Name: The Anthropology of Turquoise
Rating: 5 (2 reviews)

Ellen Meloy

There is a swim across the Mojave, a harrowing error on a solo trip down a wild river, and a birthday party with wild sheep."--BOOK JACKET.

Reflections on Desert, Sea, Stone, and Sky

The Anthropology of Turquoise

In this invigorating mix of natural history and adventure, artist-naturalist Ellen Meloy uses turquoise—the color and the gem—to probe deeper into our profound human attachment to landscape.

From the Sierra Nevada, the Mojave Desert, the Yucatan Peninsula, and the Bahamas to her home ground on the high plateaus and deep canyons of the Southwest, we journey with Meloy through vistas of both great beauty and great desecration. Her keen vision makes us look anew at ancestral mountains, turquoise seas, and even motel swimming pools. She introduces us to Navajo “velvet grandmothers” whose attire and aesthetics absorb the vivid palette of their homeland, as well as to Persians who consider turquoise the life-saving equivalent of a bullet-proof vest. Throughout, Meloy invites us to appreciate along with her the endless surprises in all of life and celebrates the seduction to be found in our visual surroundings.

Laura Mauler

I picked this up thinking it would be a micro-history of turquoise, and found that it was worlds more than that. A blend of nature lit and memoir and meditation, all distilled through a fierce love of one particular place on this big beautiful earth. I think it should only be read outdoors, or at least with a view toward outdoors, in a place that you love.

The Anthropology of Turquoise Reflections on Desert, Sea, Stone, and Sky

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