Canada Books

There is often a schism between our everyday life and our dreams of someday. Someday often stays out reach of us like an carrot on a stick until circumstances that would have allowed the dream no longer exist. Michael Burke gently opens the someday window and steps through. He takes you with him. He gives a balanced and real look at what is on the other side. He speaks with a fine voice that puts you in the raft, in his head, till you smell the wet stuff and feel the angst. He makes a case for making someday happen while you can. He tells a tale that made me look forward to the quiet part of the evening, after the kids were in bed, so I could be back on the river again. The Same River Twice is fertile ground to plant you own someday seeds in. I found it an inspriation.

I guess I am lucky to be attending Univeristy of Maine at Farmington, where a lot of non fiction writing has come from recently (Gretchen Legler AND Michael Burke).
I went to Professor Burkes reading last night and it was so fun. His book is full of humor, at least, the passages he read were. I haven't read the whole book (yet).
But from what I heard, I am buying it and I would recommend it!

I read this book almost in one sitting. Micheal Burke tells a good story and gives the reader the feeling of being on the river and experiencing the beauty of situation while taking us along on his own personal journey. Very good read!

This work is a delightful memoir that is a pleasure reading, starting from the first page, right along to the last word of the last page. This is the story of a man; a middle aged man at the time the story takes place, and at the same time is a history lesson, a journey of enlightenment, and a tour into one of the truly wild areas left in North America. It is also, and most importantly, a very insightful look at human nature.

The author, Michael Burke, dropped out of the University of California-Berkeley, and became, through faking his lack of experience, a white water river guide. Burke has apparently been guiding now for over thirty five years. The author obviously continued his education, as he now teaches at a University, and beyond a doubt, the guy can certainly write. In 1991, when the author was 38, he found himself with a pregnant wife, two step-children, an academic career, living in Maine and driving a station wagon. Now, although the author does not admit to the fact, it is pretty obvious he is probably losing some of his hair, getting less muscle tone than he had when he was twenty, and, most importantly,(again, not really stated)is feeling rather trapped. Gosh, it does not take much of a creative leap to figure out that a gigantic mid-life crises is about to descend on this poor guy. This is okay though, at least Burke faced his crises with class, like a man, and did not go the route of gold chains around his neck, a little sports car, a poor comb-over and chase twenty year old undergrads around campus; something we see all too frequently. Rather, he returned to the roots of his youth, the river!

The Same River Twice is the story of Michael Burke's journey down three rivers in the Canadian Wilderness of British Columbia. Using his old river raft, a left over from his youth, and in the company of a relative stranger, a fellow adventurer, who was chasing his own demons, the author starts on a very poorly planned adventure. The premise of the trip is to find and trace the territory traveled by distant relative of the author's, who himself was a famous river man during the Klondike glory days at the turn of the century. The author feels a connection with this long dead river man and wants to strengthen this connection with information. The story Michael tells of his trip is interwoven with stories of this old river man mixed with tales of the author's own glory days as a professional guide on some of the most famous white water rivers in North America. This three section story is wonderfully intertwined and the author has the ability to make you feel you are in all three eras with him, as he physically and mentally journeys through them.

Burke's ability as a descriptive writer is truly wonderful. His true love for the wilderness, for the wild places in our planet, for wildlife, solitude and yes, danger, comes shinning through on every page. You can actually squint in your mind's eye, as you read his prose and picture what he is seeing as he writes. The author makes a point that this sort of thing, once experienced, never quite leaves your blood. Great bodies of water have been apart of our souls throughout time...once you are hooked, you are hooked for life.

This work is truly a satisfying read, one of the better reads I have had in sometime now. I will quite likely give this one a second going over down the road. I must admit that I would love for this author to give us another book, telling of his adventures on the other rivers that he ran while learning his trade. The author can be quite humorous at times and I suspect was and is quite good at camp fire stories. It would be a delight to read some of them. NOTE: There seems to be a great deal of nonfiction writing coming out of Maine right now, and has been over the past few years. To be quite frank, the only thing I really knew about Maine was that they had Moose, potatoes, had a good store to order clothes from, and made good canoes...now I find the place is full of good writers...go figure.

What happens to white-water guides when they leave the rivers? Michael Burke gives us one answer: they never leave the rivers, and the rivers never leave them. Burke's story is part memoir, part "road trip," and part love story about the wild places that "can't be improved by changes." His tale of a 1991 trip down the wildest of British Columbia's rivers is one hundred percent enjoyment.

Having guided seasonally since he was a college student, Burke at thirty-eight was married, a professor at a college in Maine, with a baby on the way. This ambitiously planned trip was a three-week-long pilgrimage to the places where a distant relative, Sid Barrington, had lived a life of legend on the wild rivers of long ago. Burke, along with a stranger named Max whose only qualification was availability, set out with an ancient rubber raft, a heavy load of gear, a rifle in case of bears, and jury-rigged arrangements with bush pilots. From this unpromising start, Mike and Max had a soul-stirring experience in this "humbling land."

Putting in by plane to breathtaking Chutine Lake, they worked their way down glacier-fed rivers with wild names: the Chutine, the Stikine, the Sheslay, the Taku. Along the way they encountered black bears, grizzlies, moose, and on one memorable evening a wolf with two pups. Burke's deep love of the challenging terrain is evident throughout the book.

Stories of the old river runner, Sid, are woven in, along with some hair-raising stories of Burke's younger days as a guide; a wild, adrenaline-saturated life that he remembers with affection at this settling-down time of life. Thoughts of his pregnant wife are with him always but he was unable to resist the pull of the river.

Why do this crazy, dangerous thing? Burke writes about the meaning of memory as a defining concept; about freedom and control. But mostly it's because he loves the rivers. "Rivers," he writes, "are an experience of time. The river is more human than the ocean, limited like humans are, yet sweeping forward in its implacable way, like time itself sweeping past. We are proportioned to rivers..."

Have you ever stood on the slope of a mountain and felt its age and power? Looked up into the weird blue ice of a glacier and heard its deep voice? Or even felt the edge of a river on your ankles and known that it flowed according to forces older than time? Then you should read this book. The geography is bewildering but just put in at the beginning and let the current take you to the end, rapids and all. You're sure to feel the awe and beauty of the planet's wild places. Go there, even if it's just in a book.

Linda Bulger, 2008

Scandalous charges, shocking countercharges, stained dresses, sealed letters --- these are the stuff of 20th-century sex scandals like the Clinton/Lewinsky affair, right? Not so, proves Emma Donoghue in THE SEALED LETTER, a novel set in the Victorian era, centered on a highly publicized divorce case that ruined lives and riveted an entire country.

The book's central character is Emily Faithfull, nicknamed Fido. An enlightened preacher's daughter who supports herself through her printing business, Fido is at the forefront of the burgeoning movement for women's rights in England. But all her success, not to mention her reputation, is put at risk when Fido's oldest friend, Helen Codrington, returns to London from her husband's posting in Malta.

Helen, with her fashionable style, good looks and flirtatious personality, seems like an unlikely friend for plain Fido, but the two are exceptionally close; before they left for Malta, Helen and her husband even invited Fido to live with them for a time. Reigniting their old friendship after years of separation, however, soon proves to be a challenge. More often than not, Helen is accompanied by a dashing military officer, and the two even use Fido's own house for their assignations, much to Fido's embarrassment and disgust.

When Helen's husband becomes increasingly suspicious of his wife's associations (especially when she fails to respond to an urgent telegram sent to Fido's home), he initiates divorce proceedings. Helen, who is at a great disadvantage in the legal case, enlists Fido to provide evidence --- of an incident she doesn't even remember. As the case proceeds, Fido's entire professional career --- not to mention her relationship with Helen and her opinion of herself --- threatens to unravel.

At the center of THE SEALED LETTER is a tense, revelation-filled courtroom scene, with unreliable witnesses, questionable testimony and outright lies. Just like today, the media has a field day with the evidence, providing readers with as many titillating details as they're able to print. In addition to providing an in-depth portrayal of the 19th-century legal system, the novel (and especially the sealed letter of the title) also raises interesting points about the psychological complexities that lie beneath many courtroom decisions.

THE SEALED LETTER offers readers a fascinating exploration of Victorian culture and society, from the (negligible) rights of women to arcane divorce laws to attitudes about sex and sexuality. Readers shouldn't miss Donoghue's extensive author's note, which explains the historical background of the novel. However, this book is far more than simply a rundown of Victorian legalities and mores; instead, it is a perceptive, and at times poignant, exploration of Fido's attempts to balance her identity as an independent woman, a model to her generation, with her rapidly eroding love and trust for her friend, Helen. Donoghue manages to place Fido's story firmly in history without losing any of its emotional resonance and power.

--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

Based on a true story, this novel starts out a bit of a sleeper, but subtly grows into a tour de force, a remarkable expose of misplaced affections and romantic hubris. When Emily "Fido" Faithful is approached on the streets of England by long-estranged friend, Helen Codrington, and the two discover their falling out is due to a series of misunderstandings, the friendship is given another chance. Helen, 36, is married to a military man twenty years her senior. After their first years of marriage on their Malta post, the couple returns to the continent, Helen's bitterness and disappointment difficult to hide; Helen is squired around town by young military man, Colonel David Anderson. Nor has Fido been idle in the intervening seven years of the lost relationship, an independent new woman who proudly embraces her role as a leader in feminist causes. Learning that Helen has a problem with her attachment to Anderson, Fido determines to save Helen from her baser self: "A gentleman is always a gentleman unless a lady forgets to be a lady."

At this point the novel detours into the Victorian minutiae of women's successful projects for increasing their roles in society, Fido spearheading a definitive, if not lucrative newspaper to speak for relevant causes. She is surrounded by a bevy of like-minded souls, all caught up in the passion of their mission, none more so than Fido, who is a creature devoid of the experiences that so define Helen Codrington's daily life and pursuit of romantic entanglements. A strict moralist, Fido is easily seduced by Helen's insincere entreaties to help wean the married lady away from temptation. Fido takes this task seriously, only reluctantly realizing that Helen is remarkably duplicitous, trading on their former friendship to use Fido's home as a trysting place with her not-so-platonic lover. Her righteous outrage invoked at Helen's cynical abuse of their relationship, Fido is furious and conflicted.

The monstrously diabolic Helen is an iconic masterpiece in Donoghue's clever hands, an instinctive manipulator of those she wishes to control, to bring to her cause or destroy by whatever means necessary. Once hooked, Fido becomes the unwilling pawn in a sensational divorce trial, all she has worked for subject to derision and calumny: "She's plain Miss Faithful of the rectory again, wheezing with fright." An outraged husband has suffered his final humiliation, requesting the court's intervention, the public privy to the sordid details of the Codrington marriage. And the public's appetite is inexhaustible, nothing too specious to deter avid consumption. Faced with the loss of her daughters and her reputation, Helen is reduced to fighting back in the most demeaning circumstances, her husband favored by the law, "a blunt instrument".

The title is a tipping point in a courtroom drama that captures the imagination of citizens rich and poor, a grand gamble that yields a most shocking denouement. The result: truth is the victim of circumstance, a pitiful forum distorted by each side in a brutal battle that leaves everyone stained, society's moral anvil falling on the protagonists in Donoghue's excellent novel: "History moves by fits and starts; certain battles must be fought again and again." Luan Gaines/ 2008.

The Sealed Letter is another one of those books I just couldn't put down--and then felt bereft when I finally finished it. Set in London in 1864, the novel is loosely based on a scandalous divorce case, and features facts stranger than fiction: a stained dress (sound familiar?), fabricated evidence, and scandal more scandalous than the sensationalist novels of the period. It's a novel in which supposed friends turn against one another, in which servants even turn against those they serve.

Helen Codrington is a wife and mother, born and bred abroad, who craves some excitement in her life. Never thinking of what might happen, she embarks on an affair with Captain David Anderson. Late in the summer of 1864, Helen runs into her old friend Emily "Fido" Faithfull, a crusader for women's rights, who's surprisingly... conventional, all things considered. When Harry Codrington finds out about Helen's affair, however, the lives of these three characters change drastically. The novel's point of view vacillates between Helen, Fido, and Harry.

It's a stunning, well-written book, which explores the way in which lies affect the lives of each of these characters. It's also a fair representation of mid-Victorian mores; although it's tough for us today to understand, divorce was much, much more scandalous and socially crippling in an era that placed a focus on the family and the woman's role in that family. It's strange, too, to a modern reader, the laws that governed divorce in 19th century England (for example, the two primaries were prohibited from testifying). Each of the characters is well-written, and Donoghue gets into the minds of each of the main characters with ease. She never tries to infuse this book with a modern sensibility. It's a compelling book that I couldn't stop thinking about between sittings and after I'd finished.

My only problem with this otherwise superb novel is the fact that the letters are all written in a cursive script that's hard to read. But that's only a technicality.

There is no doubt that divorce is a blame game at the heart of it. Nor is there any doubt that there is a single person in this country who hasn't had experience with divorce in some way-either personal experience or from their own or their parent's divorcing or friends, family members or neighbors. Hey, we even get to participate vicariously in celebrity divorces these days. Since divorce was first legalized hundreds of years ago it has morphed from a rare and tragic event to just another method of mass entertainment and ultimately a way to feel superior to those who failed at what is culturally viewed as one of the most important inter-personal relationships.

It's not all that rare to read about divorce in historical fiction, especially because of the huge amount of fiction focused on the Tudors. But it is rare to get a truly complete description of the historical process, which obviously differs greatly from today's proceedings. And that is exactly what "The Sealed Letter" is. A complete description of the divorce process as it was in 1864. The novel is even arranged in legal terms that describe each one of the processes leading to the proceedings being initiated and the circus that followed them.

This book tells the story of an extremely notorious divorce in English history that captured the attention of the country. Containing multiple allegations of adultery, neglect, alienation of affection, sex in public, attempted rape of a drugged, innocent virgin, and even allusions to lesbianism and circumstances that bear remarkable similarity to the impeachment case against President Clinton. I have no doubts that were the case of Harry Codrington versus Helen Codrington happening today that it would generate just as much interests.

But it wasn't the actual divorce case that made this novel so interesting-especially to me. It was the characters and the time period. The book is divided up in third person narrative between the three main players in the divorce (in actuality the divorce has three or four parties to it but one of them never appears in the book and one never narrates) Harry, Helen and Emily "Fido" Faithfull. Seven years before our story begins these three lived under the same roof with Fido, as Helen's best friend, often mediating to keep the troubled and obviously miss-matched marriage together. But as Harry was a navy man the Codrington's were posted abroad and Helen and Fido lost touch.

Only to re-connect later on a London street, almost as if by magic. The two attribute their lack of communication to a poor postal system and pick up where they left off-with one major difference-Helen has a constant tagalong now, a handsome young man Colonel David Anderson. It soon becomes apparent to Fido that something is going on between them and her supposedly bosom friend is being less than honest about it.

But as Helen's true personality and secrets unfold all three are drawn into the strange divorce process the Victorians used. What follows is fascinating not only from a historical perspective about gender politics but as a measuring stick to how well you can ever truly know your friends, your spouse...and how fragile trust, bonds and vows really are.

Unlike Emma Donoghue's other historical novels Slammerkin and Life Mask, "The Sealed Letter" only implies sexuality and is in no way descriptive of lesbianism, sex or violence. But this newer demur writing style takes nothing away from the story (though I have to say I found "Life Mask" more interesting because of its larger scope) and this book will be joining the above mentioned and Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins on my bookshelf.

Four point five stars.

And if you want more about the historical divorce process then Stealing Athena: A Novel is a good place to find some more non-Tudor legal action-though it is far from the main focus of the book.

This summer seems to be a time of novels for me. There's been a particular abundance of riches where historical settings have become popular again, and I have been eagerly reading my way along. Today's choice was a vivid, insightful story built around a Victorian scandal -- the divorce.

Nowadays, a divorce hardly seems to cause a ripple in our society, but in the nineteenth century, a divorce was a very public, very messy, and unpleasant experience. In her new novel, The Sealed Letter, author Emma Donoghue explores the impact of such a decision on one middle class family, through the eyes of the husband and wife, and their friend, Emily Faithfull.

Nicknamed 'Fido' as much for her character as her last name, Fido meets up with an old friend suddenly in a London street. It's been more than seven years since she's seen Helen Codrington, and in all that time Fido hasn't seen any communications from her. It's more than a surprise for Fido, it's a shock to see her old friend.

Helen hasn't changed a bit. Away with her husband in Malta, Helen is still the gay, charming woman that she has always been. She claims that she never recieved any of the letters that Fido has sent, blaming it on the wretched postal system of that distant island. And she seems to be eager to resume her friendship with Fido. Despite her misgivings Fido is glad to resume that friendship as well.

For Fido is unusual among women in Victorian London. She has remained single, working in the Cause of equal rights and opportunities for women in both the home and workplace. She has set up her own printing business, The Victoria Press, and has even been granted the distinction of a royal warrant.

Finally, there is Helen's husband, Henry Codrington, an admiral in the British navy. He's served with distinction in the Fleet, and now has been rotated home to a desk job. While he's chafing at not being able to serve aboard a ship, he's trying to make the best of it.

Through the thoughts, actions and letters of these three, the reader gets to have an intimate view of a Victorian marriage, where husband and wife were restricted by social norms, intimacy was rare, and especially reputation was considered important. Women had few rights, and many seem to be content with their lot, spending their days in social calls, raising their children, and charitable work. For Helen, her days are frivolous, spending too much money, avoiding her husband, and making attempts to be a mother to her two daughters. She makes choices that are impulsive at best, and one is about to bring her comfortable world to an end.

I don't want to reveal much more. I have to say that Donoghue's writing is wonderfully evocative of the period, filled with details of life for the well-to-do, the customs of the time, and most of all, the minds of three people in a very complicated relationship. All three of them are given very distinct voices and motivations and I found their story to be both compelling and heartbreaking. The author does what very few can manage -- make you both sympathetic to the plight they are in, and at the same time make you cringe at what they do and say.

Helen in particular is a very conflicted character, with behavior that infuriated me at times, and while I couldn't look away from the impeding doom, I did keep hoping that some sort of miracle would happen. As for Fido, she is an unusual heroine, very different than most subjects of historical fiction being not at all pretty, not looking for a life-partner, and having determination to find her own future -- on her terms.

There is one glaring error in this book, and as it is a technical one, not one in style or narrative, it's a minor one. The typeface used for the letters in the story is a very difficult one to read at first, rendered in a flowing, cursive font, with plenty of flourishes. Very pretty perhaps, and a nice conceit, but very hard to read at first.

For those readers who want to read something that focuses on a story that is revealing and entertaining, this is an excellent story. The author has an afterword that discloses a surprise, and one that I won't spoil -- you'll just have to find out for yourself.

Complex and sorrowful. The stories remind us how the people we know best still surprise us. A poetic take on the Asian American immigrant experience. Crystal clear, beautiful writing. Highly recommended.

An insightful and spiritually filled book about the Asian North American experience. I won't peg it as Asian American. The experience is not all that unique to America, although the American culture does lead to a different set of circumstances than those existing in Canada. However, as the issues here are more internal and within the family, it has more universality than the Asian American experience. Even if it is fictitious, there's enough reality in there that it probably just some true stories with altered details and circumstances that are crafted to fit together to express what the author wishes to. I know, with respect to the nature of the story topics, because I am Asian. I can identify with the stories to some extent or another, be it from my own experiences or other Asians' who I have known over the years. Ms Thien's writing skills are very good and the voice is genuine, and the stories will make you think and expose you well and fairly to the world Asian North Americans live in if you don't know much about it already. I'm just not the same personality as she and her characters and so I sometimes question how the stories would end were I to write them, but that's just differences in points of views. I can very much appreciate Ms Thien's writings and would recommend it.

Truly gifted. What else can I say about Thien? In my mind she has a rare gift for writing that you don't see very often. She has an imagination and is well educated.

Warning to new writers: This woman will make you feel absolutely inadequate as a writer.

I eagerly look forward to her next book. GET IT!

This writer will grip your imagination and not let go. She etches an exquisite visual picture with each sentence she writes. Not only will you feel you are in each scene, but you will remember each scene in detail. There is a power with this precision of detail. Like an exquisitely crafted and edited piece of cinematography, there is no surplus or redundance---only crystal clear visual and auditory images that will transfix you, and make you more than when you began the reading.

Fans of the short story will want to add this collection by Madeleine Thien to their bookshelves. With beauty and brevity of language, Thien takes the reader on journeys to the inner core of her characters.

Each story deals with an individual's internal issues in response to an individual relationship within the family structure. Mother-daughter, father-daughter, husband-wife, and friend-friend relationships are examined in such exquisite detail that the reader will find something to draw them into the stories.

In each one of the seven, Thien wields her delicate power with words to paint a picture of a person trying to bring together their individuality with desire for family. She seems to have a direct connection with her characters' view of the world and of their place in it. She tells the story from one point of view, yet the reader gets a sense of how all of the characters feel about themselves as well as the other people in the story.

In the title piece, "Simple Recipes," we meet a girl coming to grips with losing the hero worship she has always had for her father. This man is able to work wonders with rice, but cannot turn the same magic on his rebellious teenage son. A fight escalates to rage and a subsequent harsh punishment. The girl wonders how her father can have this dichotomy to him, of being so gentle with her while losing his temper with his son.

"Four Days From Oregon" examines both the marital and mother-child relationships. A restless woman runs away with her lover, three daughters in tow. The children want to return home, unsure of this new man in their lives, but their mother needs this time to make up her mind.

"A Map of the City" deals with how her relationship with her father overshadows other parts of her life. In "Alchemy," a young girl tries to find a way to help her friend tell the truth and stop unwanted attention from her father. Three other equally intriguing and well-written stories round out the collection.

Although some of these stories have appeared in both American and Canadian magazines, this is a first book for Madeleine Thien. The short story is definitely her medium and she has already won praise for her work from established masters. After reading this book, you will understand why.

I really enjoy this book. I've checked it out at least five times. Each resort section has alot of helpful information. It makes planning a trip a breeze. David Holyoak really nailed it.

Very informative but dated. The lift ticket prices listed are significantly below the actual rate in some cases (i.e. Vail, Breckenridge, Keystone, Copper Moutain). They should be updated.

David Holyoak's Ski North America Guide is first class. Nothing like this has been published before. This stocky, well-illustrated guide to all the significant North American ski resorts contains intelligent, un-flowery text and good practical advice. A must for any skier or snowboarder seeking the reality behind the American dream, I wish I'd written it myself.

Arnie Wilson, ski author and editor, Financial Times ski correspondent for 18 years who, in 1994, became the first person to ski for 365 consecutive days (Guinness Book of Records), including more than 100 resorts in North America

This book by far surpasses excellent. If you are planning a ski trip and are interested in going somewhere new this book seems to have it all. It lists every major ski area in the United States. Every ski resort mentioned is chronicaled by state and gives you area and mountain facts and most have their trail map pictured as well. It also lists local airports, directions from most areas to the ski resort as well as lodging suggestions. I could go on and on about the other little tidbits within the publication but you'll just have to read it yourself.

Being new to the States as well as a crazy skier I spent hours on the net trying to collect information about different resorts. This book is the first, and so far the only book, that gives very detailed, professional overview while providing non-biased information about resorts. I visited many resorts in the States in the last 2 years and compared my impressions with the reviews in the book - you can relay on the book! Great advantage of this edition is a an amount of illustrations such as aerial photos, maps of the area, etc. I wish there will be similar book about skiing in Europe.
On the down side I would expect more info about resorts on the NE (for example, my favorite Whiteface is not included).

As a longtime Alaskan, I feel fortunate to have had both Doug and Jill in many courses. The book Snow sense is now the required reading material for all Nat'l Ski Patrol avalanche courses, and rightly so. I read it at the begining of every season. True avalanche professionals. If you ever have the chance, come to Alaska and take one of their courses.

Used by avalanche professionals as a base for avalanche education classes. Small size but HUGE on concise information for learning to recognize, evaluate, and avoid potential avalanche hazards.

"Here's a book you should have. I know, I know, everybody says that but this is different. This book lays out what avalanches are and how they happen, and it will save your life. Now notice I didn't say this is a book you should have on your bookshelf. This one should be in the top pocket of your pack. Simply put,"Snow Sense" is a pocket guide to safe snow travel, whether you're hiking, backpacking, skiing, snowshoeing, or mountaineering in high risk areas.

Avalanches don't simply explode out of nowhere. The ones that kill people are usually started by the victims. This book will teach you that such catastrophes are avoidable. You can learn to recognize and evaluate avalanche hazards. You can learn to "read" the snowpack, "read" the mountains, and save your skin. "Snow Sense" is a hands-on, explicit, clear-thinking, hard-hitting field guide that teaches you how. By studying the book's "bulls-eye" clues to snowpack stability, hardness tests, shear block tests, weather analysis, simple physics, and hazard checklists, you'll come away with all you need to know about avalanches and how to avoid being caught by one.

Read it once. Read it again. Take it into the field and practice the skills it teaches. Every time I hear of another avalanche-caused death in the Rockies, I wish the victim had read this book. The survivors must read it.

"Avalanches are not acts of God. This valuable book details how to read terrain, snowpack, and weather variables to determine the possiblities of avalanche and how to save yourself in case of one.

"Jill Fredston and Doug Fesler are the best avalanche instructors in North America, period. No other teachers have more credibility or put as much effort into the curriculum, presentation, and teaching methods...Their book "Snow Sense" is by far the best material available on staying alive in avalanche country."

amazing photographs and experiences by author. I did not know the Spirit Bear existed until read this book. L'Ohanna

This is a fascinating story of rare and beautiful animals and the crew of research photographers who became intimately associated with them. It offers some startling revelations into the life and behavior of bears. The Spirit Bear, or Kermode Bear, is a white genetic variety of black bear, found only on Princess Royal Island off British Columbia. The region is also home to black bears and grizzly bears which are included in the book as well. What is most remarkable here is how the bears on the island, which had very little prior human contact, accepted the crew with an open gentleness allowing many close encounters to be documented. The book is written in an engaging first person style and beautifully photographed with close ups of bears in various activities. It will surely be a favorite addition to the library of any nature lover.

Spirit Bear is the best combination of a well-conceived book design, telling photography, and an exceptional storyline. The author's credibility is supported by a three-generation family history in grizzly bear country. His true experience, though, is reflected in his down-to-earth sincerity and simplicity of reporting. Reverence, balanced with pragmatic humor, sets a very ageeable tone for this fascinating book. With only one very moderately bloody-nosed bear photo, you could quite readily share this book with children. I grew up in bear country and now live in the heart of tree-hugging country and I found this book to be true to the core of both. And a darn fine read.

This book will give you the chills! A mystical yet true story on the nature of "wild animals" and the mystical and spiritual link between "us" and "them".Gorgeous full color photography. The book ends with the impending destruction of the Spirit Bears habitat by logging and a plea to save this unique island ecosystem.

Eyeing you from the dust jacket of Spirit Bear is a very relaxed, improbable looking white bear with a benign, even friendly, air. It is the embodiment of the main subject of the book.

The author begins by summarizing his own and his family's long history and experience with black and grizzly bears. In so doing he establishes his credibility before describing his encounters with' the Kermode bear, a rare white variant of the black bear that inhabits some of the largely undisturbed west coast islands. Russell was wise to open in this manner as the story that follows truly stretches the reader's credulity.

After recounting how he came to be on Princess Royal Island to film the white bears with Sue and Jeff Turner, we learn how they got to know the Spirit Bear, and how they developed an extraordinary relationship with him. The Spirit Bear not only "enjoyed" human company, but he fished with people, slept beside them, and allowed the author to scratch and even tickle him between his toes! Perhaps most incredible is the incident when men and bear play tug-of-war, with the bear attempting to initiate a wrestling match without harming his human friends.

After these amazing adventures, the last chapter is somewhat disappointing. We read about how the author and the Turners, after several months' absence from Princess Royal Island during the winter, returned and spent their last summer finishing their film. However, only one brief paragraph is devoted to their meeting with the Spirit Bear and the renewal of their extraordinary friendship.

Despite this disappointment, the book is well worth the price. Although not always technically perfect, the amazing photographs are generally very good and document some of the incredible events described in the narrative. The text not only provides fascinating insights into bear behaviour, but give? plenty of reasons to change preconceived notions about bear aggression. Underlying the story is a message about the importance of keeping an open mind when dealing ! with animals. But don't expect the next bear you meet to treat you as a long lost friend. THERESA ANISKOWICZ

In large measure, this book is the history of Louis Riel, a Metis leader, and his efforts to gain recognition and independence for the Metis people. Since the ethnic group usually called Metis was closely tied to Riel, the book is also a partial history of that group.

Metis is a French word that can be translated as "mixed blood." In a narrow sense, one might think of the Metis as the offspring from intermarriage between the French and Indians (mostly Cree) of eastern Canada during the early days of the fur trade. In a practical sense, the group must be broadened to include at least Chippewa, English, and Scot parentage. In the context of the twentieth century, an even broader definition is used. However, some combination of white and Indian linage is usually a prerequisite.

This book is a classic by a legendary author of Montana history. Joseph Kinsey Howard (1906-1951) is also known for another classic, "Montana: High, Wide, and Handsome," a book considered for decades as the definitive history of Montana. Howard spent much of his short life in an area of Montana that has a significant Metis population. He understood the Metis, respected them, and spent years preparing to write "Strange Empire."

The original publication was in 1952. More recent issues include an introduction by Nicholas C. P. Vrooman, Director of the Institute for Metis Studies at the College of Great Falls, Montana. This introduction is a magnificent addition.

The Metis were primarily a product of the fur trade. Their language was a hybrid of French and Indian; definitely not English. Most of the Metis communities remained in close contact with the local Indian tribes. Many of these mixed blood people were drawn to the Red River which flows north from the present states of Minnesota and North Dakota into Canada and on to Hudson Bay.

Louis Riel had trained for priesthood, but hadn't become a priest. Despite occasional self-doubt, Riel had many characteristics of leadership. He was literate and a good speaker and, more importantly, was fluent in English. The Metis attempted to establish their own nation in the Red River Valley. Howard beautifully summarizes the Metis situation: "This conflict between the Metis and the Canadian government was not only a battle over native and Euro-American claims, but also an age-old fight between Catholicism and Protestantism, English and French, English and Irish, and English and American causes." Louis Riel and the Red River Metis faced the Canadian forces with little loss of life on either side. Some people feel that the decision of whether the United States or Canada would rule what is now central and western Canada hung in the balance. The Metis won many of their goals but came under Canadian rule. One result is that the Red River part of Canada became the province of Manitoba in 1870. However, for his part in the "rebellion," Canada exiled Riel for five years and he went to the United States.

The Metis were buffalo hunters but were significantly different from Indians. They dressed differently. Many combined their hunting with agriculture. They had their own language. They had their own culture, a melding of the cultures from which they came. They were much more efficient at commercial buffalo hunting than were the Indians. Their background in the fur trade meant that they had the weapons, hunting experience, and trading expertise needed. Synonymous with the Metis is the Red River cart. Pulled by draft animals, it had high wheels and could carry several hundred pounds. With these carts, the Metis could transport the hides, pemmican, and dried meat of many buffalo to market locations. Twice yearly, the Metis gathered in a large force to go to the buffalo herds.

As the buffalo herds dwindled, the Metis went further west for their hunts. As a result, Metis communities developed in the Turtle Mountain area of North Dakota, the Milk River country of Montana, and Saskatchewan in Canada. Later, communities developed near Lewistown and Great Falls, Montana, (note that most of these locations were undeveloped, and probably unnamed, when the Metis first arrived). Louis Riel moved westward also and became a teacher at a mission in the area of Great Falls.

In Saskatchewan, the Metis were experiencing problems dealing with the Canadian government; problems very similar to what they had experienced in the Red River country. In 1884, the Canadian Metis appealed to Riel to serve as their leader and negotiator. Riel answered the call. Ultimately, an armed conflict evolved with the Canadian military and Mounties facing the Metis and their Indian allies. This time the Metis were crushed. Louis Riel was tried and hung.

There is disagreement concerning Riel's role in Saskatchewan. Some people feel he became insane, some dispute that opinion. He felt that God guided him and when a disagreement arose with the Catholic priests, he attempted to separate the Metis from the Catholic Church. The Metis uprising in Saskatchewan was probably doomed from the beginning, but Riel made things worse by his indecision between peaceful negotiations and the use of force.

In 1982, an amendment to the Canadian constitution gave the Metis aboriginal rights. In the United States, the Metis do not have a legal relationship with the government and do not have a reservation or enjoy other rights granted to Native Americans. In each recent session of the U.S. Congress, there have been bills concerning what is often termed Montana's Landless Indians. Many of this group are Metis.

This book reads almost like a novel. It is well researched. Every book published since "Strange Empire" and containing a mention of the Metis, references Howard's book. A comprehensive and modern history of the Metis is needed but at the moment, this reviewer is unaware of anything near as useful as "Strange Empire."

The amazing story of the Metis people whose French ancestors first colonized and controlled most of North America. Louis Riel should have been a National Hero for all Canadians since without him most of the land west of Ontario would have fallen in US hands.

This book is riveting and should be required reading for history majors.

The genesis story of the Metis in North America, this book describes the evolution of the 'New Nation' and its place in continental history. Arising from the Fur Trade a new race of people, the Mixed-bloods, being descendents of Celtic Orkney and Highland Scot and Celtic Normandy and Brittany French fathers and predominantly Algonkian Cree and Chippewa mothers, create a new native North American identity. The Metis struggle to maintain their place as true descendents of aboriginal lineage while expressing the finer elements of their European paternal heritage. A finely crafted narrative of the attempt to affirm the cultural, economic, and political equity of the Metis, and all aboriginal peoples during the reconfiguration of the continent, Strange Empire is a powerful, dramitic, and epic telling of the most significant 'missing link' in our understanding of how the North American continent came to be.

A century ago, North America almost had a fourth nation, Assiniboia. That would-be nation's leader, a poet, religious zealot and one-time schoolteacher named Louis Riel, once was considered a traitor ro Canada but now is being revered and "rehabilitated" as one of the founders of the Dominion of Canada. Riel was "drafted" as leader of the Metis, "mixed blood" children of the fur trade, when Canada was reneging on its promises to these people who carried on the cultures of both European and indigenous ancentry. (Today, Celtic and French folklorists visit Metis in Western Canada and Montana to record unblemished versions of tradition folk music long dead in their original mother countries.) Howard, a legend in Montana journalism and history himself, penned his masterpiece in "Strange Empire." He gets down to the basics of the struggle for Western North America and some of the more haunting passages deal with the pyschlogical effects of such white man's diseases as smallpox and alchohol and their role in subjugating the natives a century or so ago. Riel was hanged for his insurgence, but had he been more decisive in battle, the maps -- and language patterns -- of much of North America would be much different.

First I would like to thank Amazon for making this fine book so easy to obtain. There are countless thousands of descendants of these, strong, courageous people that now live throughout the world. my son among them, being on a temporary assigment in Turkey. Many thousands more know little of the history of our people. This book should have a particular appeal to these folk. Perhaps by the reading of Mr. Howards book some will be induced to further study and research. It is a benifit to all that seek the true history of our country. These folk were a monolithic type, what happened to one could be an indicator of what happened to the society in the whole. My families have ties to several of those mentioned in this book. As an example, my grandfather was the first cousin to the wife of Louis Riel. My great grandmother was the god child of, Marie Anne Gaboury, the first white woman in the northwest. My fathers mother was baptized by, Father Lestanc. These people are mentioned in this well written book. Thank you, Melvin Beaudry Lynnwood, Washington.

Well written account of hiking trip for such a long distance. Sometimes too wordy on spirtual themes.

As well as a resource-full account of Eb's travels, this is also a very entertaining book. Full of daily quotations, poetic descriptions of the landscape and people, and, more than anything, uplifting. Congratulations on a job well-done, Eb. Not just the trip, but its recording for the rest of us.

I received my copy today and I'm up to page 100. It is a blend of humor, a man's journey, and numerous inspiring quotes...that makes me want to hit Eastern Mountain Sports and start the hike. Someday I plan to hike the Triple Crown, etc. Cheers to this man who has had the desire, dream and drive to complete an epic journey and share it with the world. Thanks for a great read and giving me another glimpse into long-distance hiking.

What a wonderful and inspiring book!! If you are a backpacker, outdoorsman, or a couch AT hiker, this book is very enjoyable. Eb makes you feel like you are walking every step with him. The book also helps one to realize the "kindness" and generosity of the American and Canadian people. It was uplifting to read a 500+ page book without one bit of negativity toward anyone by the author. Thank you Nimblewill!

Wow! That's really "Hit the road Jack". I live near the Florida Trail but swamp wading with the snakes and the gators? No way Jose! But I am totally enjoying it from my armchair. Go get them. You are a better man than me Charlie Brown!

That Summer in Paris by Morley Callaghan is another version of Hemingway in Paris which is probably a lot closer to the truth.

If you need or want to know the truth, read this book. Hemingway sure made a seductive myth about himself. We don't fault him for improving on the truth. The Hemingway version is fun to read but this one is fun too.

By the way, Callaghan wrote an outstanding short story called "Luke Baldwin's Vow." You can see why Hemingway thought highly of him.

A perfect companion to Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast"...written about the same people and time, but with a different point of view...

I had never heard of Morley Callghan before reading this book. Which is unfortunate because the book is hard to put down. It is well-written, informative, amusing, thought provoking and gives insight into several notable literary figures from a first hand perspective.

Canadian writer Morley Callaghan (1903-1990) published 16 novels and more than 100 works of short fiction, and he was one of the first Canadian authors to make his living solely from his craft. Callaghan believed in capturing the bare truth and honest emotional content of people's lives, so his prose shuns stylistic busyness. Edmund Wilson called him "the most unjustly neglected novelist in the English-speaking world," and Maxwell Perkins called him the world's best short story writer.

THAT SUMMER IN PARIS, as a memoir of Paris in the 20s, is every bit as engaging a book, if more limited in scope, as Hemingway's A MOVEABLE FEAST. The book begins with Callaghan's inspiring story of meeting Hemingway while working on the same paper in Toronto--at the time Callaghan was in his early 20s (still in college), and Hemingway was a couple years older. Hemingway had temporarily left Paris and was in town working for the paper to provide his wife Hadley with the benefits of Toronto hospitals during childbirth. Hemingway quickly became a sort of literary patron for Callaghan and, when he returned to Europe, took Callaghan's short stories with him and passed them around Paris. Fitzgerald became enthusiastic about Callaghan's work and also began championing him with Paris and New York publishers. After Callaghan published 2 books of fiction (in no small part due to the help of his "Paris friends"), Callaghan finally made his own visit, with his wife, to Paris in 1929. The anecdotes he recounts are simply marvelous, and I can't recommend the book highly enough. Boxing matches with Hemingway, Fitzgerald's drunken histrionics, a strange evening with Joyce and a phonograph... it's priceless stuff.

They say that timing is everything and the fact that this particular writer just happened to be sitting on the Boulevard Montparnasse on the right evening of the right year, means we have a further insight into the lives of those Paris expatriates, Hemingway and Fitzgerald and others. At the same time, this may be an opportunity for some people to discover Morley Callaghan, who is a very fine writer in his own right. His life ran parallel to Hemingway's for some time, as they met in Toronto and later in Paris and remained friends thereafter, even if they saw each other only rarely. In a sense, he is just the person to give us a penetrating look behind the legends that were being created in the cafés and bars of the ville lumière at the end of the thirties. This is a delightful book as well; Callaghan is nobody's fool, which means he's not writing for the mundane reasons that might otherwise be expected, and you can trust him. He is painting a portrait of a world teetering on the very brink (it is the summer of 1929), and in his own artful way, he has succeeded in giving us a rare glimpse into the ill-lit streets and nightclubs just before it all fades away into the decade of hopelessness that followed. It's well worth finding this book if you can - it's a little gem.

Commissaire Adamsberg is a wistful protagonist who, while leading his Parisian crime squad, intuitively grasps unrelated clues where others see none. In this installment of the series, he is confronted with the murders of two unrelated toughs which are presumed to be drug related, and, therefore should be handled by the drug squad.

However, the Commissaire holds on to the investigation, amassing clues and insights to move it in directions other than the assumption of drug involvement. Meanwhile, he also has to fight a new recruit who holds a boyhood grudge against his new boss, as well as supernatural sightings of ghosts both in his new home and in a Normandy cemetery. Are these all related? Is he following real clues, or being led down the proverbial primrose path?

Written in droll prose, the novel is excellently translated by Sian Reynolds who captures the language and offbeat comments with accuracy. The plot certainly is offbeat and inclusion of Racine-like poetry is an excellent touch. The crimes described are among the more unusual in this type of mystery and the reader has to keep turning pages to keep up with events and the eccentric characters. Recommended.

What I always enjoy about Vargas's Inspector Adamsberg mysteries is the knowledge that I'll finish the current one and cast about for her next.

This Night's Foul Work is no different, and may be one of the better ones she's written so far. The characters are wonderful and she evokes the places of Normandy and Paris so simply, so easily, that it is clear she knows of what she writes.

I suspect you'll finish this book in two nights...at most. Or, if you really like a good detective mystery, in one long night. This Night's Foul Work is just too good to stop.

There is no writer out there who does what Fred Vargas does. Her ability to describe the unreasoning and unconscious aspects of the human mind within the constraints of the crime/thriller/mystery genre is unlike any other modern writer. She holds my attention at all points in her tales, weaving contrasting and compelling portraits of not only her hero, Adamsberg, but the other players in her dramas. She leaves me wanting more and more of these wonderful plots and the amazing Adamsberg. She has some formidable fellow authors out there; but, quite frankly, she is in a league of her own.

I discovered Fred Vargos last year and have read everything that's been published in English. This particular book, like the rest of this series, was excellent! I love the central character since he's unlike any of the detective types in the U.S. or England. I know that I'm going to be surprised by 'who did it' which is a delight since 99.99% of the time I always have figured it out, sometimes in the first 2 chapters which makes the read uneventful. Fred always surprises me and her characters are so unique yet believable. I hope that there is a push to get everything she's done translated asap! (And you gotta love a female named 'Fred.')

People who love Fred Vargas's Chief Inspector Adamsberg mysteries will really enjoy THIS NIGHT'S FOUL WORK. It's wonderfully atmospheric, the characters are complex and believable, and the plot is engrossing and completely unpredictable. I think it's one of the best of the series.