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Outside Magazine January 2002

A Brief Desert Canon

PHOTOGRAPHY
Desert: The Mojave and Death Valley, by Jack W. Dykinga
Brilliant, color-saturated images of deep canyons and patches of lush green scattered throughout the harsh and beautiful Mojave.

FICTION
The Sheltering Sky, by Paul Bowles
The story of three young Americans who find themselves in North Africa, where they encounter the desert's shifting moods and alien cultures.

MUSINGS
Desert Solitaire, by Edward Abbey
The classic meditation on deserts by America's crustiest codger, Abbey's masterpiece is part rant, part celebration, and still prickly after 30 years.

GUIDEBOOK
A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert, edited by Steven J. Phillips
The award-winning text includes a calendar of natural events highlighting animal migrations, full moons, and the Sonoran's awesome spring flower show.

CLASSIC FILM
Beau Geste
This 1939 Gary Cooper film follows the Geste brothers as they join the Foreign Legion and head off to do battle in the Sahara.

DOCUMENTARY
Cadillac Desert
A four-part PBS series based on the Marc Reisner book chronicles the West's quest for water in the 20th century.

ADVENTURE FLICK
Lawrence of Arabia
The brilliant dramatization of the career of T. E. Lawrence, the man who reshaped the map of the Arabian Peninsula.

Next Page: Fierce sun, thorny foes, and bewildering terrain: The desert is no place to skimp on critical gear, such as these essentials heartily endorsed by a desert rat who's made most of his mistakes already—but never again