Journalist Kyle Paoletta, who grew up in New Mexico, vividly illuminates the past and future of his home region in his first book, American Oasis. Through a blend of memoir, interviews, and well-researched reportage, Paoletta delves into the allure and challenges of life in cities such as Las Vegas, El Paso, Phoenix, Tucson, and his hometown of Albuquerque.
Paoletta provides an overview of the origin and development of the Southwest's major metro areas, starting with the Indigenous people who found ways to live in harmony with the desert's harsh beauty and constraints. He continues with accounts of the conquistadors and other European colonizers who pushed out the native peoples, determined to subdue the desert instead of submitting to it. That push-pull between the colonizer mindset (more growth at any cost) and the native one (learning to accept the landscape's strengths and limitations) continues to inform 21st-century life in the Southwest today.
Paoletta discusses urban planning, the constant problem of water use, the ostensible multiculturalism that often hides rampant racism--all issues specific to the region, yet relevant to the country at large. He portrays the stark, powerful landscapes that still draw people to the American West. Between chapters, he describes his experiences hiking the desert and visiting sacred and historic sites. These lyrical interludes are a dreamy counterpoint to the more factual portions, which brim with anecdotes, statistics, and biographical sketches of larger-than-life characters whose actions have shaped the region.
American Oasis is an indispensable regional history and an insightful consideration of how the Southwest's experience may provide a blueprint for the future of the entire country. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams