“The Secret Knowledge of Water: Discovering the Essence of the American Desert” ($14.95, ) is not for those just casually interested in water or deserts. This is page after page after page about a guy who spent years wandering around the Southwest mapping waterholes, springs and the rare flowing creeks and waterfalls, and doing a lot of navel-gazing along the way. It took me a while to get into it, but once I did, I wound up loving author Craig Childs’ obsessive descriptions and spiritual musings, and his poetic style and undeniable respect for the land and the people who have lived and died trying to make their way are addictive. History intertwined with floods and a few suspenseful tales of thirst and drought was as hard to end as it had been to begin.
Kyle Wagner
