Counting Sheep: Twenty Ways of Seeing Desert Bighorn (The Southwest Center)

Gary Paul Nabhan (Author)

While variations on so specific a theme runs the risk of putting readers to sleep, counting sheep with these authors will keep you wide awake. Ethnobotanist Nabhan here presents the diverse views of zoologists, anthropologists, historians, geographers, hunters, and journalists regarding desert bighorn. As the subtitle suggests, this book is as much about how the bighorns roam the hearts and minds of the watchers as it is about the elusive sheep themselves. Most of the authors take a very personal approach to "doing science," with Terry Tempest Williams, Ann Zwinger, and Charles Bowden offering particularly powerful narratives. While some readers new to "the new nature writing" may wish to start with a more general anthology such as On Nature's Terms, Counting Sheep is essential reading for naturalists and conservationists. Highly recommended for both public and academic libraries.

- Jim Dwyer, California State Univ. at Chico