Of Time and Change: A Memoir

Rating:
Summary: Intimate glimpses
Review: In this well-written memoir, Frank Waters shares intimate details of his friendships with many of the artists who lived in Taos, New Mexico during the Mabel Dodge Luhan era. A pulitzer prize-winning author, Waters uses his talent with the pen to acquaint the reader with his artist friends in Taos and tell his own life story. Waters also shares his exploration of the history of Native Americans in the Four Corners area. If anyone is qualified to write about the art world in Taos at that time, it is certainly Frank Waters. A must-read for those interested in the Southwest.

Rating:
Summary: Thin picture of people seeking to be significant
Review: While I agree with Steffanie Gibbons' view that the Waters' memoir is well-written, in that it flows with the pen of an accomplished writer, but I cannot not agree with a rating of five stars. The "intimate" picture portrayed gives a thin image of his artist friends. Moreover this picture is one of, somewhat desperate, people seeking to be significant as artists, but coming off more like hangers-on. After reading the book, Taos has lost much of the well manicured luster as an artist center, and comes off more like a tourist trap.