American Oasis
Finding the Future in the Cities of the Southwest
Kyle Paoletta
- An
- expansive
- and
- revelatory
- historical
- exploration
- of
- the
- multicultural,
- water-seeking,
- land-destroying
- settlers
- of
- the
- most
- arid
- corner
- of
- North
- America,
- arguing
- that
- in
- order
- to
- know
- where
- the
- United
- States
- is
- going
- in
- the
- era
- of
- mass
- migration
- and
- climate
- crisis
- we
- must
- understand
- where
- the
- Southwest
- has
- already
- beenAlbuquerque.
- Phoenix.
- Tucson.
- El
- Paso.
- Las
- Vegas.
- Iconic
- American
- cities
- surrounded
- by
- desert
- and
- rust.
- Teeming
- metropolises
- that
- seem
- to
- exist
- independently
- of
- the
- seemingly
- inhospitable
- and
- arid
- landscape
- that
- surrounds
- them,
- belying
- the
- rich
- insight
- they
- offer
- into
- American
- stories
- of
- migration,
- industry,
- bloodshed,
- and
- rebirth.
-
-
-
-
-
- Charting
- a
- geographic
- path
- through
- America's
- largest
- and
- hottest
- deserts,
- acclaimed
- journalist
- Kyle
- Paoletta
- maps
- the
- past
- and
- future
- of
- these
- cities,
- and
- the
- many
- other
- settlements
- from
- rural
- town
- to
- urban
- sprawl
- that
- make
- up
- the
- region
- that
- has
- come
- to
- be
- called
- “the
- American
- Southwest.”
- Weaving
- together
- the
- stories
- of
- immigrants
- and
- indigenous
- populations,
- American
- Oasis
- pulls
- back
- the
- layers
- of
- settlement,
- sediment,
- habit,
- and
- effect
- that
- successive
- empires
- have
- left
- on
- the
- region,
- from
- the
- Athapascan,
- Diné,
- Tewa,
- Apache,
- and
- Comanche,
- to
- the
- Spanish,
- Mexican,
- and,
- finally,
- American.
-
-
-
-
-
- As
- Paoletta’s
- journey
- into
- the
- Southwest’s
- history
- becomes
- inextricably
- linked
- to
- an
- exploration
- of
- its
- dependency
- on
- water,
- he
- begins
- to
- ask:
- where,
- ultimately,
- will
- cities
- like
- Las
- Vegas
- and
- Phoenix
- find
- themselves
- once
- the
- Colorado
- River
- and
- its
- branches
- dry
- up?
- Richly
- reported
- and
- sweeping
- in
- its
- history,
- American
- Oasis
- is
- the
- story
- of
- what
- one
- iconic
- region’s
- past
- can
- tell
- us
- about
- our
- shared
- environmental
- and
- cultural future.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
