A review by thenaturelibrary
Virga & Bone: Essays from Dry Places by Craig Childs

3.0

This short collection of 8 essays by Craig Childs centering on the Colorado Plateau area captures the harsh, raw, and beautiful elements of the desert. I've lived in two different desert ecosystems (one being in the Colorado Plateau), and there so much that Childs was able to capture with his writing that reflects the nature of the desert. He touches on the magic of finding water in the desert, the way the desert doesn't hide its dangers, and the way that the desert grows on you and challenges you. I loved the imagery he uses with the bookend essays "Virga" and "Bone" to describe the desert, of rain that evaporates before it touches the ground and of bones that remain after everything else has worn away.

There were moments in the book where the author described his experiences in a way where I was taken aback- he describes running into law enforcement officers at the border and being able to joke around with them, continuing to hike in an area after several vehicles approached him and told him to turn back, and camping in an area considered taboo to camp at by indigenous folks (he didn't realize at the time, but he brushes it off). It felt like he was unaware of how some things he was doing affected other people or how another person might not be able to get away with the same behavior.

Overall, I came for the desert essays, enjoyed those essays, but left with a feeling that Childs hadn't acknowledged the privileges he holds that allowed him to do some things that others aren't able to.