[Charles Bowden's] life and work are celebrated in this essential collection of 50 reflections and appraisals contributed by writers, collaborators and fellow desert rats whose lives were changed when they intersected with his…Dip in anywhere, at your leisure; you cannot fail but to come away inspired. (Pima County Public Library, "Southwest Books of the Year") Bowden's impact, both on Southwest letters and on the national conversation about the borderlands, is clearly evident in this collection of 50 essays…[America's Most Alarming Writer] is not simply a recounting of shared incidents in an eventful life, nor is it just an assessment of a remarkable body of work. Importantly, it is a revealing document about a fiercely driven investigative journalist's relentless pursuit of the truth in the face of a society too willing to look the other way. (Arizona Daily Star) In America's Most Alarming Writer, the best essays are those that don't idolize or indulge our compulsion to honor the dead. (High Country News)