South Dakota Books

This 3 Ivy-League certificated Dickens shop-girl made my life seem Bill Gates-esque in comparison to what she wrote about her life experiences. I didn't rate it higher because Gari recommended it, and I was sooo looking forward to a Lake Woebegon tale from a woman's perspective, NOT!!! And though it is a book about nothing, it wouldn't even make one good episode on Seinfeld. And to the author: You may not ever have had one, but you don't have to be so explicit about it, just PRETEND sometimes!!!!!

I grew up in South Dakota, and really enjoyed and appreciated how this book captures the feelings of that experience: the beauty of the endless prairie meeting the boundless sky far off on the horizon, the wonder and awe of Minneapolis, and the feeling that you never quite fit in anywhere else in the world but the prairie.

Portable Prairie is a brilliant memoir. M. J. Andersen introduces one little story after another and then refers to each again and again, weaving it all together in a wonderful tapestry. She understands that home is more a place in the mind than a place on the map. It is beautiful writing and my favorite of anything I've read in the last few years. It is the kind of book I will keep to enjoy again.

M.J. Andersen's search for home will resonate with just about anyone, whether you've moved a 100 times or lived in the same town your entire life. She is looking not just for a physical space to call her own, but an emotional one as well.
Anderson's story is both amusing and touching, as she takes the reader through her childhood in South Dakota, through her years on the east coast - first at Princeton and eventually in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. She understands the human need to find what is recognizable in any place - especially in a place where one's ancestors originated. She writes in an easy, thoughtful style that evokes all the landscapes she is intimately familiar with. The book is deep without being weighty.
In addition, as a transplant myself, and someone one who found herself living in Cambridge, I found Andersen's take on Boston and Cambridge to be right on the mark. She finds the humor in a place that often takes itself too seriously.

In Portable Prairie, M.J. Andersen's biographical meditation on home, we are challenged to answer for ourselves: is home a location, a place, or do we carry it around with us as the snail carries his shell? In weaving the threads of her life and intellectual growth, she creates a rich tapestry in which we, as readers, can see elements of our own experience. Andersen travels the country and the world in her search, mixing Tolstoy and Disneyland, Kierkegaard and shopping. Oh, and it's funny - Andersen will draw you along as though building an argument in debate and then leave you laughing out loud.

Mark St. Pierre is a writer who understands the world of white culture and the world of the Lakota Sioux. In "Of Uncommon Birth" he brillantly uses the contextual background of the Vietnam War to bring the reader into the world of the Lakota Sioux, and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, juxtaposed against a dominant white civilization that exploits both white and Indian youth from backgrounds of modest means. A must read for anyone concerned with the plight of the Lakota. A brillant work by a master storyteller.

Mark St. Pierre does not seem to know where his reality and fantasies begin or end. I had trouble understanding where he was comming from and if I should keep reading or head down to the local used book store and find better " used and worn out " books to keep my intrest. I do not wish to say anything further, for fear I might give anyone the unfortunate idea to read this trash for themselves. I hope Mr. St.Pierre does not quit his day job.

St. Pierre is a consumate story teller. He brings the two pivotal characters in the story to life in such a way that you want to simply hang out with them. I am not a Vet (though veterans will resonate with the book deeply), a Lakota Indian, or a man from the Dakotas, but the book spoke to me in a powerful way. Don't miss it.

Two young men from South Dakota cross paths on the way from very different versions of this place called America. They are on a journey to understand manhood and love and family and duty. One is white, one Indian, and they meet in Basic Training. Their paths uncross in Vietnam, where the reader is shown the nature of that war--perhaps any war--with a truth that cannot be dismissed. The impact of this non-fiction novel is more similar to Michael Shaara's THE KILLER ANGELS than to much recent writing about warfare. The reader comes to care about, and to understand these young men, and through them, their worlds.

This tired story has shown to be rife with fabrications and made-up alibis. Peltier's true story can be found in the Federal Register, where court after court has affirmed his conviction. All of these major decisions preceded testimony in another trial (U.S. v. Arlo Looking Cloud, Feb, 2004) that revealed Peltier bragged about committing the murders in front of four witnesses.

Reading this book inspired me to somehow get involved in the movement for Leonard Peltier. This man was convicted of a crime there was no proof he committed and the situation has gone largely ignored by our government for 20 years!!! Read this book, learn the facts, and then get involved. Whether it be by talking about Leonard Peltier to other people and informing them, or by writing letters to your elected officials, DO SOMETHING! A fellow American has been unjustly imprisoned and it's our duty to help him.

Imagine for a moment. A political prisoner has been languishing in prison closing in on 20 years. Evidence has pointed to his innocence. His extradition from another country was based on false testimony. Even the agency that arrested him admitted to the strong possibility of his innocence. Where am I? Nazi Germany? Communist China? Russian Gulag? NOPE!! I'm right here in the GOOD OL' U.S.A.!! For close to 20 years Leonard Peltier has sat in Leavenworth. His charges of killing a federal agent has been proven false. Appeal after appeal has gone against him. So why is this injustice allowed to continue? BECAUSE WE ALLOW IT!!! If this book doesn't get you motivated to do something about this, then you are part of the problem, not the solution

This book was written to get his side of the story. The U.S Gov't would like to portray him as a cold heartless Indian who deserves to be in jail. If 1000s of people worldwide , which include leaders of countries and celebrities.
If you thought all the "bad stuff" the government did to American Indians the last 300 years was over......read this.

This book is really geared to the lower denominator in terms of what there is to do in the Black Hills. Not very much insight that you can't get from the tourist info you get from flyers. Should say more about how anti-family Deadwood has become and about the incredible natural resources that are in the area.

We just returned from South Dakota. We took our [...]grandson. The book was perfect for us. It gave us all the things that kids loved to do and we let him decide which ones he wanted to see. We had 5 days there and we used it all the time. We had bought another book but it was not nearly as good as this one.

We just got back from spending over a week in the Badlands and Black Hills. I turned to this book over and over since we brought 3 kids under the age of 10. A great resource when you're looking for things to do with kids. You'll need a separate book for hotels, restaurants, etc. but this book was exactly what I needed to plan activities throughout the day that my kids wouldn't be totally bored with.

Other customers certainly liked this book better than I did. It consists of funny little stories about ranching a la Reader's Digest. It's OK, but does not live up to the subject matter's potential.

What can I say. I've been reviewing New York 'Best Sellers' for years and have yet come across such a read! The witty, earthy, straight forward writing of this auther speaks to the humor in all of us. She captures the essense of a fading culture; illuminating the invisible. Klippenstein, reminds us of what is important. In her world,shared friendships and experiences fill the pages to her life, bringing life to these delightful stories. Art Critic,

In one way this book accurately depicts life on a family ranch in the area where the author lives; she says nothing that is totally untrue. On the other hand it is misleading. Ranch life is more rewarding than Hasselstrom seems to find it. The somewhat trite whining about minor problems masks some of the real fulfillment and pain that comes with ranching. The author has published several books since this one first appeared in 1987. Some of the later work is much better.

The book has some quality things going for it. The author also writes poetry and that comes across in her prose at times, as it does in the chapter titled, "Sixth Gate." Humor also shows through; the "Seventh Gate" is a good example. The author express well the joys of a spring morning, riding to look at the livestock in good weather, and gazing across a South Dakota landscape that is often delightful. The ranch lies between the Black Hills and the flatlands farther east. She hints at the great feelings that come with pride in raising quality livestock, bring up children in a wholesome environment, helping a new calf come into the world, and taking responsibility for living an independent life. The "Eleventh Gate" about battling a prairie fire is the finest in the book. It illustrates how rapidly fighting fire can demarcate success and failure on a vital scale.

If the reader finds a rancher who has time to talk and asks them what is good about their life, most will list all of the positives found in this book and more besides. Ask about the most serious problems and you will find that most of the big ones are in this book, although nearly hidden in some cases. The uncertainty of the weather and markets may be the first things mentioned. The need for water, both surface water or in wells, is perhaps the most important issue facing ranchers and farmers in the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska. Another valid issue for family operations is the difficult of competing with larger operations, growers located closer to their markets, growers in climates better suited to production, and producers in countries with lower standards of living. It is likewise true that long-term declining profit margins have forced family operations to continually get larger, with fewer people on the land.

Ranchers can also fill your ears with complaints about hunters who won't shut gates, vegetarians, environmentalists, litter from fast food containers, dumb people from the east, and myriad other things. They will also complain about things such as governmental policies, water rights, expenditures on welfare, corporate agriculture, people's disregard of the worth of the family farm, and public right-of-way across their land. At lot of it is simply boilerplate. There is far too much of that in this book. If the author takes it seriously, it is hard to fathom why she came back to the ranch or continues to live there.

Fortunately for us, Hasselstrom does more than ranch; possibly out of both mental and financial necessity. There are several fine books on our shelves that she has written or edited.

I first read this book in a regional lit class in college. Being a farmer's wife, I related easily to her tales of life as she "passed through the gates" on the ranch. What an interesting format. The book touched on the important past as well as present rural issues that make that life unique. The author comes across as a strong, independent, and thoughtful woman--someone who respects the power of the past and is interested in the future. The clash of technology and ranching is also explored in a sensitive way. It was a great "journey"--going with her as she rode the ranch--a vast empire of land that holds special significance to her and many others.

This is one of my favorite books. I first read it when I had left the traffic clogged freeways of LA to live the rural life. I will never forget the sense Hasselstrom gave of what it really takes to battle the elements (and the political and economic changes) that create such a harsh reality for real working ranchers. As an editor I often refer writers to this book as an excellent example of memoir writing. I highly recommend this and Hasselstrom's other books. She is such a skilled writer that whatever she writes about is surely worth reading.

If you are interested in early South Dakota Railroads & Depots in particular, this book is a must have. It has a fine selection of photographs with captions and reproduction is first rate. Not only is it
fascinating reading, but it is also fine reference tool. I did find a couple of errors in the captions, but it did not distract from the overall quality of the book.

The book contains great old photographs of SD railroads, predominantly in the Eastern part of the State which was settled first. The photos show the travails of railroad men fighting the elements and of terrible trainwrecks. They are a wonderful chronicle of the history of railroading in South Dakota.

First, let us emphasize the positive aspects of this slim book: The photographic reproductions, while understandably monochromatic given their 1910-era coverage, are generally sharp, well-focused, and consistently oriented to the railroad motif promised by the title of the book, IMAGES OF RAIL: SOUTH DAKOTA RAILROADS. They are also plentiful, two appearing on each page of the 128-page book. These images originally appeared on postcards, and a more descriptive title for the book would have been SOUTH DAKOTA RAILROAD POSTCARDS; however, the fact that all of the pictures have been previously published on postcards does not detract from their interest. The multitude of photographs is, of course, the central focus and the main strength of the book, which never purports to emphasize text, which is good, as we shall now see.

The authors should probably have relied totally upon photos with captions even more minimal than the brief and repetitious ones they included, for whenever any text appears, problems arise. To look at some typical examples, we can start as soon as page 4, with an envelope bearing the return address of the C&NW Depot Hotel in Huron, SD. The caption identifies this as the Canadian and North Western Railway Hotel and adds that "This railroad later became the Chicago and North Western." Perhaps, but I've never read of such a Canadian railroad before this. The Chicago & Northwestern RR began by purchasing the assets of the bankrupt Chicago, St. Paul and Fond du Lac RR and soon merged with the Galena and Chicago Union RR. Early on, it also owned a majority of stock in the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Ry. Nowhere in its history, however, can I find any other mention of something called the "Canadian and North Western," and I believe the photo caption to be erroneous by creating a non-existent rail line.

Two other fictitious lines are created a few pages later when the Chicago, St. Paul, MINNEAPOLIS and Omaha RR is mis-identified as the Chicago, St. Paul, MINNESOTA and Omaha, a railroad that never existed outside this book. Likewise, the Minnesota and St. Louis RR is wrongly named the Minneapolis and St. Louis. Had the authors consulted the photographs on pages 20, 98, and 109 of their own book, they would have discovered their errors.

Beyond these factual errors, grammatical mistakes abound in the scanty text. The acknowledgments page thanks the "wife's" of the two authors, using the singular possessive rather than the plural form of the noun. A caption on page 11 and another on page 19 throw in the pronouns "their" and "they" with no antecedent nouns to identify the references. A caption on page 13 tells us that "the sender" of the postcard was "postmarked August 25, 1916...." Plural and compound subjects are followed by singular verbs as in a caption stating that a "Depot and elevators ... is pictured here...." Back to factual errors, page 42 includes a photograph of a line of grain elevators while the caption implies that they are for coal storage.

Things don't improve as one progresses through the book, either. On page 96, the town of Mystic is misspelled "Mistic." Photographs of an accident on the Milwaukee Road on pages 103 and 104 cannot agree on the date of the wreck. On page 166, a photograph of a burning Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul box car is captioned "fire in the Chicago, Milwaukee and Puget Sound boxcars...."

Occasionally, the authors apparently do not even understand what they're looking at. Page 125 depicts a locomotive "off the tracks" and implies that snow is the culprit. In fact, the locomotive has plunged off a misaligned turntable, leaving the front end down in the pit. While technically "off the tracks," the engine has suffered a mishap quite different from a mere derailment, and the snow likely had nothing to do with the cause.

There are also some errors of omission in this collection. The title notwithstanding, with only two or three exceptions, the book does not depict "South Dakota Railroads," but EASTERN South Dakota railroads, for the western lines that served the Black Hills are not included or even listed on the page that claims to identify the "following 12 railroads [that] operated in South Dakota during the 1907 to 1920 period." Where are the Deadwood Central, the Black Hills & Ft. Pierre, and the Burlington and Missouri River? All missing.

Judged by its photographs alone, this collection probably rates four Amazon stars, missing the fifth because of its lack of inclusion of the Black Hills region of the state. However, the copious textual errors of both fact and grammar rate no more than a single star at best. The two-star rating I've chosen to assign is a grudging compromise between these extremes. The book is quite adequate as a collection of early twentieth century railroad scenes; however, as even a cursory history reference, it falls abysmally short.

After watching the entire first three seasons of Deadwood on DVD, I decided to take a shot at this book. I found it to be a fast read, and I was a little disappointed by the lack of complexity in the character development. I flinched at the way women were characterized in the book, (let's just say that only one of the prostitutes had a "heart of gold," and even she came to a bad end.)

The good guys were pretty much mostly all good, with little or no dark side. This is especially true of the hero of the story, Dan Ryan. I would have liked to see more complexity in his and other key characters. The bad guys were pretty much all bad, with little or no good to them. One good guy went bad, and one bad guy went sort of good, but more could have been done with that.

There were no female heroines in the story except Lou the cook, and she didn't seem to do much more than cook - Calamity Jane was described in way that seemed to dismiss her as drunken, sleazy, parasitic trash. Regardless of what Calamity Jane was and wasn't, it isn't fair to paint such a one-dimensional portrait.

There were two rather dubious romantic sub-plots, neither of which had much depth.

If it weren't for the sexually explicit passages in the book, the cursing and the violence, the simplistic plot would have made me think it was a children's book.

Very good reading, a page turner, will definetly leave you wanting to read the other two in the series. My advice, buy the other two when you get this one. Pretty close to actual historical events. Great Read

This is pretty well done for one of those writer-for-hire Western book series. (You know the ones, where each "novel" is written by a different anonymous contract writer but always under the same fictitious name? No, Virginia, there is no 'Mike Jameson' -- that's why the book is copyrighted by 'The Berkley Publishing Group' instead of by an actual person.)

Usually the first book of this type of series is contracted out to a really good writer. The ones that follow in the series tend to vary in quality, so it's a very good idea to give those the old first page test before plunking down the bucks for them. (If a writer can't write a great first page, he damn sure can't write a whole book.)

But whoever wrote this one seems to know his game. The citizens of Deadwood are historically true to life and the made-up ones mesh perfectly into the scheme of things as well. Fans of the TV series 'Deadwood' will be very much at home here. Hickok, Calamity and Al Swearengen are all there, though mainly as background.

A generally fine entertainment and a nice start in a potentially fine series.

Whoever this first 'Tales from Deadwood' novel's author really is, I hope he (or she) gets more work soon.

'Tales from Deadwood 2: The Gamblers' is due out in May 2006.

Hope it's as good.

I grew up in the Hidewood area and I have purchased some copies of this book as gifts which were given to old friends. The book is well written, factual, reasonably documented for a work of this sort, contains many names I recognize, and it provides an accurate verbal picture of life in this small part of the country during that period of time. I do not know the author, but his style certainly fits comfortably with the culture he describes. This is rural South Dakota depicted as I also recall it, and it has been written by one of our own. There is another author, Jim Roth, who has published a book titled "Memories of Estelline" which describes this same small region a couple of decades later in a series of short essays. However, I suspect books of this sort will be of interest to a rather limited population.

I grew up two miles and one generation away from the setting of this story. It brought back childhood memories of familiar locations and names. The author uses an interesting technique of telling the story with different points of view in each chapter. It makes for enjoyable reading even though it's a mostly fiction story based on real characters. The author's POV is used often enough to bring out the emotions of a coming-of-age story and the social aspects of mid-Thirties farm life. There are many similarities between this Hidewood memoir and mine, "A Farm in the Hidewood: My South Dakota Home."

This is the history of the years (1890-1906) that Bruce Siberts spent as a cowboy and rancher in central South Dakota. Walker D. Wyman edited oral and written material obtained from Mr. Siberts between 1945 and 1950. The account is more open and frank than other personal histories from the Dakotas and Montana during that time. It is an important part of the history of the plains.

Bruce Siberts was in South Dakota during a period of great change. When he arrived, a few cattlemen were running large herds on open range. Mr. Siberts was one of the first of the wave of homesteaders that ultimately closed off the open range. Early in his tenancy, he was a small operator running a few head of cows and working at various jobs wherever he could. By the time he left, Mr. Siberts had a large and profitable horse operation that depended on the open range. It was also a time of personal change for Siberts. Initially he was a greenhorn criticized for riding mares during a roundup. Before he left, he was boss of a roundup.

It was a hard life. Wind, cold, and severe winters were the rule. Like most of the others living in the area, Mr. Siberts had a dugout, a small cabin dug into a hillside with a sod roof and no floor. He was unmarried and it was a long way to any white neighbors. Many of the white people in the country were outlaws. A constant fear was that injury or loss of your horse would leave you unable to get to help in time to save your life. Few people had any money, and a dollar per day was good wages if you could find work.

It was also a time of change for the Native American population. There were many Sioux; they outnumbered the permanent white population. The Indians had admitted defeat in their struggles against the whites and were reluctantly moving to reservations. Whether living on the reservation or not, the Indians were dependent on the U.S. agencies for food since the buffalo were gone and the government didn't allow the Indians to keep their guns.

The relationship between whites and the Indians is an interesting part of the book. Both lived in similar conditions. Early on, a rider arriving at a home received free food and lodging, regardless of whether the rider or the homeowner was white or Indian. Later on, as more whites arrived and the reservation system degraded the Indians, there was greater discrimination against the Indians. There were also many half-breeds in the area and their culture was different from either of their parent races.

By far the weakest part of the book is the foreword and the preface. Mr. Siberts didn't have anything to do with writing these; but, ironically, the authors of those sections are the names on the book cover. Both accounts are slightly disparaging of Mr. Siberts and his narrative. They raise a question as to its authenticity. That is unfair. Some of the tales may reflect nearly fifty years between the happening and the telling. Some may have evolved slightly through many tellings. However, I knew a few of the old cowboys and my father was working livestock in Nebraska during part of the same period Mr. Siberts was in South Dakota. This account is accurate, without the glamour and romanticism that books and movies have added to the cowboy life in the intervening years

This is a true story of a man in the South Dakota territory between end of the Indian Wars and the settling of the homesteaders. This will fill the void that this time period is seldom written about.