The Anthropology of Turquoise: Meditations on Landscape, Art, and Spirit
What color is a life? Ellen Meloy looks at her place in the world and time inThe Anthropology of Turquoise: Meditations on Landscape, Art, and Spirit, and her experiences outweigh her conclusions--which are, after all, only tentative. Whether musing about family history, exploring the high Utah wilderness, or diving in the Gulf of Mexico, Meloy takes in more than most with her energetic senses, and her gift for articulating the sensuous keeps the reader looking over her shoulder. Life's ugly bits are also strewn herein; turning a blind eye to nuclear test sites and border crossings would be almost sacrilegious to someone who so venerates light and vision.The Anthropology of Turquoiseis perhaps best read as a nonfiction novel. Patching together pieces of memoir, travelogue, and spirit quest into a uniquely blended visionary document, Meloy finds the world in a grain of sand.--Rob Lightner