Lasso the Wind: Away to the New WestA New York Times Notable Book of the Year Winner of the Mountains and Plains Book Seller's Association Award "Sprawling in scope. . . . Mr. Egan uses the past powerfully to explain and give dimension to the present." --The New York Times "Fine reportage . . . honed and polished until it reads more like literature than journalism." --Los Angeles Times "They have tried to tame it, shave it, fence it, cut it, dam it, drain it, nuke it, poison it, pave it, and subdivide it," writes Timothy Egan of the West; still, "this region's hold on the American character has never seemed stronger." In this colorful and revealing journey through the eleven states west of the 100th meridian, Egan, a third-generation westerner, evokes a lovely and troubled country where land is religion and the holy war between preservers and possessors never ends. Egan leads us on an unconventional, freewheeling tour: from America's oldest continuously inhabited community, the Ancoma Pueblo in New Mexico, to the high kitsch of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, where London Bridge has been painstakingly rebuilt stone by stone; from the fragile beauty of Idaho's Bitterroot Range to the gross excess of Las Vegas, a city built as though in defiance of its arid environment. In a unique blend of travel writing, historical reflection, and passionate polemic, Egan has produced a moving study of the West: how it became what it is, and where it is going. "The writing is simply wonderful. From the opening paragraph, Egan seduces the reader. . . . Entertaining, thought provoking." --The Arizona Daily Star Weekly "A western breeziness and love of open spaces shines through Lasso the Wind. . . . The writing is simple and evocative." --The Economist |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 59
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... keep it locked in a peculiar time warp of history. I needed a land without filter or interpretation—the West, unplugged. THE SKIES, now clear, were cluttered with ravens, magpies, and the occasional red-tailed hawk looking for easy prey ...
... keep it locked in a peculiar time warp of history. I needed a land without filter or interpretation—the West, unplugged. THE SKIES, now clear, were cluttered with ravens, magpies, and the occasional red-tailed hawk looking for easy prey ...
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... keep trying. So I have tried to find a true West at the start of the next hundred years, leaving the boundaries of the old metaphors in search of something closer to the way we live. This West needs very little adornment, but it does ...
... keep trying. So I have tried to find a true West at the start of the next hundred years, leaving the boundaries of the old metaphors in search of something closer to the way we live. This West needs very little adornment, but it does ...
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... I am in New Mexico less than a day, trying to track down the kid and the mythology that keeps him going. I feel underaccessorized—without boots, slab o' belt buckle, or other essentials of. Custom and Culture Catron County, New Mexico.
... I am in New Mexico less than a day, trying to track down the kid and the mythology that keeps him going. I feel underaccessorized—without boots, slab o' belt buckle, or other essentials of. Custom and Culture Catron County, New Mexico.
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... keep history alive,” a heavily armed woman explains. Finding the kid on horseback is a bit more difficult. I look up my friend Frank Zoretich. He has a flashlight of a mind that he has put to good use wandering around New Mexico for the ...
... keep history alive,” a heavily armed woman explains. Finding the kid on horseback is a bit more difficult. I look up my friend Frank Zoretich. He has a flashlight of a mind that he has put to good use wandering around New Mexico for the ...
Contents
Plymouth Rock West | |
A Colorado River Town I | |
Supai Arizona | |
Stone Stories | |
Chaos or Cancer | |
The Empire of Clean | |
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Common terms and phrases
Acoma acres American Arizona arrived asked bears biggest bison brought building built Butte California called canyon cattle century church Clark Colorado Copper course cowboy feet fish five followed Forest four give given gold Grand ground half hands head hold horses hundred Indians Joseph keep killed King Lake land later light lived look Mexican Mexico miles million Montana Mormons mountains move named native nature nearly never Nez Perce park passed Ranch River road rock says Senator Service side Spanish started story streets talk tell thing thousand told took town trail trying turned United valley Vegas village walk walls wanted West Western wild wrote Yellowstone Young