G. Emlen Hall
1 Absorbing (pun intended). Book is both excellent and timely
In the Southwest, water rights are a war zone; the film "Chinatown" (with Jack Nicholson), of course, showed that the fight could even be the background for fictional excitement. This work of legal and social history is hardly a whodunit, yet the real-life battle it surveys possesses a vivid life nevertheless, in the author's highly readable prose. Hall is a law professor, so it's not surprising that he's done plenty of homework, and has mastered the facts of the story he tells. But he also writes with a humorous touch--appropriately dry (what else?)--and knows how to keep things personal too; he weaves his own experiences (as lawyer, writer, and also gardener and weekend farmer) into the story. As I write (spring, 2002), water shortages may be turning from a regional into a national phenomenon. Even if that danger abates soon, though, we can't take any environmental issues for granted any more, so a book like this has cautionary value too. Water: Gotta have it. Maybe optimists can happily relax if a glass is half-full, but we all need to apply higher standards of worry, when it's a matter of reservoirs. And the book's a wonderful read, too.
