“Moon Handbooks: Tucson” ($17.95, Avalon)
This first edition offers a portrait of the Arizona city on the edge of the Sonoran Desert. It mentions the city’s ongoing efforts to liven up its downtown historic district, because although downtown Tucson has plenty of historical landmarks, restaurants, bars and clubs, author Tim Hull says, on most weekdays, “It’s typically as deserted as the farthest corner of the scrubby desert come 5 p.m.” There are chapters on the city’s restaurants and nightlife (including a short guide to tequila), arts and leisure, sports and recreation (including a sidebar on spring-training baseball). In addition, the author features sidebars on authentic American Indian art and Day of the Dead folk art. Excursions from Tucson include the towns of Bisbee and Tombstone. The latter is famous for its rowdy, indeed violent, past. Today, though, about 1,600 people live there, mostly retirees and tourism workers. Visitors who want to explore the town’s frontier past can see Boothill Graveyard, where many of the town’s gunfighters are buried, the OK Corral and Historama (a historical re-enactment of the famous gunfight between the Earps and the Clantons) and the Tombstone Western Heritage Museum.
“Moon Handbooks: Phoenix, Scottsdale & Sedona” ($17.95, Avalon)
Three cities under one cover: Phoenix, the state capital and Arizona’s largest city; Scottsdale, Phoenix’s best-known suburb; and Sedona, the resort town. Actually the entire metropolitan area is known as the Valley of the Sun because the area is surrounded by mountain ranges. All the urban and nonurban highlights are here, including architectural innovation in Phoenix, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West in the Scottsdale area and the Red Rock country of Sedona, as well as museums, nightlife and restaurants. It includes a glossary of Mexican food and drink.
Chicago Tribune
