Maine Books

Stephen King has long been known for his portrayals of small town life gone horribly wrong. Near the start of his career, with 1976's 'Salem's Lot, King worked with the idea of an isolated Maine town infiltrated by evil outsiders. Throughout his long career, he has revisited this basic plot many tames, putting a new spin on each. Derry, Maine became prey to shape-shifting creatures in both It and Insomnia. The Tommyknockers' reclusive Haven turned into ground-zero for radioactive alien ghosts. Desperation, Nevada turned into the ghostly battleground between God and the devil. And poor Castle Rock, Maine was doomed from the start.

King has often been asked "Where do you get your ideas?" All the answer Add an "s" are here, in George Beahm's newest, Stephen King Country. A different sort of book about King, this photo-essay guide takes the reader on a visual journey of the real (and sometimes unreal) world of Stephen King. Beginning with a brief overview of King's career through 1998's Bag of Bones, Beahm shifts gears and delves into the geography of King's real Maine. Interweaving biography and history, Country takes us through the towns of Durham, Orrington, Hermon, and more (perhaps "more" should be "others"), giving the reader some insight as to where King's fictional towns originated. Chapter Two, focusing principally on King's hometown of Bangor (the real-world counterpart of Derry) is a fascinating look at where Stephen King lives and writes, complete with a stunning aerial photograph of King's immense house. Touching on Stephen and his wife Tabitha King's philanthropy, Beahm then drives us down the dark path into King's fictional towns.

In this section, we are finally able to see the "real" Marsten House of 'Salem's Lot (actually the Shiloh Church in Durham, Maine), the train tracks the boys traveled in "The Body," the Standpipe and the Barrens, major landmarks in the novel It, and the hotel in Colorado that inspired The Shining. This inspired blending of fact and fiction is at once surreal and fascinating - it's like looking through the words of a Stephen King novel and finding a dark reality in the foreground of the man's imagination. In the dedication to It, King calls fiction "the truth inside the lie." In Stephen King Country, you can find that truth, the reality inside the story, and journey through the real and unreal worlds of Stephen King's country without ever leaving your house. Enjoy the trip!

We read all these Stephen King books that seem to flock the bestseller lists with their monsters, and gore, and goo, and we ask ourselves: Where is this guy coming from? In this book, we could literally know where he's coming from.

Anyone who has read at least one book by King knows that he's from Maine, for it always says it on the inside of the back cover; but do we know, for instance, that he once spent a vacation on a hotel hidden deep inside the mountains of Colorado which later inspired him to write his classic, The Shining? Do we know anything of how his college was like? This book is not a biography, but tells of the places in which he has lived all his life - which are all mostly scattered throughout Maine.

There is one little flaw that this book has, though, and that is that it gives the ending to some of his novels and short stories. So, if you haven't read every single novel and story King has ever written, you might not want to read this book just yet.

As a prehistoric "Europeanist" archaeologist living in Maine, I believe I can state with some authority that this book makes an important contribution to the literature on Maine archaeology and prehistory. However, there is so much work that has been done in Maine - and still so much that needs to be done - that I find myself hoping that Twelve Thousand Years will inspire other Maine archaeologists (especially Native Americans) to write a more in-depth treatment that evaluates Bourque's claims (which primarily spring from his work on the Turner Farm site) and offers alternative interpretations. But, as a volume potentially inciting such a debate, this book is very good.

I am not a historical archaeologist, but, from the critical reviews I have read and Bourque's extremely limited approach (involving almost no archaeology!) to the evidence, this book does not do justice to the Historic Period. Chapters IV-VII should be culled from the text and the preceding chapters enhanced with more illustrations, maps, photos, and side-bar boxes.

A book recommended to me by an archaeologist in Maine. I am not disappointed. The language and grammer is a bit above the lay person but with close study, you can catch on, as all is explained. A well written book covering the history with, and associated with, the Maine Native Americans. It just touches upon the associated peripheral subjects in history during each period, since volumes could be devoted to the complete history sorrounding the natives of Maine. It begins with the Ice Age and goes from there. Lots of archaeology and several hypothesis included. For anybody seriously interested in what Maine has done with their archaeology on Native Americans, I recommend this book whole-heartedly.........

This book was great for helping us get around the interstates and highways. It doesn't have much in the way of smaller town road maps making getting around in small New England towns a bit more cumbersome. But I do recommend the book for anyone planning a trip to multiple New England states.

Portland, Maine Police Detective Sergeant Joe Burgess is about to leave on his summer vacation when the murdered corpse of preadolescent neglected child Timothy Watts is found. The case should belong to Joe's peer Terry Kyle, but the usually dedicated cop fails to show up for work so he delays his scheduled time off to take charge of the investigation.

Whoever killed the child battered and sodomized him before cleaning him up. The child's six-foot plus three hundred pound Mother Watts arrives hysterically and inadvertently hurts Joe's bad knee. Though limping, he, Officers Stan Perry and Chris Perlin continue to investigate asking neighbors and family who killed THE ANGEL OF KNOWLTON PARK that many adopted as everybody's child.

There is an incredible amount of crime for Joe to work besides the murder. Arson, meth sales, alcohol abuse, child neglect, pedophile and assaults would keep a much bigger department overwhelmed. Joe keeps on ticking so much so the Energizer Bunny would envy his energy. Although there is an overwhelming load of righteous indignant pontification re the felons, fans will enjoy this solid regional police procedural due to the hero cop.

Harriet Klausner

I found this book to be very interesting on many levels. I am from Kennebunkport so it is locally very interesting and my mother was very interested in antiques and dragged me along in her travels. The book is a facinating look at the start of the antique trade and life at that time. I highly recommend it!

As the other books in this series, this book consists of a set of water-resistant maps (7 in this case), lists of mileage points, brief trail descriptions, and general information about nearby towns, transportation, etc. Each of the maps also includes an elevation chart at the bottom (which tend to be rather rough approximations). As the title suggests, the guidebook focuses on the AT, though a few side trails are described as well. In contrast to the other 3 AT guidebooks I own, the maps come on separate sheets, with the back of each used for trail description; the book itself contains only general information. In my view, this is a very convenient feature as you can just carry the maps you need and leave the book at home.

I used maps 1-3 to hike the 100 mile Wilderness (just south of the Baxter State Park) and found the maps and the trail descriptions to be generally very accurate. However, some information that might have been useful is omitted. For example, there are a couple of developed campsites (maintained by the state) at the south end of Nahmakanta Lake; they are not official AT campsites and there is no mention of them in the guidebook. More information about tenting opportunities at the shelter site would have been nice as well (a lot of shelters in the wilderness have rather poor tentsites). Overall, this guidebook is all you need to follow the trail though, and there is no other choice I am aware of anyway :)

Carl Little, a poet, essayist, art critic and (to make ends meet) Director of Public Relations for College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, has made it his life's work to glorify his great loves: language, painting, and Maine. In Art of the Maine Islands he collaborates once again with his `Comrade in Art,' designer Arnold Sklonick--this time to offer an assortment of artists all in one way or another captivated by the charm of Maine's chilly dark air, red rocks and frothing waters. Little and Skolnick have the breadth of appreciation to have included contemporary art along with the more staid efforts of the 19th and early 20th Centuries. The book's lively and diverse ninety-six pages probably are more designed to invite leafing through on a coffee table, than to increase the dry and dusty clutter on the scholar's bookshelf. It is homage to a place artists have always loved--and in its colorful pages you can see why.

For anyone who as ever set sail around the islands of Maine, this book is a must. Having sat on Thomas Cabot's granite bench on Butter Island, I feel like I knew him. This book shares many great stories of exploring the coast of Maine and some of his family history.

His summer home on Swans Island truly is a beautiful spot..... hard wood trees and all.

Author Dale Cox brings to life the little known Sept. 1864 battle of Marianna, Florida. The work is well structured and well researched. The author does a masterful job describing the period setting and conditions from many perspectives. He has delved deeply into the various county histories, correspondence, pension records, and census data to bring us an original treatment of this obscure action. The bulk of the narrative is gleaned from first hand accounts of various participants and natives.

The Marianna raid and battle was the culmination of an earlier probe which had illustrated the vulnerability of the region. Although it was a small affair in a large war, Marianna was one of many such small actions that effectively strangled the agricultural and economic output of the South late in the war. Along their path the raiders stripped the region of foodstuffs and other supplies.

In the raid General Asboth with about 700 Union cavalry and mounted U.S. Colored infantry rapidly penetrated from Navy Cove to Campbellton in West Florida. The force then turned southeast to strike Marianna. Their movements were too rapid for the various CSA home guard and cavalry to effectively oppose and the CSA was uncertain of their whereabouts until they reached Campbellton. The CSA commander, Col. Montgomery was slow to request reinforcements, call out the home guard, and concentrate his forces. With his semi-organized companies and home guard, he set a last minute trap in Marianna that succeeded in wounding several Union officers. However, Asboth's flanking force enveloped many of these defenders. The next day the raiders withdrew--bringing with them approximately 100 prisoners and 600 fleeing slaves.

Mr. Cox is very even-handed in his coverage with no perceptible North/South bias. He does particularly well conveying how hard things were for all residents (secessionist, unionist, and neutral) at the hands of both Union and Confederate authorities. He does an admirable job of reviewing the important roles that slaves and colored troops played in the area, the battle, and in the post war years. I particularly appreciate his presentation of various and sometimes-contradictory facets in multiple accounts. He is careful to weigh each and propose a reasonable interpretation or correction based on the available information.

Mr. Cox does seem overly forgiving of CSA Col. Montgomery's substantial errors. While he makes a convincing case that Montgomery's actions in the battle itself were sound and rebuts contemporary editorials claiming intentional sabotage or cowardice, the author cannot adequately explain the soundness of Montgomery's strategic actions preceding the battle. Although it is true that Montgomery could not have known which way the raiders were headed, he failed to call on reinforcement promptly, and he failed to concentrate to defend the most valuable potential target. While the colonel appears to have been trying to cover all bases, he failed to appreciate the rapidity with which raiders had moved in the past, and the poor scouting performances turned in by Florida cavalry in prior raids. He was caught largely unprepared.

While the narrative itself is well polished, there are a few things that should be improved to compliment the text. The most important of these would be maps. The main text has a very simple map that really doesn't help the reader. What is really called for is a full-page map of the raid's route displaying rivers, dates, clashes, feints, and the towns mentioned in the text. Another map is needed to show the streets, paths and bridges of the battle itself. A second substantial flaw is the lack of a bibliography. Although the author provides footnotes for his primary sources, some of his secondary sources appear not to have been footnoted or at least not where one would expect to find them. (There are also a dozen or so typographical or editing errors, primarily late in the text, but the overall impression of the editing is quite good.)

In terms of research, balance, and analysis this is a 6-point effort on a 5-point scale. Unfortunately, the lack of maps makes it much harder to follow than it should be. If you are interested in small raids, Florida Civil War history, or the U.S. Colored Troops, then I highly recommend this book. Grab the "Official Military Atlas of the Civil War" to understand the period place names and routes, and look up the Marianna street maps online so that you can follow the text of the battle. "The Battle of Marianna, Florida" is an excellent companion to William Nulty's "Confederate Florida: The Road to Olustee."

The maps in this book are very localized - Boston, the Berkshires, mid Maine Coast. So depending on where you are, you either get a bunch of rides or none at all. Only Vermont is really fully represented.

The maps are clearly drawn and good, and work well in conjunction with a GPS. The directions are broken out by consecutive mile, which is the way I like it, but they should also provide the "miles to next leg" information too for people who prefer that.

The book offers thorough information on dress, etiquette, food and more. It suggests you take it easy - "don't be goaded by others into riding a tour that you feel unprepared for."

Good challenging rides for those who want to drive out and do a 50-100 mile ride somewhere beautiful. Again, because of the length and the fact that you're probably going a distance from home, I definitely suggest bringing a GPS and scoping out which businesses are still in business for food and other necessities beforehand.