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The Sonoran Desert: A Literary Field Guide
A land of austerity and bounty, the Sonoran Desert is a place that captures imaginations and hearts. It is a place where barbs snag, thorns prick, and claws scratch. A place where lizards scramble and pause, hawks hunt like wolves, and bobcats skulk in creosote.
Both literary anthology and hands-on field guide, The Sonoran Desert is a groundbreaking book that melds art and science. It captures the stunning biodiversity of the world’s most verdant desert through words and images. More than fifty poets and writers—including Christopher Cokinos, Alison Hawthorne Deming, Ken Lamberton, Eric Magrane, Jane Miller, Gary Paul Nabhan, Alberto Ríos, Ofelia Zepeda, and many others—have composed responses to key species of this striking desert. Each creative contribution is joined by an illustration by award-winning artist Paul Mirocha and scientific information about the creature or plant authored by the book’s editors.
From the saguaro to the mountain lion, from the black-tailed jackrabbit to the mesquite, the species represented here have evoked compelling and creative responses from each contributor. Just as writers such as Edward Abbey and Ellen Meloy have memorialized the desert, this collection is sure to become a new classic, offering up the next generation of voices of this special and beautiful place, the Sonoran Desert.
Both literary anthology and hands-on field guide, The Sonoran Desert is a groundbreaking book that melds art and science. It captures the stunning biodiversity of the world’s most verdant desert through words and images. More than fifty poets and writers—including Christopher Cokinos, Alison Hawthorne Deming, Ken Lamberton, Eric Magrane, Jane Miller, Gary Paul Nabhan, Alberto Ríos, Ofelia Zepeda, and many others—have composed responses to key species of this striking desert. Each creative contribution is joined by an illustration by award-winning artist Paul Mirocha and scientific information about the creature or plant authored by the book’s editors.
From the saguaro to the mountain lion, from the black-tailed jackrabbit to the mesquite, the species represented here have evoked compelling and creative responses from each contributor. Just as writers such as Edward Abbey and Ellen Meloy have memorialized the desert, this collection is sure to become a new classic, offering up the next generation of voices of this special and beautiful place, the Sonoran Desert.
216 pages, Paperback
First published February 25, 2016
24 people are currently reading
244 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
June 13, 2025
I loved everything about this book. Had me thinking how cool it would be if parks and forests had books commissioned like this. Poetry + illustration + science I mean what else can a girl ask for
September 8, 2019
I like the idea of this collection better than the actual thing. The poetry is mostly show-off artsy-fartsy type stuff that doesn't really make much sense. But the illustrations are nice, and the field guide part is useful.
August 1, 2023
What a delightful structure for a field guide that combines science and art. I wasn’t enraptured by the poetry itself but it was still a pleasant read.
February 23, 2020
Like a story that never ends,
a song stuck in your head.
A rainstorm disturbs the settled words.
a song stuck in your head.
A rainstorm disturbs the settled words.
July 31, 2018
It would be wonderful if the literary field guide were to take off as a genre, with new guides representing more of the world's at-first-glance-stark areas. This book presents the reader with fact, fiction, and image that work together seamlessly. Any Sonoran Desert native will feel sparks of recognition, much like flipping through an old school yearbook, but non-natives will enjoy as well. The mix of styles and points of view complement the desert itself, and the field guide trappings (footnotes, careful line illustrations, Latin taxonomy, etc) are a sweet counterpoint to the poems and flash fiction. It's a perfect book for paging through during an August monsoon.
June 24, 2024
I lovely collection of poetry, musings and field guide notes on some of the flora and fauna of the Sonoran Desert. As is typical (or so I've found) of nature writing in Arizona (and specifically the Sonoran Desert), the focus is on Tucson as if nature simply doesn't exist outside of that little Southeastern Arizona bubble. Is it because University of Arizona has a more ecological focus than Arizona State University, a more literary lean? A more artistic scene? (I'm really asking, I don't have an answer just lots of questions.)
One thing I learned: I've been seeing two types of rabbits/hares on our evening walks. I thought rabbit with giant ears was a male desert cottontail; but now I know those are black-tailed jackrabbits! While I'm not sure the lizard species in my yard were included, I did learn that they're doing push-ups as a form of communication! The more you know....
Given that there are many critters that make their home in the Sonoran Desert, it must have been challenging to limit to a select few; however, I was surprised that the Gila Woodpecker didn't make the cut. Perhaps it wasn't included because they already had a desert woodpecker: the Gilded Flicker. Abert's Towhee also wasn't included which is a species that birders travel to Arizona to see! Of course, most of the Sonoran Desert is in Mexico, look at me showing my Arizona bias.
Which brings me to one feature that would make this gem even better: maps for each selection. Perhaps a second edition in a couple of years will add color, maps, and the Gila Woodpecker. (A girl can dream.)
At the beginning of the book, an incredible map shows the region but some of the included beings are all across the country and I think it would be helpful to include that information. Mainly because I think it shows how adaptable nature is, some plants and animals can thrive anywhere -- like humans! Some cannot -- like the saguaro, which is endemic to the Sonoran Desert.
One thing I learned: I've been seeing two types of rabbits/hares on our evening walks. I thought rabbit with giant ears was a male desert cottontail; but now I know those are black-tailed jackrabbits! While I'm not sure the lizard species in my yard were included, I did learn that they're doing push-ups as a form of communication! The more you know....
Given that there are many critters that make their home in the Sonoran Desert, it must have been challenging to limit to a select few; however, I was surprised that the Gila Woodpecker didn't make the cut. Perhaps it wasn't included because they already had a desert woodpecker: the Gilded Flicker. Abert's Towhee also wasn't included which is a species that birders travel to Arizona to see! Of course, most of the Sonoran Desert is in Mexico, look at me showing my Arizona bias.
Which brings me to one feature that would make this gem even better: maps for each selection. Perhaps a second edition in a couple of years will add color, maps, and the Gila Woodpecker. (A girl can dream.)
At the beginning of the book, an incredible map shows the region but some of the included beings are all across the country and I think it would be helpful to include that information. Mainly because I think it shows how adaptable nature is, some plants and animals can thrive anywhere -- like humans! Some cannot -- like the saguaro, which is endemic to the Sonoran Desert.
November 26, 2021
As a lover of both literature and the Sonoran Desert, this field guide was such a fun read! (Especially since I read it outside while visiting the Sonoran Desert.) I enjoyed learning more about the plants and animals that I came to love while I lived in Tucson, Arizona through the field guide portions of this book and then connecting deeper with each plant and animal through short pieces of literature. Some of the pieces were much too abstract for my taste as I found them sometimes impossible to understand. However, there were so many that I absolutely loved (e.g, Jumping Cholla, Creosote, Ocotillo, Arizona Walkingstick, Sonoran Spotted Whiptail) because they made me laugh and remember and ponder.
June 9, 2024
such a creative and engaging concept! this made me love the creatures I saw on a recent trip to saguaro national park and tucson even more, and makes me want to go back to see the ones I missed! some people have mentioned that some of the poetry wasn’t for them, and I felt the same way. but some poems will always resonate with some people and other poems will always resonate with other people. you could read your favorite poet and you will, most likely, not adore every single poem. the poems I did love really struck me and helped me understand the plant, bug, reptile, or mammal it was paired with in a new and deeper way. the poems I did not particularly love taught me that I don’t like poetry written in that voice, structure, etc. overall, a really lovely book!!!
March 22, 2022
This is not at all what I was expecting a field guild to be, but in the greatest of ways. It had plenty of scientific facts about the plant and animal species that can be found in the Sonoran Desert, but each species had a beautiful poem or essay to accompany it. This will transport you right to the desert and help connect you with the often underlooked biodiversity of the region. To top it all off, the illustrations were amazing.
February 16, 2024
A great approach to connecting people with species of an area. The book includes amazing illustrations, poetry, short stories, and scientific descriptions for plants, mammals, birds, and reptiles of the Sonoran desert. I wished the type was a little larger. I enjoyed the humor inserted into descriptions. For example, a pop culture song reference included within the science for the white winged dove. Or the sneaky man move by a rattlesnake. Engaging and interesting as well as beautiful.
December 13, 2018
Unique. Cool illuatrations. Contains some fascinating tidbits but not much more for factual information. A nice intro to area writers, some of whom were very good.
April 7, 2020
It was very soothing to read this in the bath and remind myself of home while the world is imploding.
April 26, 2021
Wonderful take on a field guide. Can't wait to see the format explored in other ecosystems.
did-not-finish
August 10, 2021Like some other reviewers said, this ended up being more appealing conceptually than aesthetically. I got real bored, but I absolutely love the idea and the art!
August 18, 2021
A combination of art, poetry, prose, and natural field guide, this is a delightful companion for trips to Arizona
December 29, 2023
I liked the weird pieces best. Some of the contributors took the assignment painfully literally and that felt like a detraction from what is, in theory, a beautiful interdisciplinary study.
May 24, 2024
The cutest thing I’ve ever read. And the illustrations!? Bury me with this book.
December 17, 2025
To read about a place so hard to live in and yet so loved in and loved, the Sonoran desert and all its inhabitants are given so much recognition through the poetry and art here.
January 5, 2026
an easy read with lovely illustrations! I enjoyed being able to walk around the desert and recognize different plants and animals
January 1, 2018
WHY I CHOSE THIS BOOK: It was recommended to me and fits into my Reading Challenge category "A book set within a 100 miles of your home" (fiction)
REVIEW: A field guide how exciting?, you say. Well, this is part literature (poetry, and essays) as well as a nature field guide. For every flora and fauna entry a person (the same person did not create each entry) has created a literary work, a drawing and "traditional" field guide entry. The literary work sometimes is solely about the specific flora or fauna highlighted, and sometimes it is just as much about the person writing the entry. I do not actually know if one person did the drawings or if each person did their own. They are very similar although a few had a more anatomical sense about them. The "traditional" field guide entries are informative but they also had quite a bit of humor to them. One of my favorites was about the tarantula. It said that for those who are generally put off by the tarantula, if they look at it a certain way it kind of looks like a mouse. However, if you are afraid of mice that won't help you much. I chuckled a lot reading this something you do not generally think of in relation to a field guide. While I likely do not recall many of the details to be able to identify the flora and fauna, reading this book has made me more aware of them in general.
REVIEW: A field guide how exciting?, you say. Well, this is part literature (poetry, and essays) as well as a nature field guide. For every flora and fauna entry a person (the same person did not create each entry) has created a literary work, a drawing and "traditional" field guide entry. The literary work sometimes is solely about the specific flora or fauna highlighted, and sometimes it is just as much about the person writing the entry. I do not actually know if one person did the drawings or if each person did their own. They are very similar although a few had a more anatomical sense about them. The "traditional" field guide entries are informative but they also had quite a bit of humor to them. One of my favorites was about the tarantula. It said that for those who are generally put off by the tarantula, if they look at it a certain way it kind of looks like a mouse. However, if you are afraid of mice that won't help you much. I chuckled a lot reading this something you do not generally think of in relation to a field guide. While I likely do not recall many of the details to be able to identify the flora and fauna, reading this book has made me more aware of them in general.
January 27, 2022
As another reviewer said- a literary field guide should be its own genre. The aesthetic of the illustrations did not really help me identify plants and animals but the book did make me live and appreciate the Sonoran desert.
August 7, 2018
Just a wonderful thing to bring along on every desert trip, stopping when we see a particularly inspiring or gorgeous or curious example of nature to read the poem paired with the field guide description. A good introduction to local southern Arizona writers, too. Companion to A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert, lighter, with whimsy.
Ocotillo
... On the hottest days, when I survived on thoughts of vine-wrapped forests with canopies lost in mist, the kind growing along the equator or perhaps on the coast, the ocotillo photosynthesized through its skin. Under ripples and striations of white and gray wood, faint green stems harvested sunlight and did the work of living. There is a reassurance in such steady metabolism, in life subtle yet inexorable. Years later I understood the ocotillo's starkness. To live in the desert sometimes means nothing more than anchoring into soil, eating hot air, waiting for seasons of lushness. To stay in the desert means that even in the driest of times one does the work of living, confident that in seasons of sparseness there is nourishment enough.
Ocotillo
... On the hottest days, when I survived on thoughts of vine-wrapped forests with canopies lost in mist, the kind growing along the equator or perhaps on the coast, the ocotillo photosynthesized through its skin. Under ripples and striations of white and gray wood, faint green stems harvested sunlight and did the work of living. There is a reassurance in such steady metabolism, in life subtle yet inexorable. Years later I understood the ocotillo's starkness. To live in the desert sometimes means nothing more than anchoring into soil, eating hot air, waiting for seasons of lushness. To stay in the desert means that even in the driest of times one does the work of living, confident that in seasons of sparseness there is nourishment enough.
January 29, 2021
Favorite poems and lines:
From Arizona Sycamore - "Nests rest upon the losses and you quiver with song, while you reach upwards, shedding sheaths of skin like drafts of letters."
From Jumping Cholla - "Drinker of sand, halo of bones, chain-hanger, Cylindropuntia fulgida - a bit of sun, earth-fallen, taken aroot."
From What the desert is thinking - "The saguaros all hum together like Tibetan or Greorian monks one green chord that people hear when they drive through Gates Pass and come to the place where they gasp."
From Sonoran Whiptail Lizard: Personal Ad - "SWL seeks independent companion for fun in Sonoran Desert. Must appreciate...Lingering midmorning sunbaths...Sensuous, lethargic movements, with possible scurrying from one shaded area to another."
This is a phenomenal read that alternates between poems/prose and habitats/descriptions about desert plants and animals. I enjoyed the descriptions as much as the poems, and occasionally was surprised by how poetic they were. The saguaro's description, for example, reads, "Blossoming in April, at the end of spring, and into early June, during the arid foresummer, a saguaro's tips will be covered with thick white flowers, many corsages for courting desert pollinators. The flowers open two hours past sunset, and, like a good honky-tonk, stay open all night long and well into the following afternoon, when they close against the heat." This is, hands down, the best poetry book I read in 2019.
From Arizona Sycamore - "Nests rest upon the losses and you quiver with song, while you reach upwards, shedding sheaths of skin like drafts of letters."
From Jumping Cholla - "Drinker of sand, halo of bones, chain-hanger, Cylindropuntia fulgida - a bit of sun, earth-fallen, taken aroot."
From What the desert is thinking - "The saguaros all hum together like Tibetan or Greorian monks one green chord that people hear when they drive through Gates Pass and come to the place where they gasp."
From Sonoran Whiptail Lizard: Personal Ad - "SWL seeks independent companion for fun in Sonoran Desert. Must appreciate...Lingering midmorning sunbaths...Sensuous, lethargic movements, with possible scurrying from one shaded area to another."
This is a phenomenal read that alternates between poems/prose and habitats/descriptions about desert plants and animals. I enjoyed the descriptions as much as the poems, and occasionally was surprised by how poetic they were. The saguaro's description, for example, reads, "Blossoming in April, at the end of spring, and into early June, during the arid foresummer, a saguaro's tips will be covered with thick white flowers, many corsages for courting desert pollinators. The flowers open two hours past sunset, and, like a good honky-tonk, stay open all night long and well into the following afternoon, when they close against the heat." This is, hands down, the best poetry book I read in 2019.
Currently reading
July 25, 2016I still need to finish up, but I have been charmed by this book. The literary pieces are consistently thoughtful and many push literary boundaries. The field notes are spritefully witty yet clear and informative, and of course Mirocha's illustrations are helpful and engaging. It seems all contributors were given creative freedoms, yet with a consistent overall aesthetic. I am grateful for this book.
March 30, 2016
Great collections of poems, with the occasional short essay. Loved the writing, the illustrations, everything.
December 16, 2016
A fantastic collection of literary responses to the flora and fauna of the Sonoran Desert. Each piece is accompanied by a field guide entry that mixes facts about the with some personality.
August 21, 2023
An incredibly special collection that captures the beauty and complexity of the Sonoran Desert
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews