"Living in the Broken West: Essays is a collection of 18 first-person essays spanning from Alaska to southern California and east to Utah, defining the heart of the West. In the first essay, "Dark side of the moon," the author tells what it's like to begin recovery from having a severe stroke in seemingly endless lava fields in Idaho's Craters of the Moon National Monument. In the second, "Walking the L.A.River," we learn about changes that this hard-beaten river has endured as it flows through the second largest city in the United States, running through the wilderness of the inner city of Los Angeles. Another essay, "Sacred Dirt," about Arch Canyon in Utah, is the story of political victories and compromises faced by Native American and contemporary residents over thirty years of the author's visits in the canyon. It is a description of the sacred beauty and power of this land to heal over time. Each of these three essays exemplify the book's other 15 unique tales in their aim to recover something broken or lost in living in today's western United States" -- from publisher.