The Secret Knowledge of Water - by Craig Childs (Paperback)

About the Book

Like mountain peaks, deserts can be inhospitable even to the most seasoned explorers. As Craig Childs makes clear in this highly praised book, there are two easy ways to die in the desert: thirst or drowning. His extraordinary treks through arid lands in search of water--mysterious solitary water holes, a network of streams that flow only at night, a gushing fountain that conceals a hidden lake, serene and otherworldly--are an astonishing revelation of the natural world at its most extreme. Illustrations.

Book Synopsis

Naturalist Craig Childs's "utterly memorable and fantastic" study of the desert's dangerous beauty is based on years of adventures in the deserts of the American West (Washington Post).

Like the highest mountain peaks, deserts are environments that can be inhospitable even to the most seasoned explorers. Craig Childs, who has spent years in the deserts of the American West as an adventurer, a river guide, and a field instructor in natural history, has developed a keen appreciation for these forbidding landscapes: their beauty, their wonder, and especially their paradoxes. His extraordinary treks through arid lands in search of water are an astonishing revelation of the natural world at its most extreme.

"Utterly memorable and fantastic...Certainly no reader will ever see the desert in the same way again." --Suzannah Lessard, Washington Post

About the Author

Craig Childs -- naturalist, adventurer, desert ecologist, and frequent contributor to National Public Radio's Morning Edition -- lives in Crawford, Colorado. His previous books include House of Rain, The Way Out, The Secret Knowledge of Water, and Soul of Nowhere.