This modest volume is the first book to focus mainly on beautiful stones collected in desert areas of the American Southwest. Melba Tucker and some of her friends were among the first to search for unusual stones in the Mojave Desert and other desert regions long before the area was closed to collecting. The stones illustrated here are from her personal private collection. Even though she basically followed the principles given in Covello and Yoshimura book on Japanese stone appreciation, Melba realized that her desert stones didn’t fit into traditional Japanese categories of stones. She added “an American Perspective” to reflect the need to enjoy this art form in the American way.
