California Books

P.S. From before - I am eleven and found this book great! It also had some hard terms. No way is this a book for 4-8 year olds! More like 6-13 year olds! :)

I read this book really fast because it was so good - you know like when you can't put it down? well, it was that good. it helped me a lot on my non-fiction summer reading. i also liked how there was a story you could relate to about saving sea lions and putting them into a rescue program. Sea Lion had great pictures and I really got a great amount of information from this book. I mean, who knew there were only 5 types of Sea Lions and only 35 species in the Pinnipedia family (the family sea lions belong to)??? Well, now you know and I know! YAY!!! Anyway, who knew that there were eared and earless seals??? And that the female only has one pup each birth??? Well, now you know some more!!! So click the mouse and buy this book and you can find out a little bit more about these great animals. I LOVE SEA LIONS!!! :) LOL

I liked this book a lot. It had good pictures, pretty easy terms, and really cool fun facts about sea lions. Plus, in the beginning it started out with a little story about rescuing sea lions at the Marine Mammal Orginization. It was a great book. I think everyone should buy this book. You should too! I loved this book. My sister read it for 6th grade summer reading and it was a great report. :)

I really liked this book. The pictures were great and the information really helped me on my 6th grade summer reading report. I highly reccommend this book!

As often is the case with general volumes of poetry, or books available in many editions, a good reveiw necessarily consists of two parts: first a review of the original material, and then a review of the specific edition.

For the original material, Verlaine is an amazing poet. He represents possibly the first and greatest lyrical poet to be initiated into modernity. His lyricism is not baroque, whimsical, or decadent - it is haunted and beautifull. It is like the music of Chopin (as it could be said that Rimbaud's is closer to that of Liszt). He represents a unique tract among the many poetic styles gestating in a Paris newly thrust into what we call modernity. There was the cynical and disolute Baudelaire, the ribald and frenzied Rimbaud, and then the melancholy and lyrical Verlaine. These three writers could easily be seen as a trifecta of greatness: they together represent the principal moods that have dominated literature to follow in their tracks.

The editions of a poets works, however, should certainly be considered independent of the poems themselves. Translation and selection of poems from such a broad body of work is both highly prejudicial, and (perhaps as a result) also creates a unique beauty in each seperate edition.

This edition, though, is a stand out among others available. First, because it probably is the largest English collection of Verlaines work (170 poems or so) and second because it's assembly, tranlations, and annotation reveal a very profound thoughtfullness on the part of the translator and editor, Martin Sorrell.

Most selections of Verlaines work are contrite and myopic, pick only certain early poems which have been translated and anthologized ad nauseum with no greater depth than that of a poem-a-day desk calendar or the litterary equivalent of easy listening music. In contrast, Sorrell's presentation is symphonic. The poems he has selected are true to the life of the poet - complete with ragged edges and blissfull moments.

How could one appreciate Verlaine's true genius if he is only shown in an artificial, sacrine, sanatized way? Sorrell boldly includes a large amount of poems from Verlaine's later work, largely disparaged by other critics, and provides very thoughtfull annotations about the inspirations, impacts, and ultimate relevance of each poem.

In this way Sorrell has created a very thoughtfull meditation on the life and work of Verlaine, and shares it with his audience so even a layman can appreciate it.

There is also a parallel French Text, which I find indespensible. Although not all of the translations are done the same way I would, diversity is what makes literature beautifull, and I am very interested to see the relationship between Sorrell's scholarship of Verlaine's life and the way in which he translates Verlaine's verses. This is a valuable tool not found if you were to simply read a French edition of Verlaine's poems or preuse an anthology.

In the end, this book is a excellent illustration of why translations and collections can be usefull even to people who have already read Verlaine in French.

[...] At any rate, for those who are not familiar with the movement, I would suggest reading, in this order: Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine and Mallarme, as that is the sequence in which they came to the fore of French Lit (though you could make the case that Veralaine and Rimbaud were contemporaneous, I would suggest that Verlaine's most important work came after his interchange with Rimbaud). Since these are the most influential French poets of the modern era, and had an impact on every modern "movement" that occured in literature thereafter, you can not go wrong with any of them. There are those who contend that poetry especially is lost in translation. I would agree, yet all these poets are represented by "facing" texts these days. The original text is mirrored by the translation on the opposite page. Oxford and Penguin both are good choices. The translators are uniformally well-educated and erudite, the printing is excellent and the overall scholarhip, including introductions, is top-notch. You can't go wrong with these editions.

Verlaine is perhaps my favourite poet--many of his poems are exceptionally beautiful, salacious even. However he wrote prolifically, and as is often the case with prolific artists, his work is of uneven quality. Nevertheless, at his best, Paul Verlaine's poetry is among the most remarkable that I've ever read. I highly recommend this collection.

'The reader seems to have some disaster of far vaster import than he can fathom. That is the mysterious effect of Mallarme's poetry. One gets a strange emotional effect past analysis'. So declares translator C.F. MacIntyre of a typically impenetrable Mallarme sonnet. Unfortunately, it's an effect the non-French reader will never experience. In translation, somebody like Robert Frost once said, what is lost is the poetry, and no other writer exemplifies this truism more clearly than Mallarme. Most translations will at least yield some sort of broad narrative or imagistic or intellectual sense. Mallarme's self-contained, bookish, exquisitely artificial poetry (Borges was a fan) exists on a plane beyond sense. It is an intensely intricate agglomeration of sounds, forms, distorted grammar, codes and riddles whose 'meaning' is not literal. Mallarme is usually compared to a costumier, jeweller or musician, such is this artisan's devotion to the poem as crafted object. The only real way to translate Mallarme is not to find literal English equivalents for his words as printed, but to find new word-constructions with sounds and resonances that transmute the originals' spirit, rather than sense. But if the translator had that kind of gift, s/he wouldn't be wasting it on Mallarme translations. Despite MacIntyre's best efforts, then, literal Mallarme in English sounds like the worst kind of sub-decadent pot-pourri, like the imitations of French Symbolism Oscar Wilde churned out in his youth. [...]This does not mean the volume is useless. French students struggling with the originals can use the translations as a kind of grammatical glossary, and will find MacIntyre's synopses and explanatory notes, with background and critical infomration, helpful, if dated. The casual reader, however, will find much to enjoy. After a few poems (including the famous 'Herodiade' and 'L'apres-mide d'un faune'), I gave up struggling with Mallarme, and gave into the pleasures of MacIntyre's annotations. A real-life Charles Kinbote, he doesn't even seem to like Mallarme very much: one poem 'is built up of so much nothing, like a fragile pastry of whipped cream. It is artful in the worst sense of the word... He should have had a stern editor! (As I have)'; 'Line 4 is particularly good, [a critic] insists, because it suppresses the classic caesura! I don't think many readers would suffer if the whole sonnet had been suppressed'. He refers to Mallarme's art as a 'dead end', execrates 'his miserably bungled up French', and cheerfully admits that he doesn't really understand the poems! So what qualified him to translate them?! A delectable egotism blows through the pages, from its overheated, homoerotic dedication, and the unwarranted, though very welcome, detours into autobiography and war memories, to the Olympian sneers at previous commentators. Published in sexually unliberated 1957, MacIntyre is forced to euphemise Mallarme's detailed and relentless erotics, which leads to some splendid tongue-twisting; the frequent suspicion that MacIntyre himself misses the point of a poem like 'What silk...' ('the mouth will not be sure/in its bite of finding savor,/unless he, your princely lover,/breathe out, diamond-like, in your/considerable tuft the cry/of Glories stifled as they die'), which he says is about a woman brushing her hair at the mirror (!), is quashed by his mocking one persistently misreading critic: 'Really now. I wish I still had Herr Wais's niaive innocence. I really do'. Barmy, endearing and delightful.

Dennis Powers is a great story teller! And "Sentinel of the Seas" is another great example! OK, I could be biased, Dennis is a dear friend of mine. But it also gives me insight into how he can weave such a good story. Dennis is one of those people you just like talking to and I think that comes out in his books. It is also how he gets people to tell him interesting things while he is doing the research. In "Sentinel of the Seas" he captures what it must be like to live in this remote lighthouse. A really fun read!

I loved this book! Dennis Powers's "Sentinel of the Seas..." is thoroughly captivating. Each chapter is filled with fascinating descriptions of the men---and there were heroic women too---who risked everything in order to secure the west coast. There are tales of immigrants who could only find work that no one else wanted, so those men took brutally hard jobs. Powers ties together the social, economic, and political scenes to portray life at a time when if a man was out of a job for whatever reason, he was simply out of luck.
Before the Oregon Territory was settled, a few hardy pioneers ventured west via wagon train, but that kind of travel was inefficient. It took months and it was full of hardships and hazards. There were no railroads or other methods of transporting goods to the developing west coast, so ships were essential to transport men and materials. And the stormy, rock-strewn Oregon coast caused too many ships to go down; that was expensive in terms of lost lives and lost fortunes as well. So the lighthouses were essential. But imagine building one amidst the raging, murderous sea with thunderous tides that could--and did--carry off men along with tons of desperatly needed goods.
This book is is a thriller.

Really enjoyed this book, Keeps you interested and the tale of building St. George Lighthouse is amazing. A harrowing tale of perseverance for ten years in all kinds of weather.
Also included is Lighthouse keepers at other lighthouses and a chaper on Women Lighhouse keepers. Mr Powers really does his homework when he writes his books and I have enjoyed working with him on three of his books at the Del Norte Conty Historical Society Museum in Crescent City California where three of his books have their roots.
Sandra Nuss
Researcher, Del Norte Co. Historical Society

Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (5/07)

"Sentinel of the Seas" reads like a novel. Dennis Powers has written another classic masterpiece which chronicles man battling the sea. As in his earlier works "Treasure Ship" and "The Raging Sea," Powers has thoroughly researched his work. He spent five years in preparation, searching archives, original journals, dairies, ship logs, Lighthouse Board Reports, and doing personal interviews of survivors, and their families. The lighthouse was built on St. George Reef which is one of the most hazardous reefs off the West Coast.

Powers recounts the history, engineering and construction of the lighthouse. He also explains the various lighting and sound warning devices used over the history of the lighthouse. Powers masterfully weaves into the record heroic stories of the men and women who designed, built, and maintained the St. George Reef Lighthouse from it's completion in 1892 until it's abandonment in 1975, and renewal in 2002.

"Sentinel of the Seas" heralds the career of Alexander Ballantyne, who supervised the project, as well as the careers of George Roux, and Fred Permenter the lighthouse keepers. Powers details the work of the "wickies," lighthouse life, the history and the development of other U. S. lighthouses. He shows a deep appreciation for the courage the lighthouse keepers demonstrated in the midst of crashing waves, tumultuous storms, and hurricane force winds which they faced on a recurring basis.

Turnover among the personal was significant. Powers explained it this way: "This station was one of the least sought-after assignments in the service. Potential wickies had already heard what duty would be like on Dragon Rocks. It had earned its reputation." I personally enjoyed the insight into the contrast between routine work and boredom of the assignment with hazardous way of life of the lighthouse keepers. Powers uses descriptive phrases that made me feel "the enveloping curtains of cold mists" or hear the "barks of the seals, cries of the seagulls, and the crashing surf."

This is great adventure reading, brilliantly written. I highly recommend "Sentinel of the Seas" to everyone who loves epic adventure stories of the adventure of the sea, shipwreck, and nautical history.

I found this to be a truly absorbing and comprehensive study not just of Shakespeare, but of English metrical practice on the whole. Wright sets Shakespeare's work in the larger context of English verse practice, and then explores the ways in which Shakespeare worked within and challenged the tradition he inherited. I have read several studies on prosody and have often been amused at how dull some scholars can make poetry. Wright is clear and incisive and helps us feel the language with greater sensitivity. For anyone interested, not just in Shakespeare, but in poetry in general I highly recommend this work.

I remember perfunctory discussions of Iambic Pentameter in High School. None of the artistry or intent was explained and afterward I would struggle to write blank verse. An entire generation (the baby-boomers) has grown up in the free-verse movement their elders established -- and sometimes dogmatically so.

I realize now that they themselves didn't understand the verse form they were ostensibly teaching.

The result has been decades of poets who have little understanding of verse forms and who have, at times, been flatly hostile toward anything other than free verse. In my late twenties, however, I discovered "Shakespeare's Metrical Art" by George Wright; and because of this book, I taught myself how to write iambic pentameter. The subtlety, the beauty and artistry of blank verse made sense.

Wright's book is both a book about Shakespeare and a thorough textbook on the art of blank verse. If you want to understand this 'lost' art form, start here. I wish there were some way I could personally thank Wright (and I have tried from time to time to contact him without success).

So, Mr. Wright, if you ever read these reviews - I thank you... I am in your debt.

Patrick Gillespie
Author of "Opening Book"

George T. Wright's "Shakespeare's Metrical Art" is an introduction not only to the art of Iambic Pentameter as Shakespeare practiced it but also a starting point to an understanding the art of Iambic Pentameter itself. Mr. Wright argues that in Shakespeare the Iambic Pentameter meter found its greatest and most flexible practitioner. In appreciating the beauty of Shakespeare's artistry we also come to appreciate the intrinsic artistry and beaty of the meter. Mr. Wright's journey begins with Chaucer and Wyatt, the former being the earliest practitioner of the Iambic Pentameter line and also the greatest until Shakespeare. His reading of Chaucer's lines, as most often Iambic Pentameter, sometimes runs counter to accepted wisdom, yet, as with his conception of the meter itself, his argument is well-reasoned and convincing. More contraversial is his treatment of Wyatt's often inconsistent use of meter. Yet, here again, Wright offers the reader a plausible framework into which Wyatt's poetry becomes another expression of the meter's vitality and flexibility. From the further disintegration of the meter after Wyatt, Wright begins his treatment of Shakespeare's metrical art. Every facet of Shakespeare's flexible and imaginative use of the meter (his diversions from its strict course) is methodically examined and considered for its possible influence upon the meaning of the text. These diversions include Shakespeare's use of long and short lines, syllabic ambiguity, lines with extra syllables, lines with omitted syllables, trochees, false trochees and other such variations as are possible within the iambic pentameter meter. Wright rounds off the book with an all too short consideratiom of the meters use after Shakespeare -- including the writers Donne, Milton, and in passing twentieth writers Frost, Stevens, and Eliot. With Mr. Wright's contention that the Iambic Pentameter meter reached its zenith at Shakespeare's hands, his argument comes to the inevitable conclusion that Shakespeare's skill is one which later generations may echo, rarely equal, but never exceed. This is a book both for the lover of Shakespeare and the reader of poetry who wishes to better understand the art of one of the english language's greatest trimphs.

This is more than a history of iambic pentameter and a brilliant analysis of its use in the hands of its greatest practitioner, it should probably also be read as the best general introduction to prosody available. Truly general introductions may touch on more forms and offer a more complete view of English poetic history, but none out there (that I've seen, at least) are as perceptive as Wright and none of them, perhaps because of their general natures, elucidate so fully the possibilities of expressive variation and mimetic form in poetry the way Wright does in such minute detail. Chapters like "Lines with extra syllables," or "Lines with omitted syllables," or "Play of phrase and line" may at first glance promise only dry reading, and it's probably hard to believe that a 300-page book on iambic pentameter could be one of the best works of literary criticism you could ever read. But this is an analysis of at least half of what poetry is all about and, more importantly, the half most rarely talked about (most college professors don't even know how to). Digest this rich and beautifully written book with a handful of Shakespeare's plays (you won't be able to stay away from them after reading it anyway) and you'll be ready to tackle and analyze most any other poet with relative confidence for yourself.

To describe "Short Bike Rides in and around San Francisco" as a cycling book does it injustice. Sure, it succeeds in describing ways around and out of San Francisco, but does so much more. Even for someone who's never been on two wheels, the descriptions of the neighborhoods, their attractions and history, is worth the investment. I strongly recommend it, the best cycling guide book of its type I've read.

The one weakness is a lack of an index. You might read an excellent review, for example, of a burrito shop, but recalling on which ride that review occurred may turn into a serial search operation. Nevertheless, it still ranks as a 5-star on this rating scale. Virtually a must-read for all cyclists in SF.

San Francisco is a very "livable" city, especially without a car to worry or pay for. "Short Bike Rides..." suggests two dozen fun routes in and around the city that allow you to make the most of living here without a car. From the fastest way to get across town, to a wonderful rides in Marin and the East Bay I have ridden nearly all of these rides, and enjoyed them immensely. Not only are the directions and maps clear, but Kingman's comments are often very entertaining. There is also a handy supplement in the back listing public transportation contacts for taking your bike on BART, CalTrain etc.. Absolutely essential for any SF cyclist - commuter, weekend warrior, out of towner, tourist entertainer. And for less than $10 I have used this book 10x as much as any of the other rides books I have.

One note: I would assume Kingman is one hell of climber, since he does tend to downplay the physical effort required to climb the "hilly terrain" of some the rides.

This is my favorite bike rides book. It's an excellent read and lets you see the best of the city.

Not only is Henry Kingman's book a great way for visitors to explore San Francisco by bicycle, it is also a handy reference guide for local cyclists looking for new or better routes. Every S.F. cyclist should have a copy.

I'm Craig's little brother, but I was surfing Amazon and didn't even know he had a book out until I saw it here! So I ordered it.
I like to cook, but I was very intimidated by trying my famous chef brother's recipes. I have to say, the way the book is presented that making these dishes is very easy to understand, you just have to be willing to search out a few uncommon ingredients, and be willing to buy a few items for cooking that you might not have had before. But if you are passionate about food and don't mind some extra effort, it is really worth buying this book and trying these supremely delicious recipes!

You might think it's biased of me to write a good review, but seriously, one taste of Craig's creations and you'll realize that relation has nothing to do with it. ;)

Although I may be somewhat biased in my opinion (Craig is my brother), I am unbelievably impressed with Craig's culinary skills. I have personally been to Sierra Mar and tasted many of Craig's creations. My brother was somewhat skeptical of my opinions because I used to be an extremely picky eater growing up, so I hope he's been surprised by my lack of fear in trying new foods.

If you have never been to Sierra Mar and tasted the fine cuisine invented by Craig, you are truly missing out on a culinary adventure you will savor for years.

Way to go Craig!

Love,

Your Little Sister Suzanne

This cookbook is a valuable addition to the library of those who have a greater-than-average interest in the preparation of fine gourmet cuisine. The recipes are well-described and keyed to seasonal ingredients. The photographs are beautiful, and illustrate artistic presentations. The preparations are interesting, creative and delicious without going way over the top.

I would warn potential purchasers that this is not really a cookbook for the casual home cook. You should ask yourself the following questions:

Do you enjoy spending an entire day in the kitchen preparing dinner?
Does your list of kitchen equipment include a mandoline, a chinois, and a juice extractor?
Do you know where to purchase ingredients such as grade-A foie gras, diver's scallops, guinea hen, ramps, or baby chioggia beets?

If the answer to any of those questions is "no", then this book will probably spend more time on your coffee table than in your kitchen.

I think a lot of books of this sort are written by chefs who prepare their dishes in restaurants with an army of sous chefs, line cooks, dishwashers, and the necessity of feeding a crowd of customers each evening. Moving the techniques to the home setting where you are preparing dinner for your family and maybe a few guests requires a process of translation that leads to error-prone and incomplete recipes. This cookbook has been well thought out and edited, and avoids the problems that others have found with "gourmet chef" cookbooks. All recipes are calibrated to serve 6 in a format of a multi-course "tasting menu" dinner. That means the portions are each relatively small, and designed to be individually plated. Each course has well-thought-out wine recommendations for those who like to pair indiviudal courses with wines. Definitely not Tuesday night dinner.

I have looked over the recipes, and personally prepared the "Smoked Salmon-Wrapped Day Boat Scallops with Quail Egg, Fennel Emulsion, and Salmon Roe". It worked very well, with no missing ingredients, steps, or poorly-thought out proportions.

I think this book was well worth the price. As Jaques Pepin likes to say -- "Happy Cooking!"

"You can learn so much about food just by listening to people from different cultural backgrounds talk about their food memories...what you hear is about the soul of their food, not its science." ~ Chef Craig von Foester

The Sierra Mar Cookbook features recipes from the #1 Hotel Restaurant in California. The ever-changing menu features a fusion of French, Mediterranean and Asian culinary influences. The pictures alone produce a sense of awe and are beyond inspirational.

The unique style of this cookbook displays six intriguing menu options that represent six evenings at Sierra Mar:

Local Farmers Markets & Perfect Timing
Monterey Bay Salmon, Taste Memory & Total Utilization
Tomatoes, Terroir & the Artistry They Inspire
Preserves, Marmalades & Capturing Flavors that Sustain Us
Black Truffles, Shellfish & Pondering the Soul of Food
Slow Braising of Flavors & Big Sur Chanterelles, a Rustic Spirit of Taste

It seems rare for a cookbook to have the variety of stunning scenic pictures and it leaves you longing to visit this restaurant. A slopping field of flowers melts into a perfectly pink sunset in one picture and in another waves dash against the rocks.

Recipes that looked especially tempting include:

Salad of Grilled Black Mission Figs, Bitter Greens and Bleu de Haut Jura Cheese with a Port Reduction

Pancetta-Wrapped Sika Venison Loin with Pistachio Puree, Huckleberry Sauce and Pumpkin Dumplings

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage-Pecan Brown Butter

Composed Main Lobster Salad with Satsuma Mandarins, Hearts of Palm and Basil Oil
(the colors are gorgeous and look very tropical)

Grilled Rib-Eye Steak with Crispy Potato Cake and Oyster Mushroom Cambazola Compote

Ceylon Tea - Glazed Salmon with Hoisin-Braised Bacon and Pea Tendril Salad

Throughout the book there are step-by-step technique pictures with descriptions so you can learn how to slice potato gaufrettes. A section of "basic recipes" introduces you to Brioche, Pate Brissee, Champagne Vinaigrette, Fig Jam, Red Wine Syrup and Fines Herbes.

If you are looking to impress someone with recipes that will create an intoxicating culinary experience, I can't think of any cookbook that compares to this one! The pictures are stunning and the flavors are complex and have comforting seasonal appeal.

100 Stars!

~The Rebecca Review
Author of Seasoned with Love: A collection of
best-loved recipes inspired by over 40 cultures

I thought this book was stupid, but i've read it twice. Sofia manages to capture Antonio's heart and also his best friends. I won't tell you the ending, but it was sad and happy at the same time. I liked it but as i said it was kinda dumb.

This book was ok but not as good as some of the other American Dreams. It was pretty good though. It is about Sofia, a Spanish-Californian girl living in the 1840s.

HIS BOOK WAS REALLY GOOD AND GOT ME INTO IT. THE TRAGEDY OF HER FATHER DIEING AND LOSING HER MONEY TO HER FATHERS LIEING BUSINESS PARTNER AND HER DICISION TO SEPERATE HERSELF FROM THE ONE MAN SHE REALLY LOVES IS SO TOUCHING SO TRUE SO LIFELIKE. THEN THE JOYS OF STARTING HER OWN SCHOOL ANDTHE RODEO AND FINALLY MEETING UP WITH HER LOVER . THIS WAS AN EXCUISITE BOOK AND I HOPE ALL OF YOU WILL TAKE THE TIME TO READ IT.

I have read other books in the American Dreams collection, but this would have to be one of my favorites. Sofia DuFay is in love with a man that loves her back, but do to his snobby family, she knows there love wasnt meant to be. So she decides to forget him, but through time she realizes she cant. Do to an unforuantate(sp??) tragedy, she is left broke and decides to start a new life. All the time she still thinks of the young man and there forbidden romance. I dont want to tell the ending, so I will keep quiet, BUT THIS BOOK IS ONE YOU CANT PUT DOWN!!!

I am a new science teacher. I have found this book to be a necessity in my classroom. In talking with veteran teachers, they also see this book as vital to any biology teacher. It is easy to use and provides many innovative ideas.

This is one of three essential source books that includes A Sourcebook for Elementary Science and Geology and Earth Sciences Sourcebook (out of print). Professionals in business, science, engineering, agriculture and K-12 & university education keep these sourcebooks close at hand. These are the "how to" methods of science. You are cost-effective by efficient use of equipment, glassware, reagents and specimens. I regularly give the Sourcebook for the Biological Sciences as a gift to those I work with.

After majoring in biology decades ago, there are only two books that I did not sell. This is one of them. It is truly a "keeper". As a science teacher, I continue to find it useful every year.

The wealth of information encompasses such diverse topics as the solving of biological problems using the chi-square, the making of stock solutions (for example, Lugol's solution), examinations of onion cells, the testing for Vitamin C content, field classification of conifers, and the culturing of live animals in the lab or classroom. The latter include earthworms, daphnia, hydra, Drosophila, and brine shrimp.

A great resource for science methods and information.

This book provides descriptions of all the parks in the area it covers, with maps that show nearly all hiking trails and advice on when is the best time of year for each. I wish the equivalent books for other parts of the bay area were this complete.

For over a year this book has been my bible for selecting hikes in the south bay area. The authors' trail descriptions are vivid, and their routes are planned well. I have two major grievances: first, their loquacious style can make it hard to determine exactly what turns you're supposed to take and when. Secondly, finding a hike is too cumbersome: you go to page 18 to search the map for the park you want, then back to the table of contents to find the page number for the park, then forward to the actual content. The map should be in the very front or back of the book and should include page numbers. Despite those annoyances, I still bring this book with me every weekend, and can recommend it as a good guide.

This is a wonderful book that goes into great deatil about the many trails in and around the South Bay. It breaks down the area by specific parks and then suggested hikes, including mileage, elevation loss or gain, and time. It even has a neat little appendix outlining hikes by category (ie., short hikes, hikes to see spring flowers, etc.) The text is detailed, explaining what you will find around every bend, and the historical information on the parks is very interesting. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to get out and away from the hustle and bustle of Silicon Valley.

I just replaced my battered copy of the first edition with the latest, third one, and it's a real winner! These authors' books are always educational, interesting and complete. And best of all they lead one into many fine hiking adventures around the bay. I've spent many a fine summer day following their instructions. It's about time they put out a new edition, because of all the new parks and trails they had to cover. Recommended!

Carey McWilliams has been called "the single finest nonfiction writer on California--ever." This book, along with *California: The Great Exception* (1949), helped establish that reputation. Drawing on McWilliams's deep insight and remarkable versatility--he moved easily between the worlds of politics, law, literature, and journalism--this book, even after six decades, still captures the spirit and energy of a region that seems to remake itself continuously. *Southern California* has influenced not only journalists and academics, but also artists. One of its chapters, for example, inspired Robert Towne's Oscar-winning original screenplay for *Chinatown* (1974).

Unlike most historians, McWilliams also made history by serving in state government, arguing against the Japanese internment during World War II, and defending the rights of workers, minorities, and the unjustly accused--frequently in high-profile cases such as the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial and the Hollywood 10. In one critical area after another, McWilliams mapped the social and political territory, raised the main issues, distilled the key facts, and proposed the most practical remedies. He's probably the most versatile American public intellectual of the 20th century, and *Southern California* is one of his masterpieces. Highly recommended.

Originally published in 1946, McWilliams describes the socio-historical and economic formations of Southern California from the "bottom up" in a way uncharacteristic for his time period. He unveils the racist, eurocentric, environmentally devastating, materialistic and otherwise ruthless basis for the area's hegemonic culture, economy, and social relations. Moreover, he adds great insight into the incorporation of California into the world capitalist system. He covers the use, abuse, and devastation of various peoples in the area including Native Americans, Californios, Chinese, Japanese, Oklahomans and Mexicans. He also offers insight into the materialism or 'fake' culture which has emerged from the area only to exploit the cultures it has destroyed. The book is a bit long winded at times, but overall is a must read for anyone intersted in the topics I've described. It would be of interest to anyone who appreciates Almaguer's Racial Faultlines, Pitt's The Californios, or even Montejano's Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas.

For all residents of Southern California past, present, or potential, there can be no better book about this unmatchable part of the world. Past residents (like myself) will sigh with fond remembrance, current residents will be amused, and potential future residents will be astonished. All will be entertained. The land, the geography, the history, and the weather. They're all discussed. The social outcasts, the wierd misfits, the kooks, the characters, and their schemes and dreams. It's all here, along with so very much more. Written by a longtime resident in a very entertaining style that combines dinner conversation with classroom lecture, this book will be a joy to anyone who has a love for the irreplacable experience of Living In Southern California. You will truly FEEL as though you are there. This book is one for the heart as well as the mind. Oh Los Angeles, how I miss you. Carey McWilliams, thanks for taking me back.

....California historian known to me, with his pithy style, his endlessly fascinating observations, and his anecdotes, rich in history and amusing in detail, which unlike the rivers of my state flow one after the other without any damming. I'm a native of Southern California, and I have yet to find a better book on this territory even though this one was originally penned in the late 40's.

The colonizers, the boosters, the flamboyant pillars of society who bamboozled, bulldozed, and boutiqued their way into California: they and other characters appear on the McWilliams stage in a fascinating--and at times disturbing--progression in which the land itself, that most neglected of characters, puts in appearances too. For we Southern Californians live in a land of constant paradoxes; to quote the author ("The Land of Upside Down"):

"To their amazement"--he means tourists--"they discovered that umbrellas were useless against the drenching rains of Southern California but that they made good shade in the summer; that many of the beautifully colored flowers had no scent; that fruit ripened earlier in the northern than in the southern part of the state; that it was hot in the morning and cool at noon...here, in this paradoxical land, rats lived in the trees and squirrels had their homes in the ground." No wonder we're all a bit topsy-turvy out here.

My one objection: I disagree with the author's description of the early Missions as "concentration camps." That through disease and, later, a mis-education that left the Native converts vulnerable to ranchero exploitation and settler genocide is beyond question; but however misguided their efforts, those early padres had no conscious agenda of wiping out a people. Nevertheless, McWilliams's detailed accounts of Mission life provide a much-needed antidote to the idealization and denial and Eurocentric bias that saturate most Mission histories.

If you want to know Southern California better, then of course you must stand on her soil and listen to her voices; but you could do much worse for an intro-at-a-distance than this fine book, which fellow natives will find confirming and eye-opening.