James Galvin Books

This non-linear piece of prose is elegant in its ability to take us to a place now long-gone. Capturing the life of a meadow on the high plains of the Colorado Wyoming border, Galvin creates a rich and vivid description of life over a 100 year span.
His main character, Lyle, is a true man of the old farming west and a lover of the land as it was. Galvin's ability to create mental pictures of people, land and life makes the book a enthralling read.
Don't expect it to move quickly, although the entire book is done in vignettes. Don't expect to remember all the characters, especially if you lay the book down and don't pick it back up for a few days. Even with these reading challenges, the book is a gift of great writing and a glimpse of the past.

This book is a keeper, one that is on my shelf for rereading. James Galvin's stories remind me of the old-timers in my life here in Arizona, their quirks yet because they authentic you can't help but adore them. Unfortunately many of these old-timers are gone now and I therefore can appreciate a book like The Meadow where such stories are preserved in time and preserved with beauty and poetry. Such an unusual and unexpected combination - I love this book and would now like to read Mr. Galvin's poetry.

One of the most perfect books about the American West I've ever read. Actually, one of the most perfect books I've ever read, period. This is one of the contemporary books that I most admire. And the characters, particularly Lyle, have remained with me vividly. Galvin's novel, Fencing the Sky, is also a great book, more plotted and less lyrical, that people drawn to a more "typical" novel might love. And his poetry? God, don't even let me start. A telling piece of info: I have two copies of both The Meadow and Resurrection Update (his collected poems) so I always have one to give away.

Spare, poetic language creates a sense of place and time that envelops the reader. Lyle is one of my favorite characters of all time.

This is the story of a meadow on the Colorado/Wyoming border and of the people who lived there. It is beautifully written, and the story rings true. I passed the book on to my husband who comes from a long line of do-it-yourselfers. I think he will enjoy reading about the independent Lyle who could make any tool he needed from scratch.

I love Wyoming, and Galvin brought me to tears more than once with his loving and poetic descriptions of the land, the people who want to protect it, and his indictment of horrible Takers and Users who see only dollar signs in that beauty.

Galvin's message about the land and the Wyoming rancher's fading way of life should be read and treasured. But stop reading this book when you reach Page 235. I wish I had.

PS: or read Galvin's beautiful "The Meadow," also about the Medicine Bow area. Its characters are the people who lived there (composites of them are in "Fencing"), and while the ending is sad, it's believable.

Exceptional book, beautifully written, powerful story. I've bought as a gift for others many times.

There is no denying that Galvin has weaved an excellent tale in this book. His writing and the story are excellent. You want to know more with each snippet of the story regarding what's going to happen. Even though the scene's change and you don't really want them to change, you are thrilled when they do change because each part of the story is very captivating. The only exception to this is the end of the story. I won't say what happened, but the end read to me as though Galvin got a call from his publisher saying, "Finish it or lose the contract." I felt myself having to totally suspend reality and belief at the end and in general thinking, "this just doesn't fit."

The major drawback to the story is that more often than not, I kept thinking that the hero in the story was missing. The person who is very clearly the 'hero' is not much more than a vigilante, and as such the glorifications of his actions are misplaced. Additionally, the story has as a general idea a lament for the loss of the small time rancher in Wyoming and Colorado. This is not a lament I share. The small time rancher in Wyoming has a great deal of political influence and despite Galvin's depiction of them as hardworking honest folk who only want the best for the land, the political realities are often far from that depiction.

This is a book that will start conversations, especially if you are at all familiar with the current state of events in the Rocky Mountain region. By that standard alone this book does warrant five stars, but because I disagree so heavily with the thesis and because the ending is so poorly constructed, I have to give it four stars.

Being from New Jersey, and having a log cabin in upstate NY where I feel I have my own little piece of paradise, this book was a shot to the gut.

When rich city folk buy up most of the unclaimed land out west, and disrespect that land by tearing it up with dirtbikes and ATV's, and spook the cattle and make life hard for the ranchers who have lived there and made livings the hard, good ol' way, it made me change the way I felt about my own cabin. Seeing and feeling how disrespectful these newcomers were is greatly felt through the characters we get to know in this book.

Told through a series of flashbacks while our protagonist is fleeing from the law on horseback, we come to know and love the fugitive who was only standing up for his own moral rights. While this is the main outline for the plot, the deeper, real intention is the abuse the government forced upon landowners and ranchers in the west, claiming rights to dig up land regardless of ownership.

Overall, a sad story that hits home with impact and gives you chills as you turn the last few pages. I particularly enjoyed the last quarter of the book the most. Please read and try to understand the loss many landowners out west feel about the destruction of good land, turned into a 'wilderness escape' for wealthy personel.

This is one of a number of modern Westerns I read in the winter of 2004-05. The others included: J. Robert Lennon's, "On The Night Plain," Annie Proulx' "Close Range"; Mark Spragg's "Fruit Of Stone", Ralph Beer's "The Blind Corral"; Gretel Ehrlich's "Heart Mountain", and David Long's "Blue Spruce", a collection of modern stories. I might also include Wallace Stegner's "Angle Of Repose" which is more of a historical Western though with more contemporary aspects, John Treadwell Nichols' "The New Mexico Trilogy",which seems to me now somewhat dated, or Rick De Marinis' "Year Of The Zinc Penny", set mostly in wartime L.A. in 1943 but about a family with Montana roots. If you only have time to read one--since they are somewhat repetitive, particularly in the areas of cattle or sheep ranching, horsemanship and descriptions of ranch life-- you might choose "Fencing The Sky" since it is one of the best, with Beer's great rather nostalgic novel perhaps second. This is a society in which tradition lasts longer than in some other areas of the country, certainly dating from the late 19th century.

All these novels & stories lament the passing of the Old West, but some--certainly "Fencing The Sky" and "Angle Of Repose" are also strikingly contemporary, dealing with such issues as 60's student radicalism,war service (Lennon, Beer, and Ehrlich) aggressive land development, and considerable ecological problems such as deforestation and strip mining which have laid waste to this part of the country, as Jared Diamond's recent book "Collapse" also attests. Elk and elk hunting, and other naturalistic descriptions, are another subject common to all. At least three of the novels contain quite a lot of romance between siblings growing up on neighboring ranches in what will seem to some, including myself,to be a rather idyllic life, certainly the opposite of urban living.Some of the ranch details are truly inspired, such as a pack rat stealing from a cowboy in the middle of the night, or a square dance. Proulx' amazing award-winning stories are packed with historic details, in a limited space. Cowboys are unfortunately somewhat prone to alcoholism, also. Both Spragg and Galvin use a flashback technique in alternating chapters. Each novel is somewhat unique so that you can enjoy each but all have a great deal in common as well. Spragg's novel is most uniquely notable for its humour--a wayward wife,two old friends, an Indian, a dog, a physicist, and their misadventures.

My pilgrim pastor gave this to me as a gift and I really like it a lot. Testimonials by Martin Luther himself in an updated version of the German language, a branch of Olde English. Daily readings for every day, but the days were written by Luther day he wrote the book. Germans are very good speed readers, so the whole book can be read in a few weeks by literate people who are proud of their German heritage. The big thing of Pilgrim Lutheran Church, Martin Luther's surviving church revived by the pilgrims and Ku Klux Klan, is to get the person so their not such a geek. Baptist- we're going to beat you up so bad we're gonna make you look like an old man. The main thing at Luther's church is communion, while the rest of the service esp. the Nicean Creed is mocking the Catholics. We're friends with the Catholics now but they still hold some prejudice in this day and age of Pope Benedict, not really with Jean Paul II. It is a pleasurable experience in the Protestant branch to be baptized when you are of age. Lord will have mercy on the sinners who wish to defy god.

A great revision of Luther's devotional. Easy to read and yet with the deep theology of Luther. You do not need to be Lutheran to appreciate this reformed perspective of each day.

During his career as a reformer, professor, and pastor, Martin Luther wrote many sermons, letters, and lectures regarding the faith. This book is a collection of many of his best pieces, arranged into daily devotionals, and edited into contemporary english. As such, it allows the pastoral side of Luther to speak to the reader each day with edifying passages on faith, daily living, etc. The book also includes a subject index to look up passages that pertain to certain topics, as well as an index of sources, allowing the interested reader to consult the original works for further study.

Many works of Luther are not as approachable for lay readers due to stultified translation. This book does a very good job of removing that artificial barrier, allowing Luther to speak to today's readers in plain language. Highly recommended!

By Faith Alone
A friend loaned me his copy and I took it home to read. My wife picked it up and started reading and said, I love it, it's just the way I feel. We both find the daily selections beautiful and the themes listed in the back refer us to just the perfect page for needed support. We ordered
another nine copies, five for our daughters and four for ourselves and friends. We continue to find joy and comfort in our daily reading.I am active in several men's bible studies and this book adds a complete new level to my understanding of God's word.

This is an excerpt of the 55 volume English translation of the writings of Luther.

People of all faiths will benefit from the focused, sharp insight of Luther.

This book is a wonderful source for creative answers to those difficult questions like "How can God be three people in one?" The answers are relatively short, and explain difficult things in an easily understood way. A must have for all Christian parents!

I and my nine year old daughter found this book to be very helpful in answering everyday questions that the traditional bible doesn't answer for children. The format is easy to read for children and the cartoons are a fun way to help them (and me!) to relate and remember the question and answer. Definately a winner for those who are seeking and want answers and for those who did not expect such unique questions from their children! A wonderful learning experience for parent and child.

I and my nine year old daughter found this book to be very helpful in answering everyday questions that the traditional bible doesn't answer for children. The format is easy to read for children and the cartoons are a fun way to help them (and me!) to relate and remember the question and answer. Definately a winner for those who are seeking and want answers and for those who did not expect such unique questions from their children! A wonderful learning experience for parent and child.

This book is one of a series which I bought for consideration for a parents' group. I found them a bit conservative and not quite suitable for this particular audience. I got much more out of Parenting for Peace and Justice.

John Galvin guides the reader through Boston politics in the fifteen years preceding the Revolution, 1760-1775. Mr. Galvin focuses on the three men he contends were the most influential in the events in Boston in the pre-revolutionary years (Thomas Hutchinson, James Otis, and Samuel Adams).Very readable and a good source of behind-the-scenes activity that led to the beginning of the American Revolution.

Author John R. Galvin explores the personalities of three key figures whose actions and discourses constituted the roots of the American Revolution. Galvin's admirable scholarly discipline and his keen analysis deserve praise. His scope is very precise: it begins and ends with the period where Hutchinson, Adams, and Otis were interacting. Readers interested in Hutchinson, Adams, or Otis should read this book to gain a deeper insight into their personal philosophies and into the political struggles and challenges which made or defeated them, and which ultimately constituted the unyielding backdrop of their social existence and historical judgement. Readers interested in mid-18th century Massachussetts or American politics will learn much about the many groups and organizations of the period.

John R.Galvin is an excellent writer, extremely articulate in the processing of his work. His book is, far and away, the best historical accounting I have read thus far regarding the "pre-revolution" activity that steadily lay the foundation and provided the impetus for the "Few Good Men" who followed to seize on and run with. The "Forward" section of the book is especially noteworthy, since it touches on two very important complex talents, at least one element of which is (but not necessarily both) common within the makeup of all great men : Reason and Judgment.

I was interested in the James Otis aspect of it, and found the book after following a link from another reader quite by accident, since not enough has been written or can be located about this incredible man, wise beyond his time, brave beyond duty, acting in the best interests of others, without regard to his own safety or the dire circumstances awaiting the iconoclastic in that time of unrest. Fortunately, we of later generations had these few remarkable individuals at the right place in the right time, and have been waiting for their equal ever since - yet few have proven as worthy successors even after the "trail was blazed for them through uncharted territory" and successfully delivered to those who waited for history to catch up to them. The initial work was done, and done well, and this book strives to bring it to us. If anyone is interested in American History or the Revolution and it's masterminds, this book is a "must read" in order to properly identify the players in their proper places as the drama (and it was an incredible one) began to unfold against the travesties of the Crown and it's loyalist puppets who held the first, hard-fisted power over the new people.

One thing is crystal clear: Politics hasn't changed much. The biggest difference is that the Revolutionists had more to lose in a personal way should they be challenged or defeated. This book exposes that early day turmoil explicitly and brings 300 years past into the present with all the subterfuge, anger and power playing of today's political arena, but with much larger stakes riding on the outcome.

The powerful force of James Otis - the complex, focused, articulate man, driven by the courage of his convictions, aided by his brilliance, and a complete disregard for personal safety or the consequences of his unparalleled stand against the King of England, has been vastly underwritten in the annals of history. Why this should be so is a mystery of immense proportions and this is the reason this book is so important, due to it's remarkable clarity. It is quite clear, upon reading what has history has had to attribute to him, coupled with the remarks of esteemed men such as John Adams - what his powerful personality accomplished in a short period of time. It leaves little doubt of his importance, and in fact, reveal that he was the catalyst for the American Revolution with his denouncing of the "writs of assistance" (broad power search and seizure warrants), taking on through legal argument the hand-picked loyalists of the Crown who were thwarting their own laws, voicing opposition to rampant corruption; and the initiating of the open, public meetings at Fanueil Hall, where the public began to gather to speak their minds regardless of the "pleasure of the Crown". Thus also, the "freedom of speech" idea was also thrust into the waiting world. Once loosed, this phenomenon was impossible to reverse course, and the quest for liberty began to take root within the people who attended.

There seemed to be an underlying "personal reason" as well for his passion, and which truthfully may have provided the greater detenator for an already explosive situation: his father, James Otis SR. was snubbed for a high-ranking government positon, and the position filled by a less qualified individual, Thomas Hutchinson, who was more easily persuaded to support the interests of the British Government, no matter if it followed law or not, it would seem. From that point on, the clash of wills intensified, and no doubt the midnight oil was burned night and night again by Otis in his quest to rout out the nest of thieves, fueled by his own personal anger as well as his professional integrity.

John Adams himself was a remarkable man, attributing Mr. Otis with credit where there credit was due, rather than taking it for himself, truly something out of the ordinary for any Century. James Otis was not only the right man for the job, he held the position to best accomplish it - the legal profession. That such a man was alive at all, is, itself, a miracle.

All in all, "Three Men of Boston" is a most excellent historical read, never dull or boring, and the reader feels intimately the thrill that the people living at the time must have felt, but without the inherent danger to person and family, something we should all be grateful for, should continue to offer gratitude and pay tribute to these unique, brave individuals through the reading of their histories; the keeping alive of their memory and their remarkable deeds when there was nothing to be gained for them but death upon failure - or - freedom for the posterity upon success born of fire. We know what happened now, but at the time of trial, there must have been dark moments indeed behind the scenes - moments of indecision and despair - for these men who "gave birth to our Nation".

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in American History or those simply searching for inspiration within the world we live in now, since times haven't changed, only the people living them.

Amazing, beautiful, heartfelt and lyrically stunning. This work may not only mark a personal best for the author, but for the decade as well. One to read and one to remember. To be honest, there is nothing to say but what is said, and so I'll be brief: don't miss it.

Wonderful poet...I buy and read everything he writes, including his fiction/prose. Significant center section of this book is Galvin's (character's? or is it unabashedly autobiographical?) artful, moving...but ultimately 'one note'...crie de ceur about the betrayal of 'his'/his wife, implied divorce, and loss of daughter living in the same household. (I'm betting that in the somewhat small world of American poets there is a connection here to Galvin's previous marriage to another poet.) I suspect that when there is a selected poems, some of these will be retained, others dropped. The stronger poems are effective from every perspective. I was glad to see that some of Galvin's earlier concerns about the larger natural world appear here in the collection as well.

A long time has past since John Keats slouched beneath a nightingale's nest in a plum tree to bemoan a world "Where but to think is to be full of sorrow/and leaden-eyed despairs/Where beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes/Or new love pine at them beyond to morrow." In our cool age, merely to think of any contemporary poet attempting to revisit themes endemic to lyric poetry since Sappho-desire, betrayal, trust, loss, loneliness and nature-awakens us to just how awesome a challenge it has become to say "my heart aches" without encountering a sea of guffaws.

But there is a nightingale in Wyoming, perched on a windowsill somewhere around James Galvin's ranch, and, as his sixth volume of poetry attests, he hears it loud and clear. Throughout "X," a collection of poems dwelling largely on his defunct marriage with fellow poet Jorie Graham, Galvin relies on the reader's own conscience and experience to finish each poem's meaning and affect, often transcending this basic rule of poetic law by digging deeper, excavating past losses and interrogating the difficult present, the struggle to go on. "After bad things happen we always live/A little more," Galvin observes in a language as simple as it is moving.

Routinely, Galvin steps out of the way of his poems to let them speak their way out of loss, stifling so much as a jaded chuckle in the textured silence following every final line. If the trick to conveying heartbreak convincingly in contemporary poetry is to simply tell what happened, rather than wrestling readers into feeling your pain, "X" provides ample instruction:

So out of love with life am I
No future will have me.
How can you lose a lie?
Well, you can. Easy.
All those years together, it seems,
Were posturings of goodbye.
For a time I raved.
Now I dwell in moods and reveries
Like frightened birds-

Galvin's bursts of thwarted longing are calculated with such tact and precise timing that they leap off of the page. By the time he gets around to saying, simply, "You are in love with/someone else" or "Why aren't you in love with me," the stage has already been so patiently set for a heaving sigh of empathy that only the dead could turn the page without at least a quiver in the chin. "Everyone drifts/in their disastrous bodies," Galvin writes in the book's first poem, "Little Dantesque." Just midway into this opening poem, the reader already has little reason to suspect that Galvin's lines are anything less than flakes chipped from a soul in smolder. "Love's not love until it's lost," he writes in a later poem. The body and its carriage of lusts has indeed proven disastrous, as the "threadbare" speaker continually "drifts" along an impasse of things that were: "I had a happy medium/Had her reading out of my palm/The circus folded up and left."

Inevitably, there are fleeting descents into mushiness and melodramatics, as when Galvin signs off the poem "Dear May Eight," "Yours, May Eighth /Sincerely/Man under influence of sky." Additionally, a couple of poems read less like verse and more like tongue-twisting transcripts from some spelling-bee:

Algorithmic,
Epigenetic,
He ciphers ciphers.

Generally, though, the poems in "X" demonstrate the talents of a master craftsmen, fraught with biting, alliterative moments of rhythm-"O wretched road in rain," "an inner din unending"- and heroic first lines that could eat through a cage, "This is the wave of gravel where she left me off the edge of my life" or "The whole night sky went bad in the knees." Further, from the villanelle "River Edged With Ice" to the end-rhymed "Dear Nobody's Business" or sprawling, long-lined masterpieces such as "Earthquake," "Leap Year" and "Depending on the Wind," Galvin's poetic range knows no end.

"Where Once I was not alone, now each/closed door is panic, and spaces grow immense with memory, like/shadows at dusk," Galvin writes in "Depending on the Wind," a spare, precise eulogy to the house he built with his hands for a family fated to leave him, "Gone that arrangement of allegiances called family/we never really know before it ends/Like love itself, it isn't true till/then." Seemingly dizzy with crestfallen lines such as these, Galvin deftly skirts the boundary between authenticity and mawkishness, and whether it's a nightingale crooning on a nearby windowsill or a case of the old heartbreak that's got him down, James Galvin's "X" guarantees the sure rise of his stature.

Well written, easily understood, a excellent resource covering a wide selection of christian themes.

Luther's words translate to todays lives in this collection of short readings.

djh

In this book, James Galvin shows his propensity to break the ninth commandment, without showing any awareness that he has done this. From the cover (the reason I bought it), the book claims to be a work, written by Martin Luther, entitled 'By Faith Alone'. I have every reason, therefore, to expect that this is the translation of a work, written in German, that was published during Luther's lifetime. But it appears that Luther never wrote
such a work. This is a compilation of 365 extracts from various works of Martin Luther, heavily edited. When I first opened the book, I was very surprised to see that Luther had chosen one reading for every day, January 1st to December 31st, each restricted to less than one page, for the Christian of low IQ, who can't be bothered with anything more demanding. Luther never did this; it is entirely the work of a patronizing, condescending editor. To quote from the preface 'The verse at the beginning of each reading is usually the one that Luther was writing or preaching on. At times I have attached A DIFFERENT VERSE that better fits the theme of devotional thought.'

So we can't even be sure that the excerpts actually give us Luther's thoughts on the verse at the top of the page.

The cover also states '365 readings updated in today's language'. This is a euphemism for slovenly English (and not correct modern English), which does not capture the true sense of the verse.

If the book had claimed to be 'by James Galvin, based on the writings of Martin Luther', or at the very least something on the cover had indicated 'edited and heavily abridged', it may have been honest and reasonable book in its category. As it is, the book is utterly fraudulent. One of Luther's main insights was to note that one cannot confess all one's sins, because one's own ego blinds one as to the true nature of one's own actions. Certainly, this is true of James Galvin, who shows no understanding of the terrible wickedness involved when he ascribes this book as a work by Martin Luther.

I have read several devotionals based on Luther's writings and like this one the best. It is pastoral (every day life choice advice) in nature and not doctrinal. People who are not Lutherans will not be offended by anything in the book.

The other devotionals are touchy-feely in nature and indistinguishable from most Eastern, such as Hindu and Buddhist, religious teachings.

While not the most complex and challenging of devotional materials and while it uses a Scripture translation not among my favorites, the book combines the vitality of the Reformer and the ability of the translator to provide a series of brief yet compelling devotional reflections. This Luther speaks kindly and directly to heart and soul.

If you are a Christian of extremes--often finding that you are veering to the left or to the right when you simply want to stay on God's path--then this devotional is for you. I personally read it contrary to the way it is set up--not as a daily devotional, I often read ten or so "days" at a time--mostly because I, too, struggle with staying centered in Christ. Martin Luther's work will help you do this. For on one page he writes of faith, on the next, he writes of good works. He is uses Scripture to illustrate the proper place for each in our lives. Other helpful topics include how we should view God (not as Judge, not simply as Creator, but as Father). I have found this reading most helpful.

Many years ago, I was contacted by a desperate department head in need of someone to teach operating systems. With only two weeks to go before the class started, he was beginning to suffer from a case of the jitters. I agreed to teach the class and this was the book that had already been selected for the course.
Through the course of the class, I never had any reason to complain about the selection. I found the material well presented and while I had to do the usual explanation and clarifications in class, there was nothing that I considered beyond the norm. The coverage was thorough and when I needed to select exercises for the students, I took them directly from the book and only occasionally modified them to emphasize a particular point.
After examining other operating systems texts, I still consider this one among the best, at least for its' time.

Not a very good book. Had to buy it for a class.

This book does a great job of presenting all details of operating system design and operation. When appropriate, the authors point out how Linux, Solaris or Windows implements a given topic. This is valuable for software developers who work on these platform and need to understand how the scheduler is going to react if you spawn new threads/processes.

The one bad thing I can say is that some examples are too general and do not convey the proper detail. This is just a minor distraction and does not take away from the book's overall effectiveness.

Good book for learning OS principles for undergrad and lower grad students. I recommend this for hose wanting an introduction to OS Internals.

I prefer this to Modern OS by Tanenbaum.

This book does a good job in keeping up with the Title, "OS Concepts". I won't go in detail justifying that, as it's already been done by several before me.

However, one point worth mentioning is that it's still a concepts book. To be a real programmer / computer science person, one needs to implement the concepts. In that regard, I'd recommed the book " Operating Systems: Design & Implementation by Andrew S. Tanenbaum, Albert S. Woodhull". That way you'll know what the code looks like.

This book is great to start with and learn how an OS works. "NO CODE INSIDE THOUGH"