The Lightning Field is a series of portraits of people and out-of-the-way places in New Mexico and, occasionally, neighboring states. The author ranges throughout the region, and few of his destinations are on the standard tourist itinerary-this is not the New Mexico of Albuquerque, Santa Fe, or Taos. We spend a day at a huge work of minimalist land art near Quemado, a weekend at an isolated Benedictine monastery near Abiquiu, and a winter in the haunting and disconcerting isolation of Chaco Canyon. Eaton skillfully weaves accounts of his contemporary travels and experiences with historical anecdotes and vivid descriptions of the landscape to capture the spirit of the Land of Enchantment, from the stark beauty of the high plains of northeastern New Mexico to the remote border country of the Boot Heel in the southwestern corner of the state.
The Lightning Field was originally published in 1995 by Johnson Books of Boulder, Colorado. This revised edition includes the author's minor corrections and edits to the original text.