Arizona Nights

MP3 Audio CD. First published in 1907, Arizona Nights is a turn-of-the-century collection of stories that conveys the atmosphere of the American southwest in its most authentic form. Written by Stewart Edward White, one of the greatest connoisseurs of the region, the book is a detailed account of what life was like in Arizona at the beginning of the 20th century, therefore it can be read both as an historical document and as an adventure story.

Arizona Nights is cowboy fiction at its best. It is written in a novel-like form, with a framework provided by ranch workers who gather around the campfire in the evening to tell each other stories. The narratives are about their everyday lives, about their friendships and about their struggle to endure hardships and the events they tell about range from funny to tragic, from ordinary to extraordinary. The varied stories are glued together with descriptions of the desert landscape that dominates Arizona ? it is the desert that the stories depart from and return to, it is the environment that sets the tone for all the stories in the novel-like collection.

Arizona Nights is considered by many to be White?s best work, but it is by no means the first. Born in 1873, White started traveling in the southwest and recording his experiences at an early age. He started publishing in 1900 ? both his fiction and non-fiction writings were inspired by his travels and were discussing various aspects of the life of cowboys and outdoor living. White was passionate about nature, populating his books with characters who lived in nature and also with vivid and often poetic descriptions of the natural beauties he saw during his outings and longer journeys. His books included stories about hunting, fishing, canoeing, building cabins in the woods and gold digging as well.