Montana Books

The actual story of the 5 boys would make a good chapter in a book about avalanche disasters. There was not enough story in itself for a whole book, so the author turned it into an historical narrative about the formation of mountains, snow, avalanches, etc; the history of mountain climbing, rescues, etc.; a brief biograghy of everyone involved in the rescue. Way too much irrelevant information if you just want an exciting story. I kept forgetting what I was reading about because so little of it had to do with the story of the 5 boys.

I am not a mountain climber, nor a skier, but I love the outdoors and the mountains, thus my interest in this book. I was pleasantly surprised by the author's flowing writing style and the way he seamlessly incorporated historic details about avalanche disasters and the science of snowflakes and snowpack. This book offers a wide breadth of fact while expertly narrating the gripping story of the plight of these five climbers, and the lives of those they left behind. If you enjoyed "The Perfect Storm" or "Into Thin Air", you will not be disappointed at all with this book. This ranks up there with the finest natural disaster books I have read, and I highly recommend it.

Throughout history, mountains have held a certain irresistible appeal, an unknown feeling of holy ascendence. That appeal has held through the ages, and envelops people who have already done something important with their lives, those who haven't, and older people as well as young people. Being close to nature, risking everything for the beauty of the view from the top of a mountain, for the physical prize after a hard climb, for the closeness a peak brings heaven or any sentient all-powerful being; these are all rewards from a successful climb, and these are not all. But there is also so much to risk - life itself, which, being already so short, is worth more than anything imaginable. People risk themselves constantly through mountain climbs or extreme sports, believing the rewards far outweigh the losses. The White Death is a well-told story of five boys who risked it all for the climb of a lifetime.

McKay Jenkins transforms the elusive and unknown world of avalanches to an intriguing story of mountain rescues. Don't read this book expecting it to focus on the lost boys; it won't. But you'll learn all about avalanche rescue techniques, types of snow and how to test them for avalanche safety, helicopter rescues, et cetera. You get my point.

I would completely recommend this book to any skiier, boarder, hiker, climber, or person interested in the outdoors and rescues. I picked this book off the shelf because I liked the cover, then read the flap and borrowed it. It is definately worth the time to read "The White Death".

This book does a great job of blending snow science and the history of human avalanche experience with a compelling personal story of five unfortunate young climbers. If the scientific and historical perspectives in this book had been available to these climbers, their story would likely be a different one. Anyone interested in skiing or climbing in mountainous backcountry should find this book to be informative, intriguing, and, if not for the tragedy, enjoyable. This book presents the dry text of snow science in a package that will hold your interest. Though flawed in its accuracy regarding personal history, details of mountaineering and local geography, it provides knowledge about the nature of snow and its metamorphosis that any mountain adventurer should be aware of. I am sending a copy to a friend who teaches avalanche awareness classes, as I know he'll thoroughly enjoy it...in spite of the tragedy.

I spent several years as the book critic for Outside magazine, during which time I had the opportunity (and sometimes misfortune) to read dozens of books about mountaineering tragedies and triumphs. The White Death is one of the genre's very best, in part because of Jenkins' considerable skills as a storyteller and wordsmith, and in part because--unlike the professional climbers who typically write such tomes--he has healthy skepticism about the sport itself. This is not simply a tale about "tragedy and heroism," as the subtitle indicates, but also about hubris, teen angst and dumb luck. It's also a paean to an extraordinary place (Glacier National Park) and an endlessly fascinating and mysterious phenomenon (snow). Written with flair and suspense, it unfolds with the power of a wall of white cascading down a slope.

As other reviewers before me have noted, "Gig" is a fun book, but it's not an in-depth study of people's relationship to the jobs they do as was Studs Terkel's excellent "Working."

In "Gig," the interviews are a little shallow, and even the prostitute seems to like her job; had the word.com actually used oral history techniques, they would have interviewed the subjects over several sessions to get to the "meat" behind their stories. Of course everyone wants to be happy with their jobs. No one is going to confess from the get-go that his or her life is problematic.

Some of the interviews mirror our celebrity-saturated, status- conscious world of today. Heidi Klum and Debra Messing gush over their work, but their one-in-a-million careers do not necessarily mean anything to us "regular" folk. However, having the art mover interview appear right after the interview with the famous artist did provide a nice contrast.

"Gig" makes for a great and easy read. If you really want to understand the whole concept of work, however, I recommend "Working" and "American Dreams" by Studs Terkel.

Then you should read this book. Gig is an unexpectedly engaging collection of vignettes of diverse American workers. It makes you think long and hard about your job...as well as all those jobs that someone has to do, but that no one really wants to. (What does the garbage man really think about when he's riding the back of the truck?) My favorite profile: man who runs a company that cleans up murder scenes and homes where people are simply found dead from natural causes.

I only read one entry a night to drag it out. It's that good. Not only is there much hilarity, you actually learn insider info about how things work--excellent cocktail conversation. I must have told 20 people things I've read in here, and I"m only a third finished.

I've actually confirmed some of the comments with people who really have those jobs--and they're true!

This is by far the best book i've read in 2 years. The stories are perfectly edited, so they are either concisely funny or heart-wrenching or appalling (mostly funny). YOu never know what you're going to get when you start one of the 3-page nuggets.

Not only was this fabulous escapism during the recent Horrors, it gave me truly useful ideas of how to better use MY life in a way that is rewarding and of use to the planet!! And how to appreciate the value, the contributions, and/or the sheer hilarity of my many jobs, past and present.

There are three fundamental questions about work.

* What do other people do?

* Who actually does that?

* Is their job better than mine?

As it happens, all three questions have the same answer: you'd be surprised. After collecting years of a column on "Work", the editors of Word.com can tell you exactly what Americans do all day, and those jobs are both more bizarre and more mundane than you might imagine. As _Gig_ demonstrates, Americans are working as florists, lemonade salesmen, clutter consultants, smokehouse pit cooks, paparazzi, Elvis Presley interpreters, buffalo ranchers, heavy metal roadies - and in most cases, loving it.

_Gig_ is fascinating for its variety alone. But more importantly, _Gig_ is inspiring. It's hard to read this book and not be impressed: impressed by Americans' creativity, by their insight, even by their dedication. A receptionist echoes the voices of the 120-plus interviewees when she says that "I take pride in my job. I really - it's my baby, you know? That front desk is my baby. I just take a lot of pride in what I do."

There's no one way to read _Gig_. You can turn to the oddities. (Yes, crime scene cleaner is a real job.) You can look for the parallels and contrasts. (Temp, preceded by CEO, preceded by slaughterhouse human resources director.) You can flip around for anecdotes. (The systems administrator's tale is riveting.) Or you can take heart in homespun philosophy. A steelworker says that "you work with people you like, and they like you because you do your work, and you're with them. You're together." A lawn maintenance man articulates his dream to "finish up school. And then maybe I'll try to get one of those jobs where you can wear khaki pants and relax."

At times the editors try too hard to keep the interviews raw; the constant punctuation of "[Laughs]" can wear thin. But overall _Gig_ is extraordinary: part entertainment, part oral history, part homage to the work of Studs Terkel. _Gig_'s editors pay explicit tribute to Terkel's 1972 _Working_, yet the collection will remind you too of _Hard Times_, his brilliant collection of interviews on the Great Depression. If _Gig_ is a documentary, then it's a documentary in which the central participant shapes the structure and uncovers the meaning. Not unlike a job.

As an avid non-fiction reader, I come across many books written in a typical journalistic style. I also come across many clunky, personal exposes that never culminate in any larger message about humanity. Tom Groenberg not only avoids these styles, but approaches his adventure with the most beautiful, clear, prose I have read in ages. The topic matter has so much potential to be a cliche, but he deftly avoids falling this trap. I savored this book like a good meal, and I dare anyone with emotional depth to find not find something in it that rings deeply true to the modern human experience. Thanks, Tom. You inspire me to write more.

I feel that this book was quite refreshing.I really enjoyed the book in the end, but at first I thought it read somewhat slow. I was very suprised at the way Groneberg pulled me in by displaying such a well written description of his life. Mr. Groneberg is a strong writer who keeps my attention, displays good organization/structure, however he could do a better job of giving definitions on certain "cowboy" terms that those from the city may not know or understand. Mr. Groneberg establishes his credibilty in this book by explaining that he has lived and worked on cattle ranches. He does a good job of giving descriptive details, personal experiences and observations, and examples and illustrations. Mr. Groneberg's book is recent and more applicable to this generation of "wannabe" cowboys. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in the cowboy way of life.

As you may have gathered from the other reviews, this book may not be what you are expecting. But in the end, you may well find its something more.

It is not so much that its romantic, poetic, or any of the other 'literary' virtues you may associate with the American West.

It is something bigger, something better: its true. Not merely in an autobiographical sense, but in a universal, human way that will touch you deeply if you let it.

Truth is its skin and skeleton, and the sinews that hold it together. If that isn't enough for you, if you can't see the poetry and romance in the triumphs and tradgedies of life on the land told with utter honesty, then your mind is too small for this book.

And much too small for Montana: I've lived and worked on ranches here for 25 years, and we seriously don't need more people looking for sequined cowboys or photo ops with 'old salts'...

But there will always be room for Tom Groneberg, and people like him.

Can a city guy go from college to wrangler, ranch hand and ranch owner? Can he live through the Montana winters? Will he give it up and take up accounting in his home town? The author is brutally honest as he answers these questions. The angst is hard on the reader, but you want to follow him through his tough decisions. Many of the characterizations are memorable. I look forward to reading the next installment and seeing where this continuing experiment in ranch life takes him.

Once you get started reading, this book appears to be the real thing. Although it may be a true life experience, it becomes very hard to keep your attention and rambles on concerning some big dreams financed by his father's forture, only to become a total failure. To top the story, he must to turn to medication to keep his senses and continue to " dream " about being a cowboy. After reading this, I wonder what would have been the true outcome if he didn't have parents to finance his way, and stay away from the mood-altering drugs. Don't waste your money on this one, that is, unless, daddy is paying for it

very good, excellant. if you are a fan of terry gross and npr, you will enjoy this book.

Not as enjoyable as her live show (but, then, what COULD be), but still a fun look back at some interesting people.

The ever intelligent, inviting, and capable Terry Gross is someone I'll always listen to if I happen to be in the car when Fresh Air is on the radio. This book is both a meaningful read-thru of some of Terry's personally-selected (mostly early) interviews out of the thousands she's done since Fresh Air went national on NPR in 1987, and a nice private tour of how Fresh Air really works. It's also a little like enjoying a candid conversation with Terry Gross about her life and career and views on radio as a whole. Recently, if I may note this, Terry's website has mentioned that a number of the tapes storing Fresh Air have begun to deteriorate with age (Fresh Air's archives pre-date digital) and a call has gone out to help preserve these truly significant bits of our cultural heritage. Fresh Air gives a chance for those who helped define our age to voice themselves, and surely that's worth preserving for posterity. But that's going off track a bit. In this review I mainly just wanted to say I read this book, it was a nice read, and I recommend it!

Terry Gross has one of the best interview programs on radio called Fresh Air. As a journalist, I can appreciate her prepared questions but also her flow with the interview to ask follow-up questions and find the undiscovered gems of conversation.

This book is the equivalent of the Fresh Air programs yet it's in a printed format and portable to read any place and any time. I loved every chapter and recommend this book.

If you love Fresh Air and Terry Gross, but can't catch all of the interviews, this is a great way to catch up on some of the most significant. This book covers writers, actors, musicians, and artists, and includes figures as diverse as Gene Simmons from Kiss to Eric Clapton to John Updike to Conan O'Brien. Keep in mind that the interviews are edited for inclusion in this book, so some are shorter than others, and some are combined with other interviews Terry has conducted with the person.

The best thing about the interviews chosen is that every one offers fascinating information, whether it is about a trade, like writing or acting, or about the figure, like Jodie Foster's feelings on her childhood stardom. Another added bonus to this book is Terry's introduction to each interview. In some, she adds some context around the interview, such as what she thought about the guest or newspaper reports about the interview. In others, she offers personal information on her preferences and passions, and in others, she provides further biographical information about the guest.

I greatly enjoyed reading this collection and read every interview. This is a book that I will keep for years to come, but I am hesitant to give it five stars because I can't imagine getting anything additional out of it if I reread it. Perhaps some of the interviews would be more meaningful at one time in my life or another, but they aren't as in-depth or complex as a novel, memoir, or biography, so I don't feel that this book, as enjoyable and fascinating as it was, is multi-layered.

I do not doubt Dr Fox summarises accurately the recent archeological evidence, and is the only book--as opposed to article--to do so. His interpretation of that evidence is much less reliable. For example, if his sample is accurate, and 3% of all Springfield carbine rounds jammed and had to be pried out of the breech with a knife, this does NOT mean that only 6 of 210 carbines misfired. It means that if a weapon fired 10 rounds, there was a 26% chance of jamming--and indeed, he quotes but ignores burial party accounts of "dozens" of jammed weapons the victorious Sioux and Commanche didn't even bother to carry away. His confidence that he knows the distribution of companies between wings because he knows what Upton's CAVALRY TCTICS prescribed bespeaks a man who never served in any branch of any service. Clearly he never heard that "doctrine is the opinion of the senior officer present." Other instances abound.
Buy the book. James Donovan quarried it heavily for TERRIBLE CLORY and gave Dr. Fox less credit than was his due. But don't take the conclusions as seriously as the evidence.

Let me pile on with most of the other reviewers. This is a fascinating read and unique insight into the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

This analysis of the Little Bighorn has/will set a new standard for historical writing. Unlike 90% of the historical liturature produced in the USA now days, this book is unfettered by PC bias. It is pure history amplified by first class archaeology. Whether you are a Custer buff or not, read it to find out how history should be written.

The book is an interesting read, however his conclusions that there was no "Last Stand" due to lack of archaeological evidence is simply wrong (a simple research on Indian casualties in '06 showed that 200 warriors had been killed on the battlefield alone, which couldn't be the case if Custer's men had actually shown little resistance and lasted over 2 hours). The fact that this fight occurred over 100 years ago, a visitor center built, monuments and markers placed, not to mention scores of relic hunters picking the hill clean for years (until 1984), and changes in the topography have contaminated any evidence or lack thereof. No conclusions are possible according to what was or what was not found on that hill. Certainly not enough to prove his theories.
He does rely heavily on Indian oral accounts. However, I was disturbed by his continued excuse to discount every account that contradicted his own conclusions, claiming that they were merely telling their white interviewers what white America wanted to hear. He seems to only accept their statements as valid as long as they coincide with his theories.
Would I recommend this book? While I agree it is interesting, it simply cannot be considered a reliable version of what took place on that hill in 1876. There are better books available.

Since 1983, when a range fire cleared away much of the grass and underbrush at the Custer Battlefield along the Little Big Horn in Montana, archaeologists have had a chance to investigate the field and, using the material evidence uncovered, have made their own contributions to the mountains of interpretations of what happened that fateful day, June 26, 1876, when Custer and his Seventh Regiment were wiped out. Richard Allan Fox was one of those original archaeologists, and this book is a careful and detailed study of his findings - and interpretations. (In terms of the historical record it is always wise to remember that no members of Custer's immediate command survived the fight and that Indian eyewitness accounts, often contradictory and self-serving, must be carefully scrutinized; many historians refuse to give any credence to them at all.)

Fox, basing many of his conclusions on archaeological evidence, particularly shell casings found on the field, offers accounts of what happened that differ from the standard view, mainly in the following areas: he believes Custer and his men maintained an offensive tactical mode almost up to the very end; he believes at least one company of Custer's men made a reconnaissance beyond Cemetery Ridge (where the Visitors Center is today) down to the river (most other historians think nothing of importance occurred in this sector); he believes that the Medicine Tail Coulee descent to the river was also a reconnaissance move and not an attack that was eventually foiled; and he believes the standard image of Custer and his men fighting in unison to the last man to the very end on Custer Hill did not occur: many soldiers by the end were running for their lives toward the Deep Ravine just south of Custer Hill. Fox offers other discrepancies - Crazy Horse did not make a sweeping attack from the north across Cemetery Hill but rather made a more direct assault across the river and up the Deep Ravine - all of which, of course, is conjecture.

In fact, all of what Fox postulates is within the realm of possibility (he certainly is not among the crazies who, for example, have Custer's men all committing suicide), and he makes a good case for everything he says. But no matter how credible Fox makes his case to be, it, like all other interpretations, must remain only speculative. No one will ever know for sure exactly what happened that hot afternoon, but Fox offers a thorough analysis, thoughtful and credible. I put the book near the top of the pile of those worth giving a second look at regarding the Custer fight.

YES THERE ARE MYSTERIES IN LIFE AND MR HILLMAN APPROACHES THEM IN A CLEAR CONCISE METHOD OF REASONING. THIS IS NO PULP APPROACH TO THEORY, THE WAY A QUICK BUCK WRITER WILL TELL YOU ABOUT REINCARNATION ETC.

MR HILLMAN IS A WELL REGARDED PSYCHOLOGIST WITH MANY IMPORTANT WRITINGS TO HIS CREDIT, HOWEVER I WOULD SUGGEST THAT IF YOU WANT TO READ MR HILLMAN, PURCHASE THIS BOOK IN TANDEM WITH HIS IMPORTANT WRITING "THE SOUL'S CODE". SINCERELY PETER A. DATTILO.

I've enjoyed James Hillman in the past and when I ran across this book in our library I read it. The subject of character is such a - a - uh - hum - hard to say and Hillman does it! I didn't give it 5 stars only because I would get lost sometimes and trusted that he would bring it all together - which he did, mostly.

I got alot out of what he said - but not all. He's a philosopher for sure. But there were some real gems... such as his take on grandparents, cosmetic surgery, and of course what character is in a round about way - the essense of us. What we are - what becomes magnified as we age and what we leave behind. I am really glad that I stuck with it - I got alot out of it =>

The Force of Character and The Lasting Life by James Hillman October 2007 Amazon
Hillman is making the point that old age should be a character-seasoning era in a person's life in which he makes amends, perfects his character and enjoys the experiences of the world. Hillman attests that it is not old age, but the abandonment of character that dooms later years to ugliness. We can't imagine aging's beauty because we look only through the eyes of physiology. Without character, the old are merely lessened and worsened people and their longevity is society's burden. Hillman says Plato's most-read text, The Republic, begins with a conversation just to our point. Socrates says, "I enjoy talking with the very aged," and asks the old man Cephalus, "Is it a hard part of life to bear or what report have you to make of it?" Cephalus rambles a bit, but then focuses on the complaints of the old--"the doleful litany of all the miseries for which they blame old age." Then he concludes: "There is just one cause, Socrates--not old age, but the character of the man." Cicero's De Senectute makes this same distinction: "Old men are morose, troubled, fretful and hard to please;...some of them are misers, too. However these are faults of character, not of age." Hillman says we should be asking: What preserves character? What helps it last? Overcoming disease is only the first aim. The next project is rejuvenation, the prolongation of life by reversing the process of aging. Genetic engineering is researching. The book eludes death entirely, the author says no one knows anything about it. He says the idea of death robs inquiry of its passionate vitality and empties our efforts of their purpose by coming to one predestined conclusion, death. Why inquire if you already know the answer? C.G. Jung spent his more than eighty years following the Delphic maxim "Know thyself." Self-examination and inquiry into the self of others was his lifework and formed his theory. Yet amazingly, this is what he writes on the very last page of his autobiographical memoir: I am astonished, disappointed, pleased with myself. I am distressed, depressed, rapturous. I am all these things at once, and cannot add up the sum. I am incapable of determining ultimate worth or worthlessness; I have no judgment about myself and my life. There is nothing I am quite sure about... Yet there is so much that fills me: plants, animals, clouds, day and night, and the eternal in man. The more uncertain I have felt about myself, the more there has grown up in me a feeling of kinship with all things. In fact it seems to me as if that alienation which so long separated me from the world has become transferred into my own inner world, and has revealed to me an unexpected unfamiliarity with myself.
Trish New, author of The Thrill of Hope, South State Street Journal and Memory Flatlined.

After trying to read it for so long I felt that this was a book I wanted in my library. Not as nice as hard cover but the content in this book is excellent.

I have assimulated his philosophy into my own. It makes perfect sense, since I have always asked.. "Why would God have so many people suffer with old age?" This book talks about us as if "we" are the purpose of life: to develop, understand and grow a soul. The reflective tendencies of old age help us gain perspective and make us ready to decide what was good and bad...sorta making us a more worthwhile conversationalist for God on the other side. Our body weaknessess help in various ways and he elaborates.
Excellent book to give you vision and understanding. I highly reccommend it.

Instead of buying this book all you have to do is read the summary and you'll have the whole idea. He uses about 1000 words for every one that he needs, just to state the obvious, over and over.

I bought this book for my daughter. The idea was that she was really into forensics and wanted to learn more about the subject. Unfortunately, this book was so bad, she never finished it. I gave it to her as a research tool, and within a few weeks, she'd discovered so much from other sources that she started to doubt how informed this book was. She said it started out interesting, but as she learned more, the factual errors and inconsistencies drove her away from the book. She's still following forensics, but this book is not on her reading list.

I plan to study forensics next year and wanted a taster to whet my appetite. I was very pleased. It starts with the basics and very methodically explains all of the procedures from the initial arrival at a crime scene to its closure. All of the steps are explained perfectly and it is a great book to dispel the erroneous notions as portrayed in popular T.V. shows. All of the lab work is explained and it is easily understood. I would recommend this book to anyone with a genuine interest in forensics, and the procedures undertaken to resolve crimes.

Gave as a gift, my mom loved it...speedy (and reasonable) shipping, very pleased

This is a 'how to' book: how to secure a crime scene; how to collect fingerprints (and feet, lip, and ear prints); how to identify blood splatter patterns, etc. It's not quite detailed enough to be considered a text book, unless the teacher uses supplementary material, but it is packed full of real-life examples, which is why I read it.

This book is divided into five sections:

"The Scene of the Crime"--some crime scenes are impossible for the first responder to completely protect, e.g. the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City after it had been bombed. For one thing, people had to be rescued from the ruins. Some of the more interesting examples in this book involve the movement of evidence off of the scene, e.g. a bullet that passed through a victim and lodged in a passing bicycle.

I was also interested to discover that many states employ 'civilian' forensic technicians (it's cheaper than paying for another police officer). The swab-wielding cop is slowly fading from the American crime scene.

"Working the Scene: the Evidence"--One of the best prints from a nightmarish crime scene came from a Christmas chocolate. Evidently the murderer didn't like nuts and put the chocolate back into the box, along with a beautiful print of his thumb.

Criminals who stage crime scenes are often the easiest ones to catch. One man murdered three people, then dressed up in a gorilla costume and wrecked the house, just the way he imagined an enraged gorilla would have wrecked it, including a swing from the ceiling fan that ripped it to the floor.

At first, the ident officer, Patricia McGuire was puzzled by the print of a four-inch finger tip. After the murder scene was thoroughly analyzed, it became obvious to her forensic team that it had been staged. They checked with the local costume shop, found out who had recently rented a gorilla suit, and arrested him for murder.

"Working the Scene of the Body Human"-- One of the most surprising items in this section is how little DNA is still extracted and processed from crime scenes. Hopefully, as DNA becomes quicker and easier to process, it will become a major focus of a crime scene. One challenge of processing DNA from a crime scene is that it is so easy to contaminate the surroundings with the forensic team's DNA.

Forensic Odontology is another fascinating tool. Be sure to check out the anecdote of the perp who bit himself in an effort to mislead the police.

"Working the Scene: Different Stages"--A short section covering explosives and computers. Even as DNA can reveal a criminal's physical presence, so his computer can reveal the presence of his shoddy little mind, whether it be through pornographic photographs, bomb making instructions, or internet scams.

"Working the Scene: Different Skills"--Another short section which includes the contributions of K-9 units and forensic photographers. Digital photography has actually made a criminalist's job harder because of the ease by which digital photographs can be altered.

This book's numerous appendices delve into the qualifications needed, and types of jobs that are available to people who are interested in a career in forensics. "The Forensic Casebook" is a good overview for future criminal investigators, and could also be considered supplemental reading for TV 'true crime' fans (Hint: Columbo and the various CSI programs really take a beating for their sloppy investigative work).

A great book to explore the field and career opportunities. Very descriptive book. Wonderful for reasearch or leasure reading.

If you are a lover of the English language, this is a great gift for the writer you know.

I already knew most of the words, which weren't that interesting or useful anyway. It isn't a bad book but not my favorite of the genre.

This is not a thesaurus for run of the mill word replacement, but it is exceptional at providing snappy starts or intriguing ending for articles. The key to attracting a reader is capturing him with the opening sentence or paragraph, and the right word can help with this. This book provides those eye catching entries, as well as providing words or phrases that wrap up thoughts and elements in your article body. Well worth the price, I believe it got me a couple of freelance opportunities by spicing up my query letter.

This dictionary definitely has some interesting words and the appropriate definitions, but it is not very comprehensive. I purchased the book last week and several words I tried to look up were not listed: ecumenical, for starters. Please excuse my spelling of ecumenical, because I don't have a real dictionary with me at the moment.
Purchase this book only if you intend to keep it right next to a real dictionary, and in that case you might not need it.

the title led me to believe i would be getting a humorous work. after all, the title had to be tongue-in-cheek, right?

what i got is an idiosyncratic selection of words the author assumes only 'highly' literate people would know, with a few medical and other professional terms thrown in.

it is depressing to think that some, or even most,of these words are assumed not to be known by literate people. heaven knows, standards are slipping, but i've read and spoken most of these words for decades.

perhaps the better companion book to this one would be steve allens _dumpth, the dumbing of america_. because if this book represents extraordinary literacy, we're in serious trouble.

I would highly recommend This Calder Range to anyone who enjoys a romantic adventure story. It is the first in a series of historical western romances which takes place on a cattle drive from Texas north to the Montana Territory in the late 1800's. The series involves the Calder family through five generations and their struggles to build and defend their ranch dynasty. In This Calder Range, Chase Benteen Calder takes his new bride Lorna along on the drive, fighting off Indians, bad weather and back-stabbing comrades. Daily is a pro at developing conflict between heroes and heroines and good cowboys and bad outlaws. The stories in the Calder series are sure to keep readers turning the pages late into the night.

Chase Benteen Calder was bound to wrest a fortune from Montana land, where the whisper of riches swept across a sea of buffalo grass. With Lorna at his side, a woman who took the tough ways of the land as her destiny, he would breathe life into his dream.
---------- Reviewed by Janet Sue Terry, author of the contemporary romance, "Set Me Free" series Possibilities and Resolutions. President of Just My best Book Publishing Company. www.janetsueterry.com.

I PICKED UP 'THE CALDER RANGE' AND 'STANDS A CALDER MAN' TOGETHER
IN ONE VOLUMN. AT THE TIME I WAS SEARCHING FOR SOMETHING NEW TO READ.AS I STARTED IT, I WASN'T REALLY SURE IF I COULD GET THROUGH IT. BUT IT GREW ON ME!! I THOUGHT THE STORYLINE WAS GOOD. VERY REALISTIC. NOT TOO ROMANTIC. JUST ABOUT THE EVERYDAY LIFE OF A MAN TRYING TO MAKE HIS OWN WAY IN THE WORLD.HOW HIS IDEAS AND LIFE STYLE EFFECTED MANY PEOPLE!! SINCE I READ THOSE TWO NOVELS, I HAVE CONTINUED ON WITH THE SERIES. I AM NOW IN THE PROCESS OF READING ' GREEN CALDER GRASS'. I HOPE OTHERS WILL TAKE UP THE BOOK 'THE CALDER RANGE', AND JOIN THE CALDERS AS THEIR FAMILY AND HISTORY IS CARRIED INTO THE FUTURE.

I have read several of the books in the Calder series, some of which I have kept in my personal collection, but not this one! I thought the love between the hero and the heroine was pathetic. At first this book had real potential. But Benteen had no concern for Lorna's feelings. I hated the fact that he raped her just because she threathen to leave him. As the story goes on, it is very obvious that Lorna is unhappy with her life and I begin to dislike Benteen. I don't see a love there. A bad read! Stay Away

When I first read This Calder Range I wanted to and did read some of the rest of the series as they became available. Perhaps it is now with a maturity I didn't have 15 years ago but I just can't give a book 5 stars where the author places partial responsibility for [physical abuse] on the victim. This is a poor message to be sending readers. A woman should, especially in the marital relationship where there is a promise of love, be able to argue without fear of physical violence. Ms Dailey mentions more than once about Benteen strong moral code of the West and at the same time more than once mentions the [physical abuse] with Lorna accepting partial responsibility. Apparently Lorna is held to a much higher standard than Benteen, as she is responsible for Benteen's actions. It bothers me that Lorna faults herself for a statement made under extreme duress and I might add after Benteen had callously thrown away something very precious to her. Lorna rather quickly forgives Benteen's behavior but on the other hand she has to continually prove herself to him for something said in anger and during extreme physical hardship. So, I guess I have to ask Ms Dailey is it the woman's responsibility to be constantly on guard as to mood and speech? Not a very satisfying relationship. Give me heroes and heroines that can have verbal conflicts without violence being the end result.
The other problem I have with the series is how they have become so predictable. The reader ultimately knows that one of the Calders is going to meet with an untimely death. It would be nice if one generation since the original Benteen and Lorna would have a happy ending in the tradition of the romance gendre.

I recently finished reading Powers' first novel, "Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance", and liked it enough that I decided to try some of his other work.

Prisoners' Dilemma is a very complex novel. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I felt that the characters were the book's main strength - they are rich, conflicted and masterfully crafted. However, especially toward the end, I got totally lost. I could not follow the story.

The first 100 pages or so were engaging and interesting, but the novel kept getting stranger, until at the end I was no longer sure what was going on. It could be that I am not as sophisticated a reader as I should be, but if you are like me, be aware that this book is a tough one to follow.

Powers can craft a masterful sentence, and his prose is really great. My problem was that all this great prose never turns into a great story, for me at least.

It's rare that I truly despise a novel, but that's the case with Prisoner's Dilemma. Powers is so steeped in the intellectual tenets of his "novel of ideas" that he seems to have had no time to spare for things like character and plot development. The result is pretension babble uttered by a collection of stick figures.

If you're reading a novel which endeavors to link the lives of a Midwestern family in the late-1970s, World War II-era homefront politics, and Walt Disney, then you're going to want someone competent at the helm. On a superficial level, Richard Powers must be the man, since he's got a genius grant from the MacArthur foundation. Furthermore, he's adroitly constructed even grander Novels of Ideas like Galatea 2.2 and The Gold Bug Variations. His name inevitably comes up when critics are discussing the important young writers responsible for narrating our foray into the next millennium, along with William T. Vollman, David Foster Wallace, and Rick Moody-the "tall white male writers," as Wallace once put it.

But it took me a while to see what makes Prisoner's Dilemma the sprawling, history-rewriting novel of ideas it's been hailed as. For the first fifty pages or so, it reads like a comfortably traditional family novel reminiscent of Anne Tyler-which it is, on one of its multiple planes. But then Powers starts throwing in pseudo-factual flashbacks to the forties, with Walt Disney making wartime propaganda films (which he actually did, though not in the scope this novel suggests) and young Eddie Hobson (Sr.'s) eventual appearance in this surreal historical thread.

In less capable hands, Prisoner's Dilemma would probably come off as very, very formulaic, and just plain all-been-done-before boring. What rescues it? Well, for one, Powers' prose is beautiful and compelling. This alone should save the novel from complete damnation. The language during the italicized wartime passages is omniscient and confident, assuring us we're in capable hands as we struggle to understand-via Artie, via Eddie Sr., via ... Mickey Mouse?-the monstrosity that was the Great War. The language during the chapters set in 1978 is, by comparison, rather objective, but it still has plenty of intrusive third-person commentary inserted, lending an existential lushness to such simple acts as setting the table or playing catch in the backyard. This refusal to take for granted the mundane characterizes Powers' treatment of the Hobsons' dilemma, and, in turn, Eddie Sr.'s life. The mysterious illness that ravages Eddie and confounds his family is a physical manifestation of the ongoing battle within Eddie-a relentless tension between the Big Picture and the plight of the individual. The universal struggle to understand how one little person can matter in the midst of an incomprehensibly vast cosmos-a dilemma we all experience at some point-is magnified and played out continually in Eddie to such an extent that it precludes his ability to function adequately in the "outside" world.

The question of how humanity copes with the mounting onslaught of technological chaos is addressed repeatedly throughout Powers' narrative. During World War II, Powers recognizes that one of the greatest curative forces for Americans dealing with the war was, as it still is today, entertainment. In this case, the salve is Mickey Mouse and the whole Disney enterprise, enjoying its original heyday during the late thirties and early forties. Whole chapters are devoted to the role Disney played in the war, especially in the plight of the thousands of Japanese Americans interred Stateside. More generally, Powers describes Disney's function as a very early incarnation of the white noise in which we swaddle ourselves, in an attempt to keep out the horror we know is occurring out there: "[Mickey Mouse's] immense popularity must come from our learning, in a few years, how to ignore things that would have frozen previous generations with total horror" (98). Personified, as it is here, by such a congenial persona as Mickey Mouse and the rest of his Disney pals, it's hard to see how white noise could be all that bad. And Powers makes it clear that our relationship to the noise is ambivalent. We need it, and as much as we might decry it in attempts to elevate ourselves to more enlightened planes of world-awareness, we like taking refuge in Disney movies, or any incarnation of the entertainment noise we prefer. If the escapist quality of entertainment blossomed with Disney, and continued to grow throughout the seventies, when Artie is speaking, we in 2001 hardly need to be reminded how powerful and pervasive a mixed blessing it is now. Think of the samizdat in Infinite Jest that entertains its viewers into comas. Or, more immediately, consider the ways in which our country will-and already has-use pop culture as a psychological salve for the trauma of September 11.

There is no better way to sum up this novel than to steal from W.H. Auden. The first time through this book, I knew there was a wealth of power and beauty hiding underneath it. Perhaps this is a novel that you have to read at a vulnerable time. Perhaps events such as September 11th compel me to say to those of you who will read this review in the future "Read this book to someone you love and weep with them for the world we now inhabit. We have relinquished our own ability to see the magic inherent in the world." If, during the Grand Inquisitor scene in The Brothers Karamazov, Jesus deigned to respond to the questioner, this is perhaps what he would have said. It is a novel that attempts to free us from the gated enclaves of the suburbs, the fear and nightmare of double deadbolts, the paranoia of opening mail. Eddie Hobson, Sr. is a man who feels that he must take on the burden of everyone else's mistrust, no matter the personal consequences. He is reduced to speaking in symbols, the better to convey all the aching meaning he feels for his family and the world. He, who is the least physically able, warps his entire family to his side, forcing them to relive his transformation from naive child of the midwest to one who has seen the Brave New World brought about by anonymous men in secret offices. This novel is multi-layered, complex, and deep in ways that make this, IMHO of course, the best explanation of the American Experience since WWII. It's better than Delillo's Underworld by quite a way, and if, you want to escape from the realizations Powers forces upon you, there's always Chapter 11. Everyone's had their own version of Chapter 11, and it is gorgeous. I wanted to call people last night while reading it, just to share the wonder and beauty of it with someone. Fantastic novel, fantastic author, this book chides us with the realization that the only way out of the self-imposed isolation we've managed to hide ourselves in is to fight it every day.

Strangely, although I very much enjoyed this book I don't feel like I got much out of it. Richard Powers' intelligence, imagination, and wonderful prose shine throughout, but I'll freely confess that I just don't "get it". The author was aiming very high but despite lots of moments where something profound seems just about ready to burst forth, in most cases unfortunately it never materializes. For example, each kid wrestles with "solving" dad's puzzle of the prisoner's dilemma. Near the end Artie finally has it... or at least I think he got it but I'll be damned if I can figure out what it was. Or why solving it did him any good. With the exception of dear old mom Ailene, the characters are interesting and well-developed, though in places less than believable. I get the feeling I'm supposed to admire sister Rach's pluck and razor sharp wit but instead she comes across as one of the most annoying people I thank god have never actually met. And having myself been in high school in the late 1970's I can categorically state that at least in my neck of the woods no one ever walked their girl home singing a "Buffalo Gals" duet and lived to tell about it.

The bottom line for me was that this book promised more than it delivered. The story strives to be profound but moments of true revelation are very rare. The book tries to be clever but it's really just the author not letting you in on a secret. The story is replete with humorous lines but only a few made me laugh. When I was much younger and read a book that I just didn't get I attributed it to my own ignorance. Though that's certainly a possibility here, as a now older and somewhat wiser reader who has successfully navigated many challenging novels I'm much less willing to give authors the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he just didn't get the idea across.

Still, I definitely recommend this book. It's wonderful to read prose this well crafted. Powers is intelligent and ambitious and, perhaps best of all, sincere.