House of Rain by Craig Childs

House of Rain is one of those rare books that may change you forever.  It's not destined to have that affect on everyone, but for those with even a passing interest in the ancient Anasazi culture of the  American Southwest (think Mesa Verde or Chaco Canyon), this book is a page-turner.  While archaeology can seem like a dry subject, Craig Childs is a different kind of archaeologist.  Part scientist, part adventurer, and occasional mystic, he seems driven by a passion not just to discover and understand, but to FEEL.

He uses the power of archaeological research and analysis mixed with his remarkable knowledge of the desert itself to build up an understanding of ancient people like layers on a painting, giving them the details that are often missing from a purely scientific approach.  He seeks out their motivations, joys, sorrows, aspirations, and tragic ends.  Is he absolutely right in all his inferences?  Sometimes yes, other times perhaps not, but that may not be the point.​  There are many sources of information about the Ancient Puebloan cultures that stick strictly to known, established data and analysis.  The true value of this book is in the intelligent, informed questions it asks and the unique literal and figurative paths it explores through Childs' almost lyrical writing.  His theories aren't completely out there, but he isn't afraid to ruffle feathers with unorthodox thinking and his style of writing is engaging and thought-provoking, liberally sprinkled with vivid descriptions and entertaining tales of his adventures in the desert backcountry.

House of Rain has a structure that is almost a story within a story, which ties the various anecdotes and vignettes together as he slowly builds his case for the explanation of the mysterious vanishing of the Anasazi around the 13th century AD.  As a long-time archaeology fanatic (who actually minored in archaeology as an accompaniment to my anthropology major) and with a longtime interest in the Ancient Puebloan peoples of the Southwest, I found the final chapters of this book almost breathtaking.  Childs looks deeper at the holes in the ground and the scant remains of a past civilization, as well as the environment in which they lived to discern amongst the detrius, fleeting glimpses what their lives were truly about.