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Bruce Berger
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Almost an Island: Travels in Baja California Paperback – July 1, 1998

by Bruce Berger (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 17 ratings
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Long frequented by pirates and haunted by pariahs, Baja California has become a favorite destination for whale watchers, hikers, and scuba divers. For Bruce Berger it has been more. In Almost an Island, he takes readers beyond the Baja of guidebooks and offers a wildly entertaining look at the real Baja California.

Eight hundred miles long, Baja California is the remotest region of the Sonoran desert, a land of volcanic cliffs, glistening beaches, fantastical boojum trees, and some of the greatest primitive murals in the Western Hemisphere. In Almost an Island, Berger recounts tales from his three decades in this extraordinary place, enriching his account with the peninsula's history, its politics, and its probable future—rendering a striking panorama of this land so close to the United States, so famous, and so little known.

Readers will meet a cast of characters as eccentric as the place itself: Brandy, who ranges the desert in a sand buggy while breathing from an oxygen tank; Katie, the chanteuse; nuns illegally raising pigs. They will encounter the tourist madness of a total eclipse, the story of the heir to an oasis, a musical Mata Hari, rare pronghorn antelope, and a pet tarantula. In prose as glittering as this desert engulfed by the sea, Almost an Island is a fascinating journey into the human heart of a spectacular land.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    224 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    University of Arizona Press
  4. Publication date
    July 1, 1998
  5. Dimensions
    6.13 x 0.6 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0816519021
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0816519026
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While the natural marvels of the 800-mile-long Mexican peninsula called Baja California are not scanted in this freewheeling exploration, it's the human inhabitants that underscore its uniqueness. Berger, award-winning author of The Telling Distance (1990), erstwhile piano player ready for adventure, chronicles his three-decade love affair with this timeless landscape of desert, lagoons, caves and remote ranges, as well as the people of its cities and towns. One of those cities is LaPaz in Baja California Sur, to which a third of the book is devoted. ("LaPaz was one of those places that bored the tourist while whispering to a struck minority: here you must live.") As a resident foreigner whose affection does not close his eyes to contemporary societal evils, Berger is an objective observer. As a "specialist in the state of Baja California," he treats the reader to a pithy history of the upper and lower peninsula, with views of the Spanish colonizers, the controversial missionaries, especially the Jesuits, and the ongoing flinty relationship of the U.S. and this Mexican territory. Berger the raconteur entertains as he cautions against the intrusions made possible by paved roads and highways.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Berger, a Western States Book Award Winner for The Telling Distance (Univ. of Arizona, 1990), lived and traveled in Baja, CA, for three decades. Here he paints a vivid picture of this unique place he refers to as "almost an island." In a fight to protect this shrinking wilderness, he covers the history of the native peoples, the invasion of the Spaniards, modern-day tourists, contemporary settlements, and the everyday life of the permanent and transient residents of the peninsula. He also charts how the 20th century has finally caught up with Baja; as tourism flourishes, the rich history disappears. More homage to a once-wild corner of the North American continent than guidebook, this is recommended for public and academic libraries.?Sandra Knowles, Univ. of South Carolina Sch. of Medicine Lib., Columbia
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Arizona Press; First Edition (July 1, 1998)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0816519021
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0816519026
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.13 x 0.6 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 17 ratings

About the author

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Bruce Berger

Bruce Berger

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Visit www.bruceberger.net

Award-winning nonfiction writer and poet Bruce Berger is the author of ten books and is best known for his works exploring the intersection of nature and culture, usually in desert settings. Those works include the essay collection THE TELLING DISTANCE: Conversations with The American Desert (winner of the 1990 Western States Book Award for Creative Nonfiction and the 1991 Colorado Book Award); THERE WAS A RIVER, its title piece a narrative of what was probably the last trip on the Colorado River through Glen Canyon before its inundation by Lake Powell; and ALMOST AN ISLAND, which recounts three decades of exploration and friendships in Baja California. His desert writing has been widely anthologized. Mr. Berger's recent book is OASIS OF STONE, in collaboration with award-winning photographer Miguel Angel de la Cueva. "A knock-out look at Baja California Sur" The San Diego Union-Tribune. Winner of the 2006 ForeWord Silver Award for nature writing.

His work has appeared in hundreds of publications, including THE NEW YORK TIMES, BARRON'S and OUTSIDE. For three years he was a contributing editor at AMERICAN WAY.

In October of 2008 Mr. Berger was selected by The Department of State to represent the United States at an international literary conference held in northern India. After the conference he was invited to spend a week reading from his works in New Delhi and Mumbai.

Mr. Berger was born in Evanston, Illinois. He is a graduate of Yale University.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
17 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Robert N. Jenkins
5.0 out of 5 stars A fine read, even for those not going there
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2013
Verified Purchase
Having spent much of 30 years visiting and then living in Baja California Sur, Bruce Berger did us all a favor by mixing insight, curiosity and gentle good humor to reflect on the region. Berger also offers a smart take on the early European history of the areas, then moves to the later 20th century and the impact of in-migration and tourist development measured against the communal eccentricities of a place that had its own charm. You might even be envious of Berger's experiences and acquaintances.

Consequently, the book is entertaining reading. It might even put a visit to the peninsula on your wish list.
3 people found this helpful
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johanna Marais
4.0 out of 5 stars recommend 1 improvement but otherwise great book
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2017
Verified Purchase
We recently visited Baja for the first time and wanted to read more about the region to educate ourselves since we are going back later in the year to visit again. Bruce's writing style not only makes for an easy, humorous read but is really informative in terms of the various Baja regions/main towns and fascinating characters that made this peninsula their home. We also loved his descriptions of the variety of landscapes, both coastal and the interior. This book is also semi-biographical in nature and Bruce's various funny accounts of mechanical breakdowns and other mis-adventures while travelling in Baja kept us engaged. This book can be enhanced by adding a few basic maps so that when Bruce describes a certain region/city/trip the reader can easily orientate him/herself
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S. Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for my holiday
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2016
Verified Purchase
It supplied me with the information I was hoping for before and during my trip to Baja! Factual and entertaining. I like to have the history and information about where I'm going to visit for the first time, this book was it!
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Meeemmme
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2014
Verified Purchase
just as described
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Rosalva Reed
3.0 out of 5 stars Surprised!
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2013
Verified Purchase
I was surprised to find a reference to my brother Salvador Garcia Pineda . The lack of foot notes and bibliography by the author surprised me also. Good cover , but unfortunately a good book is not judged by its cover.
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Good writing
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2019
Verified Purchase
Like a well written travel blog. the author has had an immersive experience over time in his repeated and lengthy visits to Baja California.
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Charles M. Nobles
5.0 out of 5 stars It's worth the trip
Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2000
I enjoy travel and have just returned from a wonderful trip to Baja, CA. Well, I didn't actually get to go in person but I did the next best thing. I just finished reading Berger's story of his experiences over three decades in the remotest region of the Sonoran desert, Baja, CA. Berger is a prolific writer and author of numerous books including There Was a River and The Telling Distance, which won both a Western States Book Award and a Colorado Book Authors award. He has an ongoing love affair with Baja(30 years) and it shows no sign of abating. Almost an Island is not your typical travel book.They are a dime a dozen. This book is a collection of stories, history, politics and reminiscence of the real Baja. It's a human story about real characters, agonizingly beautiful and harsh geography, and a future as uncertain as the paved highway recently built in part to encourage "economic development" and bring the "advantages" of modern living to the populace via tourism. When you go with Berger you are a traveler rather than a tourist. You will visit remote places and meet people that most tourists never see. The characters are unforgettable and, well, eccentric to say the least. Come along and meet Brandy, a Marine Corps veteran with scarred lungs, that traverses the desert in a dune buggy and oxygen tanks. How about spending some time with an innkeeper from Hollywood, nuns that raise pigs under questionable circumstances, and a former Detroit auto executive that walked away from a career and settled on a beach. The story of the activities surrounding a total eclipse is hilarious. There are stories of a pet tarantula, pronghorn antelope, and a million points of light in between. Berger is a keen observer of every thing he sees and experiences. He brings you the feel, the smell, the taste of the incredible diversity of the eight hundred mile long peninsula of desert surrounded by the sea we know as Baja. It is remote, close to the United States, famous, and little known. If you want to meet this area up close and personal, go with Bruce Berger. It is a trip you will never forget and you can't beat the price.
35 people found this helpful
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aggie l
5.0 out of 5 stars aventura
Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2013
What a treasure this book turned out to be! In 1973 Baja California Sur was still a territory, wild and unforgiving in terrain. Bruce Berger takes you on an outback adventure, weaving history, geography and culture into an irresistible feast for the rustically inclined. I personally have read it at least five times, and it remains a mainstay of my home library.
4 people found this helpful
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