{"product_id":"sand-water-salt-managing-the-elements-in-literature-of-the-american-west-1880-1925-9781682832455","title":"Sand, Water, Salt: Managing the Elements in Literature of the American West, 1880-1925","description":"Jada Ach's scholarship in \u003ci\u003eSand, Water, Salt: Managing the Elements in Literature of the American West, 1880-1925\u003c\/i\u003e seeks to reevaluate the Progressive Era's environmental legacy. Taking an ecocritical approach to turn-of-the-century literature set in the American West, Ach interrogates texts by asking what kinds of environmental, national, and cultural stories the elements have to tell about land and oceanic management. \u003ci\u003eSand, Water, Salt\u003c\/i\u003e investigates managerial engagements with dynamic ecologies in three particular Western environments: the arid deserts, the semiarid high plains, and the Pacific Ocean. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAt different times, and to varying degrees, Americans have deemed these environments economically unproductive, incompatible with Anglo-American settlement, and\/or highly unmanageable. Despite these varied complaints, the United States has also intensely desired these \"wasteland\" spaces, perceiving them as sources of both national wealth and elite pleasure. \u003ci\u003eSand, Water, Salt\u003c\/i\u003e moves through a variety of novels, memoirs, and cultural artifacts from the 1880s to the 1920s, including L. Frank Baum's \u003ci\u003eThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz\u003c\/i\u003e, Frank Norris's \u003ci\u003eMcTeague\u003c\/i\u003e, Mary Hunter Austin's \u003ci\u003eThe Land of Little Rain\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Virginian\u003c\/i\u003e by Owen Wister, \u003ci\u003eLife among the Piutes\u003c\/i\u003e by Sarah Winnemucca, as well as Jack London's \u003ci\u003eThe Sea-Wolf\u003c\/i\u003e and Yone Noguchi's \u003ci\u003eThe American Diary of a Japanese Girl\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAch ultimately asks what we gain by looking back at \u003ci\u003efin-de-si?cle\u003c\/i\u003e American literature with a queer, ecological justice-oriented eye, a particularly invigorating conversation that uniquely uses the elements as foci.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Jada Ach\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Texas Tech University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/10\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSeries:\u003c\/b\u003e Desert Humanities\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 336\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781682832455","brand":"Texas Tech University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43256041046153,"sku":"9781682832455","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_8af1488e-9e43-46c1-87ca-b077b4bca8fa.jpg?v=1736236156","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/sand-water-salt-managing-the-elements-in-literature-of-the-american-west-1880-1925-9781682832455","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}