Oregon Books

This book is a page turner. The author takes you on a journey with him as he bushwacks across the state of Oregon. He tells you of the interesting characters he meets, the animals, the dangers, everything. The story that unfolds is compelling. He writes both from his daily journal, as well as little interesting snippets of history about the ground he covers.
I just gave a gift copy to my wife. I also remember a camping trip some years ago. I went with a writer friend. I brought the book along to read a bit when I got into my sleeping bag each night. During the days, I'd leave for hikes and leave the book behind. When I returned, she was deeply into the book - couldn't put it down. I'd invite to go on hikes, she politely refused each day. That whole weekend, she barely came out of the tent, or when she did, the book was in her hand. She spent the entire camping trip reading that book - she loved it.
It's an awesome trip to take with the author. Enjoy

I bought this book used and quite cheap at a used bookstore (Powell's downtown) based solely on the cover. I was pleasantly suprised and really enjoyed it. It really takes you away from the hustle & bustle of everyday life through the wilderness which seems to be constantly shrinking in this Country. I would love to do a hike/trip like that someday.

This book was a Christmas present for my boyfriend, but I snagged it first and did nothing but rave about it as I read it.

The writing style is perfect - educational, personal, and almost like you are actually there with him on the hike. The tidbits of history, geology, botany are blended with observations of those met along the way and the writer's own growth.

I'm not a hiker (not even close!) but this book made me feel like I could get out there and do it - at least until reality set in. Even so, I enjoyed every step of the author's trip.

I just finished this book today and I must say, I hated coming to the end of the trail on this one (pun intented). From the opening to the close, this book takes you right into the author's daily trek. Through lunch, second lunch, dinner, through rain, sun, heat, cold, etc.

I have to say though, the very best attribute of this book is the author's writing skill. He entertains while informing, and while taking us along step-by-step through the beautiful wildernes he continually encounters.

Thanks Mr. Sullivan for taking the time not only to complete such a difficult journey, but also for having the discipline to keep a journal throughout and then to turn it into a fun, engaging book. We get to go with you without bearing a 55 pound pack along the way.

Reading this book felt a lot like taking a very long walk with a smart, aware, brave and sensitive friend. Here is someone who really knows how to live in the present. It's so inspiring that after I'd finished reading the book, I just wanted the journey of discovery and insight to continue. So today I'm going out to see what new paths I can discover on the outskirts of the city of Ashland. This is a book I know I'll revisit again and again.

I found this book valuable for identifying plants associated with the lichens I collect. It is easy to use, the photos are good and I really appreciate both the range maps and phisiographic map (on the inner back cover). Dana Ericson

Over all this is an excellent field guide. Two minor complaints: some of the plants have no accompanying photo, just a line drawing detailing their seed pods or flower. Also, some have very brief descriptions and say things like "Indigenous people used to eat this". Okay, why'd they stop? Is the plant considered toxic? Did the Indians get sick from it and stop using it?

This is simply an outstanding text. I used to work outdoor school in the pacific northwest, and this book ranked space in my day pack every day of the week. Very clear photos show you exactly what the plants look like, and text is clear and interesting. Highly recommended.

For anyone interested in Northwest Native Plants, this is an essential reference. Arthur Lee Jacobsen's "Wild Plants of Greater Seattle" is another useful book, although not as detailed. "Vascular plants of the Pacific Northwest", by Charles Leo Hitchcock, in 7 volumes for $300.00, is much more detailed but not as handy. I have used my "Pojar" so much that I wore it out and had to get a second copy. I found it useful when I was just beginning to learn about native plants, and now that I can identify over 200 species on sight, I still use it to learn about ethnobotany, which plants are edible, and where to plant them in my garden.

Another reviewer complained that the book does not list common names in the index. This is just plain wrong. You can look up plants in the index by common name or scientific name, or you can browse through the photos until you get a match. You can also use the keys, which is the best way to learn about the relationship of one species to another, but I'm usually too lazy to work through the process. The way the plants are grouped, it's easy to narrow it down and find your plant.

My one complaint about the book is that it is sometimes difficult to pin down whether or not a particular plant is actually a native. This is usually implied, especially when they tell how indigenous peoples used the plants in everday life, but I wish the plants were clearly marked Native and Non-Native.

I'd actually give this 4.5 stars if I could. This is a great all around guide for the west side of the Cascades. It doesn't include every plant, particularly in the sections towards the end on bryophytes, but most plants you'll want to see are in there. I'm torn on the aboriginal use data tht is presented throughout the book. On one hand, it really is quite fascinating, but on the other hand, probably several dozen more species could have been covered if these data were omitted. The maps can be a bit difficult to decipher given the range this book covers, and although most of the photos are good, a few are pretty poor. Still, it is a must-have for any nature buff in the PNW.

I checked the first edition of this book out from the library and then I didn't want to return it I liked it so much. A lot of other hiking books are hard to read and don't have pictures to help you visualize where you're going. When I saw the new edition with COLOR PICTURES, I had to buy it. This book is great-- it gives good directions, it has a picture for each hike, it even tells you if there is a campsite to say overnight or if you should expect crowds. Trail etiquette is also a good thing to include; hopefully people actually take it to heart. I love the handdrawn sketches of the trail; they do a great job of showing the topography of the hike. If you live in Portland and like getting out, this book should be at the top of your list. So many beautiful places so close by. There was one beautiful hike that was literally across the river from my favorite campsite, and I never would have found it without this book!

Typically, I buy Falcon Guides, but in this case I would recommend this guide. Not that the Falcon Guides of this area are bad, but this book is preferred. The author's living in the area shins through. His recommendations on hikes are excellent, and I found the book easy to use.

I have lived in Oregon for twenty years, I bought one of the first editions of this book, found it on my shelf yesterday. I can say its the best hiking book around, reading it was a trip down memory lane. I have done a lot of hiking, biking, kayaking over the years. Bought a new copy , time to redo a lot of my favorite hikes, Hamilton Mountian, Dog mt.
This edition is improved, the flower guide is really nice.
The best feature of this book is the small sctech maps showing the elevation and trails. No, it does not replace a real map, but its nice to have a viusual. ( years ago I was doing the Ramona falls hike and I meet a couple backpacking arounf Mt. Hood without a map! and they were lost!)
If you want an guide to the best day hiking in the Portland area,this is it .

If you live in the Portland area and like to hike, this book is a must own. Sullivan's reputation as the definitive source for hiking information is well deserved. And this wonderful, well-researched and incredibly detailed book is the only item I need when I am out hiking (aside from food and water)!

Not only does it serve as a clear and accurate guide to the hikes of the area, the book makes you feel as if you need to hike all of these hikes.

This updated NW Oregon hiking guide is an ideal daypack essential for visitors and residents alike. Bill is a peripatetic author whose slide shows I attend as often as I can, and this third edition was the subject of one of those. He's a friendly and most genial speaker/writer/ hiker whose words and pictures literally 'pop' from the page and propels the casual reader to 'take a hike'. The 2nd edition was good, but this edition's colorful photos of landscapes and wildflowers, plus traveler-friendly easy-to-follow directions and (new!) campgrounds/cabins listings puts it into the 'must-have' category. As a frequent hiker on Friends of the Columbia Gorge outings, I rely on his impeccably accurate descriptions of each hike. I also recommend Timberline Press Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest plus Moon Handbooks Columbia River Gorge for things to do before and after your explorations!

I moved to Oregon 6 years ago without any backpacking experience. Sullivan's were a perfect resource for me as a backpacker in need. This series has all the info you need and nothing you don't. I have particularly enjoyed photos(included with every single hike), 3d maps, well written directions and even background geologic/plant/wildlife info. Very useful and one of the best purchases I've made.

A word of advice: heed EVERYTHING he says. If it says its bug filled in May, or a small car shouldn't drive a certain road, BELIEVE IT! As someone who's taken 30+ backpacking trips based on Sullivan's books, I can tell you that you will not be disappointed by these recommendations. It's like a good friend who gave you his personal recommendations.

I bought this book prior to a trip to Oregon in hopes of finding some beautiful hikes. This book was a valuable tool in my search. Every hike was accurately described from details on finding the trailhead to distances traveled including the level of difficulty and points of interest along the way.

Over the last several years, I've hiked most of the trails described in "100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon." Sullivan's diving directions, trail descriptions and maps have always been perfect and immensely helpful.

The trail descriptions are both concise and crystal clear. Sullivan does not meticulously describe each detail, which leaves much to discover on your own and allows for a more personal hiking experience. He writes eloquently, and often includes great tidbits of scientific and historical information that add context to your hike. For example, he might briefly describe how a specific area was geologically formed, and point out some evidence that you'll find along trail.

Sullivan's practical advice is invaluable. If he tells you that a trail passes poison oak, you better wear long pants! If he tells you that a trail is open from July to October, don't show up without snowshoes in March! Clearly, he knows these trails well. Readers should not overlook the preface, where he provides an equipment checklist, low impact camping guidelines, contacts for trail conditions, and other useful information.

The one downside of this guide is that so many people use it. If a hike is within an hour of Portland, and is featured in this book, you can count on a crowded trailhead on a nice weekend. Plenty of the featured hikes are off the beaten path, and still consistently provide solitude. Just plan on driving for awhile.

Anybody who hikes in Oregon should consult "100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon," or one of Sullivan's other books. I also frequently use his Oregon Coast and Central Oregon guides, and they too are first rate.

Just a quick additional note: When you do hike, always leave no trace! If you see trash, pick it up! Always be respectful of our Earth, and all of its creatures.

This book is a superb guide to a wide variety of hikes in Northwest Oregon. The first edition was my bible for hikes in this area---it's tattered and torn from all the use! This edition is better than ever--with accurate updates. Every hiker in Oregon should own it!

I bought this book two years ago to add to the many guide books in my library. After two years of hiking many weekends in northwestern OR and southwestern WA, it's become clear that this is the book that get's used the most. Most of the trails are suitable for the whole family. We've hiked into the crater of Mount St. Helens, eaten wild huckle berries in Indian Heaven Wilderness, hiked every slope of Mt. Hood, visited water falls in the Columbia river Gorge that we didn't know existed and more.

Many of the trails are suitable for the occasional dry weekend in the winter months as well. Sullivan provides many low elevation trails which extend the hiking season year round.

If you live in southwestern Washington or northwestern Oregon, you should own this book.

I love this book!!! It was about this girl, Hattie Campbell, her two brothers, and her parents. They decide to go to Oregon after a steamboat captain offers them a free trip to anywhere. What happened was, Hattie's Uncle Milton was fixing the roof, and he fell off and died instantly. A few days later at the funeral, Uncle Milton's coffin slid into the river, and then the steamboat ran over it, taking the top of the coffin and Uncle Milton with it. They set off on their journey, led by a mountain man, with people from Missouri and different places. Hattie makes friends with twins named Pepper and Wade. Pepper is shy, but Wade isn't. In fact, he tells Hattie a "nasty" joke on one of the first days on the trip. Hattie also makes friends with grown ups, including a couple named Mr. and Mrs. Bigg (Their name has nothing to do with their size) and finds out a startling secret about another member. This book had an element of foreshadowing and flashback, because they have her sister's trunk, but Hattie doesn't have a sister. In all this book was very entertaining and it was hard to put down.

One of the best books around is Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie . I would rate this book 5 stars out of 5 stars! The story is about a girl named Hattie Cambell, her family wants to go to Oregon but they can't afford it untill her uncle dies. They come across some trouble, but not alot in fact she falls in love, and she fins a new best friend. As I said in the begining this is the best book in the world!

This book tells, in diary format, the story of Hattie Campbell and her family on the Oregon Trail. It starts out in Booneville, Missouri at Hattie's birthday. They travel by steamboat to Independence, and go west. Along the way, Hattie meets and makes friends with Pepper and Wade, who are twins, Gideon, and Mrs. Bigg. She also encounters a thief. The trail is filled with many dangers, including food poisoning, deaths, rivers, mountains, etc. You have to read the book to find out what happens to Hattie and her friends and family. I would recommend this book to anybody who is interested in pioneers, excitement, and dangers, or who is a fan of Kristiana Gregory's work or a fan of the Dear America series. This book is one of the best in the Dear America series, as Kristiana Gregory has once again done a superb job in the research and writing.

My story is about a youg girl about thirteen years old that,leaves her home to find a better live with her family.She as two younger brothers she did have two older sisters but they had died when she was a baby.Her family is off to find a better place in Oregon City.But little did they know that it was going to be so hard.Many people had died that was very close to Hattie.She never thought it was going to be a thing she never forget.Of corse none of Hattie's family died but close had.There was many different people in Hattie's dairy.A lot of People she did like and some she didn't But there was part of the story that I thought was very lucky.You would had never thought that hattie would try to posion anyone.But she did not mean to she found out that hemlock was not a great plant to put into supper. Hemlock is very posion even if you take a little bite.It would kill you but she did not know until after wards?She had killed one little girl that she got to know real well she even thought of her as a little sister.She also had gave the posion to a boy named Wade that she had a crush on sence the being of the trail.But he had lived from the posion.ANd know Hattie know if she wants a boyfriend she can posion them first..

There is a girl named Hattie Campell, who goes to Idependence, Mo with her family for the Pregon Trail. On their way she meets a girl named Pepper Lewis and her brother Wade Lewis. Pepper and Hattie become best friends and do all their chores together and stay with each other all they time, and one night it was Hattie's and Pepper's turn to cook and accedentally put some hemlock in the stew and three kids took a bite out of it when Hattie and Pepper weren't looking and two died and the other one was Wade who was asleep for a few weeks, and Hattie had a crush on him and then felt really bad because she accedentally poisoned him. Then he finally woke up. Then Pepper got married to a guy named Gidian. Then they had finally got to Oregon and Pepper was Hattie's neighbor and then a few years later Hattie and Wade had gotten married but they couldn't have kids and so they adopted twins who's partens had died from a diases that had been going a \round for a long time.

I live in the Portland area and really enjoyed the characters living in this beautiful part of Oregon.

I'm not an avid reader, but the story line kept me going and I couldn't wait to read more. I looked forward and found time each day to pick up this heatfelt book. The characters were like people you know or perhaps people in your own family and how some of them deal with life's challenges, with their faith in our Lord.

I love the ending. It made me cry for joy. A real Cinderella story.

"City of Roses" is a beautiful novel about love, hope, and forgiveness - three things this world could use a lot more of. I highly reccomend Elena Ives's inspiring book.

A wonderful book. I am an avid reader and always glad to read a positive, uplifing book. This one has a little of everything: romance, tragedy, drama, humor. Elana has a gift and I'm glad she's sharing it with the world. I especially love her characters and I think she develops them well. Her plots are just complicated enough to keep interest but not so much that they can't be followed easily. I love the way she set the stories locally (Oregon/Washington) and includes little details that a native would know and an outsider would want to come see. They might even be good for tourism :-)
I think the two things that stuck out the most to me were patience and faithfulness. I think these are things that are lacking so much in our world today that people need to read the book and understand how important they can be, how they can play out in lives and transfer that to their own. For instance, patience in waiting for the right person, patience with non-believers, patience with God awaiting His plan in His time are all shown through the characters and their stories. I appreciate how you showed faithfulness through sticking to a spouse even when they aren't doing the right thing. So many times the advice nowadays is "Leave him". That isn't helpful. What is needed is prayer, encouragement, counseling, wisdom, friendship etc. I'm glad she didn't show a "perfect little happy ending" but took some time to show the chance of a happy future. It wouldn't have seemed true to life otherwise. The characters are believable because she shows their strengths and flaws and puts them in everyday settings. Of course I enjoy the medical side of the books too, being a nurse. It's great that she checks with her nurse practitioner husband first. I'm one of those people watching ER or a medical show picking out all their mistakes ! I will certainly read anything Elena writes in the future.

I enjoyed this books combination of an interesting story/plot combined with some definate Christian moral and ethical situations. I applaude Ms Ives for writing a story which can really help us think through some of the implications of what abortion and its after effects can do to our lives. It was also nice to read a story where the underdog came out on top by being honest and true to God! Thanks for a job well done!

What a wonderful story! I couldn't put it down. Three cheers for Mrs. Ives' clear and direct views on worldly issues; so many times the issues of the day are muddy and confusing.

I am eagerly awaiting another story!

Over the past 25 years I have read dozens of biographies. Most are not much more than a chronological listings of a person's accomplishments with little depth or analysis. This is one of the few biographies I have read that helps us understand the person which is what a real biography should do. But it is more than a biography. It helps us understand the life and the times of Tom McCall. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to get to know Tom McCall, Oregon political history of the mid 20th century and the environmental movement.

I am a Native Oregonian living on the east coast and this book helped me understand why I feel like a fish out of water in the midst of uncontrolled suburban sprawl, minimal recycling facilities, and chemical pollution violations are repeatedly ignored by local politicians.
Mr. Walth's book was exciting to read. I recommend it to anyone seeking to understand Oregonians and why we're so proud of the place we call home. Brent Walth tells the story of how Tom McCall gave us that pride.

More than two decades after his death, almost three decades after he left the governor's office, Tom McCall remains the defining figure of Oregon politics. It was during his tenure in office (1967-1975) that Oregon gained its reputation as a national leader in innovative public policy.

The McCall era saw Oregon protect virtually all of its beaches for public use; adopt the first bottle bill in the nation; clean up the Willamette River; adopt the country's first statewide land-use planning system; and much more. Although many of these concepts did not originate with McCall, he was the catylist and provided the leadership to make them a reality.

This era is brilliantly chronicled by Brent Walth in "Fire At Eden's Gate." Walth, a reporter for the Eugene Register-Guard, and now The Oregonian, knows the state and its leadership well, and this allows him to tell the McCall story with comprehensiveness and clarity. But this is more than a political biography; Walth also chronicles the story of McCall's celebrated family (including grandfather Thomas W. Lawson, "the Copper King"), his path to the governor's office, and his sometimes troubled personal life.

Anyone interested in understanding Oregon public life in the second half of the 20th century should enjoy and benefit from reading this well-crafted biography.

This biography of the modern day father of Oregon, makes this native long for days past. For days when Oregon was a leader on the national politcla/cultural/social scene.

Walth does an excellent job detailing not only the political successes of one of Oregon's greatest politicians, but also of the man's personal shortcomings.

I am not certain how much appeal this book will have to non-Oregonian's or people who are unfamiliar with the Pacific Northwest, but I feel that it should be required reading by all students of political science attending Oregon universities.

Our state legislators who are constantly invoking McCall's name and legacy to advance their own political gains, would do well to read this biography. Our elected officials of today pale in comparison to the individual giants of years past.

Deserves a place in every hotel and bed/breakfast gift shop across Oregon -- for visitors to the Pacific Northwest to pick up. Walth tells the McCall story and in doing so coaches the reader about the things Oregonians are the most passionate about. Most of us cannot travel to another state and name their most famous governor -- yet McCall's legacy is often mentioned by domestic and international visitors to Oregon.

Penny Allen's memoir, A Geography of Saints, tells of a year in the life of two lovers who take a job caretaking a horse ranch on the eastern side of the Cascades in Oregon. What kept me turning the pages were her luminous and economical imagery and controlled tone, reminiscent of Annie Proulx. She maintains balance between several story lines involving struggles she and her lover have with clear-cutting, losing control of irrigation water, and with their inner landscapes. She handles sex and violence in vivid but restrained prose that left me in awe of the mare Coco, the Vietnam vet in the woods Buckner, the pedophile victim Billy, and Penny and her lover Peter. Allen's level stare takes us in concrete ways through an amazing collection of Western concerns over drying-up towns, weird newcomers to the high desert, and care for the land. An amazing book.

Set in a vivid and dramatic landscape, this memoir tells a story filled with honesty, humor, and courage. Allen observes with a keen eye. She takes on one of the great challenges for a writer, giving us not just the surface of the moments of a relationship but the deep undercurrents, both real and imagined, and succeeds with a grace that seems effortless. Allen's inner journey blends perfectly with the wild spaces, the free spirited horses, and the quirky human world, which is at once familiar, weird, and sobering.

Allen is an engaging guide and companion. We can only hope she shares more of her journey with us.

I was very taken by this wonderful real-life novel. Even if the reality level is relatively high, the author manages to turn it into something that transcends the documentary, the journalistic. By mixing many atfirst sight totally unrelated elements, in the end it turns out to be a novel about spirituality in daily life, or about how to see meaning in it.
The location of the American North-West is much more than just an
impressive backdrop. The scenery in the broadest sense of the word, including the population, is subject and metaphor at the same time.
Penny Allen seems to focus on the "outside" of things, but interprets the "inside". All elements come together towards the very end, not only in a literary way, but in the way things sometimes do, in real life.

I read this book with a lot of pleasure and satisfaction. It is
introspective, but at the same time describes mundane and sometimes gruesome events that happen in the real world. And it's funny, if you share the author's sense of humor.

Memoirs are the current hot genre. Often they depend on one big event for their oomph, or they putter along in a very interior manner. Penny Allen, a radical bohemian filmmaker now living in Paris, caretook a horse ranch in eastern Oregon, which would provide enough gist for most memoirist's mills. Perhaps Allen is lucky, perhaps she draws intense people and events to her, perhaps her filmmaker's gaze sees and frames life as most of us do not--certainly most of us wouldn't have emerged with such an amazing quilt of interlocking stories. Thoreau observed that most people lead lives of quiet desperation, and Allen's time on the high desert proves no exception. She finds these desperate lives and recounts them brilliantly, but after the regular weird folks come the hardcore character actors: the cult of Rajneeshpuram, the Vietnam vet "on patrol," the ghost, and more. With the constitution of a war journalist, she never averts her eyes, and she is willing to tell us exactly what she saw. --Hollis Taylor, Sydney, Australia

A GEOGRAPHY OF SAINTS is as strikingly contradictory as the contemporary West. Penny Allen's diary-like account is freewheeling and contemplative, sweet and acerbic, tender and tough. It is a bravely public and intensely personal modern memoir which reveals that even in Paradise - especially in Paradise, perhaps - smugness begets arrogance and arrogance begets abuse. This is not, however, a cynical book. Ultimately, it affirms the cyclical nature of pettiness and largesse, love and loss, life and death, yielding an unsentimental, hard-won awareness that sad endings can be fresh starts.

I have to say that even though I love food and finding awesome recipes, I rarely use the awesome cookbooks and recipes that I already have. EXCEPT THIS ONE! I can honestly say that I have made and tasted several of Kathy Casey's recipes. I really like that the ingredients are all easy to find in your local, normal grocery store. (B/c I want quality AND a one-stop shop.) I also love the flavors that come from the finished product. Try the crab cakes or endive salad!

This beautiful coffee table cookbook has it all; from creative uses of apples and hazelnuts to raspberries and rhubarb (w/honey mousse!). Crab, salmon, muscles, oysters, and halibut all here as well as pork loin, lamb, chicken and duck. And the cocktails and desserts are spot on for our region. As a northwest native and editor of The Good Home Cookbook: More Than 1,000 Classic American Recipes, I can say that these recipes well represent our region in a classy, tasteful and accurate manner. I highly recommend it!

Last night we finally got rid of the left over turkey from Thanksgiving and I get to think about fixing something else. I think I'm in a shrimp mood, and this book just fell open to page 66 with Sesame Roasted Shrimp Sticks with Zippy Apricot Dipping Sauce. Spicy, quick, easy and they look absolutely delicious.

As you would expect, this book from the Northwest has a lot of seafood. More ways to cook salmon that you can count (well, really you could count them) including some ways that are quite different from the others I've seen.

Another food area that has a lot of production in the Northwest is fruit, and some of her combinations of fresh fruit with farly shart ingredients like blue cheese look like the evenings side dishes are well taken care of.

Complaints, well there's one - Martini's are sacred things, you don't go messing them up with things like cucumber and sake (see page 38) - you don't even make them out of vodka - yuch! And Seattle Expresso Martini isn't really a Martini at all. Then again, the Slow-Roasted Martini Short Ribs (page 134) maybe I won't do shrimp tonight after all.

There are a lot of things here that you don't see in other cookbooks.

I just picked up Kathy Casey's new book and I love it. I must admit that I am one of those cooks that needs pictures to entice me to make something and Kathy's cookbooks always have them. Her salad recipes are to die for. So many salads are just so bland, but the Endive salad with Roasted pears is amazing. I'm also a big fan of her French Seasoning salt. I put it on everything!

Everything we have tried from "Kathy Casey's Northwest Table" has been incredible!! I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to impress their Family and Friends with delicious (and fairly easy---a must for me!) Northwest favorites. You can't go wrong!

The very first part of the essential, very first amendment to our Constitution says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This ringing phrase, so seemingly simple and obvious, has been the focus of an enormous amount of controversy and clarification. It is a great legacy, but what does it really mean? We are still struggling to find out. In _To an Unknown God: Religious Freedom on Trial_ (St. Martin's Press) by Garrett Epps we learn how one of the latest struggles is turning out. It is a fine book to show in detail how a specific constitutional decision came to be made.

On one side of the story was Al Smith. Smith was born into the Klamath tribe, but was pulled out of it to go to Catholic boarding school. Rather late in his life he was introduced to sweat lodges and Native American religion. He was also introduced to Alcoholics Anonymous, and eventually became a respected counselor, speaker, and organizer of treatment centers for alcohol and drug abuse. As he traveled to different reservations to set up recovery programs, he came across peyote religion. It seemed to give some of his clients spiritual strength, and they seemed to do better in overcoming substance abuse if they participated in its religious ceremonies. He began to consider participating in peyote religion. He was told that taking peyote at a ceremony would violate the rules of the treatment center in which he worked, and so he did so. He was thereupon fired, and he filed for unemployment compensation. That filing set the stage for a subsequent battle within the Supreme Court and beyond.

On the other side was Oregon Attorney General David Frohnmayer. He had tried in his political offices in Oregon to mend fences with the tribes of his region. He was, however, very worried about the dangers of drug abuse, and so he felt he was doing the right thing in trying to squelch community acceptance of drugs, ceremonial or not. He approached the Supreme Court proceedings with the mantra, "Drugs are bad. Slippery slope." Not only was peyote illegal, but it was used in a minority religion; if it were allowed, then surely someone would be asking to use other drugs for religious purposes. But he did reflect sadly to his legal team, "How did we get to be the Indian bashers?"

Epps is not only a journalist and lawyer, but also a novelist. His ability to describe personalities and anecdotes serves him well, for although this is a legal story, the human stories within it are what make it live. He has used process of the legal arguments as a springboard for an examination of many connected subjects: the history of the Bureau of Indian Affairs; the story of Alcoholics Anonymous; the tale of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and the Oregon town that was taken over by his devotees; the saga of the Road Man who is the ceremonial leader of the peyote religion. These set pieces are fascinating, and strengthen the main story. It is disconcerting that there is no pat final resolution, but Epps writes, "The law of religious freedom remains unsettled." Thus may it ever be.

This book is one of the best looks at a Supreme Court case in quite some time. Examining Oregon v. Smith, one of the most important yet unheralded legal battles of our time, Epps' book plumbs the depths Indian rights, religious freedom and states rights in a manor which devestates the intellectual pretensions of Court conservatives such as Justice Scalia. The only quible one can have with the book it that it has too much detail on Oregon Attorney General Frohnmeyer. Other than that minor matter, this is a top rate book. Of additional note, the book provides an exceptionaly concise yet comprehensive overview of the Rajhneesh cult afair in Oregon, relying to good effect on the journalism of Oregon Magazine's Win McCormack.

I was lucky enough to read an early copy of this book, and I found it astonishingly good. I had loved Epps's work as a novelist (his "Shad Treatment" is one of the best first novels I know) and I had always wondered if he could apply his writerly powers to non-fiction, as well. "To an Unknown God" draws on all the creative gifts that fans of Epps's earlier books will remember. He takes an important Supreme Court case about religious freedom (he's now a law professor) and tells the story through the remarkable personalities who were involved in the case: Al Smith, the Native American member of a peyote cult who was the plaintiff, and David Frohnmeyer, the all-American Republican wunderkind attorney general of Oregon, who argued that peyote use wasn't protected as an exercise of religious freedom. Epps deconstructs these billboard identities to provide a rich and very moving account of the real people and the heartbreaking pressures that shaped their actions in this legal case. This is a rare book--taking the sometimes dry subject of law and filling it with life. I hope it's a promise of more books to come from Epps, who is a vastly talented writer.

Epps' book is one of the best in recent memory to explore a Supreme Court case. Examining the case of Oregon v. Smith, Epps deploys his skills as both a journalist and a novelist to plumb the depths of Indian rights, religious freedom and states rights. The only quibble one can have is that the book spends too much time on the minutae of Oregon Attorney General Frohnmeyer's life. Other than that minor matter, this is an elegantly told tale. As an aside, Epps presents a concise yet complete recouncting of the Rajhneesh cult saga of the '80's, relying to good effect of the work of Oregon Magazine Editor-in-Chief Win McCormack.

This book could easily have been a bore--yet another detailed legal explication of a Supreme Court case you know you should be interested in, but aren't, because you can't follow the jargon. But in Epps' hands an amazing story comes to life. This is serious constitutional law, with enormous consequences for our country, and it reads like a novel. Anyone concerned with religion and free expression should read it. Or you could just read it because it's a great read!