Desert Chrome: Water, a Woman, and Wild Horses in the West

by Kathryn Wilder

COLORADO BOOK AWARD WINNERNAUTILUS BOOK AWARD WINNER"A raw and honest journey of addiction, love, trauma, and redemption—grounded in a deep love of place and all things mustang."—LAURA PRITCHETT, author of Stars Go BlueKathryn Wilder's powerful story of grief, motherhood, and return to the desert entwines with the story of America's mustangs as Wilder makes a home on the Colorado Plateau, her property bordering a mustang herd. Desert Chrome illuminates these controversial creatures—their complex history in the Americas, their powerful presence on the landscape, and ways to help both horses and habitats stay wild in the arid West—and celebrates the animal nature in us all.KATHRYN WILDER's work, cited in Best American Essays and nominated for the Pushcart Prize, has appeared in such publications as High Desert Journal, River Teeth, Fourth Genre, Sierra, and many anthologies and Hawai'i magazines. A past finalist for the Ellen Meloy Fund Desert Writers Award and the Waterston Desert Writing Prize, Wilder holds an MA from Northern Arizona University and an MFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts. She lives among mustangs in southwestern Colorado.

Genres: Nonfiction

303 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 23, 2021

About the author

Kathryn Wilder's The Last Cows: On Ranching, Wonder, and a Woman's Heart, is out now from Bison Books, with a starred review from Booklist! Her previous memoir, Desert Chrome: Water, a Woman, and Wild Horses in the West, won the 2022 Colorado Book Award in Creative Nonfiction and a Nautilus Book Award in Memoir. Additional awards include the Western Heritage Award, Ellen Meloy Desert Writer's Award, and others. Wilder holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the Institute of American Indian Arts. She writes and cowboys in southwestern Colorado.

P.S. The Fractured Sky is not by this Kathryn Wilder.

Reviews

[Lisarose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the book. I am an ecologist who appreciates nature writing, that explores bigger issues. I have all of Annie Dillard’s work. I was in awe of the author’s honesty about her grief, struggles, and finding a sense of place. I came away feeling renewed. Looking differently at my own life. The running through it the horses a metaphor (?) for the wildness in me...

[Midge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. The author takes us on a journey through much of her life; the joys, the heartache, the dreams, the times she spent putting her life together again after it fell apart. Sometimes raw, sometimes full of passion for family and wild horses, always insightful. She lets us in and takes us on a journey with such vivid description I was there with her. She is real and shares with us her reality, her fears, her insecurities but it is the love that ends up being the key. I really enjoyed this book. One of the best I've read in a long time. Thank you Ms. Wilder for writing this amazing book.

[Thomas Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew before I was through the Prologue that I would love the artistry as well as the deep truths of Desert Chrome. It addresses complex issues with the clarity only someone who has lived them can express. The hard sorrows and facts of the primary narrative are balanced with lyrical oases labeled “Detritus”… I recommend this book without reservation.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

very powerful story of survival and what wilderness or wild can do for people

[Terry Tobey]

A story of courage and keeping on with life no matter what. Plus, the descriptions of the Colorado Plateau were wonderful!

[Deborah Millennor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book spoke to my heart. It made me cry and laugh and take a deep breath. The writing is brave and naked and so life affirming. I am grateful to still be reading it.

[Louise Hawker]

Kat Wilder’s descriptions of the land and mustangs took me right along with her – and Chrome. Wilder’s metaphors are the best I’ve read (and I read a lot). I have many page corners folded down. I was in tears throughout the last few chapters.

[Suz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book took my breath away. I couldn't tear myself away from it - finally had to take the day off of work to read. Ms. Wilder's connection to place and to the horses who also call her valley home is unique, rare, and life-sustaining.
The anguish that the author has suffered in her life finds a space to rest in Disappointment Valley; the wild horses heal her heart. Any parent can relate to the pain that she has suffered for her children...Ms. Wilder's vulnerability is raw and honest. She fearlessly shares her struggles, inviting us to join her on her path through the muck of life, to finally land in a place that provides peace.
Her love of and care for wild mustangs flows like her creek through her words, intertwining past, present, and future. Her language is poetic, yet as gritty as the dust on her boots.
Desert Chrome is a MUST read.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a waste of time. I wanted to read about the fight for mustangs vs the BLM, not about this woman's problems with addiction.

[Trish Friant · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found Desert Chrome to be a beautiful intimate glimpse into the author’s early wild and pain filled life, followed by her ultimate recovery thru perseverance, strong will and strong love. She is a woman who is fiercely protective of her family, friends (human and animal) and I reread her book partly for the beautiful visuals but also to relive the richness of her story. Horses wild and tame are her sanctuary and seem to live deep in her soul. By listening to her heart the author finds “her way out of loss” and into the Colorado desert with a band of mustangs for neighbors. Those of us who love horses are fortunate to have Kathryn Wilder and her friend TJ as unwavering advocates for wild lands, wild mustangs and the places they belong.

[Jo-jean Keller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was entranced by the author's personal struggles and successes as well as her love and support of mustangs. Informative and inspirational!

[Peg Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a terrifically written exploration in to the life of a beautiful, complex, private soul. The narrator guides us down the path of her grief and healing, her knowledge and passion for Hawai’i and the Southwest, and her love of wild horses, weaving it all together with her lyrical, poetic, rhythmic storytelling style. There is no doubt in my mind that I will read this more than once in my life, repeatedly return to certain passages, and recommend it without reservation.

[Kathryn Wilder · Rating 5 out of 5]

May I say I still love this book, even after writing it? I do. That's the truth. And I thank all of you who love it, too.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are many beautiful moments in the book, of scenery, epiphany, and the explanation of love for horses. Unfortunately, there is a huge disconnect between all scenes and circumstances. Readers are moved back and fourth in time without knowing where they are and how these jumps connect to the storyline. There is really no character development or character building. The book is mainly about one person who jumps from place to place, dog to dog, horse to horse, and man to man. I can see this writer knows how to write beautifully; it would be great to see what she could do if she focused on character building and on one plot readers could figure out. It makes me think she was failed by her editor(s). No matter the writing, I think Kathryn Wilder does have a great story to tell. I just couldn’t find it here.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you watched a wild horse that has gone to water, but there isn't any water to be had because of drought, then collapsing due to dehydration, it would break your heart. Only to see, while she is still alive the crows move in to peck her eyes out.

This and more sorrowful deaths of wild horses happen often, many times over, all over the west. This no longer has to happen as a solution to the War on Wild Horses have been found.

This is an epic story of how one woman's journey brought her to the forefront of this age old conflict between cattle ranchers, wildlife biologists, horse lovers, BLM, and other stakeholders. She and her crew came up with a solution!

Desert Chrome is a delicious book! I devoured it in under two days. It made me want to hear more from Kathryn Wilder!

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. I tried to listen to it first but it was becoming confusing. It makes much more sense when reading this one in print. The timeline bounces back and forth but the paragraph separations and italics are helpful visually. That being said, it still took a bit of energy to place the people and events properly in my mind. But that is also how it is in real life I think. Especially when trauma has been involved. I could viscerally feel the need and the gift of the west and horses. I could also empathize with her motivations and life choices. This will stay with me. And I have discovered a great publishing house- Torrey press! Non profit, ethics driven where environmentalism and the west meet.

[Giselle Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is real. The author tells it like it was for her growing up, the things that shaped her, addiction & dealing with loss….sometimes it was difficult to read but it all leads to healing and the part that solitude, wilderness, and wild things are necessary for us to grow and thrive as humans.

This is not a book that I breezed through. I took my time and digested along the way. At times it depressed me, the times that the author was digging herself another hole to get out of….but I’m glad to have read it.

[Andy Nasisse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathryn Wilder draws us into her rich and thoughtful world using clear and straightforward prose that opens her life of trauma and joy in a way that seems both tender and transcendent. The book reads like a novel and in the end we feel like we have made a new friend who has shown us how a love of the land and the wild things that live on that land can help us find grace and peace! This book deserves the many awards it has earned.

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

my first favorite read of 2024

"But I am also part herd animal, like caribou, like mustangs - my band may be small and of mixed species, but I belong."

This book was so beautifully written - I cried and could relate to so much of the author's pain around grief and loss, especially as it relates to losing animals. I read this for Women In Ranching's January book club and I'm so glad I did! Also shoutout to my friend Rachel for buddy reading this with me.

[Elaina Erola · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a tough book to read. Beautifully written, but the narrative is disjointed talking about the author's drug use, abuse, and her sons intermittently. The title themes, Water, horses, and the west don't even show up until midway. It could have been two or three books or even published as a series of essays, but I found it difficult to get fluidly from the beginning to the end.

[Cori · Rating 5 out of 5]

A poignant memoir that moves through time and place about the Southwest as she faces her demons and works on healing her spirit and her body. Her own struggles to find a place where she contentedly belongs often mirrors her narrations of the challenges faced by today’s wild mustang herds.

[Alison Perkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I personally found it a little slow to get through but overall it was a very nice book

[Shayla Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very beautiful book about the struggles and recovery of a woman. The impact of her children, the wilderness, wild horses and how they greatly help her and bring joy she has longed for in her life.

[Ann Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just couldn’t get into it. So much ego.

[Hannah]

DNF @ 49 pages

[Debra Weller · Rating 2 out of 5]

The promise of the prologue, the beautiful cover photo and the title was never met. I expected a narrative exploring what it means to live in a desert landscape and in a world where water is commodity and anything wild is meant to be tamed.

Instead I read a self indulgent memoir by someone seemingly and painfully unaware of her privilege to consume and indulge...and indulge she does...in self pity and more.

The author's attempt to someone how find a metaphorical link between the wild mustangs and her own "wild" soul fails miserably.

If the author was a woman of color, she'd be in prison and her children would have been in foster care. She is lucky to be living on a ranch in the desert riding horses and whining about her adult children being too busy to come rescue her from her reckless whimsy.