Mythical River

The mighty Colorado and all who depend upon it

It is difficult to know how to write a review of this book as it sits across so many genres. It is nature writing, it is memoir and it is poetry. But above all these things it is a beautiful homage to a place I have never been, nor am I likely to go and yet I feel nostalgic for it. Ms Sevigny writes "humans have an inborn affinity for water. An inward ocean shapes our cells and bends the double strands of our DNA. Polarity gives definition to the shape of a water molecule, a faint positive charge hovering around the offset hydrogen atoms, a faint negative charge on the opposite side. This gives water strange qualities - an iceberg's lightness, the extension that allows the water-strider to dimple the surface with spidery legs, the ability to dissolve almost anything." What a paragraph of beautiful writing that captures the wonder the author feels. There is much here on the politics of water conservation and the environmental aspects of change but there is also a love of nature shining through at all times.

This book would be ideal for a young adult who is attuned to nature but feels no one understands or anyone who believes the world we are creating isn't as special as the one we had in the past. I was given a copy of this book by netgalley in return for an honest review.

The structure of the book was at first difficult to penetrate, as it jumped between timeframes, locations, and genres. Once I got into it, however, I discovered a finely woven tapestry of history, politics, science, and memoir around water in the US southwest. While several well known issues were raised, I appreciated that the author focused on far less well-known stories & rivers. In the end, the structure she followed worked perfectly to support her central points. Poetically written, this book is a must read not only for those concerned with southwest water issues, but for anyone who cares about the environmental future of whatever place they call home.