Frog Mountain Blues
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Book Overview
Called "Frog Mountain" by native Tohono O'odham people, the Santa Catalina Mountains offer the citizens of Tucson a wilderness in their own backyard. Over the years it has attracted treasure hunters and entrepreneurs; today recreational facilities dot its summits while resorts and housing development creep up its foothills and into its canyons.Charles Bowden and Jack Dykinga have hiked the Catalinas for years and bring to this book not only a love for the land but the experiences of others who have "lived the mountain." Frog Mountain Blues contrasts the mystery and power of this majestic range with its fragility, and cautions us that this unique wilderness could easily be lost through overuse.By showing the capacity of society to whittle away a whole mountain in pursuit of a "better life," Bowden and Dykinga impress upon us the need for an urbanized society to have wilderness close at hand--both as a retreat from its own insanity and as a reminder of the natural world.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:0816509298
ISBN13:9780816509294
Release Date:March 1987
Publisher:University of Arizona Press
Length:165 Pages
Weight:0.10 lbs.
Customer Reviews
2 ratings
We Need These Blues
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 15 years ago
This is a great little book about a place I've never been to and don't ever plan to visit--but it's a place which is everywhere, all around the country, and which we can all relate to. In this case, the book's about Tucson and more specifically, the nearby mountains and how they've been "developed" as human population and technology have increased. Bowden offers us glimpses of local history from the 19th and 20th centuries mixed with his own experiences hiking there and remembrances of his boyhood in the upper Midwest. The many photos provide examples of both beauty and ugliness. All of that is interesting enough but the book really hits its peak when he writes with passion about how he feels about our connection with and respect for (or more commonly the lack of it) the natural world. His "unrealistic" vision of the future is what needs to happen, and what will happen--the only questions are the means and the time frame, not the end. Excellent book--I read a library copy, but I'll be buying one for myself.
A true adventure... Past to present to past to future
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 26 years ago
All you ever wanted to know about the Catalina Mountains and the people who braved them. Bowden has a way with words to capture your interests--even through the historical factual info. Aldo would be proud of him
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