Montana Books

Queen of the Legal Tender Saloon is a refreshing, insightful look not just at modern life in Montana, but at life and love, personal growth and a woman making it on her own in the world of cowboy lore. Author Eileen Clake writes as powerfully as Pam Houston, with insight and strength wrapped around lifelike characters that have the same wants and needs, strengths and weaknesses found in all of us, yet tempered by the world of the modern cowboy. You can't help but to get hooked on the prose, captured by the plot. It's the perfect companion with which to curl up by the fireplace on a long winter weekend.

What a wonderful idea: Montana through the eyes of a dental assistant. The Big Sky State is, after all, comprised far more of civil servants and teachers and CNA's and truck drivers than the cowboys and far-sighted writers that we tend to idolize. Thank goodness for a well-spoken author who looks at Montana's foibles through the eyes of a believable character. Thank goodness, too, for a fine portrait of a Montana town and valley. And bravo for the cover artwork. What a relief to find a bold artistic cover statement--as opposed to another look-alike muted dust jacket!

The book started moving by the time I got to the trial. The cover however, leaves something to be desired. I mean I know all the old bla bla about not judging a book by the cover, and that stands true here. Make it past the sad attempt at a cover and find a great story hidden inside. -If that is, you can deal with that "uppity, sage-brush and beat-up truck Montana stuff. Why do all of those Montana writers get off on that stuff?? ;>

An intimate portrayal of a young woman's pilgrimage to small town rustic Montana. Ms. Clarke captures the essence of this close knit community with endearing characters in search of good times amidst their struggles. A lively story with true grit, heart and soul.

The writings of Michael Dirda are a wonderful gift to anyone who loves books and literature. "Readings" is a collection of his columns from the Washington Post's "Book World" section. The contents are as varied as a well-stocked library. His learning, his wit and his breadth of his interests make this book equally inviting.

Within these covers you'll find an appreciation of P.G. Wodehouse, an excursion into the literary world of New Orleans, the story of his guest membership in New York's Yale Club (and its wonderfully inviting library), a discussion of Japanese literature, ruminations on turning 50, the pleasures of book-shopping...and I haven't begun to exhaust the variety. Read this volume and understand why Francine Prose calls Dirda "a cultural treasure" and why Annie Proulx say he may "be as close to the ideal critic as we are likely to get."

One cautionary word to readers of Dirda's delightful memoir published last year, "An Open Book": as he notes there, he adapted some of the autobiographical pieces from this book for that memoir. But the overall amount of overlap is small. And a second cautionary note to all: be warned that you "must read" list is likely to grow even longer once you've immersed yourself in Dirda's enthusiasms. If you cherish fine writing in its many forms, you should love this book.--William C. Hall

I read this in parallel with two other books of pieces by literary critics: Joseph Epstein's "In a Cardboard Belt" and Maureen Corrigan's "Leave me Alone, I'm Reading". Of the three, Dirda's book is hands-down my favorite. (Epstein's essays were kind of mean-spirited and Corrigan's book, though good, is nowhere near as funny as this one.)

There are so many terrific pieces in this collection. In no particular order, ten of the forty-six that really tickled my fancy:

Weekend with Wodehouse. (the biannual convention of the P.G. Wodehouse society)
Mr Wright. (tribute to his high-school English teacher)
Commencement Advice.
Four Novels and a Memoir. (a devastating sendup of several bestselling genres)
Bookish Fantasies.
Comedy Tonight. (a list of 100 amusing comic novels)
Sez Who? (Different experiences while browsing for books)
Excursion. (a weekend in New Orleans)
Talismans.
Vacation Reading.
Mememormee. (Why he's not a fan of memoirs)

There are another ten that could just as easily have made the list. What I enjoyed about Dirda's essays are his infectious enthusiasm for books and reading, which comes through in every piece, his wit and humor, as well as a certain generosity of spirit. EVen his brilliant takedown of the various bestseller genres is obviously done with affection.

This book has left me eager to seek out more of Dirda's work, as well as many of the books he mentions in these essays.

Recommended for all fans of books and reading.

Reading about how literature has shaped Michael Dirda's life is somewhat entertaining, I suppose. But reading the books he discusses is an incredible experience. If for no other reason, buy this book because it will turn you on to so, so many more. I never would have discovered Maugham's Ashenden, Wodehouse, Lawrence's trek across Arabia, Vidal's Washington, or Kipling's Kim. Treat Readings like a directory of great literature and follow Dirda.

A collection of his columns from the Washington Post's Book World, Dirda's book is a fun hodgepodge of short, readable essays on a variety of book-related topics. While many of them, as one would expect, are discussions of books themselves, Dirda also spins off into other areas, such as fond memories of a favorite English teacher, childhood trips to the library, the joy of book shopping, etc., which makes this collection more varied, more personal, and in the end more interesting than a simple "review" style collection. That's not to say the reviews aren't worth it--they are intelligent, concise, and witty and the sheer variety of books discussed in terms of style, tone, genre, enhances their interest. Dirda not only holds your interest, he piques it as well, so keep a pen handy as you read so you can jot down the titles of books you're going to want to pick up after Dirda finishes telling you about his experiences with them. One word of caution--if you've read his memoir An Open Book, some of these pieces will sound familiar as they have been incorporated with some changes in the memoir. If you haven't yet read the memoir, don't let that turn you off from doing so. It's certainly worth its own read, reworked and in a more full context the familiar columns won't seem as repetitive as you'd think, and if you want, you can always just skim through those sections.

This book was very informative on the geology of Montana.

The saga of Glacial Lake Missoula was so gripping I had to buy Roadside Geology of Washington to see how it came out! Alt and Hyndman are the best authors I've found in this series. While you're at it, don't miss Alt's "Glacial Lake Missoula and Its Humongous Floods."

In this guide, you will learn why underground coal fires have played a prominent role in shaping the surface topography and nature of the overlying strata in parts of eastern Montana. You will learn why widespread dryland farming in the early 20th century often caused devistating salinization of the soil. Filled with numerous photos and illustrations, the past and present of Montana's geology is at your fingertips. From the sedimentation, coal formation and general uplift of eastern and central Montana,
to the dominant influence of tectonic and igneous events in the western region, to the recent effects of glaciation in the northern regions, Alt and Hyndman provide you with a detailed description and explanation.

Great little book. I've read it until the covers have fallen off, and it's still a bigger story than I can adequately understand. I'm afraid we live in a very complex state. Dr. Alt's book is exactly the thing to carry around in car while one travels. I only wish it was 20 times longer, bigger - with more pictures. Once in a conversation with Dr. Alt he promised me that in the newer additions of his book would be naked pictures of the geologists - but that hasn't shown up yet. It's perhaps for the best. Great book.

In Spectre of Seven Mr. Pitterson presents a fascinating story of life on a sugar plantation in Jamaica. It starts with the birth of a child, Julius, to a sugar plantation owner and follows the adventures and misadventures of the family through to Julius' becoming an adult.

The variety of characters, who span several generations and represent the cultures from four continents and all levels of society, are brought to life in a vividly detailed background of lush vegetation, sunsets, and tropical splendors which would be the envy of any travel guide. It is clear that the author has an intimate knowledge of the subject and has the creative ability to share this with his readers.

In spite of the great attention to detail, the story never bogs down. You are irresistable drawn on to see what will happen next and how the various events will be resolved. And you will not be disappointed-everything is blended together to produce an excellent novel which I enjoyed immensely.

All I can say is that I have given copies of the book to friends as gifts and I am eagerly looking forward to reading Howard Pitterson's next book which is due out soon.

This novel is a wonderful journey into the lives of a Sugar Cane Plantation family located in Jamaica, and the heir apparent who is to both succeed his father in keeping the thriving family business going while at the same time manage the distractions that come along with being a life-curious young man. The novel is very well put together, treating in depth all characters that the reader is introduced to. The times, places and characters are all vividly described and no stone is left unturned when this writer wants to capture the exact word(s) in order for the reader to become acquainted with the atmosphere of the time, situation, or person(s) involved.

You are quickly pulled into the life of Julius (the main character), and with each page turned you see what he sees, feel what he would have felt, while also enjoying the thought of what he has to look forward to. It is then that you become a captive in the writer's cleverly architected plot; a multi-layered plot that will leave you wanting not only to turn to the next page, but once finished with the last, you will find yourself leaping to the back of the book to see when the sequel will be out. .......

Excellent Reading !!

After a very interesting trip this summer to Spain, Portugal and Morocco, I returned home to New York City only to be taken to a wonderful place in Jamaica via this book. I truly loved it. I liked the author's crisp and detailed descriptions of places, people, plants, and especially sunsets. I'll never see the sun set in the same way thanks to his vivid way of seeing colors. Howard Pitterson, surely got the reader's attention with the very suspenseful ending. What are we to do now? I personally want to know what happens to Julius and everyone else. It is a real cliffhanger. We want the sequel as soon as possible.
This book deserves the greatest of successful. I'm recommending it to all my friends.
Congratulate to the author for a wonderful book written.
Bravissimo

I greatly enjoyed reading Howard Pitterson's book. I think it's terrific, and the more of it I read, the more I thought so. Mr. Pitterson offers us a noble main character, whose depth of personality emerges as the story progresses; and he has surrounded this protagonist with an array of other interesting and affecting personalities, whose lives touch and interact in a large variety of ways. Each short chapter becomes an in-depth vignette enriching the ones that have gone before and are yet to come. As the story moves on, he adds social and historical layers, and toward the end it becomes clear that all this is just the foundation for what is yet to come in the follow-up book, to which I am looking forward with anticipation (It is expected to appear later this Fall). Mr Pitterson's range is really quite breath-taking...even including, in the midst of very serious matters of the heart (which by the way, are invariably carried off with a great deal of sensitivity and wisdom), touches of laugh-out-loud comedy. His purpose seems to be to show love in all its possible forms, while conveying all through the lovely local flavour of a clan in Jamaican society. Local colour; universal themes. Mr. Pitterson's love of humanity at large shines through. I hope he feels very proud of what he's accomplished!

All of Peter Bowen's books are a fast, furious, and a fun read, including Stewball. I love Gabriel's friends and family. I also love the focus on Metis and their culture, because I am familiar with it, and also with the geographic areas the stories tend to be set in. The characters are pretty much like real people seen though a sardonic eye, with a bit of poetic license thrown in. They are real enough to draw you into their concerns but exaggerated enough to make it fun. May the ink never dry in Mr. Bowen's pens.

We're back in another trip to the world of the Metis, who inhabit Montana and parts north, and have a culture uniquely their own - full of music, a love for the independent life, and a fractured grammar that makes backwards, everything. Peter Bowen has spent a lifetime telling the stories of Gabriel du Pres, cattle inspector, brilliant fiddle player, and solver of mysteries. Don't get the idea that Gabriel is a superman. He is carefully herded and guarded by his woman Madelaine, his daughters, madeliane's daughters, and Benetsee the shaman.

In Stewball, Gabriel sets out to find Auntie Pauline's latest boyfriend, and finds a corpse instead. Badger, Gabriel discovers, was doing the FBI a favor, and apparently ran into something bigger than he expected - big stakes horse racing and right wing militancy. Gabriel decides to get involved. Soon he and Booger Tom are the front men in a sting operation that seems to involve the FBI, the ATF, and any other law enforcement organization in the neighborhood.

As always, this story is more about the people than it is about the crime. Of everyone who appears though, the star of this story is Lourdes, Madelaine's oldest daughter, a natural horsewoman, and every bit as frightening as the other women in our hero's life, including Lourde's sister, Pallas, 10-year-old genius and evil spirit.

It is Lourdes' riding skills on Stewball that enable Gabriel and Tom to appear as wealthy horse racers so as to infiltrate the secret brush races and expose the doings of a closed circle of plotters. But men have died already, and the members of the club are wealthy enough to buy their way clean. The forces are evenly matched, but never count a determined Metis out of any fight.

For all its serious moments, Bowen tells this story with a very light touch and vivid characterization. I have come to love all the du Pres stories, but Stewball is special, full of all the things that makes this series entertaining. For all that this is the twelfth book in the series, you could easily start right here. Most likely you will go back and read them all.

I was as puzzled by this book's ending as I have been with all of Peter Bowen's endings since "Ash Child." I finished it, but I felt like I'd been dragged through a séance in the sweat lodge with the inscrutable Benetsee. Maybe the meaning of "Stewball"s conclusion will come to me in a dream.

At least the rich neo-nazi ranchers come out of this book nearly as whupped as the readers. Not that I think they don't deserve a good bashing, but I wasn't quite sure what the evil rancher intended to do with his vintage World War II P-38. He goes wooshing around in it at the end of the book, but he has no specific target that the readers need to worry about like an NAACP Convention or an American Civil Liberties Union picnic or a Navaho Tribal Council.

Nobody out on the prairie, Mr. Blackmore, except us chickens. We're all Aryan chickens so don't be pointing those cannons at us.

Oh well, I get the feeling the author wrote "Stewball" on automatic pilot. It consists mainly of non-expletive-deleted dialog between characters from his previous books. Luckily, Bowen provides an index of characters at the beginning of this book; otherwise new readers will never be able to figure out who's who.

Booger Tom, one of my favorite characters from previous novels in the Du Pré mystery series, gets lots of face time in "Stewball." He is pretending to be a race horse trainer. Bowen also clues us in on this old ranch hand's background: he earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for valor at Heartbreak Ridge in Korea, and also fought in France and Austria in WWII.

This old guy should be writing his memoirs, not mending barbwire and worming cows!

Anyway, Du Pré, the retired brand inspector and Booger Tom team up to race an Australian Quarter Horse named Stewball in brush races attended by neo-nazi ranchers. Du Pré's FBI buddy, Harvey Wallace asks them to discover who murdered one of his snitches, who was passing counterfeit money at a brush race. The snitch also happened to be married to one of Du Pré's aunts.

That's about all the plot there is. Benetsee holds a couple of séances in his sweat lodge and dons his war paint. Du Pré laces on his Cree running moccasins and rubs dirty engine oil on his face. He shoots a couple of bad guys with his MP-40, sets fire to a bunch of aviation fuel drums, and drinks a whole lot of bourbon.

Stewball wins a few races.

That's it, except for some long-winded, expletive-not-deleted lectures on the American far-right.

P.S. Mr. Bowen, if Stewball is a blue roan, he has a black mane and tail, not gray or white.

Gabriel Du Pre meets with his Aunt Pauline at the Toussaint Saloon. She tells him her latest husband Badger has gone missing for two weeks and that the FBI is somehow involved. She wants him to call his FBI friend to find out what happened to her spouse. Du Pre does exactly that and finds Badger was caught coming across the Canadian border with ten thousand valium tablets. Badger agreed to infiltrate a white supremacist and the charges against him will be greatly reduced.

There is heavy gambling at these races and the FBI supplied him with marked money that turned out to be counterfeit. The group killed Badger but the Feds still wants someone to infiltrate the urban theorist group. Du Pre has his granddaughter ride a horse in the races in the hopes that he will be accepted by the group and learn who the real leaders are. It is a dangerous situation but Du Pre has it under control until the leader escapes during an FBI raid. Du Pre is determined to be the one to find him no matter how long it takes.

Du Pre is a unique, independent and ageless protagonist who goes his own way and doesn't let anyone stop him from doing what he wants. It is lucky for law enforcement that he is on the side of Justice because he would make an untouchable crook. Peter Bowen does for Montana what Tony Hillerman does for New Mexico. Perhaps the most delightful character in this novel is STEWBALL, the horse that is in love with Du Pre's granddaughter Lourdes.

Harriet Klausner

The very title is a gentle pun: "storeys" rather than "stories", and it opens the door to another of Gene Wolfe's just slightly cockeyed universes. I usually read Wolfe's books with an unabridged dictionary nearby, and I am never annoyed at interrupting my reading in order to refer to it. As with all his books, reading him is a slow process, and yet that only makes me feel that I am getting more for my money.

His characters are real. While they are all characters in the other sense of the word, none seems unbelievable.

Read this book. And read "Free Live Free."

I am having a hard time trying to figure out what I should say in this reveiw. I think this mostly because these stories are so varied and all of them well written. I guess I'll just list my favorites: "Sightings at Twin Mounds"; "Westwind"; "Redbeard"; "Cherry Jubilee"; "Trip, Trap"; "Straw"; and "The Packerhaus Method".

This isn't a bad collection, but it isn't a great collection -- which means that, for Gene Wolfe, it's a lesser book. Shorter stories than is typical of Wolfe's other collections, well written but mostly lacking the punch of the stories in "The Island of Dr. Death" or "Strange Travellers." Entertaining, occasionally brilliant, very quirky, even funny in places: essential Wolfe for those to whom Wolfe is essential.

I should try to load this review down with penetrating insights into Mr. Wolfe's methods and modus, and his (to me, lofty) place in the post-modern literary world, but I get toungue (finger?) -tied and flounder and it comes off sounding lame. Suffice it to say that this short story collection is interesting in that it is comprised almost entirely of stories that were never published or published only with great difficulty. Not all, or even most, of these stories are science fiction (but then, what of Mr. Wolfe's work has ever been exclusivly SF? And who cares?) These tales form a diverse collection ranging from a various ghost stories, wide ranging fantasy pieces, a light meditation about life as seen from a train, and, as always (Mr. Wolfe's forte'), some very incisive comments on humans and why they do the weird things they do.

My own favorites are "The Sightings at the Twin Mounds," "The Death of the Island Doctor," "Redwood Coast Roamer," "A Solar Labyrinth," and "Redbeard."

If you've never read Wolfe, this is a good place to start. If you have read Wolfe and you don't have this book, then what the heck are you waiting for?

less than i expected from reviews on Amazon.. but she sees things in a lovely way and paints small poiintillist type portraits.

I agree with the other reviewers and hope you will too! These stories are so good I just want to share them with someone else who will appreciate them as much as I do.

Rarely is every story in a collection this good. Hadley's prose is keenly intelligent, her characters are flawed, raw, and vulnerable, and her voice is wonderful: wry and honest, sometimes punitive, always compelling. Truly a collection to savor - these stories will stay with you long after you finish reading them.

Tessa Hadley's Sunstroke is a marvelous collection of short stories. I can't tell you how many times I pick up a book of stories and just can't get through it for a variety of reasons. Sunstroke was the opposite. These stories are terrific, well-written, witty and thought-provoking. Perhaps the best thing I can say about them is that while reading them, I would come to the last few pages of a story and know, after reading a few, that Hadley had some sort of twist coming, something subtle but still surprising. These stories don't dissappoint. Highly recommended. Enjoy!

From the first page of chapter one, I was hooked. The action and suspense as well as the great characterization make this book hard to put down. Sometimes I wanted to shake the impulsive, often scatterbrained, but intelligent and gutsy heroine, Natasha Greene, but I couldn't help pulling for her as she risked her life in her loyalty to others. Other characters I thoroughly enjoyed were her teenage neighbor, David, her friend Trevor, and the faithful dog, Hero.

This book is the spirit of America, the many heroes both big and small that would and do give their lives for their country - be they our fighting troops overseas, fireman tearing though rubble in hopes of rescuing others, or small town people willing to give up their lives for what they believe in. Natasha Greene is who we all hope we would have the courage to be. But she's not a Saint; she's real - often ditzy, forever fueling her body with good ole American junk food, and loyal to a fault to her friends. The action is non-stop through 331 pages, with numerous stops and pitfalls, some stupidly caused by the heroes, some happening just as we would expect from terrorists in our own backyard. May our Home Defense never be put to this test. A real book with laughs and tears; one no one who loves their country should miss.

This book kept me hooked from beginning to end. I had trouble putting it down! With it's mix of romance and suspense I recommend this book for any adult looking for a real good edge of your seat read!

I like this book cuase it's plain and simple giving me just the facts without getting it too stale, also it has beautiful illustrations and easy to read maps and charts in the whole defently a worthwhile book to have for any medieval lover

This is an attractive and interesting summary of the middle ages. But it has very few maps and those it has are not very detailed. Not really a serious atlas.

This atlas of the middle ages provides a rich timeline of information organized with color illustrations and sections which pack in dates, events, and cultural observation. From the Crusades and Feudalism to the collapse of the Papacy in the 14th century and the rise of modern Europe, Angus Konstam's Atlas of Medieval Europe provides essential at-a-glance details for all ages.

Interesting and nostalgic. I love to look at cookbooks and found this book worth keeping. Good idea to preserve recipes from across our country. I appreciate the number of cookbooks it took to make the selections.

I bought this as a gift, but on looking at the recipes before wrapping it, I ended up copying numerous recipes myself. The Glazed Fresh Apple Cookies are outrageously yummy! Also, most recipes don't require many ingredients, and most cooks have the ingredients right on their shelves already.

One of the best books of recipes from local cooks using local ingredients. Easy to follow and accurate.