ere is a book for people who ask you why you keep going down there. What is it that makes you piddle your life away in that godforsaken hole? Gary Ladd and Craig Childs, photographer and writer respectively, spent much of the last two years chasing the elusive, pervasive, addictive soul of Grand Canyon. Of course it can never be caught, but this is as close as anyone has gotten.
Childs clambers through dozens, perhaps hundreds of the Canyon's side gulches in every season, listening, touching, feeling the place both physically and emotionally. His writing draws you on to the next, and the next, much as the Canyon draws him on. His impressions of his river trip by dory are vivid, perceptive, and amusing.
Gary Ladd composes striking color images of the myraid magical places we live in, work in, and wander through. His eye for composition and color is exquisite, his knack for finding the right place amazing. For those of us that don't spend much time down there any more, this book has the ability to take us back, reawaken the senses, and make us smile. For those who haven't lived down there, it can give you a hint and perhaps even lure you in.
At $49 it is hard for a boatman to run out and buy this book. But it is a good one to put at the top of your indulgence list.
Grand Canyon: Time Below the Rim, text by Craig Childs, photography by Gary Ladd. Arizona Highways Books, 1999, isbn 0-916179-78-8 $48.95. Available at your favorite independent bookstore or the gcrg online bookstore at www.gcrg.org.

Brad Dimock