The Hidden West: Journey in the American Outback

Rating:
Summary: I really liked this book
Review: A cousin tipped me off to this little known masterpiece, which consists of a short, well-written series of anecdotes and tales about the West. An expert in verbal imagery, Schultheis takes you gambling at Native American pow-wow, canyon ratting in Utah, meeting a jack rabbit who lures motorcyclists to their doom, and other esoteric topics with equal aplomb.

His best tale, and the one you won't forget, is the last in order, a fictional episode during the next great Western drought, when the xerothermic climate brings disaster west of the Mississippi.

Schultheis is very readable, and each essay is thought-provoking. I predict you will enjoy this wonderful book. As the previous reviewer cautions, however, loan it out at your own risk.

Rating:
Summary: I really liked this book
Review: A cousin tipped me off to this little known masterpiece, which consists of a short, well-written series of anecdotes and tales about the West. An expert in verbal imagery, Schultheis takes you gambling at Native American pow-wow, canyon ratting in Utah, meeting a jack rabbit who lures motorcyclists to their doom, and other esoteric topics with equal aplomb.

His best tale, and the one you won't forget, is the last in order, a fictional episode during the next great Western drought, when the xerothermic climate brings disaster west of the Mississippi.

Schultheis is very readable, and each essay is thought-provoking. I predict you will enjoy this wonderful book. As the previous reviewer cautions, however, loan it out at your own risk.

Rating:
Summary: A book that deserves a much wider readership
Review: I first read this book in the mid-1980s, and have been a huge fan of it ever since. It was out of print from a long time after the original publisher, North Point Press, went out of business. I am delighted that it is now available once more. It deserves to be read by anyone interested in the American West.

This is a wide-ranging book that deals with many aspect of the American West in general and the desert areas in particular. Schultheis is a gifted writer, and has a knack not only for telling a good tale but also for turning a wonderful line. He is highly attuned to the remarkable and the humorous in almost every situation, and the book is a marvelous blend of the unexpected, the reflective, and the funny.

My favorite moment might be an occasion he recounts of visiting a store in Navajo territory. While in the store, an elderly Navajo stumbles up to him and says, apropos of nothing, "Hey, I hear that Elvis died," in a tone that almost suggests the Schultheis and The King were lifelong pals. After replying, that yes, Elvis had died and that he had evidently been pretty sick, the Navajo, ignoring what Schultheis had said, continues, "Yeah, Elvis and Hitler, two of your greatest leaders, dead." (I am quoting this story from memory, so don't call me to task for specific inaccuracies.)

This is a book filled with many wonderful and marvelous moments. I would heartily urge anyone with an interest in literature about the American West or the desert to read it as soon as possible.

Rating:
Summary: A book that deserves a much wider readership
Review: I first read this book in the mid-1980s, and have been a huge fan of it ever since. It was out of print from a long time after the original publisher, North Point Press, went out of business. I am delighted that it is now available once more. It deserves to be read by anyone interested in the American West.

This is a wide-ranging book that deals with many aspect of the American West in general and the desert areas in particular. Schultheis is a gifted writer, and has a knack not only for telling a good tale but also for turning a wonderful line. He is highly attuned to the remarkable and the humorous in almost every situation, and the book is a marvelous blend of the unexpected, the reflective, and the funny.

My favorite moment might be an occasion he recounts of visiting a store in Navajo territory. While in the store, an elderly Navajo stumbles up to him and says, apropos of nothing, "Hey, I hear that Elvis died," in a tone that almost suggests the Schultheis and The King were lifelong pals. After replying, that yes, Elvis had died and that he had evidently been pretty sick, the Navajo, ignoring what Schultheis had said, continues, "Yeah, Elvis and Hitler, two of your greatest leaders, dead." (I am quoting this story from memory, so don't call me to task for specific inaccuracies.)

This is a book filled with many wonderful and marvelous moments. I would heartily urge anyone with an interest in literature about the American West or the desert to read it as soon as possible.

Rating:
Summary: Great imagery, makes you long for desert and mountain...
Review: Rob's imagery and cutting edge mind put him up there with the best - I like him better than the proverbial Ed Abbey (Rob's a little more cerebral). I'm an avid reader of anything to do with the desert Southwest (and West), as well as a desert rat myself, and I was hard put to find anything I'd read to date that was this good. You won't be disappointed with this book - buy an extra for your friends, because they'll "borrow" it and never return it (I've now bought 3 of them and can't find my latest copy...hmmm, now that I think of it, I suspect it went to Hawaii with a friend...)