The 6 Best Desert Books to Read: Essential Southwest Literature

The word “desert” suggests sterility to many, but anyone who lives in or near one knows how rich, wild and complex it can be. This is equally true for the best books set there. The winter months are the best time to travel to the desert, but enjoying one of these titles is timeless, of course. Here's a short selection of some of the best desert reads, old and new, that put the Southwest at their center. Whether you're planning a road trip or reading from the comfort of your home, check out stunning views, rugged wildlife, stories of resilience, and more.

“The land of little rain”
By Maria Austin
Penguin Classics: 128 pages, $17
(1903; reprint 1997)

Possibly the first collection of lyrical essays about the California desert, Austin was based on his travels in and around the Owens Valley, covering mining, the Shoshone tribe, climate, and water. The book is exciting because of Austin's close attention to detail, from pastures to rivers to well-worn trails. Here, he writes, “it is possible to live with great enthusiasm, to have red blood and delicate joys.”

“Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Desert”
By Eduardo Abadía
Ballantine Books: 352 pages, $10
(1968; reprinted 1985)

Abbey's best-selling memoir, chronicling her time in Utah's Arches National Park in the late 1950s, revealed the beauty and fragility of the Southwest to a broader American audience, describing the harsh climate and breathtaking views while lashing out at the masses of voyeurs who poured into the desert only to despoil it. Often compared to “Walden,” Abbey's tough, darkly humorous voice gave Western literature a tone distinct from the gentility of the East Coast and the folksy writing of cowboys.

“Desert Oracle, Volume 1: Strange True Tales from the American Southwest”
By Ken Layne
Picador: 304 pages, $20
(2021)

Part manual, part folklore collection, and part tribute to the Southwest, Layne's entertaining chronicle is based on brief chapters about the outlaws, writers, singers, and other characters who define the region's tough reputation, from the path of Western swing musicians from Texas to Los Angeles, to the UFO conspirators gathering in New Mexico, to the Manson Family's journey to Death Valley and beyond.

“The Deserts of California: A Field Atlas of California”
By Obi Kaufmann
Heyday, 576 pp., $55
(2023)

Kaufmann's lavishly illustrated field guide to the state's arid regions covers a wide range both geographically (from the Great Basin to the north and Sonora and Mojave to the south) and in terms of the species covered, from bats to bobcats and chias to palo verde trees. It is designed for both the backpack and the side table, with detailed descriptions along with petitions for the preservation of the earth.

“Mecca”
By Susan Straight
V: 384.$19
(2022)

A contemporary epic set in the Imperial Valley, Straight's novel is a cross-section of desert dwellers (a motorcycle officer, a Palm Springs spa employee, a family shaken by a police shooting) facing the demands of desert life. Spanning COVID-19 and bushfires, it speaks to the present while exploring the region's long history.

“Ghost of the Mojave”
By Forrest Gander
New Directions, 80 pp., $16
(2024)

“In this xeric topography / we lock ourselves into the circumstances of the desert foothills / chewed by leprosy, jagged winds and / sudden rains,” writes Pulitzer-winning poet Forrest Gander in this book-length poem about his trek across the 800-mile San Andreas Fault after the deaths of his wife, poet CD Wright, and his mother. Although the writing is based on the austerity of the landscape, he writes beautifully about the healing powers of the desert.

Athitakis is a writer in Phoenix and author of “The new Midwest.”