Reviews

Desert America: Boom and Bust in the New Old West by Rubén Martínez

thehappybooker's review

Go to review page

2.0

Rambling, shambling mess with occasional good moments.

amandam's review

Go to review page

3.0

I found a lot of this book illuminating, but I read it in fits and starts because it couldn't always hold my attention. Ultimately, there isn't a compelling central narrative beyond the author's own experience, and I most enjoyed when he got out of the way and focused on issues within the desert itself. I almost gave up before the chapter on Marfa and am glad I didn't. Much of the information I take away makes me feel implicated as part of the problem (perhaps rightly so), but I continue to be intrigued by the desert and interested in what forces shape and change its cultural geography.
More...