Life in the Saddle: Writings and Photographs FROM THE PUBLISHER
Life in the Saddle is a spirited and robust collection about life on the open ranges of the American West. Editor Gretel Ehrlich - essayist, naturalist, rancher, and horsewoman - has assembled ten essays by America's foremost western writers, to reveal unforgettable panoramas and entertaining close-ups of a rugged land and the people who meet it on its own terms. Here are living legends - cowboys, ranchers, trackers, and trailblazers - who expose the heart and soul of the country, speak to its harshness and loneliness, revel in its humor, and witness its honest beauty and power, all from the backs of their constant and loyal companions: their horses. Richly illustrated with sixty-five full-color images from leading western nature photographers, the essays here, combined with Ehrlich's own introductions to each selection, make this collection a most satisfying journey.
FROM THE CRITICS
School Library Journal
YA-The photos in these three books are so gorgeous that they alone would justify purchase. The essays, excerpted (mostly) from previously published works of nonfiction nature writing, are well chosen and excellently crafted. In the first book, writers from 1795 to the present describe the beauty and majesty of the deserts of the U.S. Southwest, as well as the danger caused by humanity's attempt to shape them to meet its wants. The essays in Ehrlich's collection celebrate the partnership of horse and rider that grows from a combination of intuition, knowledge, trust, and respect. The work of seven photographers graces the nine essays in the Zwingers' book. The selections tell of modern women discovering, in solitude, the power and beauty of the natural world, and of finding their places in it. Concern for the welfare of our natural resources resounds throughout the selections, and could be summed up by the warning to ``do no more damage, and heal what you can.'' All three volumes are real winners.-Judy Sokoll, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
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