Mystical lore and highly realistic science and technology combine in Jim Kristofic’s HOUSE GODS, a deep dive into the world of house building.

Kristofic, who grew up on a Navajo Reservation in Arizona, opens his visionary narrative with a walk through the door of a hoghan, the basic Diné dwelling. The structure is composed of logs sealed with adobe mud. The House God stands at the entrance, which often faces east so that the deity reflects the rising sun, instilling spiritual thoughts in those who enter. Contrasted to this ancient form of architecture based on simple building techniques and a mind to higher realities are such phenomena as the huge number of flung-together mobile home parks in New Mexico.

"HOUSE GODS is a book that should be read, shared and studied by anyone who hopes to help save our planet for future generations."

As Kristofic takes it upon himself --- with the faithful Rainey, a canine he rescued from extinction at an animal shelter --- to visit various New Mexico home builders, he learns from one that about 20 percent of the state’s population live in trailers, consuming huge amounts of energy. “[T]hese homes rob their renters at night,” particularly in the winter. Yet it is possible to build simple homes with fewer eco-threatening materials and more reliance on solar energy, more direct water supplies, and generally less consumption of the fuels that we, as the world’s largest consumers of the earth’s resources, are rapidly sapping.

One featured form of housing found in Kristofic’s rambles are the Earthships constructed especially for harvesting solar power. Other individuals have come up with unique ideas for saving energy, such as fireplaces that store heat instead of expelling it through large chimney openings, and a method of using and then moving outhouses to prevent soil destruction. These determined off-grid sorts are “hard to find,” and their lives may be as fraught with sorrows and challenges as those of anyone anywhere. But Kristofic has made his search in order to prove to readers that even small efforts can make a difference.

The author/coauthor of numerous books (among them, MEDICINE WOMEN and NAVAJOS WEAR NIKES) and a widely read journalist, Kristofic has created this poetic, poignant and practical study with an idealistic purpose. He melds the timeless wisdom of indigenous peoples with the use of the latest technologies and throws in a healthy dose of humor. His empathy for the weaknesses and his admiration for the strengths of his fellow human beings shine through each passage. HOUSE GODS is a book that should be read, shared and studied by anyone who hopes to help save our planet for future generations.