Raven's Exile is partly the musings of a gifted naturalist, another part historical sojourn through the webs of human dabbling in the region, and yet another part is an eco-warrior's prayer—often laced with a crazed wit—that Desolation Canyon be preserved in all its tarnished innocence.

Meloy, spiritual and literary kin to the great desert canyon champion Edward Abbey, writes about Green River life in all its diversified forms in bracingly caustic and exhilaratingly poetic prose. She is as prickly as a cactus, as observant and teasing as a raven, as sensual as a cat.

An exuberant, hilarious, poignant, and informative text from a highly original mind.

Meloy . . . has a hip sense of humor, which is only one of the things that sets her debut book apart from the stodgy work of so many nature writers. . . . A pure delight.

In a sense-of-place narrative that combines Wendell Berry's conviction with naturalist Ann Zwinger's eye for detail and Chip Rawlin's earthy poetics, Ellen Meloy grabs the oars and rows us into the heart of a river nomad's view of the world.

Meloy's luscious prose and encyclopedic knowledge of the place make it irresistibly attractive. . . .A Westerner born and bred, Meloy adopts a firm environmentalist's stance toward the desert landscape she loves. The canyon may be desolate, but her portrait of it is spirited and intelligent, as vivid and vibrant as the land itself is dry and spare.