A Desert Bestiary: Folklore, Literature, and Ecological Thought from the World's Dry Places

From the ant to the wolf, 45 animals receive brief but brightly engaging consideration in Gregory McNamee's A Desert Bestiary: Folklore, Literature, and Ecological Thought from the World's Dry Places. With wit and erudition, McNamee finds much that's notable about beasts as unlikely as the hedgehog and the dingo; and with so many of these 45 animals in peril, his fine book serves to advocate preservation as well as to praise. Illustrations not seen by PW.