often with little food or water.
The last essay Childs comes to the essence of himself, or the land, and he is changed. It’s one of those times he is alone, later his wife meets him with food, which he has been low on for days, and very little water which he’s been rationing so little that he has been having slight hallucinations.
There was something here that was missing, perhaps the autobiographical material, or what exactly was he doing out there? This lack, this elusive substance, made the writing hard to get into, or find a way in. The essays seem to be repeating the same scenario, except for the last one, although that one too has similarities to the others. I had attempted to read this book before, many years ago, but didn’t get past page 27. At least this time I completed it.
The book is mostly a group of essays, no plot or forward movement. Each chapter is a new location, where Childs walks and climbs around these desolate areas, primarily in the desert, where people used to live. Sometimes one other person is with him, or several, occasionally he goes alone.
They find remnants of past lives, typically broken bits of pottery, and on a rare occasion a pot that is unbroken. There are other signs. It starts with the cliff dwellers, so they explore a few of these homes high up on the cliffs. They do not take these objects, they put back exactly as found when picked up. Only sketches are taken, some are replicated in the book.
Childs writing style is dense with imagery but sparse on story. We don’t know what he does for a living other than wandering around these desert locales. He goes out for not days, but weeks at a time, and occasionally alone. Sometimes he provides the smallest bit of information about who his companions are - his wife, a friend, but not himself; he purposefully wants the focus to be on the land and the past. The land is harsh, difficult terrain and finding a way through, or a path, that appears to be their purpose. They also battle extreme weather, cold or very hot, and often with little food or water.
The last essay Childs comes to the essence of himself, or the land, and he is changed. It’s one of those times he is alone, later his wife meets him with food, which he has been low on for days, and very little water which he’s been rationing so little that he has been having slight hallucinations.
There was something here that was missing, perhaps the autobiographical material, or what exactly was he doing out there? This lack, this elusive substance, made the writing hard to get into, or find a way in. The essays seem to be repeating the same scenario, except for the last one, although that one too has similarities to the others. I had attempted to read this book before, many years ago, but didn’t get past page 27. At least this time I completed it.
November 7, 2020
“In the center of this labyrinth the fins spread like an opening lotus, wings of stone falling back to reveal the single soul of nowhere.”
I love deserts and I love exploring canyons, so the places Childs writes about are perfect for me. Except Childs goes to extremes. He travels rough and goes places I wouldn’t dare; so I appreciate the opportunity to travel with him vicariously. Childs describes his spiritual communion with wilderness in esoteric terms as there is not sufficient language for these experiences, but it slows the narrative. Recommended for those who love deserts and rough travel.
I love deserts and I love exploring canyons, so the places Childs writes about are perfect for me. Except Childs goes to extremes. He travels rough and goes places I wouldn’t dare; so I appreciate the opportunity to travel with him vicariously. Childs describes his spiritual communion with wilderness in esoteric terms as there is not sufficient language for these experiences, but it slows the narrative. Recommended for those who love deserts and rough travel.
February 23, 2023
I really enjoyed Soul of Nowhere. Because I live in Arizona, the places Craig Childs writes about are familiar to me. I like the way he shares his experiences in places most of us will never go. He shares not only details about the places, but also how they affect his soul, how they affect his friendships, how they affect the way he moves through the world. He describes his experiences with an energy that makes me want to keep reading and discover the next experience. I'll definitely read more of Craig Childs books.
April 24, 2020
I like Childs' books because they explore topics that are fascinating to me - the deserts of northern Mexico and the American southwest, anthropology, hiking and exploration. 'Soul of Nowhere' is one of his best. How did ancient people adapt to their harsh surroundings? What can we learn from the few traces they left? However, the flowery verse gets a bit obtuse at times. I just want to say tell me the story simply and directly.
April 3, 2025
As often happens with Craig Childs, I'm torn. His writing is beautiful and makes me want to visit the places he goes, just not with him. I've never met the man, but in his writing he seems so serious, verging on what has been called the "stink of zen." Does he ever laugh, or even smile? Has his sense of spirituality squeezed out any room for joy?
December 15, 2025
This one is a little different from his others. Very much a memoir/travelogue, this is a cerebral and poetic inward look into spirituality, soul, and connection to the natural world. I didn't find it as engaging as his other works, but it is still very profound and lovely. I'd read this author's grocery lists, tbh.
September 21, 2021
My one concern with this book is why it isn't listed as an anthology or collection of essays. The book kind of follows a motif (the ancient people, the petroglyphs) but the book doesn't string each "chapter" together well. Like the sand Childs is walking on, the text remains scattered.
September 11, 2017
In a class all its own, a man after my own heart. Speaks to a love of wild places.
October 9, 2017
A communion with the raw nature of the southwest.
July 10, 2018
You feel as if you are walking the ground Childs' is describing. There is an inherent eeriness in the quiet that seems to come along with each discovery, as if the land is hold its breath.
July 22, 2018
Fabulous. Prose that passes for poetry from beginning to end.
December 3, 2019
Too metaphorical for my taste, but man are the stories enthralling. If you're a fan of crazy stories dealing with indigenous sites, this book is still worth a read.
May 5, 2020
Meh. Love his other work. This is boring.
August 3, 2021
I skimmed most of it - enjoyed his finding of ancient cliff dwellings, etc.
May 12, 2024
Detailed and deeply evocative of the desert. Childs shares his connection to the people of the past; our weaves his adventures into a larger context of community.
February 1, 2015
Craig Childs -- he has my rapt attention when he starts wandering through the desert, seemingly without purpose, but possessed of a notion to discover the places where no one (at least in the recent past) has been. He has the keen eye of a desert traveler and the voice and writing style to keep you interested in a blank canvas of nowhere...but; is the canvas really blank? No, Craig actually finds things out there that haven't been touched for centuries and he takes a short time to admire them, then...put them back and not tell anyone where he is or where he found this ancient artifact. He finds the hidden and nuanced traceries of where water had once been and assumes that people might have been there too, so he is not disappointed when he finds traces of ancient civilizations. I was engrossed in this book, a collection of essays that take you into the vast outback of places relatively close to home -- the Mexican desert, the deserts of Arizona. A very good read that will transport you and make you want to get out and explore.
February 9, 2017
In what I feel is Mr. Child's most honest book, the author describes his experiences in a landscape both foreign and familiar. The land becomes the best protagonist yet. Beautiful descriptions make me want to race right out there, but caveats render me thoughtful and cautious. This is not a land to be taken lightly.
August 20, 2010
I just attended a writing workshop with Craig Childs and Amy Irvine. They both are great story tellers, with an emphasis on just that: the live telling of a good story. They did this presentation, something about a loincloth and the male hunter and the female gatherer. They switched off their tellings, and by the end of it, they had mucked up all genderizing and swapped roles. It was delightful.
In the workshop, Childs emphasized the need to tell in stories, most of us end up trying to show too much. Get back to that telling. You could read most of "Soul of Nowhere" aloud and feel like someone was saying it to you.
What saves the book from solipsism is Criag's fascination with past cultures and the way he brings them into his present, creating a larger narrative than just a man scrambling around on rocks or mere nature writing.
My favorite scene had to have been when he goes a bit thirst/ration-crazy and almost cuts out his own tongue.
Need to read more of him.
In the workshop, Childs emphasized the need to tell in stories, most of us end up trying to show too much. Get back to that telling. You could read most of "Soul of Nowhere" aloud and feel like someone was saying it to you.
What saves the book from solipsism is Criag's fascination with past cultures and the way he brings them into his present, creating a larger narrative than just a man scrambling around on rocks or mere nature writing.
My favorite scene had to have been when he goes a bit thirst/ration-crazy and almost cuts out his own tongue.
Need to read more of him.
January 17, 2015
Once again not counting toward my year end total books read. I tried; I really did, but Soul of Nowhere went nowhere for me after 2+ chapters in. I am familiar with the types of rugged Southwestern landscapes the author often describes, albeit not on the same intimate level, and I agree there is something awe inspiring and difficult to capture in words about these places (and likely the other types of crazy, beautiful locations he to which he has gone). The issue for me was that there was no story, no narrative, no skeleton on which he hung his descriptions of these landscapes, just a continual, unbroken stream of pretty words trying to convey their "soul" or magic. The prose struggled and, for me, failed to engage me or transmit the feeling of wonder I assume the author was trying to convey. I respect and on some level envy his engagement with isolated lands once populated by ancient peoples, but I just could not read this all the way through.
October 25, 2012
My first Childs book and I really enjoyed it, like many other reviewers have noted it really is escapism reading. I've spent a little bit of time in the desert and can still remember the dry heat on my skin, the dust on my parched tongue, and the complete silence broken only by the ringing in my ears which slowly fades away after a few days. Where every small sound echos for miles around and the horizon shimmers in the distance blurring reality from your imagination. Reading soul of nowhere takes me back to those memories when stuck in the daily grind of city life and makes me remember freedom, and how it feels to be free from the shackles of responsibility and roam the endless horizon in search of an answer to a question not yet known.
October 23, 2012
In this memoir, naturalist Craig Childs describes a series of hiking trips into remote canyon and desert landscapes of the Southwest U.S. and on into Mexico searching for evidence of Ancient Puebloan peoples. Childs writes about American landscape and nature, particularly the fierce and forbidding arid terrains, and conveys a vivid sense of their essence. Read an article and listen to an NPR interview at Soul of Nowhere http://www.npr.org/templates/story/st... Also read Author says We ll Match the Scenery whether We Like It or Not http://www.hcn.org/issues/244/13743 from High Country News. (lj)
February 15, 2011
As the title would imply the "Soul of Nowhere" was a book about trying to find two difficult things, a soul and nowhere. The book highlights some of Child's experiences throughout the arid regions of North America. I felt the story's constantly walked a fine line between truths and tales. But this element of the unknown only adds the romanticized depiction of this imposingly difficult environments.
What most strongly captured me about Child's writing was his description of archaeological sites. I love hearing of the mindbogglingly feats we humans have accomplished.
Overall i was very happy with the book and was a bit inspired to go spend some time in canyon country.
What most strongly captured me about Child's writing was his description of archaeological sites. I love hearing of the mindbogglingly feats we humans have accomplished.
Overall i was very happy with the book and was a bit inspired to go spend some time in canyon country.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews