Talking to the Ground - by Douglas Preston (Paperback)

About the Book

The engaging account of a family's experience in tracing the path of the Navajo creation story in the Four Corners area.

Book Synopsis

From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Lost City of the Monkey God comes an entrancing, eloquent, and entertaining account of the author's adventurous journey on horseback through the Southwest in the heart of Navajo desert country.In 1992 author Douglas Preston and his wife and daughter rode horseback across 400 miles of desert in Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. They were retracing the route of a Navajo deity, the Slayer of Alien Gods, on his quest to restore beauty and balance to the Earth. More than a travelogue, Preston's account of their "one tough journey, luminously remembered" (Kirkus Reviews) is a tale of two cultures meeting in a sacred land and is "like traveling across unknown territory with Lewis and Clark to the Pacific" (Dee Brown, author of Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee).

From the Back Cover

In 1992 Doug Preston and his family rode horseback across 400 miles of desert in Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. They were retracing the route of the Navajo deity Naayee neizghani, the Slayer of Alien Gods, on his quest to restore beauty and balance to the Earth. More than a travelogue, Preston's account of the journey is a tale of two cultures meeting in a sacred land.

Review Quotes

"A gripping adventure that blends Navajo mysticism, prophecy and the epic story of creation with the day-to-day account of a family's physical struggle across the Southwest's deserts and mountainsaand their spiritual struggle to find their place in the world."

"A thought-provoking study of the intricate relationships among geography, religions and cultures in the modern Southwest. . . . Preston, a superb researcher, presents difficult concepts in lucid language."

"As fresh and charming as it is originally conceived and smartly executed."