Monday, September 19, 2011

FINDING EVERETT RUESS : THE LIFE AND UNSOLVED DISAPPEARANCE OF A LEGENDARY WILDERNESS EXPLORER
by David Roberts

Seventy-seven years after disappearing from the face of the earth, Everett Ruess has become somewhat of a cult figure. For five years, he wandered around the Southwest in the early part of the 1930s, by himself, with two burros. His voyages would last for several months. Ruess was quite young when he started at the age of fifteen. He was so passionate about the wilderness that he wrote, painted and did engravings about it. His dream was to live independently and to showcase his art. In 1934, Ruess vanished. What remains are letters, journals, poems and artwork. Ironically, the fame that he pursued as a vagabond is very much alive and he has quite a following. But it's the mystery of what happened to him that is the most puzzling and theories abound.
I thought this book was terrific. It's extremely well written and quite readable. In no time at all, you are absorbed in the tale. The author has a background in writing about adventure and history (22 books) and he does justice with this one.
Recommended.

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