California Books

This is an excellent book that will re-kindle interest in the Giants' tradition. This is a team with a colorful history, and this book describes it beautifully.

STEVEN TRAVERS, author of
"Barry Bonds: Baseball's Superman"
"The Turning of the Tide"
USCSTEVE1@aol.com

The authors did a great job tracking down the former Giants with the most interesting stories. The stories are human, real and well reported. In particular, the Jack Clark chapter is a riot and a must-read for every Dodger-hating Giants fan. Every Giants fan's library should boast a copy.

I got Giants: Where Have You Gone? as a gift and really, really enjoyed it. Growing up as a Giants fan in the late 1970s/early 1980s, my era was that of (among others) Jack Clark, Willie McCovey, Johnnie LeMaster, Will Clark, John Montefusco, Jim Barr, Greg Minton, Joel Youngblood, Matt Williams, Dave Dravecky, Mark Davis, and Kevin Mitchell. Not exactly the team's glory years, so you can imagine how excited I was to catch up with all those guys in the book's pages. It was fascinating reading, reminiscing about their careers and then learning about what happened in their lives after they left the Giants.

I love how the book doesn't just focus on the stars and Hall-of-Famers (though I read the entries on Mays, Cepeda, Marichal, and Perry with great attention), but visits the guys with the short careers or bench players with equal interest. Also, the relatively short chapters make the book absolutely perfect for bathroom reading!

Kudos to Matt Johanson and Wylie Wong for a terrific book.

I just got this book and couldn't put it down from page 1. If I were teaching Baseball History 101, "Giants: Where Have You Gone" would be required reading.

This is an absolutely fascinating book. I think most people would agree that western movies and TV shows are probably not very authentic. They would be correct in that assumption. In the gold rush era of California there was certainly no shortage of men handy with their fists and their guns. But it probably didn't all go down the way you think. It was much more violent than I would have imagined. But this book covers so much more than that. You will read of things that will make your mouth hang open and many things you weren't aware of. I can't thank John Boessenecker enough for bringing all this to light.

Boessenecker's Gold Rush era-California is wilder than Tombstone, Dodge City and Deadwood on a Saturday night Fourth of July weekend. I thought I knew the Old West, but I didn't, because I didn't know Old California. Now I do. The chapter on Joaquin Murrieta is worth the price of the book and clears away a cloud of unknowing about California's most legendary bandit. I hope this is just volume one. --- Allen Barra, author of Inventing Wyatt Earp

Most students of the Wild West who persist are surprised to find that the real Wild West occurred much sooner than when most of the movies are placed. Calfornia in the 1850s was the most dangerous place and time in America, the classic Wild West period later on was tame by comparison. As usual, history is more interesting and fascinating than fiction and a lot of the roots about the way we think of things were planted as the 49ers struggled to survive in the killing gold fields. A great job of research and a valuable 'must' addition to any serious Western library.

A Review from Wild West Magazine, October 1999:

It is an odd twist of history. Hollywood created the gunfighter myth and placed its heroes primarily in Texas, with overlapping gun-toting cowboys in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, Oklahoma and the Dakotas. Yet, when we think of California in terms of the Wild West, we usually think of someone salting a gold mine...period. It's high time, on the 150th anniversary of the Forty-Niners' rush to the far coast, to rethink Old California.

San Francisco attorney and historian John Boessenecker has done as much as anyone to change and illuminate California's Wild West image. With intense research and fine writing skills, Boessenecker brings us gunfighters, thieves, assassins, gamblers and highwaymen, the likes of which one seldom reads about. And these are not just ordinary ruffians and ne'er-do-wells; these people stole from other folks in a wide variety of ways and made an art out of shooting and cutting up friends as well as enemies.

So while we have plenty of biographies of Billy the Kid and lots of reruns on the OK Corral, it's refreshing that Boessenecker presents solid information on interesting but mostly overlooked California characters and events. The author says that the decade of turbulence and bloodshed that followed the discovery of gold "has not been equaled before or since in the history of peacetime America." In the epilogue, Boessenecker presents some murder-rate figures that lend support to that statement. He concludes that the gold seekers' ready resort to violence "left an enduring mark on our nation's history."

If you would like a good read (367 pages) about how gold fever ignited a rush not only of families, but of prostitutes, feuds, lynchings, duels, bare-knuckle prize fights, and vigilantes, then this is the place to start, the book to open.

Leon Metz

Don't let the cumbersome title scare you away from this handy book for Bay Area and coastal California gardeners. Pam Pierce understands the unique Mediterranean microclimate(s) of our great gardening region, and offers sound advice on what to grow, when and how to grow it best. Very helpful and well-organized.

Havi Hoffman
Vegetable Gardens
Growing food in Berkeley, CA

This is a good book both for the avid gardener as well as the beginner. I've given this book as gifts to many people throughout the SF Bay area and everyone has loved this book!It is particularly a good gift if they grow vegetables and have had limited success in some aspects of gardening such as trying to grow tomotoes the coastal areas of the Bay Area. This book has growing charts of when to plant and harvest, best varieties for the bay area, and covers points to explain the many microclimates even within the same city.

A great book with lots of pointers. Note that this is not a book to compete with Sunset's Western Garden Book but rather to supplement it. This book doesn't have the details with regard to horticultural specifics.

So this past spring I decided, once and for all, that I wanted to start a garden. I had no experience in this subject, and I searched for a good book at the library. I found this book. I ended up renewing it five times, and finally ordering it from Amazon.com. It has truly been a life saver. What I like best is the way the book is laid out, with sections on vegetables, fruits, and flowers, as well as special sections on pests and other problems. The book is well organized and the index points the reader in the right directions, making it easy to find what I'm looking for down to the tiniest detail. The charts make it clear which San Francisco Bay Area microclimates are suitable for which plants, and the book explains down to the tiniest detail how to start plants, transplant them, grow them, and harvest them. At the same time that this book is informative beyond all my original expections, is also excels in not being condescending (one of my pet peeves). I believe it is the perfect book for the seasoned gardener just moving into the area, the seasoned gardener in need of more detailed information, and someone like me, with no gardening experience whatsoever.

I love this book. I have never read it all the way through, but rather I look up things that I am interested in.

The seed company (and variety) recommendations are likely out of date.

I really appreciate Peirce's reports about her experiences with different plants.

Bought two copies, one for the library and one for the car. The definitive "must have" book for playing golf in California. The course descriptions are the best and most complete I've come across, mostly right on, and I particularly enjoyed Bob Fagan's Lists.

A 'must have' resource for anyone playing golf in the west...from beginners to the advanced golfer. Honest, up-to-date information with humor and practicality. Check out the web-site linked to the book!

If you are a golfer in California, you have to own this book. It includes great information on EVERY golf course in California, Tahoe and Reno areas.

This book has easy to read and contains up-to-date information and course reviews from golf courses in California, Las Vegas and Reno. I especially like Bob Fagan's Book of Lists--although I don't necessarily agree with some of his picks. I also found the "opinion" portion of the course reviews not only entertaining but informative, too. The size of the book is perfect for traveling; and it fits in my golf bag.

Beautiful work and translation!
Of most interest for scholars and seekers of treasures.
Worth reading!

To my surprise this is not a popularisation but the editio princeps of the text, and a piece of sound textual scholarship. Speculation is kept to a minimum, Christian-baiting is omitted, and the emphasis is on providing the data to the scholarly community. The introduction, transcription and translation are by Prof. Hedrick; the commentary by Dr. Mirecki, but both take responsibility for each other's contribution, and the 'join' is not really visible. Full monochrome photographs are provided, and a critical apparatus. There is a distinct tendency to avoid making judgements on points of detail. The editors are clearly aware that any such discussion would render their book obsolete within a year or two as the issues are thrashed out. There is an excellent section on the codicology. It is difficult not to be impressed at the skill with which the jigsaw puzzle has been put together. Interestingly some of the fragments bear Coptic page numbers - 99, 100, etc - which indicates the text comes from a larger volume. The translation is literalist, which is very welcome, and the text and translation laid out opposite each other in the diplomatic manner. The commentary attempts to elucidate the meaning of the fragments, and likewise avoids large and loose conclusions.

Issues of dating are addressed very tentatively. The book is parchment, in quires, written in a polished Sahidic Coptic, and displays some skill in codex making. Analysis of letter forms suggests a date between the 4th-7th centuries - perhaps most likely somewhere in the middle. The book has suffered damage by fire, but no comment is made about this. The text seems to make use of both Matthew and John, with an occasional echo of Luke, and reflects the Coptic text of these works. There is a reference to 'Aeons', the 'Pleroma', and other general Gnostic indicators, e.g. 'Do not let matter rule over you' (p.98 line 44 of the codex/p.31). The editors feel that the 'latest date for its original composition is probably in the late second century' (p.2), although they fail to make quite clear why. However a second century date for the work seems quite reasonable, in view of the definite but unfocused nature of the Gnosticism in the surviving fragments, which I suspect is the basis for their statement. There is a general smattering of Greek words throughout the codex. A very careful paragraph (pp.12-13) discusses evidence for one Coptic word being a too literal mistranslation of a Greek idiom and so 'implies that the Gospel of the Savior is based on an earlier Greek original subsequently translated into Coptic'. The scholarly refusal here to say too more than the evidence demands, combined with the solid scholarship underlying it, makes very pleasant reading.

There are full references to other ancient texts, probable or otherwise. Curiously there are two references in the fragments which could relate to the long ending of Mark, (e.g. 'sitting at the right hand of the father upon your (sg.) throne', 17H 4-6, p71 = Mark 14:6, Mark 16:19 and many other refs). One of the statements of the 'saviour' is also found in the Coptic Gospel of Thomas - 'he that is near me is near to the fire; he that is far from me is far from life' (107.43-48, CGoT 82). It is pleasing to see an awareness that some of the elements used may have no connection with any organised group but may simply be part of the general pagan religious climate of antiquity (p.24). The pseudo-Christian title given to this document by the editors is unfortunate, in that it acts as a barrier to understanding, as M.R.James long ago pointed out in the preface to his edition of the 'New Testament Apocrypha'. To call this work a gospel forces the editors to define a 'gospel' to mean nothing more specific than a work containing sayings or perhaps narrative about someone who may be called Jesus or is in some way based on the historical figure (p.1). This ties the work too closely to some sort of pseudo-Christian context. Few would doubt that in antiquity the extra-canonical works formed a broad spectrum, shading from orthodox works like the Acts of Paul right the way down to basically pagan texts which added some nominal 'Jesus' into the syncretist stew. It would seem that the word 'gospel' has really outlived its usefulness if it prevents us from recognising and working with this continuum. Doubtless the difficulty of finding another word has something to do with the continued popularity of the word 'gospel'. To call the codex the 'Gospel of the Savior' also seems unwise, in view of the inferences that those ignorant of the subject will infallibly draw from it. It would have been better to give it a neutral name like the Berlin Gospel.

The work consists of dialogue between a central figure and his hearers, and an ascension by them all in 'to the [fourth] heaven'(p.113 line 16 of the codex - p.45 in the edition), scattering the discomfited 'watchers' and cherubim. The central figure is referred to only as the 'saviour' and the words 'for us apostles' (113.3/p.45) and mention of Andrew and John suggest that the unknown 'author' is supposed to be an apostle, although I do not recall that this point is made anywhere. The manner in which the saviour does his saving is unclear, due to the fragmentary nature of the text. But he does do a lot of direct talking to the cross - 'A little longer, O Cross, and all the pleroma is perfected'(5F.30-32/p.55) etc, which may yet inspire some satire, perhaps about a previously unrecognised 'ecological Jesus', who talked a lot to trees!

The focus of the book is the data, rather than the ludicrous theories that appeared in some of the press releases, and for that we owe them a debt of gratitude. Recommended.

The collaboration of biblical scholars Charles W. Hedrick and Paul A. Mirecki, Gospel Of The Savior: A New Ancient Gospel is the first publication and translation of a long-lost Christian gospel written in the Coptic language of Christian Egypt. Carefully pieced together from parchment pieces found in the Berlin Egyptian Museum, this long-lost gospel presents dialogues and discourse of a figure called "the savior" by his apostles. Extensive commentary upon the text fragments rounds out this fascinating, meticulously researched, painstakingly translated, and superbly presented reference. Fascinating reading for Christian history, theology, and scholarship, this edition of the Gospel Of The Savior is an essential, core addition to any serious, comprehensive New Testament Studies academic reference collection.

Mirecki and Hedrick team up to present a coherent and comprehensive text on an ancient gospel rarely discussed in non-academic circles. The concise, unbiased presentation is a must for any library of early Christianity.

`A Great American Cook' by the `legendary' chef and restaurateur, Jonathan Waxman has been long awaited, at least by me, for about as long as I have been familiar with cookery books and more specifically the background of celebrity chef, Bobby Flay, who provides a blurb on the well-known fact that Waxman was `My number one mentor'. I call Waxman `legendary' because he comes from that pre-Emeril, pre-Food Network, pre-celebrity chef era of a scant 20 years ago, when the only chef one ever heard of was Wolfgang Puck, and the great culinary writer and editor, Ruth Reichl was predicting the end of celebrity chefs. Well, we all make mistakes! He is also `legendary' in that all the other members of this pre-Emeril club have produced at one or more important cookbooks. Wolfgang has numerous pedestrian efforts, and contemporary Jeremiah Tower (another Chez Panisse graduate) has produced at least two, one of which I consider one of the best chef cookbooks going.
Therefore, my expectations for Waxman's book were very, very high, as I would compare him to the best books from Tower, Zuni Café founder, Judy Rodgers, fellow Chez Panisse alum, Paul Bertoli, and especially the recent excellent works by Jacques Pepin (Chez Pepin) and Michel Richard (Happy in the Kitchen). It is most appropriate to compare it to `Chez Pepin' as both are written from the point of view of recipes the cooks make at home. At least that's what both of them say, and Jacques has a much easier time of sticking to that principle, as he has not headed a professional kitchen for many decades. When I opened Richard's and Pepin's books, I could tell this was something special almost immediately, as I can do with virtually all exceptional cookbooks. These excellent books simply don't mince words and get right down to talking about both facts and inspirations we have simply never seen elsewhere. I did not get that impression on reading through Waxman's 12 introductory pages, or even when I started reading the recipes. Virtually all the tips in `Edicts on Selecting Ingredients and Techniques' was old stuff we have all read in virtually every better cookbook written in the last 20 years.
But then, by the time I got to the third chapter, I started to appreciate two things about the recipes. First, although some originated in one of Waxman's commercial kitchens, virtually all of the recipes were relatively simple. Maybe not as simple as Jacques (who seems to be the master of effortless home cooking), but simple AND special, nonetheless. Second, I noticed that there were virtually no fancy ingredients being used, unless you count Waxman's strictures about not using frozen seafood, especially squid, for the recipes. Instead, Waxman draws from a relatively simple palate, where lots of popular ingredients find their way into many different recipes. The obvious ones are sweet peppers, asparagus, tuna, onion, tomatoes, mushrooms, corn, and shellfish. If one is a fan of any of these ingredients, then Waxman's book is a must, as he gives you enough to keep you happy for several seasons.
One can also see what it is about Waxman's style which may have had a big influence on Flay. While Waxman's primary influences were the California pantry and French cooking techniques, seen through the eyes of Alice Waters, he is clearly in love with southwestern ingredients and cooking styles. And yet, there is very little real grilling going on here. And, if you were adverse to southwestern cuisine, you would probably find these recipes may even change your mind.
Waxman's recipe writing style is very easy on the eyes and the mind (easy to follow, without being overly pedagogical). As dearly as I love Julia Child's recipes, Waxman's writing is far more fun to read and to execute for the experienced chef. He doesn't leave anything out. You will even find his imagery illuminating, as when he tells you to open a slit in a cooked chicken breast as if you were squeezing open a slit baked potato. Similarly, when he tells you how to prepare the perfect roast chicken, the instructions are far simpler than Jeremiah Tower's similar recipe. Finally, while the layout of the procedures is not overly fussy, it is very nicely organized with simple typesetting to distinguish one part of the recipe from another.
This book is worthy for any experienced cook who is not always pressed for time, and while just a bit light on the insights, it's a worthy book for those especially fond of the best chef's books cited above.

The book has an entertaining, easy writing style with very do-able recipes that just beg to be tried. I actually read the book cover-to-cover before even trying my first menu item. The seafood and fish recipes are particularly instructive.

Simple and elegant. The pictures are great, just by looking at them you want to cook and eat everything in the book!

Well written and easy to read describes this volume. You almost feel entertained while gaining valuable knowledge from a master. Certainly a welcome addition to any cookbook collection, but it should remain not on a library shelf, but in your kitchen. To a self-educated cook such as myself, it is a wealth of knowledge.

What a page turner! In a prose style that bops along like riffs floating out of a Central Avenue nightclub, RJ Smith's book The Great Black Way: L.A. in the 1940s and the Lost African-American Renaissance sheds long overdue light on the history Black Los Angeles. I was prepared to learn more about the fabled music scene on Central Avenue during the 1940's, but there is so much more to this story. The unsubtle ways in which race has shaped life in Los Angeles are fleshed out with sketches of Central Avenue's leading cultural, religious and political leaders; some familiar, others undeservedly obscure. Although the focus is on African-Americans, racist events like the forced internment of Japanese Americans and the Zoot Suit Riots intersected life on Central Avenue and readers will gain a nuanced vision of what this fabled multicultural city looked like sixty years ago (not a pretty picture at all.) The standard narrative of the civil rights movement tends to locate all the action in the south, but LA's home grown struggles to end segregation in the wartime defense industry and post war housing boom deserve a place in schools' curriculums and popular culture. And for anyone interested in the survival strategy known as "passing", or for anyone with more than a "passing" interest in the musical/cultural genre known as "exotica", the chapter on Korla Pandit is a must! Thanks RJ, for one of the best books I've ever read on the city we call home. As a postscript I'd like to add that a great book to fill out the "overlooked history" niche of your library is Whitewashed Adobe: The Rise and Los Angeles and the Remaking of its Mexican Past by William Deverell.

If you love Los Angeles and L.A. history, this book is a fantastic read. It both honors the African-American community's struggles for justice and respect in the city and introduces the reader to an extraordinary range of people-artists, journalists, civil rights leaders- who were indispendable to the development of black life and culture in Los Angeles.

Mr. Smith also does a superb job in communicating a sense of place and time, namely the sights and sounds of L.A.'s African-American neighborhoods in the 1940s.

No matter what your color or background, if you live in L.A.'s city's limits, reading this book wil make you proud to be an Angelino.

The ghosts and shadows, spirits and voices long since quieted are awakened, resurrected and put on display for all to see. This is quite simply an excellent book. What the author captures is the pride and determination, intelligence and ignorance, the creative genius and social failures of a street which became an area and an area which became a neighborhood and a neighborhood and its cultures. Cultures and counter-cultures, the civic minded hustlers, businnessmen, club owners, jazz musicians, lawyers, spiritualists, con-men, pimps and whores, atheletes and common folk. Those who endured racial taunts only to serve up taunts of their own, thumbing their nose at society while making plans to kick down the door of barriers constructed to keep them in their place. The sights and sounds of black Los Angeles, the birth place of attitudes which prevail to this day. Rarely has the spirit of urban Los Angeles been captured so completely.

The recollections gathered from old newspapers, cards, letters and the fading memories of those still around leave the reader enraptured. Every page is a treat. The fantastic stories coupled with the brilliant personalities make this an enjoyable historic voyage. To understand the roots is to understand the fruit and the subject of this book is definately a root to be studied and enjoyed by all with an interest in urban Los Angeles.

The history of our Los Angeles African-American roots have finally been given long overdue mention. With all the attention paid to Harlem, you'd think L.A.'s contributions to black American culture, civil rights, and religion pales in comparision. Hardly true!

Azusa Street, was literally the birthplace of the modern Pentocostal movement. And with certain recent documentaries on Jazz, it seemed no one had ever heard of Central Avenue's Club Alabam, or the hot and swingin' Bronzeville district of Downtown.

There was the still standing Dunbar Hotel, a black oasis for many of the well known, and not so famous, to find shelter while visiting the "City of Angels." Not to mention black L.A.'s major contributions to standup comedy, and as much as anyplace else, the jumpstart for R&B music.

Checkout the early civil rights movement here that foreshadowed such major figures as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, or the black literary community of Los Angeles. A powerful reminder of the huge and highly forgotten contributions of the black Los Angeles community, to the African-American struggles in America. R.J. Smith should receive an honorary medal of human brotherhood.

Daniel Reveles is a charming and humorous writer who spins tales that have their roots in the oral tradition of Mexico. His latest short-story collection is "Guacamole Dip" (Sunbelt Publications, $15.95 paperback), which uses as its stage the border town of Tecate. In his introduction, Reveles invites readers into his world and sets the tone for the stories that follow: "I'm so glad you could make it down to Tecate today. Let's take a shady bench here in the plaza and watch a live show as good as any musical you'll see on Broadway." Of course, the "show" features of the lives of ordinary people who live, love and die in Reveles' beloved town. Not surprisingly, Reveles has been likened to John Steinbeck and Mark Twain. [The full review first appeared in the El Paso Times.]

As a fan of Daniel Reveles' work I was happy to see his new book lives up to his outstanding reputation. It was full of enticing short stories with a Hispanic flavor that lingers on.

If you liked Gabriel Garcia Marquez' Love in the Time of Cholera or 100 Years of Solitude, you'll LOVE Daniel Reveles' Guacamole Dip: From Baja, Tales of Love, Faith and Magic!

A collection of short stories centered in a small Mexican border town. Simple, thoughtful characters. Stories that leave you with a smile and make you wish you lived in a town where people had time for each other, still sing with joy in their heart, had contentment without irony. A nice change from the cynicism and oppression one finds in so much contemporary writing.

Once again, Daniel Reveles has managed to make me care about the wonderful, sweet, noble and sometimes crazy people that live in his world...Care, and laugh, and even cry a bit. I'm only sorry I finished the new book so fast, as I am already "hungry" for more...

Although 13 years old, much of the info in this book is still relevant. Despite the youthfulness of Los Angeles, there are restaurants and markets that have managed to survive for decades. These places are invariably great and almost institutions in their community. Hence, many of the listings in Burum's book still survive in this megapolis. You'll have fun tracking down that obscure German sausage maker who has had his shop for some 30 years...as well as the occassional let down upon discovering that the old Japanese immigrant, who made fresh tofu daily at the back of his grocery store, decided to call it quits a few years ago.

This book is not only a guide to the ethnic markets in LA, but also serves as an introduction to the cuisine of LA's ethnic groups. Interspersed within the listings, you'll find glimpses into the history of LA's immigrant communities, and what they really eat that you don't get at the mainstream ethnic restaurants. If you're the type that prefers to eat where you're the only one not of the ethnic group the restaurant caters to, get this book. It lets you in on not just the basics of a people's cuisine, but makes you feel comfortable with the unfamiliar (and much more authentic] dishes.

The book is organized into the following chapters, which fairly represents the demographics of Los Angeles:
China; Japan; Korea; Thailand; Vietnam; Southeast Asian [Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Phillipines]; India; Mexico; Central/South America and Caribbean; Europe; Greece, the Middle East and Africa.

Overall, an indispensable introduction to LA's greatest asset: It's diversity of people and cuisine.

This is a fantastic compendium of ethnic food in LA. It gives you everything you'd ever want to know: best bakeries, best markets, best restaurants. It divides categories by geography (important in LA) & by ethnic cuisines.

While the 1992 printing will make some info out of date (restaurants for example), this book is one of a kind & the best in its genre.

This is the greatest book on the best ethnic restaurants in LA. Hopefully, the author will put out a new edition. I have it. It's about 10 years old, and I'm not going to sell it. It's better than any new guide out there. Even if you don't go to these places, it's an interesting read.

When this book first came out about 10 yrs. ago or more it was a revelation. In one collection it guided you through EVERY major ethnic community in the greater L.A. region and told you which were the best restaurants, bakeries, markets, etc. I don't know of any other book that comes to close to being this comprehensive & incisive.

If you ever spend any time in L.A. & you are interested in ethnic food, you must have this book.

There's lots of off road variety in this book. You can four wheel on easy dirt roads to rock hoppin heaven. This book is well laid out and the descriptions of the trails are accurate.

I'm a newbie off-roader, and have only driven one of the "easy" trails in my stock wrangler. It was a lot of fun, and the scenery was awesome, but I think I realized we weren't really off roading when we crossed paths with a brand new mustang convertible going in the other direction. At that point I figured I should take it out of 4wd-low.

So I think there's definitely something for everyone in this book. However, deciding on the right trail and actually driving to it are two different things. Some of my off roading plans fizzled out when I realized I had to drive 4 hours in each direction just to get to the trail I wanted! Living in the SF bay area, I was hoping to have more options within a reasonable day drive...but that's probably just naive of me.

I have had the opportunity to drive trails I know with Chuck Wells, and his books are well written and easy to follow. The trail rating he uses is juged on the roughest section of the trail, if a trail is moderate and has a difficult section that cannot be avoided it will receive a difficult rating. All the trails in his books have been driven by him and not judged by someone else.

I was a first time off-roader with my stock 06 Chevy truck. So far, I've driven 3 of the courses in the book, the descriptions are very accurate, the odometer settings are great and the GPS coordinates are very helpful. I won't be tackling any of the "Hard" courses and this guide spells out the difficulty level of each. Get this book!