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| Soul of Nowhere | 
| Author: Craig Childs
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Category: Book
List Price: $18.99
Buy New: $4.34
You Save: $14.65 (77%)
New (18) Collectible (1) from $4.34
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 358644
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.7
ISBN: 0316735884
Dewey Decimal Number: 508
EAN: 9780316735889
ASIN: 0316735884
Publication Date: October 14, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New-Has Remainder mark. Fast shipping from trusted wholesaler with many exclusive publisher contracts.
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Product Description
Nobody writes about nature and the American landscape the way Craig Childs does. Answering the call of the fiercest of terrains, he opens up to us sites that we would otherwise never visit and, through his uncanny powers of description, makes us feel that we have experienced the very essence of these places. The death-defying and life-affirming journeys that Childs records in SOUL OF NOWHERE make up an exhilarating exploration of his own (and our collective) attraction to remote and forbidding landscapes.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 wow! June 4, 2008
Craig Childs is an excellent writer, and the prices for used books of his were great. I could buy copies for all my friends.
another winner August 15, 2007
Like other reviewers, my first exposure to Craig Childs was through his book The Secret Knowledge of Water, which is excellent. Soul of Nowhere doesn't move me as much as Secret Knowledge, but it's still a great read.
The first book focused on his adventures looking for water sources in deserts of the southwest. In this book, the focus is more on finding archaeological relics in the deep desert. In some cases it's ruins, in others jars or petroglyphs. One can sense his desire to find evidence of and connect with long vanished people of the desert.
I thought the inclusion of the other people was interesting. It places Childs in a social context - we encounter others who share his passion, and they're memorable characters. Other reviewers have said that Childs shares way too much here - it may not be to their taste, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. In any event, he shares some fascinating stories with us. I will definitely be reading more of his books.
It's worth reading July 31, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've read two Craig Childs books so far and loved them both. If I have a criticism it is that his language is pretty over the top. I'd say it was melodramatic if I didn't know just how he feels and that being mezmerized by the wilderness brings out such thoughts and words.
Once you get into the flow of the book it reads well. Introspection and lofty thoughts have always been a part of wilderness and adventure writing, and that is certainly better than reading a clinical account.
I agree that there is a little too much personal information and thus only 4 stars.
celebration and medicine May 1, 2006
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
Craig's work is filled with grace, both inner and outer. In this book, he gives us his willingness to leap away from the standard "I went here, I went there, I had an epiphany" of too many of the wilderness boy writers; his profound love for both the land and his companions; the tenderness and courage he brings to fresh language about ancient rock and light. For those of us blessed to have walked on, over and deep in the ground he cherishes, there need be no further explanation of "outer grace."
This book is for the bleak times that visit those of us who love these western lands...and who need to be reminded of true friendship and abiding love.
 For the Adventurous Spirit August 7, 2004
16 out of 18 found this review helpful
I have a long-standing interest in the desert, having lived there for years and having done some explorations of my own. But never did I dream of taking the kind of trips Craig Childs recounts in his books. After reading The Secret Knowledge of Water, I eagerly dove into Soul of Nowhere expecting more spellbinding tales of survival on the margins of life.
When I finished, I felt a little disappointed. Yes, there are some harrowing tales but there is also a little too much new-age prose and speculation for my taste. And I agree with the reviewer who complained of too much personal information.
Still, Soul of Nowhere is overall an enjoyable read. My favorite chapters are Passage, Labrynth, and Island. It is in these three chapters that Childs' storytelling comes alive. Emotion leaps off the page, the reader feels at one with the narrator as he traverses this wild and dangerous country. Since I have hiked in some of this same country, albeit on marked trails, I could very nearly feel the trembling fear Childs felt when he lost momentum climbing the sandstone arch or when the rock crumbled beneath his boots as he decended the old Anasazi passage into the Grand Canyon, or when he found himself nearly lost in a thicket of cactus in the searing mid-day heat as his every avenue of escape seemed blocked.
Childs has a definite talent for painting a life-like picture with his words, but he also has a talent for obscuring that picture with a lot of pseudo-intellectual mumbo-jumbo that gives the reader the impression that he is just trying too hard to write a "serious" book.
Despite those drawbacks, Childs' otherworldly escapades are like a magnet to the adventurous spirit. I look forward to reading more of his work because he sure does seem to have an interesting lifestyle.
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Wildlife, nature and the Environment
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