"The Lightning Field" is a series of portraits of people and out-of-the-way places in New Mexico and, occasionally, neighboring states. In the spirit of Ian Frazier’s "Great Plains" and Bruce Chatwin’s "In Patagonia," Robert Eaton illustrates the intimate connections between the land and the people who inhabit it. In recounting his travels, Eaton combines a fine eye for natural detail with a generous and compassionate spirit. Eaton 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. The author skillfully weaves physical description, history, and personal anecdote, whether he is exploring the stark beauty of the high plains of northeastern New Mexico or the remote border region of the boot heel.