Recommended Books

History -- Marshall Trimble's Roadside History of Arizona is an ideal book to take along on a driving tour of the state. It goes road by road and discusses events that happened in the area. If you're interested in learning more about the infamous shootout at the O.K. Corral, read Paula Mitchell Marks's And Die in the West: The Story of the O.K. Corral Gunfight, an objective, non-Hollywood look at the most glorified and glamorized shootout in Western history.

The Grand Canyon & the Colorado River -- John Wesley Powell's diary produced the first published account (1869) of traveling through the Grand Canyon. Today, his writings still provide a fascinating glimpse into the canyon. Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons, with an introduction by Wallace Stegner, is a republishing of Powell's writings.

For an interesting account of the recent human history of the canyon, read Stephen J. Pyne's How the Canyon Became Grand. The Man Who Walked through Time, by Colin Fletcher, is a narrative of one man's hike through the rugged inner canyon. In Down the River, Western environmentalist Edward Abbey chronicles many of his trips down the Colorado and other Southwest rivers. Grand Canyon: True Stories of Life Below the Rim (Travelers' Tales Guides) provides a wide range of perspectives on the Grand Canyon experience, with essays by Edward Abbey, Colin Fletcher, Barry Lopez, and many others. For a slightly macabre look at the canyon, read Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon by Thomas M. Myers and Michael P. Ghiglieri. As the title implies, this book looks at the many ways people have died in the Grand Canyon. For an equally off-beat read, pick up Sunk Without a Sound: The Tragic Colorado River Honeymoon of Glen and Bessie Hyde by Brad Dimock. The book title says it all.

Water rights and human impact on the deserts of the Southwest raised many controversies in the 20th century. Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, by Marc Reisner, focuses on the West's insatiable need for water. A River No More: The Colorado River and the West, by Philip L. Fradkin, addresses the fate of the Colorado River.

Natural History & the Outdoors -- Anyone curious about the plants and animals of the Sonoran Desert should be sure to acquire A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert. Cacti, wildflowers, tarantulas, roadrunners -- they're all here and described in very readable detail. Halka Chronic's Roadside Geology of Arizona is another handy book to keep in the car. If you're a hiker, you'll find Scott S. Warren's 100 Classic Hikes in Arizona an invaluable traveling companion.

Fiction -- Tony Hillerman's murder mysteries are almost all set on the Navajo Reservation in the Four Corners area and include many references to actual locations that can be seen by visitors. Among Hillerman's Navajo mysteries are Skeleton Man, Sacred Clowns, A Thief of Time, and The Ghostway.

Author J. A. Jance sets many of her murder mysteries in southeast Arizona's Cochise County, where she grew up. The protagonist of the series is Sheriff Joanna Brady. Titles include Devil's Claw, Dead to Rights, Rattlesnake Crossing, Outlaw Mountain, and Tombstone Courage.

Barbara Kingsolver, a biologist and social activist, has set several of her novels either partly or entirely in Arizona. The Bean Trees, Pigs in Heaven, and Animal Dreams are peopled by Anglo, Indian, and Hispanic characters, allowing for quirky, humorous narratives with social and political overtones that provide insights into Arizona's cultural mélange. Kingsolver's nonfiction works include High Tide in Tucson and Holding the Line: Women in the Great Arizona Mine Strike of 1983. The former is a collection of essays, many of which focus on the author's life in Tucson, while the latter is an account of a copper-mine strike.

Edward Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang and Hayduke Lives! are tales of an unlikely gang of ecoterrorists determined to preserve the wildernesses of the Southwest, including parts of northern Arizona.

Zane Grey spent many years living in north-central Arizona and based many of his Western novels on life in this region of the state. Among his books are Riders of the Purple Sage, The Vanishing American, Call of the Canyon, The Arizona Clan, and To the Last Man.

Travel -- If you're particularly interested in Native American art and crafts, you may want to seek out a copy of Trading Post Guidebook, by Patrick Eddington and Susan Makov. It's an invaluable guide to trading posts, artists' studios, galleries, and museums in the Four Corners region.