The Anthropology of Turquoise: Reflections on Desert, Sea, Stone, and Sky

ellen meloy

In this invigorating mix of natural history and adventure, artist-naturalist Ellen Meloy uses turquoise—the color and the gem—to probe deeper into our profound human attachment to landscape.

From the Sierra Nevada, the Mojave Desert, the Yucatan Peninsula, and the Bahamas to her home ground on the high plateaus and deep canyons of the Southwest, we journey with Meloy through vistas of both great beauty and great desecration. Her keen vision makes us look anew at ancestral mountains, turquoise seas, and even motel swimming pools. She introduces us to Navajo “velvet grandmothers” whose attire and aesthetics absorb the vivid palette of their homeland, as well as to Persians who consider turquoise the life-saving equivalent of a bullet-proof vest. Throughout, Meloy invites us to appreciate along with her the endless surprises in all of life and celebrates the seduction to be found in our visual surroundings.

Genres nonfictionnaturearttravelmemoiressaysanthropologyhistoryscienceenvironment

336 pages, Paperback

First published July 16,2002

Literary awards

pulitzer prize, utah book award,

This edition

Format: 336 pages, Paperback
Published: July 8, 2003 by Vintage
ISBN: 9780375708138
ASIN: 0375708138
Language: English

About the author

ellen meloy

Ellen Meloy was an American nature writer. Among the awards she garnered are the Whiting Writer's Award (1997) and the John Burroughs Medal (2007); in 2003 she was also nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, for The Anthropology of Turquoise Meditations on Landscape, Art & Spirit.