[Gutenberg 10217] • The Land of Little Rain 2

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Mary Austin’s Land of Little Rain, first published in 1903, is considered by many to be one of the foundational texts in environmental writing, now studied as a classic in the literature that sought to describe the complexity of the American continent. Like John Muir, who wrote so intimately of the High Sierra that vast acreages have been preserved through the knowledge he shared, the work of Mary Austin has allowed those who will never travel there a deep feeling for the special beauties of the Southwest. Her poetic sensibility expressed in an inimitable prose paint a timeless portrait of that vast dry expanse, the Mojave northward from the Mexican border to Death Valley, with the Eastern Sierra to the west and the Colorado River to the east. Told with power and distinction, sketches reproducing with vivid reality life in the arid region of Southeastern California. “Not often does a book of such unusual quality or so picturesque a character come before the reader. Mrs. Austin writes as one who is in touch with all the moods of the wild which stretches around her.” -The Brooklyn Eagle “The charm of the whole lies in three qualities: the novelty and interest of the subject, the picturesque texture of the author’s mind, and in a style which is both cultivated and racy, and adapted to conveying her unusual sense of beauty.” -The Nation “There is in it much keen observation, much shrewd suggestion, and no end of delight.” -Science “The snatches of description here and there, vivid in color and scent, living pictures of mountain nooks, open ranges and herders’ camps, and carrying with them the subtle perfume of earth and woods. The book is a veritable ‘call of the wild’ and one can hardly read it without feeling a longing for the free and open life it describes.” -The Boston Transcript “A work which has given us great delight. There is a smack of Stevenson about the book and as a literary work it is vivid.” -The London Spectator