The Land of Little Rain (1903) is a collection of essays and short
stories by Mary Hunter Austin. Originally published with photographs
taken by acclaimed American photographer Ansel Adams, The Land of
Little Rain is a classic work of nature writing. Austin is now
recognized as an early feminist and conservationist who understood the
intricacy and fragility of ecosystems as well as the extent to which
human civilization threatens their continued existence.
In a series of stories and essays on the animals, landscapes, and
peoples that make up the American Southwest, Mary Hunter Austin proves
that the foremost responsibility of a writer is to look. With an
attentive and deeply respectful eye, Austin describes the heat and
violence of desert weather, the tracks made by disparate animal species
as they travel in search of water, and the scavengers that depend on
death for life. Within this collection are brief stories about the
people and communities scattered throughout the harsh Mojave desert: a
miner who longs for wealth and civilization but returns to the wild and
unpredictable life of speculation; a Shoshone medicine man captured by
the Paiute tribe who misses his people and home; a town where people
live simply, depending on nothing but the land and its bounty for their
daily existence and abundant happiness. The Land of Little Rain is
both informative and moving, an intricate tapestry that celebrates the
diversity of life while making an incontrovertible case for its
continued preservation.
Mary Hunter Austin was a gifted writer and an environmentalist ahead of
her time. In a world faced with the catastrophic effects of a global
climate crisis, we need writers such as Austin for not only the wisdom
and knowledge they offer, but the monumental change their words can
inspire.
With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript,
this edition of Mary Hunter Austin's The Land of Little Rain is a
classic of American literature and nature writing reimagined for modern
readers.
