-55% $8.99$8.99
$3.99 delivery Tuesday, May 21
Ships from: Treasures 4 Teachers Sold by: Treasures 4 Teachers
$7.70$7.70
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: -OnTimeBooks-
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
OK
Going Back to Bisbee Paperback – May 1, 1992
Purchase options and add-ons
One of America's most distinguished poets now shares his fascination with a distinctive corner of our country. Richard Shelton first came to southeastern Arizona in the 1950s as a soldier stationed at Fort Huachuca. He soon fell in love with the region and upon his discharge found a job as a schoolteacher in nearby Bisbee. Now a university professor and respected poet living in Tucson, still in love with the Southwestern deserts, Shelton sets off for Bisbee on a not-uncommon day trip. Along the way, he reflects on the history of the area, on the beauty of the landscape, and on his own life.
Couched within the narrative of his journey are passages revealing Shelton's deep familiarity with the region's natural and human history. Whether conveying the mystique of tarantulas or describing the mountain-studded topography, he brings a poet's eye to this seemingly desolate country. His observations on human habitation touch on Tombstone, "the town too tough to die," on ghost towns that perhaps weren't as tough, and on Bisbee itself, a once prosperous mining town now an outpost for the arts and a destination for tourists. What he finds there is both a broad view of his past and a glimpse of that city's possible future.
Going Back to Bisbee explores a part of America with which many readers may not be familiar. A rich store of information embedded in splendid prose, it shows that there are more than miles on the road to Bisbee.
- Print length344 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherUniversity of Arizona Press
- Publication dateMay 1, 1992
- Dimensions6.13 x 0.9 x 9.25 inches
- ISBN-100816512892
- ISBN-13978-0816512898
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now
Frequently bought together
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
- Tim Markus, Evergreen State Coll. Lib., Olympia, Wash.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"From Tucson to Bisbee is only a hundred-mile trip through the basin and range country of southeastern Arizona, but Richard Shelton makes it a memorable ride through time and experience. . . a memoir rich in the history of the area and in wisdom about the natural world. . . . Shelton has a generous sense of humor, a clear vision of the world and, ultimately, wonderful stories to tell."—Michael Pearson, New York Times Book Review
"Humor, poignancy, humaneness, word magic—these all make Going Back To Bisbee fit company with Dillard, Eiseley, Abbey, and Graves. . . . A beautiful book."—Journal of the West
"A poet of elegance and precision."—Harvard Review
"Poet-professor Shelton offers his first full-length prose work—and it's cause for celebration. . . . recalls the violent history of this long-isolated border area. . . . Shelton's literary touch is sure, and he seemingly achieves his effects—nostalgic, witty, inspirational—with little effort. A delightful companion piece to Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence."—Kirkus Reviews
"He's a magician, hypnotizing his audience one moment with a tribute to coyotes, then waking them to a discussion of the Apache wars. . . . Shelton possesses great generosity of soul, a gift for observation, and golden sense of humor."—Booklist
"A powerful annal of place. . . . Shelton imbues landscapes, flora and fauna with resonance, imprinting themes of memory, history and human nature in the reader's mind. . . . Shelton knows the lore and life of Southern Arizona, and his diction, both precise and evocative, reflects his poetic skills."—Publishers Weekly
"There's so much in this book to discover, so many evocative passages and entertaining side trips."—Los Angeles Times Book Review
"A heartfelt memoir, a spectacular natural and social history of a spectacular land. It is as fine a book as you will read this year."—San Diego Tribune
"It enriches the life of the reader by reminding him of his own past. . . . A lyrical search to determine what has happened during a life lived and experienced."—El Paso Times
From the Inside Flap
From the Back Cover
Product details
- Publisher : University of Arizona Press (May 1, 1992)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 344 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0816512892
- ISBN-13 : 978-0816512898
- Item Weight : 1.05 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.13 x 0.9 x 9.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #940,744 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,092 in Travelogues & Travel Essays
- #15,908 in U.S. State & Local History
- #27,949 in Memoirs (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
For my taste, the "going back to Bisbee" conceit is a little too artificial and forced, and the anthropomorphism to which Shelton is prone becomes mildly annoying, especially when repeatedly used with reference to the van, "Blue Boy," in which he makes his trip. But on the whole, the book is very engaging. It certainly is a much more entertaining way of learning about Colorado river toads, Perry's agave, coyotes, mesquite, and many similar subjects than the typical natural history guide. At the same time one learns much about the destruction of the landscape by the Anglo invasion and their cattle-ranching and mining without undue preaching, and one is treated to a number of interesting personal anecdotes, some of which are genuinely funny.
Hence, GOING BACK TO BISBEE can be recommended on a number of levels, but it would be especially appreciated, I think, by those interested in the Sonoran desert and the mountains of Southern Arizona.