Talking to the Ground has to be one of the top ten books I have read in the last decade. I found the writing to be truly evocative of the land ‰ÃƒÂ›ÃƒÂ’ in many ways the hero of the story ‰ÛÒ the place that grounds the DinÌ© in their sense of self.

The travelogue follows a path of Monster Slayer and his brother, Born for Water, took through a Navajo creation story. Preston, his fianc̩e and her little girl, travel on horseback and camp through four hundred miles of trails, beginning at Navajo Mountain, Utah, travelling on through Monument Valley, across the Utah Strip and Chinle Valley, and on to Canyon de Chelly, the Lukachukai Mountains, ultimately to finish in Shiprock, New Mexico. The accounts of people they meet throughout their journey and the way the author skillfully weaves in the history and mystery of the place is what makes Talking to the Ground such a riveting read.

As someone who has spent a significant amount of time on the Navajo Nation, I was impressed by the research and life experience that went into the story, which brought the bits and pieces of legends I have heard throughout my own life together in a more cohesive way. It is a magnificent journey over a desolate, yet obviously animated land. In fact, going on and off the reservation I have always felt the energy change, and this book helps to explain that shift in a deeply meaningful way. The journey and the resulting book by Douglas Preston is an inspiring achievement. ( )

Very good - Preston, his soon to be wife and her daughter travel by horseback across the reservation from Navajo Mountain across to Monument Valley, down to Canyon de Chelly, and then up the Lukachukai to Shiprock. But the journey is also an account of the Navajo creation stories, particularly Monster Slayer. ( )

One Family's Journey on Horseback across the Sacred Land of the Navajo ( )