About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherUniversity of Nevada Press

ISBN-101647791537

ISBN-139781647791537

eBay Product ID (ePID)5063201007

Product Key Features

Book TitlePlaya Works : the Myth of the Empty

Number of Pages240 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2024

TopicUnited States / State & Local / West (Ak, CA, Co, Hi, Id, Mt, Nv, Ut, WY), Popular Culture, Essays

GenreNature, Social Science, History

AuthorWilliam L. Fox

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.8 in

Item Weight8 Oz

Item Length8.8 in

Item Width6.3 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

Dewey Edition21

Reviews"Fox's prose was lovely to read, clean and delicate, his paragraphs well-balanced with information and narrative. He has a rare sensitivity to beauty, meaning, and language. His approach is soulful, his thinking solid and expansive, as hard and wide as the desert floor." -- Elizabeth White , Southwestern American Literature, "If we are to increasingly inhabit the deserts of the world, we must better understand them, author William L. Fox argues. Fox takes readers on a literary odyssey that integrates scholarship and personal narrative in a rich exploration of the natural and unnatural histories of dry lakes. Fox is a master of writing technical information in a manner that makes matters clear and engaging for a non-technical reader in Playa Works: The Myth of the Empty . Fox tours the playas of California, Nevada, and Utah with artists and scientists, military personnel and defense contractors, piecing together the story of how we perceive the intimidating blank pages of the desert and inscribe our culture upon them." -- Encore: Sierra Arts Monthly , November 2002, "William L. Fox's new book is the most extraordinary and complex book yet written about the Big Empty, its myth and reality, and the works of art that it has spawned, full of the ironies of history and mysterious draw of its landscape. A playa lover's dream, a dreamer's vision in words, sculpture, and photographs, underlaid by fine scholarship and exuberance. All in all, a superb book that belongs in the library of everyone who loves the dry spans of the West." -- Ann Zwinger , author of The Mysterious Lands: A Naturalist Explores the Four Great Deserts of the Southwest

Grade FromNinth Grade

Dewey Decimal979

Table Of ContentThe Myth of the Empty An Introduction, 1 A Tour of the Playa, Part I The Mojave, 21 A Tour of the Playa, Part II The Nevada Test Site, 51 A Tour of the Playa, Part III Wendover,77 A Tour of the Playa, Coda Owens Dry Lake, 113 Painting the Playa Smoke Creek Desert, 125 Burning Man Black Rock Desert, 161 Rediscovery An Afterword, 193 Sources, 209

SynopsisIn eight brilliant essays, Fox explores many of the major playas of the American West , examining locations as diverse as Nellis Air Force Base and Frenchman Flat, where the federal government has tested experimental aircraft and atomic weaponry; the Great Salt Lake Desert, where land-speed records have been broken; and the Black Rock Desert of Northern Nevada, site of the colorful Burning Man arts festival. He analyzes the geological and climatological conditions that created the playas and the historical role that playas played in the exploration and settlement of the West. And he offers lucid and keenly perceptive discussions of the ways that artists have responded to the playas, from the ancient makers of geoglyphs to the work of contemporary artists who have found inspiration in these enigmatic spaces, including earthworks builder Michael Heizer, photographer Richard Misrach, and painter Michael Moore. The ensemble is a compelling combination of natural history, philosophy, and art criticism, a thoughtful meditation on humankind's aversion to and fascination with the void., In eight brilliant essays, Fox explores many of the major playas of the American West, examining locations as diverse as Nellis Air Force Base and Frenchman Flat; the Great Salt Lake Desert; and the Black Rock Desert of Northern Nevada. The result is a compelling combination of natural history, philosophy, and art criticism., In eight brilliant essays, Fox explores many of the major playas of the American West, examining locations as diverse as Nellis Air Force Base and Frenchman Flat, where the federal government has tested experimental aircraft and atomic weaponry; the Great Salt Lake Desert, where land-speed records have been broken; and the Black Rock Desert of Northern Nevada, site of the colorful Burning Man arts festival. He analyzes the geological and climatological conditions that created the playas and the historical role that playas played in the exploration and settlement of the West. And he offers lucid and keenly perceptive discussions of the ways that artists have responded to the playas, from the ancient makers of geoglyphs to the work of contemporary artists who have found inspiration in these enigmatic spaces, including earthworks builder Michael Heizer, photographer Richard Misrach, and painter Michael Moore. The ensemble is a compelling combination of natural history, philosophy, and art criticism, a thoughtful meditation on humankind's aversion to and fascination with the void.