Richard F West Books

This is a spectacularly beautiful book. Hundreds of exquisite photographs of Indian pottery and other pre-historic artifacts, plus maps, drawings, and paintings illustrate the text.

The illustrations accompany about 20 essays on the Indians of southern and midwestern United States from archaic times until contact with Europeans. The essays vary in quality and interest, but most are well written in scholarly but accessible prose. The contributors include anthropologists, art historians, folklorists, and members of several Indian tribes. Footnotes and a substantial bibliography round out a scholarly and artistic book of real merit.

Throughout the book the continuity of ancient Indian cultures with those known to the Europeans is emphasized. One of the most interesting essays concerns the people of Cahokia, the largest Northamerican archaelogical site dating from about 1200 AD, in which the author speculates about the identity of the inhabitants, relating them to present day Indian tribes. Other essays concern the Bread Dance of the Shawnee Indians -- written by a Shawnee -- and the cultural continuity from pre-historic to present day Caddo Indians. Hopewell, Poverty Point, Moundville, and other important pre-historic Indian cultures are also given meticulous attention.

Smallchief

The sheer number of gorgeous images in this book is breathtaking. But for many readers I suspect the most astonishing image might be a fairly simple one on page 17: a rendering of a orderly semicircle of structures facing a river, it is a city in Louisiana----in 1500 B.C. This book reveals Native American civilizations rivaling what we know of the Maya and Inca, but in the heartland of North America.

In the south and Midwest a series of sophisticated cultures left behind artifacts and even structures that we are just now beginning to study and understand. For example, the Hopewell site in Ohio, where "the most dramatic" sacred structures were "geometric in form and combined circular, oval, square, octagonal, or other elements in compositions covering hundreds of acres."

The artistry of the artifacts presented here is amazing, and this book has a generous selection of large, excellent photographs. But the prose is equally good: intelligent but intelligible, often with an interesting narrative. Even the occasional semiotic language is used as vocabulary rather than jargon. Not only does this book explore so much about these next-to-unknown cultures, but it provides an exemplary context of explaining a worldview shared by many Native cultures and peoples. Although this is a scholarly presentation based on a traveling art exhibit, it is pretty graceful about integrating contemporary Native views and information. It's only in recent years that scholars have taken the testimony of contemporary Native Americans about their own culture as seriously as they take their own theories about old artifacts that survived.

For all of these reasons I count this book as instantly one of my most treasured.

I saw the show in Chicago!!! Amazingly, the book, due to the excellent phothgraphy and printing comes close to the gallery experience. The text is insightful. A definite buy. I bought the book at the museum shop($60) and immediately purchased two copies for friends from my favorite bookseller - Mother Amazon!

This book is well-written comprehensive discussion of complex litigation and advanced topics in Civil Procedure. It is a "must read" for anyone who wants a thorough understanding of class actions. While the book focuses on aggregation-- there is also an in-depth treatment of conflicts between the state and federal courts and MDL. I was lucky enough to have Professor Sherman as a professor and I can say that his personality comes out in this casebook (which is a very, very good thing)!

Three books I like best writen by John Muir are 'My First summer in the Sierra', 'The Mountains of California',and 'Travels in Alaska'. Three writings I love best from each book are 'The Tuolumne camp', 'A Near View of the High Sierra', and 'My Sled-trip on the Muir Glacier'. If I carried only this Fleck's edition, I always can read my best three articles. Nevertheless, this edition contains a rare article 'Mountain thoughts', which is my Gospel and essence of John Muir's thought and mind, which you could not find easy in other books except 'John of the Mountains', original thick edition. The introduction written by Fleck is another joy where our human spirit and primal Muir's nature fuse.

Another eye opening look at the life of our senior citizens. Funny, witty, with plenty of head scratching till the end yet a relaxing smooth read. Kept me giggling and thinking through the whole book. Turning into a great series and look forward to more from this author.

At seventy-three years old, former employee of the Brooklyn mob, Benny Ashe enjoys his retirement in the Coral Sands retirement community of St. Augustine. For the last two months, retired jewel thief Peter Benington also resides in Coral Sands. The David Niven-like sophisticate plans to make time with one particular woman, Eleanor, who has caught his eye. After the exciting, albeit illegal, lives they have lived, both men relish the quiet serenity of their senior citizen beach community.

However, their idyll golden days are abruptly interrupted when the murdered corpse of the community's gardener, Mr. Yamaguchi, is found amidst the bushes. Though the twosome would prefer to mind their business, they cannot. Not only did they consider the victim a friend, another resident, Mildred is somehow connected via the Internet. So what is two retired ex-criminals forced to do. Simple, go out and investigate what really happened in order to uncover the identity of ! the true killer.

There appears to be a delightful trend towards a new mystery classification starring senior citizens as amateur sleuths, affectionately known as GAS (graying amateur sleuths). The newest entry in this sub-genre, AS CRIME GOES BY, is an appealing who-done-it due to the intriguing senior citizens who appear throughout the novel. Especially delightful is the former criminal pair, who are as opposite in appearance and demeanor as two partners can be. The story line is crisp and refreshing, leaving readers wanting more novels by Richard F. West, starring Peter and Benny.

Harriet Klausner

Unreadable! Unreadable! Unreadable! Unreadable

If you love Love the Senior Sleuth nitch in cozies you will certainly enjoy the "Old Gang" series. Have read all the Mrs. Polifax series, Christie of course, but my favorite was the Corinne Holt Sawyer "Camden-sur-Mer" series. The only problem being, eight were not enough! When looking for something along the same unique line, I stumbled on the "Old Gang of Mine" series. I finished the first one and am halfway through the second and I LOVE THEM! Benny, Peter (Slick), and all the gang are delightful! The first one is "Old Gang of Mine" and much time is spent on character unraveling that I am surprised that I can only find three books in the series? I have always had affection for Seniors and now that I am on that same doorstep, I really relate and appreciate their lives being celebrated with significance and ongoing living. The balance of sensitivity, humor and mystery is so worthy and enlightening lives of continued enthusiastic interests. Only downside is I can only find 3 in the wonderful series.

Well written and easy to "fall" in to. Sure everyone will find a character that reminds them of a loved Aunt, Uncle or Grandparent. Besides being a great murder mystery it also opens up your thinking on the aged - brings home the fact that old people are people too!

I thought this was a good murder mystery book to really relax to. The characters (Benny, Alice, Eleanor, Peter - to name a few) were well written and the dialogue and humor had me giggling out loud throughout the book. It had me cheering at the end. It was a delight to read and is a great book to bring along on a vacation or trip.

If you like a little easy reading, and aren't stupid this is a great book.

Hong on the Range is good fun, filled with puns (like the title) and jokes. It's a parody of every pulp western ever written with the hero the lone outsider with a secret(his secret is he's fully human in a world of cyborgs). It's full of outlaws and clever gadgets, not to mention several women none of whom are what they seem to be. Because it's anon-stop tongue in cheek parody, the humor gets tiresome at times. One wishes it would go somewhere, but still, It's endlessly inventive and perfect for what it is.

Of the many colorful characters who walked the dusty streets of Fort Worth's Hell's Half Acre, few equal the enigmatic Jim Courtright. Movies would have us believe that the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys black. Courtright wore both. He was by turns city marshal, deputy sheriff, deputy U.S. Marshall, private detective, hired gun, and racketeer.

According to biographer DeArment there's not much known about Courtright's childhood or youth. It's believed he was a Union soldier during the Civil War, and law abiding. But things changed after the great battle when he moved to the West.

During the railroad strikes in 1886 he found himself in a shootout, and accusers in New Mexico said he was a murderer. Deputies were dispatched to Fort Worth to bring Courtright back to New Mexico to stand trial. How he eluded them is the stuff of legend.

Death came to Courtright during a shootout with gambler Luke Short. Some say that Courtright provoked Short but there is no verifiable data concerning their fight. What is known is that Courtright was evidently esteemed by the townspeople because he had the longest funeral procession Fort Worth had seen.

The life of Courtright, both myth and reality, may be found in two early biographies. Historian DeArment studied these as well as contemporary newspapers and other accounts in order to present his version of the lawman/outlaw's life. In large part he takes the myth apart and then presents a very human Courtright - warts and all.

Those with an interest in the early West and gunfighters in particular will find much to enjoy in this exhaustively researched portrait of a man like few others.

- Gail Cooke

In every life time it seems a legend is born and in the town of Fort Worth, Longhair Jim made his way through the streets. Longhair Jim was the name people called him, but by birth his name was Timothy Isaiah Courtright. Not a lot was known about Timothy's early years, the years when he was only known as Timothy Isaiah Courtright. That all changed, it seemed that Forth Worth had another name given to the town, Hell's Half Acre a name that was used for the type of town it was in the good old days just like the name given to Courtright, Longhair Jim. It seems that Longhair Jim worked bout sides of the law, save a few people from the outlaws to burying a few when they got in Longhair Jims way of making money. It seems that Longhair Jim got in little trouble down New Mexico way. Some said he murdered a man and the law came to town one day to take him back to New Mexico for the crime he was accused of. The New Mexico lawmen had their hands full with Longhair Jim, he wasn't going back, and he escaped pulling a gun out from its hiding place under the Restaurant table. Courtright lived and died by the gun and had one of the largest funeral processions in the history of Fort Worth. If you like stories of the old west, then you will love this story. The old west is like a coloring book, some pages colored very well while others just seem to passed over. Don't find yourself passing over these pages of the old west. A must read-Larry Hobson author-"The Day Of The Rose"

Benny and Pete live in an assisted living facility, ie: retirement home. Benny is an exmobster hiding out from someone, Pete is a former thief. The home is full of colorful characters, including the elusive Mad Joker, whose practical jokes liven up the story. Pete's girlfriend Eleanor, receives packages and flowers from a secret admirer, which first alarm and then frighten her. Then someone is killed at the Halloween party, or shall I say killed again. Alice the retired clown is run down while walking on the sidewalk, and Grace, the home's favorite employee is kidnapped. Who from Eleanor's past is doing this, and how can they stop him.

This is a very entertaining story. The characters are very colorful, yet there are a few secrets left to uncover. Fast read!!

In "Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo" Richard F. Burton wrote:

"My visits to Mr. Walker [Rev. William Walker, in Gabon] first gave me the idea of making the negro describe his own character in a collection of purely Hamitic proverbs and idioms. It appeared to me that, if ever a book aspires to the title 'l'Africaine peint par lui-meme' [the African depicted by himself], it must be one in which he is the medium of his own spirit, the interpreter of his own thoughts. Hence, 'Wit and Wisdom from West Africa' "

First published in 1865, "Wit and Wisdom from West Africa" is a collection of roughly 1700 proverbs from seven languages spoken along the Atlantic coast of Africa. The proverbs were not collected by Burton himself; he complied them from other published sources (mostly missionaries who were working on African language dictionaries and grammar books). In a few cases Burton had some communication with the collectors whose works he borrowed from. "Wit and Wisdom from West Africa" contains the following chapters (noted with the original source and number of proverbs):

1) Proverbs in the Wolof Tongue (from "Grammaire Wolofe", by J. Dard, 1826), 226 proverbs.

2) Proverbs in the Kanuri Tongue (from "African Native Literature", by Rev. S.W. Koelle, 1854), 83 proverbs.

3) Proverbs in the Oji Tongue (from "Grammatical Outline of the Oji Language" by Rev. H.N. Riis, 1854), 265 proverbs.

4) Proverbs in the Ga or Accra Language (from "A Grammatical Sketch of the Akra, or Ga, Language", by Rev. J. Zimmermann, 1858), 221 proverbs.

5) Proverbs in the Yoruba Language (from "Grammar and Dictionary of the Yoruba Language" by Rev. T.J. Bowen, 1858) 483 proverbs.

6) Proverbs in the Efik or Old Calabar Language (from "A Dictionary of the Efik Language", by Rev. Hugh Goldie, 1862) 418 proverbs.

7) Proverbial Sayings and Idioms in the Mpangwe (Fan) Tongue (collected by Rev. Preston and Rev. Adams) 14 proverbs.

Each proverb is printed in its original language (in the Latin alphabet) as well as in English. Many proverbs have a few sentences of additional commentary. In a few cases Burton questions the spelling used by the original collectors.

With the strange (to us) mix of admiration and admonition vis-a-vis Africa that characterizes Burton, he provides an introduction to each chapter that discusses each people's (tribe's) geography and history. It seems clear that Burton was looking for something African to celebrate; and not finding an African Shakespeare or Da Vinci, he settled on proverbs as an African accomplishment worthy of acclaim.

These proverbs having been collected over a century ago, they offer a glimpse into Africa's past; perhaps as Burton wished, a bit of "the African as depicted by himself".

This is a lovely book... and, brief though it is, helped me to understand more about Gauguin's reasons behind his actions. I read it at a perfect time - when the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY was holding one of their most important exhibits on Gauguin and featured his wood cuts. It's a colourful, passionate and painful journey.

This is a great book detailing a few pages from his journal. It has great wood-cut reprints and is a quick read. It puts you into the spirit of Tahiti.