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A
Selected, Annotated Bibliography
of Books about
Taos
and New Mexicoprepared by Arthur J.
Bachrach
(Page 2) |
Works Of Fiction
1. Recommended with enthusiasm is the New
Mexico Trilogy
by, Taoseno John Nichols. All three are fine
novels, with a com-
passionate and insightful portrayal of the area
and the people.
Best known is The Milagro Beanfield War,
on which Robert Redford's
motion picture was based and filmed in nearby
Truchas. The
central figure in the novel is Joe Mondragon,
whose diversion
of water his family once owned, and which he
needs to plant
beans, sparks a conflict between the native people
and the
corporation that plans a large development in
the area. Nichols'
lifelong dedication to the environment shines
clearly throughout
this warm novel.
The others in the Trilogy, also beautifully written,
are
The Magic Journey
Nirvana Blues
2. Another Taos author, the inspiring, late
Frank Waters, was
also a leader in the struggle for the preservation
of the land and
its culture. His excellent works of fiction will
enrich the reader's world
and understanding of New Mexico.
The Man Who Killed The Deer
an acclaimed novel of a young Taos Pueblo Indian
and his
growing up in two cultures, Anglo and Pueblo.
People Of The Valley
a poignant story of the people of Mora Valley,
in the Sangre de
Cristo mountains. The leading character is Maria
del Valle, an
Hispanic herbalist who works with her people
to cope with the
onslaught of technology in the form of a Government
dam.
The Woman At Otowi Crossing
This is a fictionalized account of the life of
Edith Warner,
who lived near Los Alamos and ran a tea room
which the
personnel at the secret atomic laboratory were
permitted to
visit. Waters was a Public Information officer
at the labora-
tory during much of the research. His novel was
made into
an opera which premiered in St. Louis a few weeks
after
his death on June 3, 1995. It is sad that he
never saw it
performed.
3. A non-fiction account of the life of Edith
Warner is the
excellent biography by Peggy Pond Church, The
House
At Otowi Bridge.
A reading of both Waters and Church
is most rewarding.
4. The Delight Makers
Adolph Bandelier
Written in 1890, while Bandelier was doing archaeological
field work in New Mexico, this novel is an enduring
story
of prehistoric Pueblo Indians.
5. Death Of Bernadette Lefthand
Ron Querry
Querry, a longtime Taos resident, wrote this
award-winning
novel about the death of a Native American woman.
Set in
Navajo and Jicarilla Apache country, as well
as the Taos
Pueblo, it is a strong book.
6. Death Comes For The Archbishop
Willa Cather
This famous novel is based on the life of Bishop
Lamy, a
French cleric who came to Santa Fe to establish
a new
Catholic diocese, taking some jurisdiction away
from
Bishop Zubiria of Durango, Mexico. Durango was
1,500 miles from Santa Fe and Zubiria could not
easily
supervise the huge region which included New
Mexico.
Cather's novel depicts Lamy's work in New Mexico
His name in the book is Bishop Latour. His adversary,
Taos' Padre Martinez (his real name, as opposed
to
Lamy's, is used in the book), challenged Lamy
in large
part because he believed that Lamy was importing
European ideas, such as the construction of the
Cathedral
Of St. Francis in Santa Fe, architecturally not
of this
new world, while tithing the poor of New Mexico
to
realize such foreign ideas. In 1857, Lamy was
supposed
to have excommunicated Martinez, but recent archival
research seems to have proven that the papers
of
excommunication were never completed. It appears
that
Martinez acted as though he were indeed driven
from the
Church and set up his own independent parish.
In any
case, Lamy and Martinez were at odds, largely
because
of Martinez' importunate behavior such as writing
letters
in strong opposition to Lamy in the Santa Fe
journal,
La Gaceta. In many
ways the two men of God were
of the same mind, both establishing schools to
educate
girls, a concept not very popular at the time.
7. Paul Horgan's Pulitzer Prize biography,
Lamy (currently out of print)
Of Santa Fe provides an excellent overview of
Lamy's
life and of the years in New Mexico, including
an account
of the Lamy-Martinez controversy. Even though
the
events occurred almost 150 years ago, there remain
strong feelings on both sides.
Whatever view of the affair one may take,
Cather's
book is a wonderful piece of writing, a lovely
picture of
New Mexico at a magical time in its history.
8. Red Sky At Morning
Richard Bradford
The classic novel of a young Anglo boy growing
up
among Hispanic neighbors and friends. An even
more
enjoyable novel, in my view, is his So Far From
Heaven, unfortunately out-of-print. The title
comes from
to the old lament: "Poor New Mexico, so
far
from Heaven, so close to Texas!"
9. Bless Me, Ultima
Rudolfo Anaya
A acclaimed portrayal of Hispanic youth and the
world
around them.
10. So Far From God
Ana Castillo
A novel set in Central New Mexico with strong
visions of Native American, Hispanic and Anglo
relationships.
11. Several by the superb storyteller, Albuquerque
resident and former Taoseno, Max Evans:
The Hi-Lo Country
Evans' story of cowhands, made into the motion
picture starring Woody Harrelson
Rounders 3
Max Evans, Illustrated by Grem Lee
This well-illustrated edition reprints all the
Rounder stories, beginning with The Rounders,
from which the motion picture of the same name,
starring Henry Fonda and Glenn Ford, was made.
The ensuing tales, The Great Wedding and
The
Orange County Cowboys,
follow Dusty and
Wrangler through further adventures.
Also wonderful
stories by Max are My Pardner
and Mountain of Gold.
His most recent book
is non-fiction. It is a charming account
of a
colorful chararter, Madam Millie: Bordellos from Silver City
to Ketchikan. All of his books will delight readers
as only "Ol' Max" can.
12. Rick Collignon
Collignon is a resident of Taos and has written
three
fine books. The Journal Of Antonio Montoya,
is an
award-winning first novel, followed
by Perdido (out of print) and his
most
recent Santo in the Image of Cristobal Garcia. All three
works are set in a small New Mexico village and weave
past
and present in a poignant illustration of
the feelings and hopes
of the villagers.
13. Canyon Of Remembering
Lesley Poling-Kempes
A novel of inspiration about a group meeting
outside Santa Fe to search out their lives.
14. Skeleton Of A Bridge
Robert Mirabal
Robert Mirabal is a Taos Pueblo Indian,whose
skills as a storyteller and flautist have won
him
international acclaim. Skeleton Of A Bridge
is a
fine collection of stories of his life on the
Pueblo.
15. Stygo
Laura Hendrie
Hendrie lives in Ojo Sarco, New Mexico and has
written two strong novels about the people of
small
villages, one the award-winning Stygo
and the now
out of print Remember Me.
16.. Land Of Enchantment, Land Of Conflict:
New Mexico In English Language Fiction
David L. Caffey
Caffey's edited collection of fiction is a splendid
reprinting of fiction from New Mexico, a broad
coverage well chosen.
17. You Can't Push A Rope
Clint Trafton
An award-winning (Frank Waters Foundation) novel
of the
Chicano struggle
for the land. It covers the Tijerina trial.
18. Taos Massacres
John Durand
A fictionalized account of the Taos Massacres of 1847 and featuring
historical figures, such as, Lewis Garrard (see Wah-To-Yah and
The Taos Trail), Ceran St. Vrain, and Charles Bent.
Back to the Top
Works
Of Fiction: Mysteries set in New Mexico
The murder mystery has become so important
a genre in New Mexican works of fiction that I thought it deserved
a special section of its very own.
One of the most rewarding characteristics
of these mysteries set in New Mexico is the ability of the various
authors to hold the reader's interest in solving the murders
while informing them about the people and the culture of New
Mexico. Hillerman, of course, is the master of this form. Other
writers have been very successful as well. This skillful weaving
of a good tale and interesting facts is very much in the style
of writers such as the great Australian mystery author, Arthur
Upfield, whose half- Anglo, half-Aboriginal detective, Napoleon
Bonaparte, could mix anthropology and assassination while entertaining
thereader.. Indeed, Hillerman has acknowledged his clear debt
to Arthur Upfield.
An indication of the growing audience for
and interest in good mysteries is the mystery book club in Taos,
sponsored by Moby Dickens Bookshop. The club, called " 'Who
Did It?': A Grammatically Correct Mystery Book Club,"
meets one evening a month, now the third Wednesday, to discuss
mysteries of all types and to meet with mystery writers. The
club is open to all mystery lovers. (Please click on Mystery
for the current schedule and mystery book selection) Further
information may be obtained by calling Moby Dickens at (505)
758-3050, or Toll-Free: 1-888-442-9980. A monthly notice of meetings
and information about mysteries is mailed to all members. If
you wish to receive the mailings, please call or write to Moby
Dickens at our address: 124A Bent Street, Taos New Mexico 87571
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The major writers of mysteries set
in New Mexico:
1. Tony Hillerman
As we have noted, Tony Hillerman is the undisputed
master of the New Mexico-based murder mystery.
With the exception of Fly On The Wall,
a newspaper
mystery set in Santa Fe, and Finding Moon, a
man's
search in Vietnam, all of Hillerman's mysteries
feature
two Navajo tribal policemen, Jim Chee and Joe
Leaphorn.
The books offer a rich flavor of Native American
culture
and landscape, particularly Hopi and Navajo.
In order of publication, the mysteries are: The
Blessing Way, Dance Hall Of The Dead, Listening
Woman, People Of Darkness The DarkWind, The
Ghostway, Skinwalkers, A Thief Of Time, Talking
God,
Coyote Waits, Sacred Clowns, The Fallen Man,
First
Eagle, Hunting Badger, The Wailing Wind, The Sinister Pig,
Skelton Man and his latest Shape Shifters.
In the mystery, The Dark Wind, while
weaving a good
plot, Hillerman offers one of the best reasoned
discussions
of the problems over land that have been a source
of
conflict between the Hopi and the Navajo for
years, typical
of the thought that underlies his writing.
Moby Dickens has an extensive collection of first
foreign editions by Tony Hillerman in many languages.
2. Jake Page
Jake Page is a world-renowned science writer
and editor who,
with his wife, Suzanne, produced the splendid
photo-essays,
Navajo and Hopi. His mysteries center around
Mo Bowdre,a
blind sculptor living in Santa Fe, and his Anglo-Hopi
companion,
Connie Barnes. The mysteries all have a fine
seasoning of art,
history and archaeology and, in order of publication,
are:
The Stolen Gods, Deadly Canyon, The Knotted
Strings, Lethal
Partner and A
Certain Malice.
3. Walter Satterthwait
Satterthwait makes his home in Santa Fe a
goodly part of the time.
His protagonist, a thinking man's private eye
named Joshua Croft,
is featured in A Wall Of Glass, A Flower In
The Desert, At Ease
With The Dead, The Hanged Man, Accustomed To The Dark.
4. Louis Owens
The late Louis Owens was a Native American
author and professor who, in
addition to publishing works of scholarship,
authored fine
mysteries. One example is Nightland, set
in New Mexico, in which
he subtly demonstrates the Native American sense
of humor, not
always recognized by Anglos.
5. Steve Brewer
Brewer, an Albuquerque author, has a protagonist,
a likeable
Redneck named Bubba Mabry, also a resident of
the Duke City.
Brewer's books are Baby Face, Lonely
Street, Witchy
Woman, Shaky
Ground, Dirty Pool, Crazy Love and Fool's
Paradise. A new protagonist is Drew Garvin in End Run.
His latest book is Bullets.
6. Michael McGarrity
McGarrity is an former Santa Fe policeman,
still living there and
writing entertaining mysteries whose protagonist
is an-ex Santa Fe
Chief Of Detectives, retired through wounding,
named Kevin Kerney.
The mysteries, most named for New Mexico geography,
are Tularosa,
Mexican Hat, Serpent
Gate, Hermit's Peak, Judas
Judge, Under The Color Of Law, The
Big Gamble, Everyone Dies, Slow
Kill and his latest Northing But Trouble
7. Nevada Barr
Nevada Barr, herself a National Park Service
Ranger,uses
a Ranger named Anna Pigeon as her heroine. Only
one of her
mysteries is set in this area, in the Guadalupe
National Park,
spanning Eastern New Mexico and West Texas. It
is a well-written book,
her first mystery of the series, Track Of
The Cat.
8. Aimee and David Thurlo
The Thurlos' main character is a Navajo, Ella
Clah, a former
FBI agent and now a special investigator for
the Navajo
Tribal Police. Their mysteries, which have a
good New Mexico
flavor, include Bad Medicine, Shooting Chant,
Enemy
Way and Red
Mesa, and their latest Pale Death.
9. Judith Van Gieson
Van Gieson's heroine, in her first series
of mysteries, is a
sharp female attorney named Neil Hamel, who resides
in
Albuquerque (as does Van Gieson). Her books,
in order, are
North Of The Border, Raptor, The Other Side
Of Death,
Wolf Path, The Lies That Bind, Hotshots, and Ditch Rider
A new series, starting with the publication of
The Stolen Blue,
features Claire Reynier, an archivist at the
University Of New Mexico's Center For Southwest
Research.
Second in this series is Vanishing
Point, followed by Confidence Woman,
and
her latest, Land of Burning Heat.
Both her series of books are well written and filled with
interesting characters and events.
10. Connie Shelton
Shelton lives in Angel Fire in Northern New
Mexico, but her
main character is a female accountant named Charlie
Parker,
a resident of Albuquerque. Three of her mysteries
are set in
New Mexico, including Deadly Gamble, and
Memories Can Be Murder.
11. Rudolfo Anaya
Anaya is best known for his brilliant books
of New Mexico
such as Bless Me Ultima and has recently turned
his hand toward mystery writing.
His murder mysteries are: Alburquerque
(yes,
Anaya put the first "r" back where
he says it belonged originally),
Zia Summer, Rio Grande Fall, and Shaman Winter..
12. Martin Cruz Smith
Smith, internationally known for Gorky
Park, Polar Star,
Havana Bay, and the brilliant Rose, wrote a mystery
surrounding
the laboratory at Los Alamos, New Mexico and
its scientists.
The book is Stallion Gate. While lesser
known than his other
mysteries, it is well worth reading.
13. Martha Grimes
Famed American writer of British mysteries,
Martha Grimes,
a part-time resident of Santa Fe, has a book,
Rainbow's End, in
which she moves Chief Superintendent, Richard
Jury, of
Scotland Yard, from London to Santa Fe to solve
a series of
unexplained deaths in England that are somehow
related to
events in Santa Fe.
14. Harlan Campbell
Monkey On A Chain,
a first mystery by Campbell, features
a hero whose image evokes memories of John MacDonald's
Travis McGee and other anti-heroes who take on
Paladin
quests. The hero, Rainbow Porter, lives in the
mountains
around Albuquerque and is a simpatico rogue.
15. Sarah Lovett
Lovett, also from Santa Fe, has written three
novels
with her interesting main character, Dr. Sylvia
Strange. The books,
Dangerous Attachments, Acquired Motives, and
A Desperate
Silence, Dante's
Inferno, and Dark Alchemy..
16. Mari Ulmer
A long time resident of Taos, Mari Ulmer's
first mystery,
Midnight At The Camposanto, is a rich blend of Northern New
Mexico culture and a setting of Catholic beliefs
surrounding the
puzzling murder of a Penitente Brother. Her second
Taos Festival Mystery is Carreta de la Muerte involving
religious art thefts in Taos.
17. Susan Slater
The Pumpkin Seed Massacre is the first mystery of a series
featuring a Tewa Pueblo Indian, Ben Pecos, employed
by the
Indian Health Service. It was recently reprinted.
The subsequent titles are Yellow Lies, Thunderbird,
Flash Flood, and Five O'Clock Shadow.
18. Steven F. Havill
Havill is the author of the Sheriff Bill Gastner
mystery series, set in New Mexico and full of memborable characters.
The series includes Dead Weight, Out of Season,
Prolonged Exposure, Privileged to Kill, Before
She Dies, Twice Buried, Bitter Recoil, and
Heartshot. The latest in the series is Bag Limit.
His new protaganist, Estella, has taken over the Sheriff's Department
in Scavengers.
19. Pari Noskin Taichert
Her books are The Clovis Incident
and her latest The Belen Hitch featuring
Sasha Solomon, an entertaining, off-beat protagonist.
20. Vicki Stiefel
Her book The Bone Man (a Tally Whyte
mystery) takes place largely in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.
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