The Land of Little Rain
title page, 1903
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| Author | Mary Hunter Austin |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Nature writing |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin |
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Publication date
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1903 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| ISBN | (modern) |
The Land of Little Rain is a book written by American writer Mary Hunter Austin. First published in 1903, it contains a series of interrelated lyrical essays about the inhabitants of the American Southwest, both human and otherwise.
The Land of Little Rain has been published six times. The first publication was in 1903 by Houghton Mifflin. Subsequent publications include a 1950 abridged version with photographs by Ansel Adams (also by Houghton Mifflin), a 1974 illustrated version by E. Boyd Smith published by University of New Mexico Press, a 1988 edition with an introduction by Edward Abbey published as part of the Penguin Nature Library by Penguin Books, and a 1997 edition published with an introduction by Terry Tempest Williams, also published by Penguin Books, and a 2014 edition with photography by Mojave Desert photographer Walter Feller, publisher by Counterpoint Press.
The Land of Little Rain is a collection of short stories and essays detailing the landscape and inhabitants of the American Southwest. A message of environmental conservation and a philosophy of cultural and sociopolitical regionalism loosely links the stories together.
The opening essay describes the "Country of Lost Borders," an area of land between Death Valley and the High Sierras. The image created of the land at the beginning of the story is one of almost unbearable heat and dryness, punctuated by violent storms. Despite the description of how inhospitable the landscape is, at the end Austin proposes that the costs the land imposes upon a man are worth it because it provides man with peace of mind and body that cannot be achieved any other way.
The section's title refers to the trails made by wild animals moving towards sources of water. The essay provides descriptions of the many animals that travel along the trails, including coyotes, rabbits, and quails. Their ability to find water where there seems to be none is extolled by Austin, a skill which she believes no human is able to match.
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