New Mexico Books

"Old Cowboys never die. They just ride off into the sunset." That adage could be the theme of this funny, yet thoughtful book about dreams and destinies and how sometimes they aren't the same thing.

Buck, who used to be a cowboy, has settled down with a wife and kids and a job in the city. He thinks he's happy. In fact, he says he is happy with this incredible woman to wake up to every morning and someone to call him "Pop." Then his old friend, Smokey, shows up and asks him to go on one last run at the wild horses.

It's taken Buck twenty years and more than one attempt at domesticity to try to get it right, so he is not eager to risk losing Jan and the kids for some adventure, but Smokey ups the ante. He's been diagnosed with cancer and really wants to do this one last thing before he dies. What can a friend say to that?

So the two friends go to the desolate desert country of the Sierra Nevada's Coso Range in California where they first met as young cowboys. They borrow roping horses from another friend and go out to find the mustangs. While the story centers on this last adventure, it is as much about relationships and choices and finding balance between dreams and reality.

Randles is the author of six books, including Ol Max Evans: The First Thousand Years, and a columnist for New Mexico Magazine. He incorporates much of the humor of his syndicated column Home Country into this novel, along with some narrative that borders on poetry. "But people haven't been there; haven't seen the frosty breath of wild horses rise like fog on a sagebrush flat on the desert mountain ranges."

And any reader who has ever sat a horse will relate to: "People haven't sat there, holding a big roping horse quiet; both of you with muscles clenched as you reach for that rope and build a loop - just the right sized loop - praying the horses won't see the movement or sense your position behind the hill."

While the humor is a bit too childish in a couple of places, and there are a few tired phrases that are too predictable, the rest of the narrative is strong and well-crafted. In places it is so unique, it will leave lasting impressions. In describing the sounds of the desert, Randles compares it to music, "Debussy in the desert. Ravel in the ravines. It was a haunting song born of the earth and the mountain and the wild things..."

Treasures like that describe the deep connection of man to nature so well that the reader is tempted to ride into the desert with these two old cowboys.

Once a cowboy, Buck's now a magazine editor living in Los Angeles. He's married to Jan, a woman with two children and settled into the life of a grownup, though he remembers his carefree cowboy youth with pleasure, especially early in the morning when he's waking up. At that point, he dreams he's on a horse thundering over the range. In fact Slim Randles' SUN DOG DAYS opens with Buck's dream. Each time he wakes up, Buck shrugs off the vision and heads for the office, where he thinks he's happy. Then things go haywire. A freelancer misses a deadline and Buck must must write the article to fill the space, though he knows little about the subject he needs to cover. If it weren't for Jan and the kids, he'd "take this job and shove it," he decides. Suddenly, the phone rings. When he answers, his old partner, Smokey's voice invites him to go for a beer. Twenty-four hours and many beers later, Buck finds himself fired, tossed out of the house by his wife, and off to illegally round up some horses with Smokey. The choice leads to Buck making some critical decisions about the life he wants to lead.

In SUN DOG DAYS, Slim Randles paints a vivid picture of the range, and the processes by which cowboys do their jobs. He also offrers a good look at the psyches of these tough men. But Randles also does something more. SUN DOG DAYS is the story of a man going through a mid-life crisis and coming to terms with who he is. In the process, the man learns something important about making and accepting choices and their consequences. This universal theme makes SUN DOG DAYS accessible to everybody, not just cowboys. In fact for the non-cowboy, SUN DOG DAYS tells its story in a refreshing way. For cowboys or cowboy wannabes, it catches the spirit of why they want to be cowboys. With warmth and humor Slim Randles presents fleshed out characters that are very human. His style is simple and direct, but never simplistic. SUN DOG DAYS is both a fun and gently thought provoking read.

A true masterpiece by a true cowboy! Ever since I met slim, i've been impressed by his work. This piece is prehaps his best yet! Worth reading twice!

One of the most beautifully written books of our time. The first chapter will have you riveted to your chair with your eyes misting up. After the first three lines, I could see and hearthe horses; I could feel the melancoly mood. I could see Buck's eyes with a distant, almost vacant stare fixed upon his face. I was blown away. Several times during the book I had to stop and digest what I had just read. When I was finished, my eyes were stinging with tears and I felt like the old west was really still alive--at least in the eyes of real cowboys. I am still in awe of the beauty of this story. I can't recommend it highly enough. If there were 10 stars, I would rate it 10. CONGRATULATIONS TO SLIM RANDLES. I sure hope he keeps on telling his stories.

Sun Dog Days might appear as just a story about two over-the-hill cowboys, but it's much more than that. It's everyone's story. It's about what we fear as we crest the mountain that separates us from our youth. It doesn't matter whether we wrangle mustangs, wear a fireman's turnout, or climb a corporate ladder, there's still a part of us that wants one more feel of the reins of that thing that satisfied us most when we were in our prime. Sun Dog Days combines the thrill and the rhythm of one last great ride with the pathos of two ol' pards watching the sun set on what once was and will never be again. Buck and Smokey did what most of us only dream of doing, and in writing the story, Slim Randles' pen and easy-flowing dialogue proves there are still a few who can ride the crest for a long time. This may well be his best work. Wayne Winterton, author of "Whistler's Gold."

This book has wonderful stories of the rich history of communities of the Sandia Mountains. The photos are wonderful, and really add to the stories. The geographic orientation, beginning with Carnuel, and working around the mountain to Placitas emphasizes the rich variety of the area. I highly recommend it.

Out of all the Images of America books by Arcadia I have looked at over the past few months this one is by far the best. The book was written with love and care by someone who obviously loves the area and knows it very well. It is also the most imaginatavely layed out Arcadia book out all of them that I own. The book has many great photos as well as vintage postcards, maps, and advertisements. Needless to say its a must have for anyone living in the Sandia Mountains but also a wonderful addition to any New Mexico library.

It's hard to stop reading, engrossing, hard to stop reading!

My wife and are enjoying this book immensely, well written and the details of the areas of the places around us here in Tijeras are fantastic. This book brings the rich history to light in an enjoyable read. The photographs are amazing, to see the places as they were and are now.

Mike Smith, the author is extremely accessible for any questions or comments about his book, the region and the history.

Definitely a five star book, run now to get yours!

Growing up in one of the towns of the Sandia Mountains, I can ashamedly say that I really didn't do much digging into the history of the place. I don't know why really, I guess I figured it was just there and left it at that. Then comes along this little dandy of a history book wherein the unique history of the place I grew up in is laid before you through non-run of the mill descriptions, quirky photos, and some fantastic quotes from the people who have made up and make these towns.
This book is published through Arcadia, which has about, I don't know how many, of these history/photo style books. I have read a few books from Arcadia and maybe it's because this is one that specifically talks about the place I grew up in, but Towns of the Sandia Mountains seems to sit a few levels above the others Arcadia has out there.
This book reads like a dreamy ride through the past on an old desert road. Starting on Route 66 in Albuquerque and lazily winding it's way up into the mountain towns, past the towns, higher into the mountian, down a back pass, to the front of mountian and back into Albuquerque, picking up the towns of Carnuel, Tijeras, Hobbies, San Antonio, Cedar Crest, Canoncito, San Antonito, Sandia Park, and Placitas along the way, as well as a brief concluding chapter on Albuquerque touching on its growth into the mountain. Some of the pictures in this book are completely astounding to see. There are amazing photos of areas with just a few cattle grazing around that now have freeways and strip malls running through them. Pictures of places, if you know that area, you would never recognize. Pictures of Hippies and TB patients alike escaping into the mountains. People who made this town that you never knew who now you can know.
This book does away with the dull page after page of random portraits of people with boring captions style of history writing and brings new life to history.
If you live in the Sandia, used to, or are just interested in a unique area then I would say this is a good little read for you. Eight thumbs up!

New Jersey authors have contributed over 75 titles to Arcadia's Images of America series, some excellent, some not so good, depending on the knowledge and research strengths of the authors. New Jersey leads with 75 communities in the Images series, the most of any state. Massachusetts is second, with 67. New York has 30, Connecticut 16.

Arcadia's formula: "use local writers or historians to write about their community using 180 to 240 black-and-white photographs with captions and introductory paragraphs in a 128 page book." (I've included a description of how the Steubenville, Ohio volume was created in the first Comment.)

There are now apparently six volumes for New Mexico, and Towns of the Sandia Mountains by Mike Smith is an outstanding effort for the entire series, based on the dozens I've read through or glanced at in local bookstores. Smith expresses a real love for the area, and we've really enjoyed consulting his book on our drives between the Albuquerque Airport and Santa Fe over the past several months.

Smith maintains at least two blogs, one here on Amazon and a personal blog called "My Strange New Mexico". "'My Strange New Mexico' is a unique column of strange New Mexico history and lore. The column currently appears every month in Local iQ, 'Albuquerque's Intelligent Alternative.'"

Smith writes in his biography: "For most of my life, I have lived in New Mexico, loved New Mexico, loved history, loved the West, and loved to write. As a teenager I moved alone to Alaska where I spent a year-and-a-half hitchhiking all around the state, worked as a commercial fisherman, and lived in a tent in the woods before hitchhiking back down to the lower forty-eight states. In 1999 and 2000 I spent almost seven months becoming the only person so far to circumnavigate the entire 1,960-mile shoreline of Lake Powell, in Utah and Arizona, in a canoe. In 2001, my younger brother, four other friends, and I walked over 3,500 miles from Key West, Florida to Cape Gaspé, Quebec, to raise money for charity. ..."

Smith's love for New Mexico shines through this volume, and his writing and research are both outstanding. See his Listmania! of over 30 titles related to the Sandia Mountains entitled "Books about the towns of the Sandia Mountains."

I've always enjoyed this "Images of America books -- it can be great fun to ask local residents about some of the entries. Some day I plan to track down Mike Smith and listen to some of the stories that didn't make it into this fine book.

Robert C. Ross 2008

I have been extremely pleased with the content of this book and the way the information is presented. Little attention has been given to North American historians to the "plains wagon", the mode of transport for thousands and thousands of pioneers, as well as hundreds of tons of goods, across the wide, forboding western frontier of north American in from the 1820s thru the 1880s. The fact that not a single Murphy wagon is still in existance anywhere, when so many were made and it is such a famed wagon, points to the disregard the public and historians have shown for this important implement of the American west. The author does a great job, given the sparce available resources, of reconstructing both the history and the virtual views of these varied wagons. Many companies made the wagons, from different towns across the east, from Missouri to Illinois and beyond, and it was a monumental task to assemble information on such a little known subject, but the author excelled in his history, and presentation. His writing is clear and precise, and a pleasure to read. This volume will stay in my reference library for the remainder of my life, as it is priceless, and enjoyable. I am sure I will go back to it and refer to it many times in years to come.

This is an excellent, well researched work, a great companion to Dary's The Santa Fe Trail. It provides detailed drawings of the wagons, their construction and how they were used. There is even a chapter on Wind Wagon Thomas.

"Mark Gardner, who is one of the foremost trail historians of our day, an eminent researcher, and an excellent writer, has now entered the ranks of vehicle historians trying to make some sense out of transport history and the vehicles involved therein. This contribution to both historical trail documentation and the vehicle bibliography as well is superb. No serious scholar involved in either discipline can ignore this book." -- from The Carriage Journal

Among the abundance of literature on various aspects of Santa Fe Trail history, Mark Gardner's _Wagons for the Santa Fe Trade_ begins a new dialog about the development and variance of Trade-related wagon technology. The book documents advances in wagon building techniques as the Trade became more complex and sophisticated. The story of Santa Fe Trail wagon making is the story of the growth and changes in the development of wheeled vehicles designed for heavy-duty long range freighting. The Santa Fe Trade was a primary proving ground for freight wagon building and adaptability. This book grew out of a National Park Service report Gardner prepared on Santa Fe Trail wagons intended for use as a resource for the Santa Fe National Historic Trail project. This version is greatly expanded from the original. From the outset it will become obvious to readers how much painstaking work and time went into its production. During the course of his research he discovered a personal side to the story. His chapter "From Shop to Factory" allowed him to connect with the wagon building business through four generations of his own ancestors, some of whom had worked in the Missouri sawmill industry, and had probably cut lumber intended for the construction of the very freight wagons he now writes about. Gardner has a reputation in the profession for sifting through mounds of paper and microfilm, uncovering lost treasures of material. This reviewer has respectfully nicknamed him "The Mole" because of his research skills. His ability to dig and root through archive and manuscript collections and find the most obscure and previously unknown, yet meaningful bits of information has earned him a place among the great names in today's western historiography. With many books and articles to his credit, Mark Gardner is arguably one of the foremost authorities on the Santa Fe Trade. This latest effort guarantees Gardner's place as heir apparent to the title of Dean of Santa Fe Trail historians. _Wagons for the Santa Fe Trade_ is a detailed, yet coherent guide to nineteenth century freight vehicles. It is a highly beneficial research tool, as well as a pleasant recreational read.

Henry B. Crawford, Museum of Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX

Perhaps the trade in wagons on the Santa Fe Trail is best summarized in one breathtaking quote from a newspaper in 1841:

"Six horse wagons are constructed in Pittsburg, loaded with assorted goods from New York and Philadelphia, transported to Independence in Missouri, and there driven across the country to Mexico . . ."

The great wagons of trade were the means by which the Far West was opened. Mark L. Gardner's "Wagons for the Santa Fe Trade," tells who built these wagons, how they were built and the changes in design as the years passed. Perhaps what comes through most clearly is that the great freight wagons were complex pieces of technology, best constructed by a factory system, not unlike how automobiles are assembled today. By means of these wagons, the South West was brought into contact with the United States, and, eventually, absorbed into the Union. An important and vital chapter of American history well told and well documented.

The final chapter deals with the adventure of the Wind Wagon. In these days of high gas prices it is charming to consider that an attempt was made to avoid high mule prices. A sailed wagon was actually patented (the patent drawings are in the book) and launched. Sometimes the stuff of legend is the truth.

Wired is a beautifully produced book from cover to cover. This extraordinary art form is depicted eloquently in text and photos and is the perfect addition to any art book collector's library. I found Mr. Arment's historic representation of the craft to be informative and the featured artisan weaver's stories to be both compelling and personal. The contemporary design, exquisite photography and high quality of production contribute to an outstanding book.

This is a great book on the Zulu art of making baskets out of colorful telephone wire. Not only is this a fascinating collection of images that jump off the pages, but it gives this art form its due. The use of wire in sub-Saharan Africa is explained and adds some historic context to this contemporary art form. The development of this form by the pioneers of the craft - the true night watchmen, is also documented here for the first time. The book also highlights the masters of this art form, with some personal history and images of each person's work. This is a highly recommended addition to you collection of books on African Art.

I just got a copy of this book and it is extraordinary!!! I travel to South Africa frequently and have several telephone wire baskets. I often wondered who made these baskets, and how they were connected to traditional African baskets and crafts. Well, this book answers my questions and more. The history is well written, including a GREAT foreword by Karel Nel, THE expert on South African art. In addition, the book gives the artist's their due, highlighting 14 weavers (or should I say artists), with their personal story and images of their work. I can now identify baskets in my collection, some by these weavers. This is a book you will love.

This book documents a marvelously vital art form and is itself a beautiful work of art. It is obviously expensively produced and carefully executed. The jacket, the cover , the paper, everything about it is absolutely first rate. An informative and very entertaining documentation of this fascinating art form. The photography by Andrew Cerino and the well known interiors photographer Peter Vitale is brilliant and voluptous (the color reproduction is astonishing).
I couldn't be happier with it and I think it will soon be a very valuable and much sought-after reference source.

This is an extremely high quality "art book" which will be at home on any coffee table or in any library of people interested in baskets, Africa or any indigenous arts and crafts. The photographs are outstanding, the paper weight feels wonderful in your hand, it's a very well produced volume. I especially enjoyed the introduction by Paul Mikula which gave a great context for how difficult the baskets are to weave and spoke to the history of the weaving from more of the standpoint of the Zulu people. I have been carrying these types of baskets for over 3 years now and there has been a big void in the world for information on these baskets. This book fills the void plus some! Thanks to the authors for a great information source!

Jeffe Kennedy has created a special window on the world. She appears to have the sharp mind of a scientist combined with the beautiful soul of a poet, and this allows her to take us by the hand and lead us to some simple truths about life and death and the world around us - truths which we might otherwise miss. Ms. Kennedy's book is an engaging and revealing journey, and I would recommend it highly.

I could not put this book down; I literally read it in one sitting. The fresh new voice of Jeffe Kennedy will make readers laugh and cry. I especially enjoyed her descriptions of her family, lover, and tribulations of being a woman in a male-dominated profession. Jeffe is one to watch! This book of essays should only be the first in a line of fantastic books to come. My favorite chapters include "Appliances," "Girfriends," and "Home Ec."

I loved this book! What a delightful documentation of the transformation of a child into a mature woman! I particularly related to her story because she straddles two worlds--the sophisticated life in the city with art and culture, and the Wyoming West of men, trucks and being tough. My own family comes from both those worlds and I found Jeffe's book a validation of my own feelings.

Note: I submitted another review on this book about three weeks ago, but have not seen it yet, so am submitting this.

Wyoming Trucks, True Love, and the Weather Channel is one of those books that is difficult to categorize. It's memoir, essay, American West, magazine articles, all of that and yet not quite any of it. The title tells you how wide-ranging these pieces are, and it actually refers to only one of the essays in the collection. Even Amazon.com has had trouble pigeon-holing the book, since it appears here on a children's books page.

The strongest essays are the ones about Kennedy's family. The first piece is about visiting the site of her father's death in a plane crash twenty-five years earlier. She visits with her mother and they recall a time that Kennedy doesn't quite remember, when she was only three years old. By the end of the essay, you have a good idea of who Kennedy is.

Subsequent essays discuss her childhood, her friends, her relatives, and her long-time boyfriend. A chapter called Thanksgiving is one of the best essays, about her awkward relationships with the children of her boyfriend and with their mother, her boyfriend's ex-wife. The awkwardness comes to a head when one of the children is hospitalized and Kennedy realizes that although she has no formal or recognized relationship with the children, she feels responsibility and love for them.

For such a slim volume of essays, there's a lot to think about here.

This book came into my life almost accidentally, and I took my time getting it to the top of the stack. But as soon as I finished it, I wrote Jeffe Kennedy to offer my congratulations for a job superbly done. I now plan to purchase at least three more copies: one for my newlywed nephew in Colorado, because the book has such an emotional impact from a uniquely western point of view; one for my sister and brother-in-law, North Carolinians who have fallen in love with the west; one for a sister who just likes to read, and who, like Kennedy, inherited her husband's children. I list these recipients to illustrate that this book is for everyone. Yes, it's a woman's book, but only in that it was written by a woman. There's a wry voice, full of wisdom from life's lessons learned, ripe with humor and the author's ability to laugh at herself, and perhaps most important, laced with valuable information about the ecology of the region. Webster's defines ecology: The totality or pattern of relations between organisms and their environment. That's exactly what Kennedy gives us in this book...she's the organism and the many settings in her book are the environment. Buy this book. Read it and pass it on as a gift to someone you love; you'll be giving a gift of hours of pleasurable reading.

Well worth the money you'll pay for this book

Well worth the money you'll pay for this book

This publication has been my "Hikers Bible" for many years now. As some of you already know, there is not much information out there on this subject. Craig Martin has created a concise, easy to read list of places to the footpaths of New Mexico. Complete with maps and photos. A book I keep in my car!

This book, as the title states, lists 75 hikes that are in New Mexico. I found this book to be very useful in planning our family camping trips.

I particularly liked the fact that at the start of each hike was some information that can help me rule out or count in a hike with very little reading. For example, it will provide: distance, elevation, elevation gain, interesting points of the hike, maps that I might want to have, the difficulty, the best season to hike this trail. THe maps also are very useful.

My only comment would be that the pictures are black and white and many of them can be left out with very little loss since they don't add much to the text. (in otherwords, they are flowers, chipmunks etc.)

An excellent resource for someone who might be interested in hiking New Mexico.

I'm pleased to see that academia is now starting to look to subcultural doings as they happen, instead of invoking the fond nostalgia that the Beatniks inspired. The ability to digest and deconstruct the events that take place in this otherworldly space is much to be commended, and I think that by doing so the authors of these various articles may be tapping in to something most of their colleagues shy away from. The articles themselves are intriguing and scholarly, but never lose sight of their subject. I would love to see more editions of this book as the event (and the world around it - the context) changes and grows!

Prior to reading this excellent sophisticated introduction to Burning Man, I had dismissed this event as shamanism and tantra for amateurs. However, these well written, knowledgeable, and at times quite learned articles, have convinced me that Burning Man allows for the creation of authentic rituals that are rife with both transformative and aesthetic epiphanies. Moreover, it appears that Burning Man has largely not yet been" recouped" (to the use Guy Debord's term) by bourgeois capitualist society, and thereby succeeds where its predecessors, the Surrealists and Situationists, left off. Next year, instead of visiting the Himalayas or Mongolia for my taste of the (w)holy other, I will just go to Burning Man.

in these pages? Read this book and you will. Tho the author comments that this book was a composite of many different burning an festivals, te undercurrent feels strangely like one which puts you there in the middle of things.

There are a few details which, if you've been there, are a little flaky, and the book gets off to kind of a slow start (ergo the 4 stars) but as you bury yourself in this read (and it's one read that, if you're at all a burner, you will end up burying yourself in) you will be amazed... engrossed... wind blown... with a lot of little surprises thrown in that you don't expect, even all the way at the end.

There is another thing, tho... if you've never been to Black Rock City, and wonder what all the hubbub is about, ad you want to know if that ticket's worth it... and what it's getting you into... this book will give you a fairly good idea. Of course, your experience is your own... but, like I said in the beginning... read this, and you can almost smell the playa dust in these pages...

Critical writing up to any academic standards fused with a joy in language and topic. Wonderful! It will make your mind spin with ideas, and what could be better than that!

All This Way for the Short Ride: Roughstock Sonnets is a rollicking blend of poetry and action-packed, black-and-white photographs celebrating the American West, the ranch way of life, and especially rodeo culture. Written in the continued spirit of the original "Roughneck Sonnets", All This Way for the Short Ride pays especial tribute to the brave men and women who dare to ride fiercely bucking broncos for as many seconds as they can. A collaboration brimming with life, love, and the passion of the strongest roughnecks, highly recommended for western and rodeo fans. " The Night the Devil Danced on Me": A werewolf moon glares / from the top row of the bleachers, horned / owl with one eye plucked. In the black hole / of chute 8, Lonewolf waits - / an ugly bronc, mustang and rank, / the cowboys say, with notched right ear / and snaky, suck-back ways.

This is an entertaining and moving collection of 32 poems by Montana poet Paul Zarzyski, who belongs to that rarified fraternity of rodeo cowboy poets. The intensity and focus required for riding roughstock are transferred into these highly charged poems, and most of them have the headlong intensity of a high-scoring 8-second ride.

Some of my favorite Zarzyski poems are included in this collection: "Buck," a Christmas-time lament for a dead horse; "To Wallace," a tribute to rancher-poet Wallace McRae; "Partner," about the fierce and loving bond between two rodeo friends, dedicated to Montana writer, Kim Zupan; "Monte Carlo Express - Box 258, 15.3 Miles Home," about reading mail while driving a speeding car; and the high-spirited "Escorting Granny to the Potluck Rocky Mountain Oyster Feed at Bowman's Corner." The best, of course, is the title poem, "All This Way for the Short Ride," about the death of another rider.

There's an appreciative foreword by Wyoming-born western writer, Teresa Jordan, and 27 wonderful black-and-white rodeo photographs by Montana photographer Barbara Van Cleve, taken between the years 1971-1996. An excellent addition to any bookshelf of Western literature.

I took my wife on a whirlwind vacation of Montana in 1996. One of our stops was the annual Cowboy Poetry Reading in Lewistown. Paul was there to recite "Rosined-Up-'n'-Itchin'-to-Git" and "Monte Carlo Express-Box 258, 15.3 Miles Home." Afterwards I had the great pleasure of meeting him and shaking his hand. I was so impressed by his ability to describe his feelings for the West and for his own personal experiences that I wanted to read more, and was able to find copies of his Roughstock Sonnets and I Am Not A Cowboy. Everything about this man tells you what it's like to live life to the fullest, from the bare-back of a bucking horse. Thank God there are still cowboys among us.

Zarzyski is the perfect guide to take us on a journey through the cowboy life - his heart and his soul. But these poems aren't just for cowfolk, horsefolk, and rodeo lovers. "All This Way..." contains some of the most poignant, soul-touching lyrics. The poems seem rough, but once the reader catches the rhythm, it's a beautiful ride! Van Cleve's photos, honest and real, set Zarzyski's works off perfectly. If you are a horse/cow person or just a lover of fine poetry, please experience "All This Way for the Short Ride"! You will be greatly rewarded.

Since I personlly know both author/wife and architect I can look back over 12 or 13 years and say, uniquivocally, that Dr Mead and his wife/photographer have not only escaped the dreaded, and all too common categorization and sycophantic drooling that characterises most architectural books, articals, essays, reviews ... just pick a category and some adjectives for yourself. THIS IS GOOD, SOUND WORK -- as an architect who benefited from both their perspectives, and as a frequent editor -- THIS IS GOOD, SOUND WORK. Top drawer.

If your a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright, Greene and Greene or Kendrick Kellogg, then you will find this book quiet fascinating.
Prince seems to take his work a step further than most architects offering a touch of fantasy to his architecture. The book has lots of glossy photos, floor plans and information on Prince's life and work.

A book as interesting as the funky forms it analizes. I have had the honour of both reading this book and attending Professor Mead's architecture retrospective class series. The book is filled with an incledibly informed, and informative text which is supported with excellent photos and diagrams. I highly reccomend this book for students of architecture, or just for an interesting read, and if you find yourself in the area of the University Of New Mexico, I highly suggest you do yourself the favour of sitting in on one of Professor Mead's lectures

If Frank Lloyd Wright is King, than indeed Bart Prince is Prince. The photographs in the book are brilliant and Christopher Mead's Commentary is awesome and highly informative as well. Showing a lot into Bart Prince the man himself. I hope one day to own a Bart Prince Home.

At last, the definitive guide to breeding birds in Arizona. Well written with beautiful photographs. A must have reference for the serious Arizona birder and avian ecologist.

Excellent book, love it so far. Lots of great info as well as nesting locations and life histories for all the nesting birds in Az. As a student of wildlife biology/ornithology this book has already come in handy a few times. The only thing I would change is maybe better pics, or diagrams to help in identification. Overall though, I would definately suggest this book to anyone interested in ornithology. BUY IT!

If you don't have it, GET IT! The new authority on Arizona's breeding birds has rode into town!

Arizona has been a dream destination for birders and ornithologists for a century and a quarter. Since the publication of the first Lane guide more than 30 years ago, traveling birders have benefited from the availability of a number of "birding Baedekers" for finding the state's many specialties. But what of birders who want to go beyond simply listing the Arizona rarities? With Phillips et al.'s excellent monograph on the distribution and status of Arizona's birds more than forty years old, and the most recent annotated checklist pushing 25, local birders and visitors alike have often found it difficult to place their sightings in context.
Now come Corman and Wise-Gervais, and their corps of well over 250 volunteer 'atlasers', with the first major reference work on the state's birds to appear for a long generation. Well designed and richly illustrated, the new Arizona Breeding Bird Atlas (or, to use the faintly discoish acronym, ABBA) fully deserves the place of honor it will occupy on birders' bookshelves, next to the magnum opus of Phillips, Marshall, and Monson.
Field work for the ABBA was begun in 1993 and completed at the turn of this century. Given the size of the state and the low number of observers available in all but the most densely populated areas, a system of "priority" blocks was developed for the surveys; the difficulties and the sampling methodologies developed to overcome them are clearly described in the book's introductory matter, as are the criteria and definitions used to document each species' breeding status.
While the book covers only those species known or suspected to have bred in Arizona, the splendid maps and well-illustrated habitat descriptions will be tremendously useful even to birders who visit the state only during non-breeding season (a nearly meaningless concept for species such as Lesser Goldfinch, which nests nearly year-round in the desert lowlands).
The results are published in a series of clearly structured species accounts, each occupying a full opening and each with a photograph of the species and a dramatically large, easily interpreted map showing the locations of breeding records. The species portraits are strictly speaking not necessary, but with only a few slight clunkers in the lot, they do add considerably to the visual appeal of these pages. For many species, convenient graphs showing habitat distribution and breeding phenology are also provided.
Although contributed by 19 different authors, the prose accounts show a uniformity of style that is greatly to the credit of the editors; only in the short anecdotal paragraphs beginning each account does the voice of the individual author intrude, sometimes charmingly, often less so. The 'meat' of the accounts is rigorously structured, with a detailed description of the species' habitat preferences followed by a clear summary of each bird's breeding biology in Arizona, including full and often carefully analyzed information on timing, nest construction, and behavior; this is simply great stuff, and it is high praise to say that over the last weeks I have found myself consulting ABBA in such matters as often as the online version of Birds of North America.
The accounts conclude with a discussion of the map data; many of the most interesting comments here are those directed at the apparent absence of certain species (the mysterious Lewis's Woodpecker, for example) in areas where they might be expected to breed. Careful readers will note many opportunities for research into new topics.
Among the appendices is a nearly 20-page bibliography, an extremely welcome addition to the resources available on Arizona ornithology.