Washington Books

Tell them who I am was a great read. what better way to share the stories of homeless women than to be right there with them day to day as they face each struggle and try to dig themselves out of the situation they are in.
Unless you have been there, you don't really understand. Elliot Liebow does a great job in connecting with each woman and sharing her story, how she feels and the tough choices she must make each day that people who are not homeless, are oblivious to.
To gain a better understanding of how some women live, and how you can help people, read this book. It will touch your heart and your soul.

Tell Them Who I Am is a tale about several homeless women and one non-homeless man. For all its merits as an ethnography of women's shelters, which are many, one of the most endearing things about this book is its author. In 1984 Elliot Liebow found out he had terminal cancer. He promptly quit his job at the National Institute of Mental Health and headed for the soup kitchens and shelters of a small city outside of Washington, D.C. Taking notes "out of habit" he gradually compiled his thoughts (and those of his informants) as he got to know the women of these shelters. His participant-observation approach led him to be very involved as an actor in the lives of the women he met, and they too became involved in the writing of their stories. The result is a fascinating book which details the trials of homelessness alongside the joys and sorrows of being human

With his book, Tell Them Who I Am: The Lives of Homeless Women, Elliot Liebow has done an excellent job of putting the facts of shelter life together. His research was not done in a far away library with his nose in a book, rather he learned first hand by working in women's shelters and soup kitchens in Washington DC. In his book, he explores the multitude of ways that "the humanity of the women is under constant threat" and gives the reader an in-depth and intensely personal view into the different facets of the lives of homeless women. Liebow continues throughout the book to deliver the facts to the reader in such a way that they reveal the brutal truth of the women's lives without dragging the reader to a place where (s)he is overcome with pity and shame. Instead, Liebow manages to connect the reader to the women, showing their humanity. I wanted to cheer them on, encourage them, defend each of them, from opinionated Betty to retarded Ginger to Grace, a born-again Christian, although these aren't the actual names of the women. This book makes a the reader see homeless women as people and forces the reader to look beyond stereotypes. It gives the women faces and shows their individuality. Tell Them Who I Am also goes into some detail about the different shelters themselves, the ways they are run, and what function they serve. It also mentions such things as Social Services and Medicare, pointing out what they provide and, very importantly, the weaknesses that these services and others have when dealing with the homeless. These weaknesses are evidenced through the multitude of difficulties that the women experienced in dealing with various "helpful" agencies. Probably the most important reason for a person to read Tell Them Who I Am is that one can learn from it. The facts contained within this very well-written book are the facts that could go a long way toward a better understanding of homeless women and what can be done to aid them. The fear that "in all its forms stands out," can be worn away with some of the understanding can be found in this book.

I have been reading and researching the United States homeless issues for a few months and found this book to be fairly insightful. Liebow writes from a very intimate point of view and backs up his observations with sources and facts. This is a very palatable introductory book to the general issues of homelessness in America today.

In a world of McMansions, there is homelessness. Liebow is a participant-observer. He had written TALLY'S CORNER at an earlier point.

Elliot Liebow tries to make the relationships with the women symmetrical. In his study he ignores mental illness since he is an anthropologist. Three night shelters and a day shelter are portrayed. The names of persons and places are changed.

Women come into homelessness because they are poor and powerless. Hard living is the norm. Street living creates problems of bathing, washing, eating, and sleeping sufficiently and safely. There is perennial fatigue and boredom. Protection of belongings and lack of storage creates bag ladies. Health suffers. Treatment of choice is unavailable.

Some women are too sick, old, or crazy to work. Others value work over walking all day. Looking for work is a way of holding onto humanity.

Shelters replace broken families. Mentally disabled residents have difficulty with their own relatives over money and power. Some residents hit the streets when they fear violence will erupt. Shelter providers fear violent behavior and keep records. Black-listing is common.

The women suffer from losses of privacy and dignity. They prefer a shelter Liebow calls The Refuge where few questions are asked. Providers of services to the unsheltered fear creating dependency. History shows that after the Great Depression, the opportunities presented by World War Two emptied out the skid rows.

Religious belief is a topic of shelter talk. Women see themselves as equal before God. Belief can invest homelessness with meaning.

The women talk about jobs, not careers. Elementary security is a paramount concern. The women are prevented from planning through their sense of powerlessness. They live one day at a time as a coping strategy.

Homelessness is rooted in poverty. Unemployment, underemployment, and substandard wages are causes. Really, now, does a market system require human sacrifice?

And frequently all the same person. A cross-dressing young lady yclept Viola carries Duke Orsino's messages of undying love to Olivia. Olivia hurls harsh word at the Duke as her reply, and in the end gets her desire. Olivia's head servant, Malvolio isn't as smart as he thinks he is, but Feste, the fool, is smarter than anyone thinks he is. And Cesario isn't the man that Olivia and the Duke think he is (but it turns out that Cesario has a crush on the Duke...)

I can see why this one is considered one of Shakespeare's best. It's got confused identities, room for slapstick, bawdy word play, swordplay, a girl disguised as a boy (but originally played by a boy; I bet he didn't know whether to sit or stand after rehearsal), and all those traits of Shakespeare's best.

I loved it.

E.M. Van Court

The Folger Shakespeare edition of this play gives it a leg up on other versions as far as homeschooling goes. First, the text of the play appears on the right-hand pages, leaving the left-hand pages for glosses, text notes, and illustrations that clarify numerous allusions in the play. Second, sections in the introductory material explain Shakespeare's language, life, and theater, as well as the print history of the play. In the closing material, the editors have included textual notes, an essay entitled "*Twelfth Night*: A Modern Perspective" by Catherine Belsey, an annotated list for further reading, and a key to famous lines in the play. Most useful for homeschooling, perhaps, are the lesson plans available at the Folger web site in either PDF or print version. This play served as the basis of the popular movie *She's the Man*, which can be viewed as a follow-up for comparison and discussion.

Twelfth Night is a very amazing book full of true love, confusion, and adventure. It starts out with a shipwreck on a fictious island of Illyria where Viola and her twin brother Sebastian are staying and neither of them thinks the other is alive. So therefore, they both go into Illyira and Viola posing as a man who is a messenger for Duke Orisno. Results in big trouble for all of them in Illyria. This is only some events that happen in the book. Other things are Duke Orsino is madly in love with Olivia who does not love him. Malvolio thinking Olivia loves him when she doesn't. Things just aren't going so well in Illyria for all the characters. But overall this is an excellent book and I truly enjoyed reading it.

I saw she's the man in theaters, then I went on the internet and read about it. Then I found out it is based on twelfth night. So I read the play and I like it. I've also read A midsummer night's dream. I like twelfth night more. It's a great play.

This play is about a girl who goes under cover as a man to try to find her twin brother who was lost in a shipwreck. she goes to work for the self indulgent Duke Orsino. the play is filled with comedic events such as the Duchess Olivia falls love with the main character, Viola, because Olivia thinks Viola is a man, as well as the drunken antics of Sir Toby and Sir Andrew. overall it was a very funny play and I enjoyed reading it and I would reccoment it to anyone who likes Shakespeare.

The wording, the same as with any shakespeare play, was a little hard to get used to. When reading it I would get a vague understanding what the character was saying but then I would chekc the definition of specific words that are on the the opposite page. It would then become clear to me what was happening in the play. I enjoyed the comedic flow of the story. the series of different converging plots made for a little difficult comprehension but it all came together at the end of the play. This was definitely a funny play, and it was even better when I saw it on stage. There seems to be so much one misses when just reading a play, but when one sees it on stage the overall understanding of what is happening and why is greater. I thouroughly enjoyed reading the play as well as seeing it on stage and it was overall a solid comedy by William Shakespeare.

I love this book for many reasons, but perhaps most of all for the way the watercolors capture the light inside a Metro station and the texture of the concrete. It is the finest artistic representation of Metro I have seen.

I bought this book for my 2 year old daughter and her playgroup friends for Christmas. Each and every child has loved this book and has read it over and over again (we just bought another copy since we've worn one out). The descriptions of DC's Metro are very accurate and the poetic text make it memorable, especially when adding in the "rrrrumm whoooosh" sounds. My daughter now loves riding on the Metro and likes to bring this book along. This book is a must for city kids -- especially DC residents.

My daughter, Isabel, and I live in DC at the metro stop that Quattlebaum describes in "Underground Train," and we love this book. The language is poetic, the story easy to identify with, and the illustrations nicely fit the action. I heartily recommend "Underground Train" to families with train-riding kids everywhere.

Mary Quattlebaum's book evokes the sights and sounds of Washington, D.C., and especially of the D.C. subway system. The writing is downright poetic and is illustrated with beautiful, charming, and accurate depictions of the city. The day I bought this book, my two-year-old wanted it read to him again and again. I didn't mind; I love it too! The book is out of print and may be hard to find, but it's worth the trouble.

My son (age 4) has this book on his frequent reading request list! I like it too, but not as well as he does. He gets very confused by the parts of the book that are set above the ground, and I find them sort of needless---especially since on some pages there is no picture at all of the train underground. My son asks every time we are on those pages---"where's the train?". But that small flaw in our eyes is not enough to make him not like this book very much! His favorite part is the descriptive writing of how the train sounds! If you have a young train or subway lover, I would get this one!

This is the second time round that I'm reading this book and so far I'm loving it. For any of us who have ever been so "in lust" with anyone, we can really understand how Ellie feels and what she's going through with her obsession with Jesse.
Ms. McCloy has given us characters that are real and feel real - sometimes I have to put the book down just to register that I have felt like Ellie does too, once in my life.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good read, one that draws you in with its purity, yet engulfs you with the heady feeling of pure lust!

Read it, it's a good one!

Kristin McCloy had a picture of the Dalai Lama and Madonna above her when she was writing this book.

Nuff Said.

This is the only book I've ever read more than once

If you've ever been obssesed with anyone, without knowing it or against your own better knowing read this and recognize yourself. This book is about love, sex, death and despair. Not allways is love easy and logical, and Mc Cloy shows us this side of love in her brilliant book. Read it.

The simplest plots can be the most fascinating: small town girl [Ellie] returns to her North Carolina town to deal with family tragedy after several years on her own in the big city. Out of place with her family and former friends and feeling distant from the life she left behind in New York, she consciously and with premeditation begins an affair with a typical Harley-riding bad boy. The character of Jesse is a little cliche-ed, but it is Ellie who is the heart and soul of the story. Her thoughts, actions, and justifications for the choices she makes keep the reader in the moment, moving along with the story. Though Ellie's affair is initially the focal point of the story, a second, more careful reading will reveal other themes--above all loss, grief, and recovery. Ellie's relationships with her father, her boyfriend back in New York, and a co-worker are all very complete and real, in contrast with her relationship with Jesse. She keeps these various parts of her life compatrmentalized, separated from one another. When they inevitably collide, Ellie must face up to the choices she's made. Throughout, she is a likable and sympathetic character. McCloy very accurately portrays the human need to separate oneself from the place where one came from, only to find comfort in returning to that place, however painful. What could have been simply a novel of erotic obsession is given depth by exploring the circumstances that lead to that obsession. The erotic scenes themselves are given credence by Ellie's emotional need. If you liked McCloy's second novel, Some Girls, then don't miss this one. The prose is infused with the same sense of urgency that sets McCloy apart from other writers.

War and Politics by Other Means is a graceful book. We should expect one who has been writing news (and in some cases, making it) for so many years to be able to tell a story and tell it well. but what is most wonderful about Scates is that he cares. Any reporter who has lived with what he calls the "rough mixture of altruism, venality, petty feuds or state government either has to go under, turn cynical and calloused, become a boozer, or have something special called Hope. Obviously, Scates has the latter..... Scates is, thus, a reporter of the old school. He is honest and he is driven, and he is too,more than a little corageous. We know this from his off had descriptions of his war reporting. You should go out and get the book at once. War and Politics by Other Means!...

Shelby Scates acts like a journalist, he talks like a journalist, he even looks like a journalist. Scates has the world-weary look of someone who has traveled and covered a lot of ground. He says what he wants and doesn't mince words. His newest book " War and Politics by Other Means, a Journalists Memoirs" was recentlyn published by the University of Washington Press. It spans Shelby Scates' entire career from going into journalism covering sports in Dallas to his careers in the wire services such as United Press International and the Associated Press before going to the Seattle Post Intelligencer. He left the newspaper in 1991 to work on books. The stories in the book make you feel like you're on the scene. It's written in the sparse prose of a lifetime reporter - short sentences that are always to the point. It is a fascinating must read book....

For 29 years Shelby Scates was a presence in regional politics, first for two years as a writer for Phil Bailey's splendid Argus weekly and later as a reporter and columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Since his retirement from the P.I. Scates has kept busy, writing the first full-length biography of Warren Magnusen and now his memoir, "War and Politics By Other Means". It is an interesting read. From a lifetime of writing for newspaper readers, Scates knows the scarcity of reader time and newshole space. He tells his tales briskly, emphasizing his encounters with the famous (Robert Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, etc.) and those who played small but interesting roles in history. A publisher should encourage Scates to start a new project.

Shelby Scates has a rare talent as a storyteller. Reading his memoir, you can imagine sitting at the kitchen table ( a bottle of booze within easy reach ) as he relates these tales gathered during his eventful life. Scates stories benefit greatly from the writer's exactness. Most remarkable is the noticable forward movement to his prose, a sense that there is more good stuff coming, a sentence, a paragraph, a page ahead and Scates rarely disappoints. A must read! James Bush, Seattle Weekly

"Too bad Ben Hecht never met Shelby Scates, a journalist's journalist. His memoir is an enchanting crackle of political history ( I especially loved the stories about Earl Long and JFK),war chronicles in the Middle East and Cambodia, and other treacherous adventures like his white-knuckle climb up the Karakoram moutain range in Pakistan. And it is all so elegantly written you'll despair when you finish it, as I did. A real friend of a book."

Once you have visited the Allhambra in Grenada, Washington Irvines book comes to life. The tales come to life. The experience is so magical that you believe the fables may have actually happened. Who knows? I had to purchase the book immediately after my visit and it is the best book purchase I have ever made

"Tales of the Alhambra" is must-reading for the traveler in Spain. Irving is best remembered in this country for his collections of American folklore, like the stories of Rip Van Winkle and the Headless Horseman, but in Spain they remember him for the Alhambra stories -- in fact, there's a hotel named in his honor in Granada. Irving lived in that beautiful old Moorish palace at a time when it was a neglected ruin, and his wonderful descriptions, interspersed with the folk-tales that he collected from the people of Granada, helped to spark interest in repairing and restoring the monument. The folk tales, told in Irving's inimitable, witty style, usually deal with romantic elopements, or buried treasure, or both. My personal favorite is the story of the young prince living in the Generalife (the beautiful summer palace) who learned the language of the birds. That one is fantasy, but it's true that there was hidden treasure in the Alhambra: the palace itself, its architecture and decoration, and we have Irving to thank for rediscovering it.

A great book to read while traveling in spain. If you are going to Alhambra, read this book! It will bring the palace alive for you. The writing is very accessable, and easy to follow for having been written so long ago.

I think this book is much more enjoyable if you read it after you have visited the Alhambra; two Moorish palaces that sit on top of a mountain in the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountain range of Spain, palaces of incredible architecture and setting, the last outpost of the Moors in Spain. Christopher Columbus waited for 6 years before Queen Isabell would give him ships, she made him wait until the Moors were driven out of Spain. When the Alhambra finally falls, Coloumbus is given permission and ships for his quest a few days later, and the next year the Spanish Inquisition starts.
All of this comes to you if you visit the very romantic/historic city of Granada and the Alhambra, and after seeing the Alhambra restored, having walked its rooms and grounds, having listened to the fountains, letting your immagination run, then read this book, after you return home. Washington Irving's stunt of taking up residence in the rundown, forgotten Alhambra of his time seems even more fantastic. In fact, if you are going to Spain, buy a copy of this book in Granada; they are sold everywhere in different languages, and have pictures of paintings done in the period around Irving's stay. If you haven't been to the Alhambra, you should go.

When we were kids, we had a card game called Authors. I think the object was to be able to name the works of famous authors. At any rate, there were three titles that always seemed especially enticing: Idylls of the King, The Heart of Midlothian and Tales of the Alhambra.

Thirty years later, I picked this one up with some trepidation; we've all struggled through classics of two hundred years ago, baffled by arcane language & outdated usages. However, to my very pleasant surprise, the book is terrific, combining an Iberian travelogue with delightful tales and legends of Moorish Spain. Irving's travels are interesting enough in themselves, but it is the tales, which have everything from flying carpets to hidden treasure, that really make the book.

GRADE: A

The Washington Manual is like a mini-DiPiro's. It is especially great because it is small enough to be carried in a backpack without the extra weight. The material inside is not too general yet not too overwhelming. Being a pharmacist that have been out of school for a few years, it is a great review of disease states. The book covers the pathophysiology and pharmacotherapy for each disease state.

I've had the PDA version of this book's 31st edition and I liked so much that when the 32nd edition came out I could not resist to buy the actual book. It is a great book for a quick review of many topics. I personally complement some of the topics with UptoDate and works great.

A "must have" for the medical practitioner's library. An easily accessible source of reference at the doctor's office or while doing rounds at the hospital. The edition is very much updated.

This book is really useful and contains a great deal of information regarding everything an IM student/resident would like to know. It's very well written, clear and concise. It has a big drawback though: it is big and heavy enough for not being comfortably put in your pocket, since it is considered a pocket book. If this is not a disadvantage for you it is a perfect companion for quick refence in theoretical and some practical stuff

Great reference for the busy practitioner in the ambulatory setting. Gets to the gut of the issues and easy to read. Wide variety of diagnosis' and very up to date information.

This was purchased as a favor to a friend who wanted an add'l copy to send to his mom.

Excellent book - practical spiral binding inside a hard cover, so the book will lay open nicely when you are working from the recipes. Beautiful pictures of the foods and various B&B's along with many tasty recipes that are not too complicated for the average cook. Information on several B&B's is included as well. I have given this out as a gift twice already.

I made the Paula's Easy Decadent Chocolate Trifle for a Neighborhood Harvest Party, and I won the award for the best dessert brought! People raved about it and said it was awesome -- beautiful and delicious! One of the neighbors decided to purchase the cookbook to give to her daughter who was wanting an outstanding dessert to serve for a party.

There are so many different and wonderful recipes, it's hard to start. But I have to tell you about the Beer Braised and Balsamic Vinegar Lamb with Rosemary White Beans. Give me a break!!! I couldn't even read the recipe without salivating!! (How embarassing!) It is one of the most unusual orchestrations of flavors I've ever experienced!! This is a special dinner, a night when you polish the silver candlesticks, chill some nice wine, and hope for rain, because you won't want anyone disturbing you at this dinner. The only thing I'd add, are a few of your best friends, then enjoy this elegant culinary event!!

This book contains illustrations, descriptions, and 11 specific items of information about 85 different Bed and Breakfast Country Inns in the state of Washington plus their most requested or favorite recipes. I especially liked one simply called "Bubble Bread" which included nuts, brown sugar, butterscotch pudding mix, and cinnamon in the ingredients!! The book lies flat when opened, has a beautiful hard cover,and is attractively printed in two colors. The authors also thoughtfully included tables of oven temperature equivalents, baking pan sizes, liquid and dry measures (including metric conversions), and high altitude adjustment suggestions. A special feature appearing throughout the book is entitled "Carol's Corner" where one of the authors records hints and happenings which developed during the testing of all recipes submitted. Tantalizing titles of some of the recipes are Banana Blueberry Muffins, Northwest Salmon Pie, Santa Cruz Sweet and Sour Zucchini Salad, Apple Breakfast Lasagna, Comeback Hash, and Paula's Easy Decadent Chocolate Trifle. You'll love the book for yourself and it would make a much-appreciated gift.

This is the third Cathie Pelletier novel that I've read, and I have to say that they keep getting better.

Set in the fictitious logging town of Mattagash, in Maine's northern Aroostook County, where the river creates a natural boundary between the United States and Canada, The Weight of Winter continues the stories of the families that we were introduced to in The Funeral Makers, published in 1986, and Once Upon a Time in the Banks, published in 1989. Approximately thirty years have gone by since Pelletier first brought these people into our lives and, while some have died, they are represented here by a new generation, and others, who we met first in The Funeral Makers, are still among the living, although I must warn you that not everyone survives to the end of the novel.

When I list the authors I admire, I realize that nearly all of them are men, yet Cathie Pelletier ranks high on the list. Whether she is telling the story from the perspectives of a 12-year-old boy, a 31-year-old alcoholic, or a 107-year-old woman languishing away in a nursing home, her characters are amazingly believable. It is in this quality, above all others, that Pelletier stands out as one of the best novelists I have read.

We first came to know Amy Joy Lawler when she was first entering high school as a freshman, in The Funeral Makers. She was not long out of high school in Once Upon a Time on the Banks, and she is now a 45-year-old single woman, taking care of her aging mother, Sicily, who is every bit as feisty as she had been thirty years prior.

Pike Gifford, Jr. was a newborn, if he was even named in the first novel, set in the late 1950s, but appears as "Little Pee" in the second, which takes place about ten years later. Now he represents the ne'er do well Gifford family as Pike Gifford, a 31-year-old alcoholic who beats his wife and abuses his children. Despite the fact that he is a distinctly unlikeable man, the author tells his story in a way that permits the reader to see him as a human being, and even like him just a little bit, sometimes.

Any love that the reader might have developed for Pike was begrudging to begin with, and lessened considerably by the fate of his eldest son, Conrad, one of those who does not survive the end of the novel.

While wildly funny at time, The Weight of Winter is a much darker and even more compelling novel than was the first book in the series, The Funeral Makers. The Mattagash that Pelletier writes of was a hard place to live, and the reader is left feeling disturbed yet nostalgic all at the same time.

Having used the word, I immediately began searching my memory for a better word, as I didn't know that I could reasonably say that I felt nostalgic for a place where I've never lived. Being a fictional town, no one has lived in Mattagash, of course, but my assumption is that her stories are at least loosely based on Allagash, Maine, in northern Aroostook County, where the author was born. I've been to Allagash, although that's a far cry from having lived there. I'm more familiar with Wallagrass, Soldier Pond, and New Canada, a few miles to the east, but I've never lived there either, and Millinocket, where I do live, is quite a lot different, although there are similarities.

I remain convinced that "nostalgic" is the best word that I could have used, and I suppose this is because Pelletier is so good at what she does that her readers feel as if they have lived in Mattagash, Maine. The McKinnons, Giffords, Fennelsons, Crafts, Ivys, and Amy Joy Lawler, as well as the other Mattagash residents are in some ways better known to me than my own neighbors, since the author makes it possible for me to get into their minds and their hearts in a way that would be difficult with real people.

The author, Cathie Pelletier, was born in Allagash, Maine, a state that provides the setting for most of her fiction. She also writes under the pseudonym K.C. McKinnon.

-- http://magic-city-news.com/article_4553.shtml

The characters of Matagash, Maine are a colorful lot, dreading the long, oppressive winter ahead. Wonderfully written with humor, yet extremely hard-hitting on the subject of spousal abuse and its effect on children. Mothers: take care of your children, even if you refuse to take care of yourself. This book is the third of a series, but you do not have to read the first two in order to understand and enjoy this one. This is a very talented writer. The writing is smooth and the story never drags.

I was a bookseller in the audience the night Cathie Pelletier picked up her award in Boston for this book, the New England Book Sellers Award. And never has one been more deserved. This has got to be one of the best novels of American life and progress and folklore ever put in print. What a shame future readers will have to search to find it unless it's put back in print. OPRAH, where are you on this one?

I won't bother to recap the theme of the novel, since that's been done quite adequately elsewhere, but I will say that this novel is very funny and sad at the same time - I was either laughing or crying with each page. The author brings these characters to life with such love and depth of feeling that I feel like I know them. I bought this book hoping to learn a little more about the state of Maine and its people (I've recently moved here) and I ended up discovering a new author to add to my list of favorites. Don't miss this one!

The Weight of Winter is one of Pelletier's best yet. This book offers a brilliant description of small town America. She has a magical way of painting a story in which she weaves together layers of tales so true to life that you begin to feel for and with each character. Pelletier has a gifted knack for describiing the small town attitude and character of New England. I strongly recommend this to people who like books with heart, character and New England charm

Pezeshki's book provides a mesmerizing picture of the forces arrayed to destroy roadless areas - and their dependent, increasingly rare species - in the Clearwater National Forest, along with tragic background material on the irreversible damage done to Idaho public lands in the past by state and federal agencies charged with their management. He conveys on-the-ground experience and a love for Idaho wild country. With engaging narrative the author unforgettably presents the pristine nature of these precious areas and the limited time they have left to exist if citizens don't wake up to their imminent, taxpayer-subsidized ruin. If you are not already a wilderness/roadless area advocate, this book will light the fires within your soul.

Pezeshki tells a compelling story in real terms without all the "woe is me" angst that discredits many environmental arguments. Pezeshki doesn't pull any punches either - Forest Service, Logging Corporations, Army Corps of Engineers, Politicians, Mainstream Environmental Groups, and even the readers get challenged.

The Holocost/Clearcut analogy toward the end of the book is thought provoking and will provide a good source for hours of campfire debate.

This is a good book for straightforward discussion of environmental conflict in the U.S.

An easily understood profile of the land management conflicts in the Clearwater River country of north Idaho over more than 25 years, Mr. Pezeshki profiles the place, agencies, characters and events that are shaping the land and waters. Having worked on the Clearwater N.F. as a fishery technician, I am pleased that someone has written such a book, and I can vouch for some of the characters profiled. Events such as tributary blowouts really happened, and will continue to happen without changing the focus of the agencies involved. Please read this book, and be part of the solution.

If you consider yourself to be an environmentalist then this book is a must read. I have never seen anything published which so accurately describes the front lines of the environmental movement. I know many of the people involved in this book and I can say that from my experience the stories in this book are quite accurate as well as inspirational.

Charles Pezeshki is one of those rare conservation writers who moves his readers to action. He writes with passion but does not take himself too seriously. Defending the last great places in American is inherently depressing, however, Pezeshki's passion for the Clearwater Country of Idaho gives one hope that individuals and groups of concerned citizens can make a difference.

Pezeshki compares favorably with such writer/naturalists as Rick Bass, David Petersen, and Dave Hughes. He does what many conservationists can not do; skillfully articulate why preservation of wildness and big country is important. His oral history of the key players involved in this great conflict is particulary profound.

Our children will thank Charles Pezeshki for his passionate defense of the last remaining wild portions of Idaho's Clearwater Country. He has made a difference.