COLORADO

A shallow and only sporadically persistent dig--in text at least--of Colorado's mine lode of natural splendor, history and variety of people and habitations. Grouping the scraplets of impressions, vignettes, sum-ups, by locales--plains, cities, mountains, and canyons and mesas--the authors cover a vast territory in fly-by-night fashion. Visits to prairie towns, (""sad, quiet and proud""), views of hidden mountain settlements, very brief interviews with salty oldtimers have a dreamy charm. However, occasional high cloudiness (does or does not Colorado Springs have ""clean air?"") and one outstanding howler (Henry James' grandson runs a bookstore in Aspen) nag at the reader's innocent receptivity. There are brief glimpses of the combine--small rancher conflict; a bleak horror of an egg-producing company which rotates hens in dark silos; some asides on conservation problems, but for all we know some misses may make up the mileage. The photographs--130 black-and-white which we have not seen--may supply some further coordination.