In 1995 Johnson Books of Boulder, Colorado, published a collection of my essays titled The Lightning Field: Travels in and around New Mexico. The book is a series of portraits of people and out-of-the-way places in New Mexico and, occasionally, neighboring states. It is also vaguely autobiographical, as it traces my life in the American Southwest over a period of fifteen years. I wrote the book over a period of eight or nine years, as I was making my way through graduate school and law school and beginning my career as a lawyer. During that time I wrote whenever I had the time and energy—that is, whenever the demands of my life and primary occupation allowed—so the circumstances of my writing varied greatly. After starting to work full-time, I often wrote late at night, slowly drinking a bottle of beer or glass of wine and listening to strange, evocative music—albums like Miles Davis’s In a Silent Way or Brian Eno’s Another Green World. I was young then, and those sessions could be fervent. I often stayed up way too late.

The original 1995 edition of the book was out of print for many years, but in late 2023 I reprinted it, with minor corrections and edits, through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing and IngramSpark. It is now available in various formats from Amazon.com (Kindle ebook for $9.95, paperback for $14.95, or hardcover (without dust jacket) for $19.95); from other online or brick-and-mortar booksellers; or directly from IngramSpark by using one of the following links:

Hardcover (with dust jacket) ($17.95): https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params=f7StBVFO98CSYPzhFBLjGiG9IyfvboSaFjnxpKehydV

Paperback ($12.95): https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params=HPEJpBdmlIqQoM9vIzRbf1X3vTD2Qd2ctenhi4X5R1L

On this site I will post, on a rotating basis, sample chapters from the book. If you enjoy the posted chapters, of course I hope you’ll consider buying a digital or print copy of the entire book.

Chapter 1 – The Lightning Field

Chapter 2 – Chaco Canyon

Chapter 3 – Four Corners

Chapter 4 – Angel Fire

Chapter 5 – Christ in the Desert

I originally wrote this chapter in early 1988 for a writing workshop at the University of New Mexico taught by an English professor (and accomplished writer) named Tom Mayer. I had persuaded the law school dean to allow me to take Tom’s workshop on UNM’s “main campus” for credit during my last semester in law school. Tom was a well-known figure in the Albuquerque literary scene, and his workshop, which he always offered at night, attracted a diverse group of serious avocational writers. My classmates that semester included graduate students in English, an emergency room doctor, a paralegal, and an older woman who was a prominent local politica. The ER doc, in particular, was an exceptional writer, producing Raymond Carveresque short stories that were brutal and beautiful at the same time. I don’t know what became of him. Now, many years later, I find myself thinking about him and hoping that, wherever he is, he continues to write.

Chapter 6 – Navajo Country

Chapter 7 – Dog Canyon

A car-camping trip to the Guadalupe Mountains in West Texas frames this chapter, which portrays a curmudgeonly ranger who worked at Guadalupe Mountains National Park for most of his career. In the essay I call him Emmett; in reality he was a man named Roger Reisch. Before the book was published, I sent Roger a copy of the essay and asked him what he thought. He never responded, and at the last minute, in a half-hearted (or half-assed) attempt to disguise his identity, I changed his name and some of the details of his life. Roger passed away in Edmond, Oklahoma, on February 12, 2013, at the age of 89. I don’t know whether he ever read my little essay, but I like to think that if he did, he was pleased—and maybe even flattered—by what I wrote.

Chapter 8 – The Adobe Plains

Chapter 9 – Gallup

Chapter 10 – The Boot Heel