In the nineteenth century, Hungarian linguist Sándor Csoma de Körös eagerly set off for unknown Central Asia. His mission: to discover a "lost tribe" of his countrymen believed to be living in the deserts beyond the Himalayas.

At that century's turn, a lone professor from urban New Jersey braved the wilds of the American Southwest in the hope of curing his respiratory problems. But John C. Van Dyke found more than balm for his lungs in the dry desert air. Wandering the cactus flats and cracked mountains of California and Arizona, he found "the most decorative landscape in the world, a landscape all color, a dream landscape."(1)

A few years later, Swiss artist Paul Klee gasped at Sidi-Bou-Said, "a mountain ridge with the shapes of houses growing out of it in strictly rhythmical forms." He declared his first glimpse of northern Africa a "fairy tale turned real."(2)

Over the past two hundred years or so, Western poets, artists, novelists, musicians (even crashed pilots) have journeyed to the deserts of the world. Many of these visitors have found what they've seen, if not always lovely, then at least otherworldly and exotic. They have found strange places that are treasure troves of wonder and opportunities for self-discovery. Such writings in turn, as the books of French novelist Albert Camus and American novelist and nature writer Edward Abbey illustrate, have had a large impact on the literature of Western nations.