Take Me to the Source: In Search of Water

This intriguing but uneven study of water—and its material and symbolic necessity to human life—divides investigations into major themes as diverse as water's curious chemistry, its role in the history of pathology and torture, its widespread bottling and branding, and its inspiration to philosophers and artists. Moving from Kenya's flower industry to India's heavily polluted Yamuna River, the narrative settles into a perfunctory, slapdash rhythm (augmented by the author's jarring, self-consciously “literary” flourishes tagged onto the end of each chapter), but at its best it is a fascinating lens for viewing human progress and imagination. There is an underlying politics to the desultory journey as well, and Wright, a former water consultant to the World Bank, eventually gets practical with a list of 10 commandments for water projects. Readers interested in such policy specifics will necessarily wade through much else besides, and may balk at the terse treatment Wright gives to complex issues. General readers in search of a lively and diverting survey will find this wide-ranging discussion often surprising if only fitfully engaging. (Apr.)