The Land of Little Rain

Mary Austin calls it the Country of Lost Borders--the desert and foothill lands between Death Valley and the High Sierras. To most travelers it is a parched, empty territory, unwelcoming and unforgiving. But in this classic collection of essays, Austin breathes life into the landscape, describing in loving and knowing detail its savage beauty, its plants and animals, and the occasional human visitor. She points to the beauty of the sun-burnt, rounded hillsides,… (more)

Mary Austin calls it the Country of Lost Borders--the desert and foothill lands between Death Valley and the High Sierras. To most travelers it is a parched, empty territory, unwelcoming and unforgiving. But in this classic collection of essays, Austin breathes life into the landscape, describing in loving and knowing detail its savage beauty, its plants and animals, and the occasional human visitor. She points to the beauty of the sun-burnt, rounded hillsides, the miracle of a cactus flower, the fierce persistence of the animals who forage for life-giving water, and the patience of the scavengers who wait for their death. Like the coyotes who follow the faint water trails of the desert valley, Mary Austin shows us things most humans would never notice, and in doing so, opens our eyes to a wider world.