The Tales of the Mojave: From Talking Rocks to Yucca Man

Burnished copper mesas, pricked cacti, and hunched Joshua trees in the Mojave Desert stand as timeless witnesses to the evolution of the Western landscape, once the territory of ancient native tribes and now a high speed transportation corridor linking the sleek metropolises of Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Rising from the Mojave sands along with those more familiar physical elements are fifty-five narratives gathered here by Peter Wild that chronicle the evolving character and landscape of a legendary region of the American West.

True Tales of the Mojave is the first literary anthology to explore the place of the Mojave Desert, both past and present, in the American imagination. Wild provides engaging readings—ranging chronologically from prehistoric origin myths of native people to contemporary literature—that will delight readers drawn to the rich lore of the Mojave. The volume also captures the alien yet arresting beauty of the desert with a thirty-two-page galley of black-and-white illustrations and photographs featuring the people and places of the Mojave. True Tales of the Mojave unearths evocative writings that plumb the depths of this mythic desert of the American West.