Sandstone Sunsets: In Search of Everett Ruess

Rating:
Summary: A search for Everett becomes a search for self.
Review: I recommend Taylor's book to you who have read W.L.Rusho's "Everett Reuss" and understand Everett's mystical nature in his exploration of himself as well as the wilderness he so loved. Also your appreciation will be greatly enhanced if you are familiar with the country Everett traveled. This book is not a serious effort to solve the mystery of Everett's disappeareance. Rather, as Taylor retraces Everett's steps he describes his own spiritual journey; his personal counterpart to Everett's quest over the same territory a half century earlier. Taylor writes, "I knew my search for Everett had become more important than finding him." Reuss was a romantic, so is Taylor. The inner exporation is what counts, the physical exploration merely the vehicle for self-undertanding. If you are literal minded this book will disappoint. Me, I enjoyed the book. I thought it well written and organized and a quick, easy read. It enriched my understanding of the spiritual journey of Everett and its parallel in my own life. A negative. I found the speculations about Emery Kolb, etc, so far-fetched as to be bizarre; but Taylor never offers these as serious possibilities. Still, it were better had they been omitted. There were some minor errors in the book as has been pointed out by other reviewers; but they appeared to me to be editing mistakes, not those of the author. All in all, for me a very worthwhile read; but then I am so in love with Everett Reuss I make no claim to objectivity.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly edited, egotistical guy, glaring mistakes
Review: I'm fascinated by the story of Everett Ruess and picked this up in hopes of finding out more, maybe a contemporary search for clues and visit to places that Ruess loved. Instead, there are glaring mistakes, some preposterous theories (Emery Kolb killed Ruess in a homosexual spat?!?!?!), and far too much attention spent on the author's problems within himself. I haven't stopped by a 7-11 or Circle K on the navajo Reservation recently and assume that alcohol is still not sold there, but he talks of helping an obviously drunk Navajo buying more in Kayenta. There are some basic errors - Cocochina County instead of Coconino, Rosebud Canyon, instead of Redbud Canyon heading toward Rainbow Bridge, but his theory that Emery Kolb had the hots for Ruess and killed him when he was spurned by Ruess, hiding the body in his boathouse at the South Rim, just about turned my stomach. Having helped to move things out of Kolb Studio after Kolb's death in 1977 (not 1978), I have no rec! ollection of anyone finding a body hidden on the property and there would be no other boathouse at the South Rim. Don't give this guy any more money.

Rating:
Summary: Best naturalist work on Escalante
Review: This book is a most thoughtful and insightful view into the reasons we seek out nature and journey into the unknown. Like Ruess, author Taylor takes us on his own personal journey into one of the most breathtaking geographys in the world. The book is not meant to be a definative work on what happened to Ruess but rather a deep reflective journey into our souls. Unlike the previous reviewer who referred to the book as a novel, it is creative non-fiction and was named best creative non-fiction book of the year 1998 by the western writers of America. I have read the book three times and all the published reviews, more than twenty. All consider the writing excellent, thoughtful and filled with bits of philosophy about life. Critisms include editing errors.

Rating:
Summary: A ramble to nowhere
Review: This book is a review of various hallucinations of the author encountered during his pointless wanderings (mostly by vehicle) through the desert country of the Southwest. He never seems to get to the locations of Ruess' disappearance, and evades them by taking us to Moab and other irrelevant places where he had happened to park his car in the past. He offers several far out theories on Ruess' disappearance, but nothing useful except for the names of several persons who might have absconded with Ruess' possessions but never capitalized on them. The author is the exploiter, capitalizing on the Ruess name and story to sell a book. Nice cover.

Rating:
Summary: A ramble to nowhere
Review: This book is not the book to buy, if you're looking for 1) an authoritative biography on the life of Everett Ruess 2) a groundbreaking investigativation into the circumstances surrounding Everett Ruess' disappearance 3) an exciting novel about daring adventures in the Escalante National Monument

The highs and lows of this book are in actuality quite mundane. From the bickering between hiker and irresponsible tourists and the silliness of shouting "Everett Ruess, where are you?" in the middle of nowhere.

However, having hiked Davis Gulch to Lake Powell, searching for hints to the Ruess mystery, and locating Nemo inscriptions, I still enjoyed this book.

The Escalante National Monument area, recently "protected" by Bill Clinton in his second term, is a fabulous wilderness area located in Southern Utah, near the Arizona border. To explore this area frequently is to know the story of Everett Ruess. Not just of the plot, but also the emotion that must have motivated Ruess to his untimely demise.

Sandstone Sunsets relates the story of Everett Ruess and more importantly the author's introspective search for the truth behind his disappearance. This book lacks any groundbreaking physical evidence or testimony, and certainly doesn't reach the level of depth that Krakauer's novel "Into the Wild" achieves in examining the journey of Alex McCandless. Of course it's a lot more difficult task for the author, since the aforementioned events took place a generation ago.

Taylor (the author) reaches some pretty wild conclusions and speculations. Nevertheless from the perspective of someone who has been to Escalante repeatedly, I found the novel very entertaining. Sandstone Sunsets deals with physical territory with which I'm familiar with, and passionate about. And it's a novel motivated out of interest in a topic, Everett Ruess, who has lived on to demonstrate to modern day outdoor enthusiasts, that fascination with the wilderness is not just a new trend made hip by SUV commercials.

Rating:
Summary: A good read if you have explored Escalante National Monument
Review: This book is not the book to buy, if you're looking for 1) an authoritative biography on the life of Everett Ruess 2) a groundbreaking investigativation into the circumstances surrounding Everett Ruess' disappearance 3) an exciting novel about daring adventures in the Escalante National Monument

The highs and lows of this book are in actuality quite mundane. From the bickering between hiker and irresponsible tourists and the silliness of shouting "Everett Ruess, where are you?" in the middle of nowhere.

However, having hiked Davis Gulch to Lake Powell, searching for hints to the Ruess mystery, and locating Nemo inscriptions, I still enjoyed this book.

The Escalante National Monument area, recently "protected" by Bill Clinton in his second term, is a fabulous wilderness area located in Southern Utah, near the Arizona border. To explore this area frequently is to know the story of Everett Ruess. Not just of the plot, but also the emotion that must have motivated Ruess to his untimely demise.

Sandstone Sunsets relates the story of Everett Ruess and more importantly the author's introspective search for the truth behind his disappearance. This book lacks any groundbreaking physical evidence or testimony, and certainly doesn't reach the level of depth that Krakauer's novel "Into the Wild" achieves in examining the journey of Alex McCandless. Of course it's a lot more difficult task for the author, since the aforementioned events took place a generation ago.

Taylor (the author) reaches some pretty wild conclusions and speculations. Nevertheless from the perspective of someone who has been to Escalante repeatedly, I found the novel very entertaining. Sandstone Sunsets deals with physical territory with which I'm familiar with, and passionate about. And it's a novel motivated out of interest in a topic, Everett Ruess, who has lived on to demonstrate to modern day outdoor enthusiasts, that fascination with the wilderness is not just a new trend made hip by SUV commercials.

Rating:
Summary: The skeleton in Kolb's garage
Review: Yes, Taylor's theory that Kolb killed Ruess in a lover's quarrel is absurd, but despite what the Virginia reviewer has said below, a skeleton really was found on Kolb's property after his death. It was, I believe, located in a skiff in Kolb's garage. The bones were sent to the UA's human ID lab and anthropologist Dr. Walter Birkby determined that the individual was a white male, 20-23 years old, and 6 feet tall. There was light brown hair with the remains, and scraps of clothing suggested the body dated from the 1920s. The skull had a 32 caliber bullet wound, and Dr. Birkby concluded that the dead man was, with little doubt, a victim of murder.

It was thought that the remains might be either Ruess or Glenn Hide, a river rafter who had disappeared in the Grand Canyon in 1928 with his wife. But forensic examination ruled both out. So the Kolb skeleton is a dead-end and tells us nothing about the fate of Everett Ruess.