The Sonoran Desert: A Literary Guide Edited by Eric Magrane and Christopher Cokinos

This field guide celebrates the very best of Sonoran Desert biodiversity- its plants, invertebrates, birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians- and its essayists, artists and poets. Drawing from The Poetic Inventory of Saguaro National Park, a 2011 project that invited 80 writers to create literary pieces addressing species found in the park, this book presents more than 60 species. Paul Mirocha illustrated them, Eric Magrane and Christopher Cokinos scientifically described them, and writers from the region responded to them. Mirocha's drawings are clean and lovely, the text by Magrane and Cokinos is informative and entertaining, and the accompanying writings are delightfully diverse. Check out Alberto Rios on jackrabbits ('Those ears have heard things/ And they've brought back/So many stories to tell about you'); and, Valentina Quintana on the parthenogenetic Sonoran whiptail lizard ('Personal ad: ... SWL seeks independent companion for fun in Sonoran desert.') 

- Christine Wald-Hopkins Also selected by Bruce Dinges

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