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| Soul of Nowhere | 
| Author: Craig Childs
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Category: Book
List Price: $18.99
Buy New: $4.35
You Save: $14.64 (77%)
New (15) from $4.35
Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 177322
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: remainder mark on bottom
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 6-10 of 10 | | « PREV | | |
 celebration and medicine May 1, 2006
4 out of 8 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
17 out of 20 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.
Fascinating, Absorbing, Well Written April 8, 2003
14 out of 16 found this review helpful
I read a lot of outdoor books, and I have to say this is one of the best that I have read in ages. Craig Childs lives, breaths, eats "wild." He writes with a clarity that makes me feel like I am alongside him -- and with a passion that is contagious. I am already planning a trip to visit some of the places he writes about. In the meantime, I'll nurse my desires by trying some of his other books.
a great book about the desert southwest February 15, 2003
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
I heard about this book on NPR and living in the area decided to read it. I have read several books about this area and the desert, in general and this is one of the best. Up there with Edward Abbey's books, but nowhere near as acidic. I have not yet read Child's other books, but he gives a great insight into the vastness of this area, both phyiscally and mentally. From someone who came to this area from back east, I recommend this book to anyone who would wonder why people would want to come to this area to live and work.
I couldn't believe I didn't love this book February 4, 2003
33 out of 35 found this review helpful
Craig Childs' writng is lyrical, personal, dramatic. He lives a life I wish I'd known I wanted to live when I was able to do so. Every one of his books is in my library. Last year I gave at least a half-dozen copies of 'The Secret Knowledge of Water' to friends and family. I look forward with keen anticipation to vicariously participating in his next set of adventures.
So what happened this time? Craig finds and reveals to his readers what it is that he searches for out there in the desert wilderness. Maybe I didn't like so much introspection. I know more about his friends and their private lives than I want to know. And (I don't want to sound prudish...everything has its place) I really don't want to know the color of his wife Regan Choi's various body parts. That said, I must also say that I think it would be impossible to read anything by this author that does not inspire and impress. He is a gifted, very gifted, writer. And he is a crazy-man explorer of the wild places that are left in this world.
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Wildlife, nature and the Environment
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