Montana Books

James Lee Burke is one of my favorite authors. His work is good and easy read. However, this book was not easy for me to relate to as I am not from the south, nor do I have experience with some of the lingua that was used. This did not detract me from the story which was excellent!

James Lee Burke, who is almost a neighbour (I live across the state line of the Bitterroots, in Wallace, Idaho) just gets it. He writes sentences you want to shout aloud, and draws a description you can just step right in to. This is a man who loves words and does not use them unnecessarily. Bitterroot puts the Neo-Nazi (Neocon?) cancer in a clear perspective, but the battle is not about guns. It's about souls. One minor technical point: in Wallace, we had 4 whorehouses, not just the one.

This is a first read of James Lee Burke for me in Bitterroot! It is a very powerful book told mostly in the 1st person. The characters were well drawn, I could envision them all. His bad guys were never to be forgotten and you want them gone!!!

I will certainly read some more of this books. His English is intelligent and usage is even and succinct. Wonderful read. This book makes you think! I put him right up there with my favorite authors: Dennis Lehane and Robert Crais.

I enjoy James Lee Burke. I suppose I'm a bigger fan of the Robicheaux series than BB Holland, but I'll take it. He always tells a good tale, and always with his capturing, flowing style. Sometimes he gets his characters into situations that I don't like...when Maisy goes off on her dangerous night out in the biker bar...I read quickly through that section fully expecting the author to have it end badly for her...but wait, well...read it. JLB and I are roughly the same age, so with any luck when he can no longer see to write I won't be able to see to read, and I would consider that good timing. Many more James, please.

"Bitterroot" by James Lee Burke, is another in his Billy Bob Holland series: Billy Bob being a former Texas Ranger, currently an accredited Texas attorney. After a few Texas adventures/misadventures in earlier Burke books, Billy Bob hereby begins his part of the year relocation to Montana, as did his creator. Mind you, a reader can't easily distinguish between Billy Bob, and Dave Robichaux, Burke's New Orleans detective. Only difference I see is that Billy Bob is more accepting of the supernatural. Furthermore, as a rule, I prefer the Robichaux books. Burke is a New Orleans man, and his language in describing his native turf, is frequently superb, deeply-felt. Descriptions in the Texas and Montana books, while very good, just don't rise to that level.

At any rate, Billy Bob goes to Montana to help out his old friend "Doc" Voss, who's getting himself into trouble. Of course, Billy Bob being the man he is, he helps Doc get himself into deeper trouble. Add to the stew Wyatt Dixon, just released from jail in Texas, and Montana-bound: he's got some issues with Billy Bob. Then there are some mafia types, some bikers, some environmental nutters, some pedophiles, a downbeat sheriff, an Indian or two, Billy Bob's short-term love interest. A gold mining company dumping cyanide into a river. Billy Bob's illegitimate son and private investigator, up from Texas. A famous, alcoholic writer, and his famous, beautiful, cocaine-sniffing actress wife. Also some feds, still looking for instigators of the Oklahoma City bombing of the federal Alfred P. Murrah building, and some of the militias at which the feds are looking.

Can't forget L.Q. Navarro, Billy Bob's former Texas Ranger partner, whom he accidentally gunned down while the two of them were having fun killing drug dealers in Mexico, leaving playing cards in their mouths. For a dead guy, L.Q. sure has a lot to say. So it's quite a stew, some of the ingredients being readily recognizable to regular readers of Burke; some of the ingredients being readily recognizable cliches of the genre.

Still, Burke's writing is brawny. He gives this line to Cleo Lonnegan, short-term love interest: "Pacifists in Montana get about the same respect as vegetarians and gay rights advocates." He describes the atmosphere of the state: "Montana was filled with ghosts. Those of Indians massacred on the Marias River, wagoners who died of cholera and typhus on their way to Oregon, the wandering spirits of Custer and the soldiers of the Seventh Cavalry, whose bodies were sawed apart with stone knives and left on the banks of what the Sioux and Northern Cheyenne called the Greasy Grass."

Finally, despite all the criticisms of the book that I've just leveled, Burke is able to build to a strong emotional climax. And his sucker punch knocked me out.

Everything you could want in a romance novel - two very likable leading characters with plenty of steamy chemistry between them, a couple of interesting sidekicks, a villain or two, and a great story with plenty of action. A keeper!

A WONDERFUL book that left me wanting more. In fact, when I got to the end of the book, I could have read a few more pages and was rather sad that the book had ended. This one DEFINATELY needs a sequel! For example...I'd like to find out more about Hunter and Victoria. I won't go into details but I'd like to read what happens to them. And Lucas' half-brothers have yet to meet Taylor and their "kids". And there is John Caulder...does he ever meet up with Lucas again? He still has issues with Lucas that have yet to be resolved.

The story didn't leave me hanging, since Taylor got her dream and so did Lucas, it just left me wanting more. I fell in love with the town of Redemption and a few of the characters, like Rolly and Frank. I'd like to read more about them as well. Especially Rolly.

In my opinion, PRINCE CHARMING is one of her best books.

I loved it from the start, and it remains one of my favorite JG stories. I re-read it so many times that I did in fact have to buy a second copy to replace my dog-eared first copy. I love the move from England to America - it's like an epic and neatly connects Garwood's Regency stores from her Western ones. The heroine, Taylor, is pretty and feminine, yet strong and feisty (I love the scene in the gun shop)! The hero definitely lives up to the title of the story, and the love story is sweet and heartwarming. Classic Garwood - so good!

Overall this book was good, not great, but good. I love Julie Garwood and have read almost all of her books and I did like that she set a book in America. I would recommend it but don't judge it by the beginning even if it does seem a little confusing, she does explain things later.

This book has a different setting (mostly USA) when compared to other Garwood novels and that works out well. All the characters are beautifully developed and the hero is very good. I like Garwood's heroes better than McNaught's. They are reliable, protective and definitely not mean.

Any Garwood fan would definitely love this book.

The book was in great condition. And I loved it! It's such a sweet story.

Alex and Casey. Not a whole bunch of depth, but a really cute book. Reader was easy to listen to and I didn't want it to end!

I don't think that Ms. Evanovich has ever written a bad book. True to her usual sense of humor, this book is a whirlwind of humor and adventure with a great ending that makes you want another hundred pages. I don't usually read in the romance genre, but I love her books!

I have read all of the Janet Evanovich books starring Stephanie Plum, but I had not realized that she wrote romance novels. I ordered all and read them all! I absolutely loved them. Within the first page or two you always knew who was going to fall in love, but that did not ruin the fun in watching get to the end of their journeys together. These are books that I will lend to all of my friends and family!

This is a comical, quirky novel about a 29yr old executive from New Jersey who's about to turn 30, and feels that her biological clock is starting to tick. She sells her $400,000 condo and resigns her high paying executive job for a beat up (she is unaware it is beat up)cabin and a hardware store in ALASKA! She is under the notion that Alaska is outnumbered by men and therefore feels that it is easier to find a husband there. From the first moment she is transporting her belongings to Al she comes across all sort of mishaps along the way. It is a lovely romantic story about how she finds true love.

This book describes the spiritual profile of "Generation X", which has loosely been defined as "those born from the early 1960s to the late 1970s". That is, it is the generation who are currently in their mid-20s to mid-40s.

Generation Xers have two key characteristics:

Firstly, they make heavy use of symbolism, and this is evident throughout the culture -- in tattoos, pop videos, fashion accessories, and many other ways. When carefully interpreted, this reveals a "constant yearning, both implicit and explicit, for the almost mystical encounter of the human and divine", and should be understood as being part of a genuine spiritual search.

Secondly, they "are experts in superficiality and posing", and are constantly querying others as to their fidelity. It is partly for this reason that they "see right through" the mere "religious institutionalism" of many Churches. Nevertheless, "they still retain a striking fascination with Jesus", and one of their "specific marks" is "reclaiming Jesus against Christian Churches".

The author's answer to Generation X comes as something of a surprise. He suggests that they should "reappropriate tradition, which is one of my primary challenges to Xers themselves". However, bearing in mind the special characteristics of the generation, he further advises "a return to humility in ministry, a willingness to 'go virtual', and a renewal of mystical practices and spiritual disciplines".

This book is well written. However, I feel that there was a certain superficiality about it. With its heavy emphasis on symbolism, it would seem to sanitise the generation of many of the profound spiritual deadlocks that one encounters in ministry. Further, with its emphasis on the genuineness of Generation X's search, it may overlook a good deal of genuine hopelessness and evil.

I was born in 1977 and I don't go to church and can thus be seen as an example of the stereotype that labels Gen Xers as irreligious. True, the generation of the unknown quantity "X" may not be flooding the pews like my Catholic grandmother would want to see, but, as Tim Beaudoin suggests in his book "Virtual Faith: The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X," we ARE worshipping in our own way.
The cover of the book features the face of Jesus tattooed on somebody's bicep, and although some may perceive this image as part of the joke that seems to be Gen X spirituality, Beaudoin takes it seriously. He is a pioneer in his explorations of "theological interpretations of Gen X pop culture," which means in his book he puts a whole new spin on such things as music videos, fashion, and cyberspace.
The book's academic style makes it a bit tedious at points, but still Beaudoin's message is clear and worth reading: there is a spiritual revolution happening in my generation. If you listen closely and set aside stigmas about piercings and tattoos, you can see that old rituals, symbols, traditions, and icons have fertilized new philosophies and ideas. Gen Xers have internalized, reworked, and attempted-sometimes subconsciously-to apply spirituality to the culture of the everyday life they face. Beaudoin, who holds a master's degree in Theological Studies from the Harvard University School of Divinity, argues that this movement has been neither seen nor reported on. "The media's simplistic caricatures of Generation X have yet to relate something substantial about this generation to its elders, particularly in regard to Gen X's unique religiousness." In the media's defense, this subtle, sometimes twisted sense of spirituality is not easily expressed, but Beaudoin is able to give this movement a voice.
In the beginning of his book, for example, he describes his most recent religious experience, which occurred as he sat in the audience of "Rent." Attending the award-winning play-he saw it four times-had become a ritual for him. Throughout each performance, he and the people around him cried and "raised their hands in the air as if at an evangelical revival," acknowledging that what they were experiencing was both about and beyond them. That same sound that my parents call "trash," he claims is "just as important to my own sense of spirituality as any commitment to an institutional church." Beaudoin, in fact, plays in a rock band and says when he feels the deep rhythm of playing tightly with a drummer and feels the way his body and soul harmonize with the low tones of his base guitar "something happens." Ultimately, for Beaudoin and most Gen Xers, any place can be a church, any song a prayer, and any person, a priest. While Beaudoin acknowledges that his message may not sit well with many people, he explains that "impropriety has been a theme in my life and of the life of Generation X."
Religious mixing and matching is also a theme in Gen Xers' unique spiritual style. For example, someone might believe in the teachings of Jesus, but not in the Catholic Church's attitude toward women, abortion, or gays. It is in ways like this that Beaudoin says, my generation "can recycle and recombine not only the present pop culture and religious landscape but also the rich past of religious tradition," a process of "active preservation, not mindless repetition."
The Gen Xers described in Beaudoins book are acutely aware of the boredom generated by empty rituals, meaningless language, and the growing gap between institutional preaching and practice, which is a sentiment expressed in music videos such as Tori Amos's "Crucify" and R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion." Therefore, one positive result of the Gen X rebellion is that it serves as "a call to humanity within religious institutions." Facing the very real prospect that they may lose their younger worshippers, religious institutions have been forced to make some changes.
Because of the barrage of unfiltered information we Gen Xers experienced growing up in a techno-world of televisions and computers, we have become cynical. The cynicism we have developed is in direct proportion to the mighty idealism of the baby boomers. As Beaudoin points out: "My generation inherited not free love but AIDS, not peace but nuclear anxiety, not cheap communal lifestyles but crushing costs of living, not free teach-ins but colleges priced for aristocracy." Thus, many of us came to the conclusion long ago that unless a serious shift occurs in our world today, the safest and most genuine place to go for spiritual guidance is within ourselves.
Ultimately, the fact that "Viritual Faith" articulates things I have kept to myself for years gives me a sense of hope. Perhaps Gen X's quest for the sacred nature of experience will eventually be honed instead of ridiculed. Informed by "Viritual Faith," the media, who depict Gen Xers as pathetic and confused, or parents, who lament the aimless rebellion of their children's generation, might reconsider their perspectives. Hopefully, they will be surprised-even better, deeply moved-by "The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X." And maybe soon a new Beaudoin will emerge and be able to explain to me what the hell is going on with Generation Y. Until then, however, I'll try to keep an open mind.

I read this book for a Youth and Culture class in seminary and it was by far my favorite book of the semester. Beaudoin does a good job in describing a generalized picture of Generation X's conception of Christianity, but there are two places where I feel he misses the mark somewhat.
I feel that Beaudoin could have made better choices in his selection of videos, and this is not about personal preference or taste. Soundgarden's "Outshined" or "Rusty Cage" were both more attuned, in my estimation, to the emotions, struggles, and general attitude of Generation X than "Black Hole Sun", generally speaking. Beaudoin could have also explored why a band like Pearl Jam, which is overwhelmingly non-imagistic, could still continue to have an impact despite Pearl Jam's lack of visual exposure beyond 1992. Another example: replace "Like a Prayer" with Tool's "Sober" or with Nine Inch Nails "Head Like a Hole", and you've got something. And one last musical point: where is hip-hop? Surely the amazing success of rap music in the ninties, especially gangsta rap, says something about Generation X theologically.
My second critique concerns Beaudoin's theological engagement. I simply feel that he could have gone a little deeper. I was also looking for some wrestling with the greats. I took Systematic Theology the semester before I read this book and was looking for Beaudoin to utilize Barth, Tillich, Bultmann, etc. An examination of Tillich's views of Christianity and culture would have been especially rewarding in the context of the book. It simply seemed to me that Beaudoin could have gone a tad deeper theologically.

Virtual Faith is a free flowing theological interpretation of the heart beat of modern culture. The question the author asks is "will you be there for me?" In the modern age, this question is paramount to Gen Xers. Those who grew up in one parent or no parent households. It seems that the alienation the Xer's feel is rooted in their abandonment an isolation by their elders! This is a generation without rites of passage as found in native cultures. Xer's mistrust modern forms of establishment. Tom suggests that Tradition may offer something to Xer's who in fact are quite spiritual. This is a great book! The older generation stands to learn much in its pages! My only criticism of the book is rooted in my own alienation from the tradition he speaks favorabley about. While there is a richness in traditonal forms of Christianity it is rarely exercised in modern forms of practice these days. Patriarchal forns are oppresive and mean spirited to the Souls of women and other minorities.The Pope speaks eloquently and correctly about injustice outside the Catholic Church. About injustice within the Church he is silent and culpably negligent. I give this book my highest recommendation!

I'm a little bit older than this age group discussed. Okay, I'll admit it, I'm near the advance guard of the Boomer generation! However, as someone charged with developing educational offerings for my church, I found this to be compelling reading.

The age group of 18-30, no matter what generation in recent years, has typically been absent from our pews. What makes the Gen-Xers so different, Beaudoin says, is that they WANT to be in a spiritual place, and are hungry for it. He cites evidence from music, music videos and other sources of pop culture appealing to the Gen-Xers.

One of his arguments I found especially interesting was that which states that this generation has grown up not knowing war, hard times or any of the events that tend to galvanize previous generations. His theory is that this explains the rise in popularity of self mutilation, otherwise known as body piercing and tattooing, as visible signs of the theme of "suffering servant."

Whether one buys into his theories or not, there is much here to provide food for thought for mainstream churches wanting to reach out to the Gen-Xers. He looks at those aspects of Biblical stories that have appeal to this group; he speaks of styles of worship or study that would most attract them. I don't think anyone who has looked at shelves of bookstores can disagree that there is a great spiritual hunger in our world. Beaudoin's book will certainly enocurage us to think about how that hunger could be met for this demographic group.

Diana Schwarzbein has it down! Her books are informative and well written, easy to read and understand. She has done her homework and knows what she is talking about. I have read many "diet" books, this one holds truth.

This book taught me a lot about my metabolism. It made me aware of mistakes I was making by how I ate and what I ate. My body just naturally shed 20 pounds over the last year or so by applying what I learned from the book. Once my metabolism returned to a healthier state, the weight was shed naturally. I bought this book as a gift for a friend who is diabetic.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first book of Schwarzbein and have been following it with good results. So, since I enjoy reading, I was very interested in reading book 2. Even for someone who enjoys reading it took a lot of willpower to get through the whole 500 page book without quitting. The first half is a great deal of technical information that is boring and extremely repetitive. (The whole book could have been condensed into 150 pages easily.) The second half of the book is about the plan itself. It was very discouraging to be following one way from her original book and then she changes a lot in the second book. Like maybe she wasn't right after all. So, to sum it up it ends up leaving you wondering whether she knows what she is talking about or not. The good news is I think that the general way of eating is great, but I have a hard time with being fully convinced in view of her changes (regarding saturated fats, amounts of grams, now having to weight proteins, etc.). I hope this helps.

Her principle is excellent, the program is fantastic, however, if you are not familiar with her system...read her book called "The Program" as your first read. It reads easiest and is the most understandable and will be a great foundational block to her other books.

With this book, Dr Schwarzbein has shown just how severe her tunnel vision is on the hormones and the endocrine system. There are falsities throughout the entire book because she completely ignores peer-reviewed research in any area that is not directly involved in the endocrine system.

For instance, she lists ADD/ADHD as a lifestyle disorder that's a result of low serotonin. I'm a young adult/adult Learning Disabilities Specialist with a background in neuropsychology. According to the peer reviewed research that has been available for over a decade, ADD/ADHD is a genetic disorder for which researchers have found several alleles that, when switched on, create the disorder. Newer research has shown that the brains of people with ADD/ADHD have as much as 15% less gray matter in specific areas in the right hemisphere that have to do with focus and attention, and this discrepancy has been imaged via MRI. And research has shown for over 3 decades that all of this leads to a decreased level of dopamine, not serotonin. Some people with ADD/ADHD do have decreased levels of serotonin but not all.

Another instance where she completely ignores the research is when it comes to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), which she all but dismisses out of hand. Research to date has shown that there is a genetic tendency towards CFS, that it is a central nervous system disorder that can have disasterous effects (a woman in England died from it summer of 2006 and the autopsy showed her spinal cord, brain stem and areas in the brain to be highly inflammed), that the majority of people who have this CNS disorder have smaller than average adrenal glands (imaged with CT and MRI), which may make it impossible for them to absorb all of the daily stressors that come our way, and that onset almost always occurs after a significant trauma (death of a loved one, accident, severe illness, etc). According to some leading researchers in the field, CFS is akin to an electrical overload hitting the circuit breaker box in your house and shutting down all the systems. It hits the hypothalamus in the brain, which controls all the systems in the body, and they all drop low. Lifestyle doesn't do that, folks. Something far more intense is required to create such a destructive onset.

Less well known but highly important research in the field of immunotoxicology has shown in the last 5-10 years that what a pregnant woman is exposed to in the last trimester of pregnancy can damage a fetus' immune system making it difficult at best for the child's immune system to mature once it is born. If an individual goes through life with an immature immune system, that person is unable to mount an adequate immune defense against disease, their immune system often doesn't know the difference between an external invader and their own tissue so they develop auto-immune disorders, and their immune system may be on such high rev that they're hypersensitive to much in their environment, hence multiple chemical sensitivities, allergies and asthma. In fact, the data is so overwhelming that the EPA and FDA are currently developing new guidelines for drug and chemical testing that would address prenatal exposure.

While I find that Dr. Schwarzbein's message to balance out the diet and eat whole foods as opposed to processed foods to be the standard message at this time (think Dr Hyman's book Ultrametabolism) and probably the most prudent form of diet to follow, much of the information she presents in her book is out and out false and needs to be seriously challenged.

Sit back and let Frazier lead you through a compendium of European myths and Classical cultures. It's fascinating for a while, but it's one of the few books I've tried repeatedly to finish.

Why is anyone buying this particular edition? The one listed as a "Board Book" with ISBN 0020955707 is IDENTICAL in text and covers, it just has a different publisher name. And it's significantly cheaper, if purchased used.

nothing really extraordinary here. lots of slandering dark-skinned peoples with the word "savages" thereby excusing genocidal and land-grabbing actions by the more "civilized" Xtian believing "aryans" who of course have evolved beyond all that superstition by emblazoning their one true god on their only appropriate place of worship--dollar bills.

This book is veritable attic full of folklore and ritual. But, like an attic, it is sometimes dusty and overstuffed. First published in 1922 and hardly out of print since, the author states it began as a study of a curious practice in a grove near Nemi, Italy in classical times of the killing of a local divine wood king/priest by his successor. His studies lead him to research one thing after another, which eventually became a multi-volume treatise on many of the ritual and folk practices of the world, especially in regards to gods of trees, vegetation and grain, and other resurrection myths.

At times it is a difficult read as the author does not have the current sense of treating other cultures as different, rather than "lesser", than ours, but despite repeated references to "savages" he presents practices and customs rather fairly and non-judgementally. It's only fault lies in it's length, perhaps, though this may be attributed to modern short attention spans, though it does seem to provide so many examples of a practice that I often thought five examples would have sufficed where he used twenty or more.

A curious thing, when I read this any shred of belief I might have had left in the Christ mythos was shattered with the detailed descriptions of other gods of resurrection. Undoubtedly without meaning to, Frazer presents such a clear picture of the rites and myths concerning Adonis, Attis, Osiris, among others, that you realize how little of the Christ myth (if anything) is original. This, of course, is not to disparage Christian believers, as my gods come as much out of myth as theirs, and so it is just as valid, but even when one has been a pagan as long as I have, there still remains some shred, I think, of a person that wonders if the original religion of our childhood might not be valid.

In any case, this is a long and interesting read. I originally picked it up after encountering numerous references in other pagan texts over the years to "Frazer's theory of the Divine King", etc., and finally wanted to read the work for myself. I don't regret it, and I don't think you will either, if you approach this book with patience when you have some time to devote to it.

_The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion_, originally published in 1922 and republished here by Collier Books, is an abridged one volume edition of the classic study of Sir James George Frazer on magic and religion. Sir J. G. Frazer (1854 - 1941) was a Scottish social anthropologist whose works have proven to be classics in the fields of comparative religion and mythology. _The Golden Bough_ is perhaps his most famous work detailing the magical practices from a wide variety of ancient and primitive cultures. The extensive research undertaken to complete this volume makes the study worthy to be read alone, in that it reveals much of the folklore from around the globe which has been important to providing understanding of primitive religious and magical practices. _The Golden Bough_ maintains that magic developed into primitive religion which eventually developed into modern science in an evolutionary perspective on the history of comparative religions. Further, this work offers a study of the various beliefs of "primitive" peoples maintaining that the ancient religions were fertility cults that revolved around the worship and sacrifice of the priest-king. Frazer maintains that this gave rise to the "dying gods" motif in which the king is sacrificed and then returns to life found throughout the world's religious traditions. In particular, Frazer points to the pre-Roman priest-king at the fane of Nemi who was ritually murdered by his successor. This book gained attention because it included Christianity within its comparative study and thus scandalized its reading public. Further, Frazer has been criticized for maintaining a rationalist bias and for denigrating the beliefs and folklore of allegedly "primitive" cultures and peoples. Nevertheless, despite this bias, Frazer's study has proven extremely important in that it collects an enormous amount of information and his "dying gods" thesis remains influential. Indeed, the plethora of "dying gods" throughout ancient cultures may be seen as an important precursor to the Christian faith. Frazer also provides an excellent study of magic, in which he distinguishes between homeopathic magic (based on the Law of Similarity) and contagious magic (based on the Law of Contact) under the heading of sympathetic magic (based on the Law of Sympathy). Frazer further divides magic into theoretical magic (or magic as a pseudo-science) and practical magic (or magic as a pseudo-art) noting the difference between positive magic or sorcery and negative magic or taboo under practical magic. However, Frazer ultimately will compare magic to science and will champion science and an evolutionary viewpoint of science in relationship to the supposed progression from magic to religion to science. The term "the Golden Bough" refers to both Turner's picture of the "Golden Bough" and the mistletoe seen in the life of Balder. This book has been enormously influential not only in the study of comparative religion but also was very popular amongst certain Twentieth century writers and poets who frequently quoted from and made use of it. While Frazer's thesis may be fundamentally flawed, it nevertheless offers an astounding collection of information and folklore as well as an interesting understanding of the myth of the "dying god".

The book includes the following contents:

"The King of the Wood" - mentioning Diana and Verbius as well as Artemis and Hyppolytus,
"Priestly Kings",
"Sympathetic Magic" - mentioning the principles of magic, the types of magic, and the magician's progress,
"Magic and Religion",
"The Magical Control of the Weather" - mentioning the public magician and magical control of the rain, sun, and wind,
"Magicians as Kings",
"Incarnate Human Gods",
"Departmental Kings of Nature",
"The Worship of Trees" - mentioning tree-spirits,
"Relics of Tree Worship in Modern Europe",
"The Influences of the Sexes on Vegetation",
"The Sacred Marriage" - mentioning Diana,
"The Kings of Rome and Alba" - mentioning Numa and Egeria and Jupiter,
"The Succession to the Kingdom in Ancient Latium",
"The Worship of the Oak",
"The Burden of the Royalty" - mentioning priestly taboos,
"The Perils of the Soul" - mentioning the soul as a manikin,
"Tabooed Acts",
"Tabooed Persons",
"Tabooed Things",
"Tabooed Words",
"Our Debt to the Savage",
"The Killing of the Divine King",
"Temporary Kings",
"The Killing of the King's Son",
"Succession of the Soul",
"The Killing of the Tree-Spirit" - mentioning the "death",
"The Myth of Adonis",
"Adonis in Syria",
"Adonis in Cyprus",
"The Ritual of Adonis",
"The Gardens of Adonis",
"The Myth and Ritual of Attis",
"Attis as a God of Vegetation",
"Human Representatives of Attis",
"Oriental Religions in the West",
"The Myth of Osiris",
"The Ritual of Osiris",
"The Nature of Osiris",
"Isis",
"Osiris and the Sun",
"Dionysus",
"Demeter and Persephone",
"The Corn-Mother and the Corn-Maiden in Northern Europe",
"The Corn-Mother in Many Lands",
"Lyterses" - mentioning human sacrifice for the crops,
"The Corn-Spirit as an Animal",
"Ancient Dieties of Vegetation as Animals",
"Eating the God" - mentioning the "first-fruits" and the practice of eating the god amongst the Aztecs,
"Homeopathic Magic of a Flesh Diet",
"Killing the Divine Animal",
"The Propitiation of Wild Animals by Hunters",
"Types of Animal Sacrament",
"The Transference of Evil",
"The Public Expulsion of Evil",
"Public Scapegoats",
"Human Scapegoats in Classical Antiquity",
"Killing the God in Mexico",
"Between Heaven and Earth" - mentioning taboos concerning puberty,
"The Myth of Balder",
"The Fire-Festivals of Europe",
"The Interpretation of the Fire-Festivals",
"The Burning of Human Beings in the Fires",
"Balder and the Mistletoe",
"The External Soul in Folk-Tales",
"The External Soul in Folk-Custom",
"The Golden Bough",
"Farewell to Nemi".

In sum, this book represents a great anthropological classic that reveals much about the folk practices and customs of our ancient forebears. It is highly important as a work in comparative religion and maintains a central place amongst the most famous studies of the Twentieth Century. It is also greatly enjoyable to read and includes an enormous amount of material of interest concerning a wide range of ancient folk belief.

This book is a seminal work because it had a crucial influence on four important works of the twentieth century: T. S. Elliott's poem the Waste Land, Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces, Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code, and Francis Ford Coppolla's movie Apocalypse Now, screenplay by John Milius.

Sir James George Frazer's book written in 1922 was a groundbreaking work on ancient religion, paganism, and roots of early Christianity. Frazer does an in-depth examination of the sacrificial killing of god-kings to ensure bountiful harvests, which Frazer traces through several cultures, including in his elaborations the myths of Adonis, Osiris, and Balder.

Frazer spent his life writing fifteen volumes of history of myth and religion. This book sums up his theory of magic and its connections to paganism, as well as fusing ideas from Jessie L. Weston's book From Ritual To Romance and Gnostic texts that serve as a link to early Christianity's influence from ancient nature cults. His chapter titles say much about where his work goes and why it is so influential on iconic twentieth century works. The King of the Wood explains the original nature of the task imposed upon the hero, it undoubtedly influenced both Campbell's and Coppola's works. The Myths of Adonis, Attis, and Osiris looks to establish a chain of descent connecting early Aryan and Babylonian ritual with classic, Medieval and modern forms of nature worship. Our Debt to the Savage explains the role of the Medicine Man or doctor in fertility ritual. The Killing of the Devine King analyzes how this title is prevalent in so many of humankind's legends, and was a definite influence on Coppola's Colonel Kurtz character. Sacrifice of the King's Son regarded as an object of awe certainly influenced The Da Vinci Code.

Frazer's book is interesting and fun to read. I especially became interested in it from the movie Apocalypse Now. There is a scene in the movie that shows Colonel Kurtz's nightstand in his cave. Weston's book is one of three on the nightstand. The other two are Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, which the film is based on. The other book is Jessie L. Weston's book From Ritual To Romance. Anyone wanting to understand the movie Apocalypse Now, especially the character of Colonel Kurtz, and what Milius and Copolla were trying to tell their audience need to read these three books!

As a graduate student reading in philosophy and history I recommend this book for anyone interested in literature, myth, history, philosophy, religion and fans of Apocalypse Now.

Teenagers write better blogs. And this book is just the author's blog. That's all that this book can aspire to. It's just day in, day out of the author's most inner personal feelings and...but wait...nothing ever happens and the author is as shallow as an elk piss puddle. I read to the part where the author starts to cut wood for the winter. I thought, how boring. So I jumped about 35 pages. Still cutting wood. Jumped again. Still cutting wood.
So if you want to watch this guy cut wood, every stinkin' little chip, then this book is for you.

Rick Bass's "Winter" is a short account of a winter spent with his girlfriend housesitting a ranch in a remote valley in Montana. Rick was a writer; his girlfriend Elizabeth an artist; both were experiencing their first real Northern winter, the kind that closes in and dominates your life for months at a time.

As the subtitle notes, it really is "notes from Montana." Rick turns out to be a competent writer, observant and appreciative of the relatively unspoiled Yaak Valley and the solitude that comes free with living there. There are plenty of interesting observations about the self-selecting, independent handful of inhabitants who share the valley; about the joys of cutting wood for heating cabins; and about life away from electricity, phones, and television.

While this might seem like a trip to the Moon for dedicated city-dwellers, there are no grand relevations here and perhaps there were not meant to be. Rick's experience is common to many who move to remote locations like Alaska, to get away from the crowding and the hustle of the average American city. For those who like it, the elbow room and the natural quiet allows folks to slow down and see/hear/smell/touch and taste things they might miss driving by at 65 miles per hour. At the same time, the removal of the safety features of urban life makes one more alert and more cautious of the dangers of wild animals, fire, and accidents miles away from the nearest hospital.

This book is recommended as a pleasant and interesting read for those curious about a different life, one harder to find in an increasingly urban world.

Having experienced the Yaak during winter, a few years in a row, I know what it's like... Kinda boring but very pretty. That was a few years ago, when I was a young teenager. I knew Rick and his family; I went to school with his daughters. In fact, his oldest daughter was one of my best friends. I remember one time I stayed over at their house with another one of our friends and we played hide-and-seek, and Rick was the seeker. It was a lot of fun. Anyway, I actually haven't read any of his books, I just wanted to say that Rick Bass is a great person, and if I could ever find his books in the local library, I'd read them, and definitely suggest them to other readers.

I am Doug Hiser, author of The Honey Bee Girl, Wink-Eye Creek, Crow Canyon, and Secret Grotto. Rick Bass is an author who resides in his own genre. Winter is a fabulous book and I did not want it to end. Bass brought the world of Montana to me down here in Texas. Rick Bass is a master author with incredible description and odd yet powerful storytelling. The Watch was the first book I read by Bass and his short stories were intriguing and profound. He has been a tremendous influence on my own books. Winter-Notes from Montana is a book with a spellbinding story of survival and how a man changed his life by moving from Texas to a place without electricity and communication in the snowy mountainous region of Montana called the Yaak. He writes there on a typewriter by lantern light. He describes his metamorphosis from a Texas writer to a true mountain man learning to survive the intensely cold winters of the wilds of Montana. Bass describes many encounters with nature, moose, elk, bear, and others and fills the chapters with the wonderful characters that live in near seclusion in this place. Rick Bass presents an alternative lifestyle of survival and conservation, toughness of the human spirit and a grand love of nature as he actually lived the story of his book. A beautiful read and you will cherish the images and words of the writer Rick Bass.

Looking through books for ones to send to the thrift store, this one leapt to the fore. Each of the three times I've sat down to read it, I've soon set it aside, thinking 'life's too short to spend with books like this.' Rick Bass may be a great guy (some reviewers point out that he is), but this book is forced and soulless. Within my own experience with environmental nonfiction, "nature writing" as some will call it, I can think of nothing with which this book would compare well. Teale's 'Wandering Through Winter' is broader and more informative, more interesting because it is more interested; Abbey's 'Desert Solitaire' is more personally engaging; Thoreau's 'Walden', Leopold's 'Almanac' or 'Sketches', anything by Muir, Mowat, or Lopez -- more philosophical, more lyrical, more evocative, far better by any standard of measure.

Sorry to have to fasten the 'one star' rating here, Mr. Bass, but this book is nothing beyond mediocre.

This book and "Chili Queen" are the best books by Sandra Dallas. The rest of her books don't come close to being as good.

I have read Sandra Dallas's other books and loved them.
This was very disappointing. I kept reading and hoping it would get better, but it did not. If it had been the first of her writings for me to read, it would likely have been the last. I am glad I saved it for last, because I really loved her other work.

I liked this book, but I didn't pass it on to my reading buddies. I felt the characters were less convincing than most created by Dallas, and I didn't feel a real affinity for any of them. I don't regret reading it, but a quick read and a shrug at the end is all it was worth to me.

This is our reading group's March selection--otherwise, I'd not have stayed with it. It simply seemed too contrived, from the names (Whippy Bird, Effa Commander--always use the whole name!, Bumbo, Moon, and so forth), to the oh-so-tragic ending of movie star Marion Street. I felt manipulated, after having read nearly 3/4 of the book, to finally encounter the crime and scandal, only to see it brushed over in a very few pages. And then we never exactly find out the true story--who ends up protecting whom in the scandal? For a story purporting to tell the "real story," this one falls short.

I first read "Buster Midnight's Cafe" upon it's original release in 1990. I loved the book then, and I loved it even more in 2008. The story of Effa Commander and Whippy Bird sharing the plight of their lives in wild, wooly, wicked Butte, MT in the early 30's is unforgettable. Poor children of miners, they grow up with the appreciation for family, home, best friends, pranks, dancing, and good brewsky. Though poor by some standards, they are rich in spunk, vitality, acceptance, humility, and devotion.

May Anna Kovaks befriends Effa and Whippy Bird on a cold day in Butte. Considered the most beautiful girl in town, May Anna has her sights set on Hollywood. However, life's pitfalls alter her dreams for a stretch, but never overtakes them. With assistance from Effa, Whippy Bird and Buster Midnight(a famous fighter reared in the Butte saloons) May Anna's dream comes to fruition. Her plume becomes Marion Street, a name the three friends chose right off a neighborhood street sign. A masterful mystery is weaved as Marion achieves her goals in Hollywood, while Effa and Whippy meet their destinies in Butte.

Though the mystery is exciting, my affections are with the precisely developed characters of these three women from a small coal town in Montana. Historically accurate, their is no false ring to the setting and time. Sandra Dallas is such a genius of this genre. To date I have read all but her latest book; that is coming as I just adore Dallas's writing techniques and soul felt characters.

Effa and Whippy Bird are so near and dear to me that each time I pass by Butte, MT I want to turn off and find Buster Midnight's Cafe. Thanks to Sandra I always can in my imagination.

Let me tell you that I am a fan of John Fante. A recent fan, however. I first read Ask the Dust and enjoyed it pretty well. Then I purchased a book of his letters, the short story book, wait until spring bandini and I just finished reading The Road to Los Angeles.

I think I admire Fante more for his personal story of becoming a published author, interwoven with the plots of his novels as it is, more so than for the caliber of his writing.

This book is obviously amateur and surprisingly poorly written. Hard to believe it was written by the same author of Ask the Dust, and even harder to believe, of Wait Until Spring. This book has a "Catcher in the Rye" flavor to it. Our teenage Bandini starts the book by killing crabs on the beach with a BB Gun. Disturbing? Slightly. And it continues in this manner. He stabs a live tuna fish to death for fun in the cannery where he works. The book mainly consists of the pompous and overwrought ranting of our nihilistic teenage Bandini, a self-obsessed, neurotic tyrant in the apartment he shares with mother and sister.

I've read "Thus spoke Zarathustra." It sucked. I haven't picked up the book in 10 years.

Most of the book is a second or third rate effort, and this is evident on the one paragraph of the book where Fante showed some creative vision. It's on page 156 starting with "And I see you now, you woman of that night."

Fante actually strikes me as an overly emotional, sentimental type not necessarily of the best fabric to be a writer. But the fact that he wasn't an F. Scott may be what actually makes his writing, particularly "Ask the Dust" exciting and a good read.

Don't let the book cover fool you - this isn't some rough and rugged story of a bachelor writer trying to cut his teeth in LA. This isn't Jim Morrison in LA. More like a pimply faced teenage wasteland with a book on Nietzsche. I would only recommend this for the most determined Fante fans.

What a worthless read. I was tipped off to Fante by way of Bukowski, "[his] god." Ask the Dust was all right, but I found this book to be very bad. No alternate meaning there, just plain BAD. Fante's narrating protagonist is super pompous and annoying throughout the entire thing. There were maybe one or two vaguely funny incidents, but aside from those, the novel is a painful BORE. If you want a taste for Fante, try Ask the Dust, which is similarly arrogant, but much milder. Don't waste your time with The Road to LA.

Without a doubt, John Fante is the greatest American writer - ever. He can switch from first to third person so smoothly it isn't noticed, and the same for present and past tense as well as point of view. Amazing. Yet, he is like a masterful chef who only prepares one masterful dish; that being, of course, the life of Arturo Bandini.
Jerry Smith

I enjoyed this book in its own right, but my expectations for the book were not met because of the reasons that this book was recommended to me. I was told that this book would be very similar to "A Confederacy of Dunces," which frequently produced laugh-out-loud moments during my reading. I found this book to be much darker, and though the protagonists are probably equally outlandish, Ignatius' behavior often came across as light and humorous to me, whereas Arturo Bandini appeared tortured and to be pitied. Clearly, a book with a tortured protagonist does not limit its quality, but I suppose that the mindset that I had coming into this text [that of a lighter comedy] caused me to have mixed reactions towards it.

This is the first novel of Fante's that I have read and I am interested in reading some more of him. There were times I wanted to throw the whole book in the trash, yet I couldn't stop reading it no matter how terribly repugnant the main character Arturo Bandini was. Arturo is your quintessential megalomaniac and sociopath. At about a third of the way through the novel (page 63 to be exact, when our antihero began torturing flies) I was about to throw in the towel and give up completely. However, something kept me reading. As demented as Arturo was, you can't help but read on to see what in the hell he was going to do and say next. After all, just because you can't stand the main character doesn't necessarily mean that the prose isn't profound. On the contrary, I found Fante to be a very interesting, courageous, and an extremely unique writer. Remember folks, this was written before Bukowski (who thought of him as his 'God') and Toole's classic, Pulitzer prize winning "A Confederacy of Dunces". There is no doubt of the impact he had on both authors and God knows how many countless more. Those of you who love Bukowski and/or Toole's classic should really enjoy this novel by John Fante (his first book, by the way).

I think it is safe to say this novel will never make it in Oprah's book club. Most of the masses will probably not enjoy this at all. On top of being an ego-maniac and a sociopath, Arturo is also sexist, racist, violent, sex-starved, mean-spirited, friendless, indolent, obnoxious, arrogant, profane, completely self-absorbed, etc... ad infinitum. He also enjoys reading Hitler and considers himself a Communist. However, all that being said - he is extremely hilarious to say the least! I especially enjoyed his constant battles with his younger (albeit much more mature), religious, reserved sister Mona and his neurotic, over-bearing, ditsy mother. It's so dysfunctional it will either make you depressed or have you rolling on the floor with laughter (or like me, perhaps a little bit of both). Especially when you take into account this was written before WWII. That is what truly amazed me. It's no wonder Bukowski loved him so much!

This is a great book for someone like me --- I have never been to Montana. I'm leaving the end of August 08 -- and this book has been so informative and helpful. It has given me so many tips and recommendations. If you've made numerous trips to Montana, it may be repetitive. But, again if you're planning a trip there for the first time, then it's a MUST read!

My wife and I live in Montana and love to explore the small towns and out of the way places here. This book has been a great help in our trips and explorations. We particularly enjoy the historical explanations related to the various areas, as well as appropriate recommendations regarding sights to see, restaurants, outdoor activities, road quality and more. There are very good sections about Glacier and Yellowstone that are helpful in planning a visit to these wonderful parks. If you are going to visit Montana, I would recommend you pick this book up before your visit.

This book is a wonderful resourse for anyone visiting, touring, or considering re-locating to Montana. It is conveniently divided into geographic sections and provides lodging, restaurants, attractions, hiking trails, campsites, weather, driving distance, you name it...it's in this book. There are photos of almost every place mentioned. It's a real must for anyone taking a leisurly tour of Montana. I highly recommend this atlas.

Very different from product description! poor quality black and white photos with real estate agents being featured as part of attractions in local areas. The book should be free. It is mostly poorly done advertising. Unusable for announced purpose -- guide to Montana. Jumbled, unorganized, poorly written, and evenly more poorly proofread. I am returning the book even though I hate to pay the return shipping for such a falsely represented product.

If you actually own a copy of this book, you have to laugh at the critical reviews below. They were obviously written by people who have never even opened the book, let alone actually own a copy. Maybe other publishers can't compete with this guide, so they bash it instead. I read those and just had to have a say. I have a third copy of the book and am getting a fourth because I use them to death. If there was a better guide, I would buy it. But I would have to buy ten or more of the other guides in print to get everything that I find in this one volume. Plus there's stuff this book has that no one else covers.

Glorified yellow pages?? If that's what you call a complete, east to west, north to south directory of every travel and vacation related subject. I'm not sure why that's a bad thing. I like the fact that the publisher lists every place to sleep in the state. The only places I found missing were places that opened after my edition of the book was published. I like the fact that they list every single eating spot, from gourmet, $50/plate bistros, to the nearest fast food spot. Every other guide I've found on the state handpicks a few upscale places and tries to convince us that they are the only place to eat or sleep. I want to know all my choices, I want to know how to find them, and I don't want the author injecting their snooty opinion into who gets in and who doesn't. Show me everything and let me decide.

Besides listing every hotel, if you'd rather sleep somewhere "different", they list hundreds of bed and breakfasts, hundreds of vacation homes and cabins, hundreds of guest ranches and resorts, and every public and private campground in the state. If you're carrying your shelter with you, there's not a legal place to pitch a tent or park an RV they missed... except maybe the Wal-Mart parking lots. The book is worth the price alone just for the campground listings. And this is the only book I've found that lists all of the Forest Service cabins. I wrote the Forest Service for info on the cabins and they sent me exactly what is in this book. These cabins are the best-kept secret in Montana, and a great experience. Every other guide book on Montana either gives them only passing mention, or ignores them completely.

There are well over a hundred maps in this guide (which works out to a map every 5 pages or so), with maps for towns so small you wonder why they bothered to make one. In the Glacier Park area, I counted over 20 maps. There are maps of the park itself and several trail maps. And the section on Yellowstone Park is just as comprehensive with lots of maps.

Need stuff to plan your day's activities? If you can't plan out of this guide, then nothing is going to help you. I've been using one edition or the other of this guide to plan my trips, and I've only found one thing that the author missed in the first edition. They added it in the second edition. I actually consider it a challenge, while exploring the state, to find something worth slowing down for that these authors left out. If the authors are at fault for anything, it is for giving away all the secret attractions in the state that only the locals knew about before. While the other guide books focus on the tourist-heavy western part of the state, the Ultimate people give every square inch of the state equal attention. They tell you about every ghost town, hot springs and roadside curiosity there is. The way the book is organized, once you find where you are on the map, you will know what there is immediately around you, whether it's food, lodging, attractions, history of the area, historical sites, etc. There are so many hikes and scenic drives in here it would take years to do them all.

There is advertising in the book. Thank goodness for that. The advertisers allow this book to be such a great value. Logically a book with five times as much content and information should sell for five times what the other guide books sell for. In fact, it sells for the same price give or take a dollar. Clearly the advertising makes that possible.

I think the choice is clear. You can get this guide and be done with it. Everything you need is in here, everything. Or you can load up on all the other incomplete guides and spend more time digging through them for barebones information and spend more time finding what you need than you actually spend on your trip. Choose wisely.