South Dakota Books

Very good transaction. Excellent novel and the seller was excellent to
deal with.

This is another of Waller's post-divorce from Francesca to find romance and the ever elusive love she took with her. Here, we have Carlisle searching for his father, Robert Kincaid. I thought he had died long ago. He comes to a quiet little town to rebuild his life while rebuilding an old decrepit house. Near the Sioux reservation, he listens to an accordion playing tangos, with a single drumbeat. Usually the Indians use only one drum unless they are in a ceremonial competiton.

The witch Susanna dances naked in the firelight. He was writing about this kind of fallen woman before wife and daughter departed Texas to go back to Iowa. He found his Linda, like Greg Macdonald found a young live-in replacement for his wife who returned from the rural area of Tennessee to go back to Boston. Mid-life crisis is a bore.

The Indian Flute Player, like son Jeff, charms the desert animals around the ceremonial fires. Carlisle fights city hall (if there be such in the western small towns) and this one is forever changed by one man. There is a triangle with a waitress in addition to the woman he calls a witch, which makes it decidely uneven. Carlisle, after all, is college educated, but like all men like to indulge in the lower-class women on occasion.

The Yerkes County War commences, as is my GSA war! Who will be the winner, the government or the citizen? He is so poetic and lyrical in the way he phrases things. I know it is lonely out there in Texas wading branches and fly-fishing but ...."to ancietn evenings and distant music" ... to the ballads of Madison County. He never should have left there.

Waller is one of the most descriptive writers out there - and he does it magnificently - but sometimes, I wish he'd just cut it out and tell me what he wants me to know!

The overwhelming intricate details of the middle-story about the corrupt developers and politicians was absolutely unnecessary and bogged down what could have been an excellent book!

***SPOILER*** And, Carlisle - here's a little clue. Next time you put a year's worth of your life and heart and soul and blood and guts into a project and someone wants to run a bulldozer over it - MOVE IT!!! As well built as that house was - moving it would have been such a simple task!

High Plains Tango is a story that will fascinate you from the beginning, turn you on and anger you in the middle, confuse you in a few small areas, and leave you satisfied at the end. I have never before read Robert James Waller, therefore I am not trying to compare it to "Bridges of Madison County". Perhaps this is the key to enjoying this novel (it also helps to read the book before you judge it...).
To understand the meaning of the title you have to read the whole thing, but I absolutely love how the story ties all of the characters lives together so neatly. I finished this book in 3 days, I read as my 5 month old daughter napped, and I had a hard time putting it down. Sometimes the detail and the dialogue (especially involving the elderly gentleman) got a little monotonous, but in general it's a real page turner.
If you are looking for a novel of purely romance and no other substance this is not the book for you. However if you are wanting to read something that brings out all of your emotions, truly brings to life all of the characters and leaves you wanting more then by all means read this book!

Carlisle McMillan has one goal: to find a place where industry won't find him, to settle in a land of wide open spaces where progress is much slower, if it exists at all. After years of fighting industrialization in California, he hits the road with no particular destination in mind. He's not running away from anything, not running to anything: He's merely driving, searching for a place to settle, a place yet untouched by large corporations and economic development. He finds such a town in Salamander, South Dakota, and this is where HIGH PLAINS TANGO, the poetically-titled new novel from Robert James Waller, begins.

Carlisle settles into town immediately; although locals whisper about his long "hippie" hair and question his financially independent means, he is generally accepted by his neighbors. He buys a piece of property on the outskirts of town that contains an abandoned shed and a nice grove of trees, and makes it his goal to turn the shed into a tribute to his mentor, Cody Marx, who taught him everything there is to know about the art of carpentry. Within a matter of months, the shed has become a cottage--a cozy home for Carlisle and the stray tomcat he's adopted and named Dumptruck. With two appealing women--Gally Deveraux, a down-and-out waitress at the town's only diner, and Susanna Benteen, the beautiful and mysterious "witch woman" who dances naked on the High Plains--to keep him busy, Carlisle settles into a simpler way of life. He spends evenings sitting on his porch with Dumptruck, watching the endangered T-hawk family that lives in the grove of trees on his land.

But it isn't long before Carlisle's archenemy, Progress, finds him and sinks in its teeth. There's talk in Salamander of a highway that's set to be built, one that would stretch clear from New Orleans to Calgary, one that would cut right through Carlisle's quiet patch of land. The majority of Salamander's citizens are all for the development, convinced the highway would bring new business to their dying town. But Carlisle is determined to stop the developers and preserve his simple way of life, even if it means he'll once again become an outsider to the people of Salamander...

Waller's new novel is both a romantic and an environmental text, a book that focuses both on one man's struggle to save his land from the greedy grip of corporate development, and on the woman who makes him realize that what he has is something worth fighting for. It's a beautifully written novel, heavy on atmosphere and rich with luscious prose.

However, the novel lacks focus. The plot is uneven, meandering from romantic simplicity to grassroots environmentalism. The environmental message seems to be merely thrown into the text without resolution, and the introduction of a violent character toward the end of the book is more confusing than anything. Waller's dialogue is unrealistic in many places, and his first-person narrator, a reporter of sorts, is never revealed, which is annoying. In the tradition of Kent Haruf and Mark Spragg comes another modern Western laden with cliches, a sentimental ode to the dying American small town. In more able hands, like Haruf's or Spragg's, such a novel wouldn't bother me so much--I might even enjoy it; but Waller's ability to pull it off is impeded by an uneven plot and stilted dialogue.

Nevertheless, HIGH PLAINS TANGO held my attention. The ending was particularly lovely, and I enjoyed Waller's interaction with Native American culture, legends, and mysticism. While Waller is probably not an author I will ever read again (for instance, I won't be rushing out to buy THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY), I could appreciate his command of lyrical and atmospheric prose in HIGH PLAINS TANGO.

Maylee's gentle mastery at weaving words, memories and strands of her family's struggles into a rich and powerful tapestry of human experience held me captivated; I read her book in one sitting.
Don't mistake Maylee's memories as bitter - her message is clear to those who have eyes to read it and the faith to believe it, "Love Trumps Hate."

I could not put this book down... it was alive and witty and just plain filled with love of this girls family her mother played a very inportant part in this girls life , maylee since has lost her mother to breast cancer . the story was so wonderful deplicting how a family with different racial backgrounds . Maylee is outspoken and make the book come alife to me . thanks you for the wonderful story of part of my family.. always aunt susan

I have read all of Chai's books and found each one carefully crafted. Chai is articulate, and her commanding voice has an authority that sweeps the reader up and over the plains of rural Wyoming, a place of natural beauty and also a warped, ungenerous and unwelcoming social milieu which becomes Hapa Girl's crucible. Chai's rendering of a Chinese-American family's struggle to be recognized, respected and ultimately accepted is heart-rendingly believable, in many instances heartbreakingly sad, but finally redemptive. It's the sort of narrative that challenges the reader (could I manage these circumstances if I were the protagonist?) and ultimately shows us not that suffering is ennobling, but that there are survivors who have come through suffering's gauntlet and emerged with wise conviction and a formidable dignity. Five stars for this book and its talented, smart and wise author!

Reading this book, I was appalled at the portrayal of this terrible, small, South Dakota town where I, too, would have hated growing up. I feel very badly for the author's hardships she and her family endured during this time. Ironically, I did grow up in this town; moving there in 1966 at the age of 12 and eventually leaving eastern South Dakota in 1977. I am amazed at the dramatic changes that took place there in the 2 years between 1977 and 1979. This was not the town I remember in the least bit. As I read about overt violence in the high school while teachers looked away, rampant inbreeding, and widespread fear of being killed by Native Americans I can only conclude that there is a motivation behind the story that only the author can answer. Much of this makes for great fiction and hopefully, this has been therapeutic for her. I have spent the majority of my adult life in successful Engineering positions in the Silicon Valley as a result of my education at the schools in this town and colleges in the state. My two daughters are products of the California public school system so, believe me, I know about mediocrity in education. Most of the kids in this South Dakota community do not grow up on farms nor have aspirations of owning one, one day. It is quite natural for many kids in this university town to do as I did- continue education and go on to a professional career. I don't recall a lot of violence at school. My wife (also from this small town) and I could not think of any "cousin relationships" of which we were aware. Our parents would never have tolerated the disrespect and name calling described as rampant in the book. I don't feel we were the exception, either. I certainly hope the author has facts behind the story she tells of the circumstances around a young man who committed suicide; if not, shame on her. I will say that most South Dakota communities are predominately white and by and large fairly conservative. I am not necessarily surprised that it was difficult for this family to feel comfortable and "fit in". There are racists everywhere, though, and in my world experience I've never felt this community to be more so than most. Unfortunately, it sounds like there were mean spirited bullies who made life miserable for this author during adolescence. Because of the wild and reckless characterizations of certain things that I know to be untrue, the author lost most of her credibility while I read. My younger brother is 2 years older than the author. When I first heard of this book, I asked him about her. He didn't recall, went to his yearbooks, and recognized her as someone who had been a winner in the same Math contest as he during high school. Seems like an odd non-recognition for someone who was so "stared at", maligned, and the center of adversity. By the way, we did use baseball bats for baseball (not weapons that I ever recall). Much like the author describes of suburban New Jersey, there was a vacant lot behind our house where my brothers and the neighborhood kids would gather and play baseball and whiffle ball for hours on end. My apologies for a long winded review without comment regarding the quality of the writing, however, I felt compelled to raise concerns about the accuracy of the facts in what is intended to be a non-fiction book.

I am sure that Ms. Chai earned an A+ in creative writing class for her novel. I was in school with the author and her brother for a couple of years. In fact, I had my senior pictures taken at her mother's studio. She did a nice job and was a fun lady. I knew she was married to a Chinese man. I couldn't have cared less. It made no difference to me. I am sure that I speak for most of us in town. We had plenty going on in our own lives to get too worked up about someone elses ethnic background. There is no question that most of us were of European descent. With the Univ of SD in town, we were exposed to other cultures. It wasn't like we were the United Nations, but we were far from the 'dueling banjos' of "Deliverance." There are a few bad apples in our town-- like any town on the planet. It is certainly humbling to read of her experience in our town. The violence in the halls at school, locking all the doors to the school, attractive girls opting to get poor grades to date the cool guys, etc. Her creative juices got the best of her. Hopefully, this spiteful piece of half-truths/ fiction was therapeutic or lucrative for the author.

Upon completing my read of this nove, I must say that Judy Troy could have set this story in any location in the country. Her research, or lack thereof, into the phyche of South Dakotans is deeply flawed. Her characters are one-dimensional, the stoic mother, the depressed and useless father, the semi-horny teenage boy, the once pregnant teenage girlfriend, and the unprofessional cop. She didn't even get the language of South Dakotans correct. For anyone who is considering reading this novel or has read it, please do not think this is a portrait of South Dakota. She has taken the easy route of using stereotypical images for her characters. She might as well have included a war-painted Indian, excuse me, Native American wearing a loin cloth worshiping at Bear Butte.

Mike Newlin is a pretty mature kid who faces issues that no one should have to. His father kills the office receptionist, with whom he had been having an affair, and then goes on the lam. This book covers that magic time in a kid's life between high school graduation and the beginning of college - when you are full of anticipation and between two lives. Instead of just spending time with his girlfriend, lusting after his employer's wife and getting ready to go to SDSU, he has to deal with the additional issues of his reaction to his father's actions, his mother's way of coping with this event and a nosy detective. It's no surprise that college doesn't go as it should for Mike, although when the book ends you hope that he will be able to have a new beginning. I particularly liked the role of the Black Hills and the Badlands in this book. The desolate beauty of the area fit the despairing theme of this book very well.

>From the Black Hills Judy Troy Random House 1999 ISBN 0375502300 P.B. Fiction

It is the summer after high school graduation and Mike Newlin is an average 18 year old, except his father has killed his secretary whom he was having an affair, now he has left to parts unknown. This was a very depressing book to read, I found it hard to stick with. The story line flowed well enough so well that you felt every hurt and pain that Mike goes through at his young age. It is very hard for Mike to go on after his father is gone, he must look out for his mother who thinks that her life is nothing without her husband,his girlfriend who is clinging all the time, and the fact that he is in love with his bosses wife. As you read this book keep the kleenex box handy because you will need them. Judy Troy is the author of two New York Times Notable books and a Whiting Award Winner.

This is a rare novel in its presentation of a young man (just out of high school) in a time of stress; this boy has a heightened sensibility that captivates the reader. It makes a wonderful antidote to boys-as-screwups, the more common story. This one will make you fall in love. And my husband assures me that Mary Troy really does understand boys.

Like a skillful heart surgeon, Judy Troy makes no wasteful motions. Her prose is elegant, spare and clean, slightly like Hemingway's. Her work resembles even more closely the novels of another contemporary writer: Richard Ford. I loved his "Independence Day", and "From the Black Hills" echoed the subject matter and style of that book. Both deal with numb, intelligent teenage boys who struggle with their fragile male egos and fantasies at the same time that they struggle to do the right thing. Both have difficult, painful relationships with their fathers.

However, "From the Black Hills" is far from a carbon copy. From the beginning of this novel, one gets the impression of falling, depression and disintegration. This sense comes from being parked closely, as readers, inside Mike's head. As the book develops steam, it becomes clear that Mike's depression and sense of helplessness spring from the feeling that he must follow in his disturbed father's footsteps. The fear that many of us have, that we will become our parents, in Mike becomes almost complete psychological and moral paralysis. Ms. Troy does an excellent job of presenting the inner workings of a tormented boy -- I had to check the jacket cover to find out that she was a woman and not just writing from experience. I loved this book 95%, and couldn't stop talking about it to my friends when I finished it. I immediately passed it on. My one complaint is the ending. Although it is not entirely implausible, it's a little too quick and pat. Otherwise, it was a wonderful book.

The year is 1874. Sam White is living in Kentucky with his parents, his little brother Billy, and their grandparents. The Civil War is over, but Sam's father and grandfather are still upset over the result. Sam's father, especially, is bothered by any reminder of it, such as the farm where they live, which was burned by the Yankees. He decides that he needs to get away from these reminders.

So, Sam's parents pack themselves and Sam and Billy into a wagon and they take off for the uninhabited West. They are moving toward the Dakota territories, where they have heard the land is great for growing crops and anyone can get rich.

Sam is unhappy about leaving, and frustrated with Billy, who has a sunny disposition and always seems to be in a good mood about whatever is happening. But as they move farther away into the unknown, Sam and Billy begin to get along better. When they do make it to Dakota, though, there is more trouble waiting for them.

I liked the detailed descriptions of life--how the family's wagon was packed, what the people ate, and how they built a house, among other things. I also liked how Sam's mother and father related to each other and to their boys. I didn't like Sam's overwhelming jealousy toward Billy. I thought he treated Billy unfairly because of it.

Grasshopper Summer by Ann Turner is about Sam, a boy, who was quite happy where he was in Kentucky. Then his father decided to move the family west to start a new life in Dakota Territory. Sam's younger brother Billy was excited about the idea, but Sam hated it. Sam never thought of leaving his grandparents, and friends.
It was after the Civil War, and Sam's father was having a tough time without slaves so he decided to move his family to Dakota Territory. When Sam and his family had to move north his father wanted them to start getting used to not having slaves. Sam never thought of meeting people along the way. The family worked hard to make their dugout house. They worked through the weeks and gathered seed.
Sam started to see things a little differently and started to like the west. This book is good for people who like to read about survival after the Civil War.
Becca a 6th grader

A character from Grasshopper Summer by Anna Turner was Sam. Sam had some problems. One was that his family was moving. Then grasshoppers came and ate all their crops. Sam's friend wrote to George Washington for blankets and food. Sam wrote to his grandfather for the same reason.
They needed blankets so they could stay warm. They also had a shortage of blankets. So they could stay warm, because winter was coming soon. They needed food because grasshoppers came and ate most of their crops. They also could not grow crops because it was too late because of winter. They wrote to Washington and Sam's grandfather for some food and blankets. So they could survive winter, and they could stay healthy.
This book was better then I thought. I think this book was ok. This book was country related. So if you like country things you should read this book. Also remember never judge a book by its cover.
Danny a sixth grader

This book really captures the feeling of the times when pioneers thought moving westward would make them a profit. It helps the reader understand the trials and tribulations of moving westward. The killing of a colt to the grasshopper invasion real grips the reader. The charactes being approximately the age of a fifth or sixth grader really helps youngsters who read this book to make a personal connection. It also helps the reader understand the role of the father, mother, and children during the late 1800s. Furthermore, it shows them although slavery has ended, how many still felt the African American still had his place. From crossing the mighty Mississippi River, to going to the Dakota Terriotory, this book truly captures the time and events of an interesting period in American history.

Sam's father decides to take the family to Dakota Terrotory for a new life.But Sam hates the idea of leaving his friends,grandparents for a new life.The hard journey to Dakota Terrotory doesn't compare to the surprises that await Sam and his family.

I guess, fifty years after her death, that it would be pretty hard to get a lot of information to fill a book where the goal is to tell all about the personality of Laura IngallS Wilder.

The author definitely gets some things right...the remembrances by a few friends, and especially the two boys down the street, are adorable and worth owning this book, alone.

The author obviously adores Laura the way many of us readers do and that adds a definte air of charm to this book as well. However, this book is high on the filler content and the chapters are random and not at all coherent. A lot of the items included are random as well...rembembrances (which I thought the book was to be completely made up of, my error), old receipes from the townspeople of DeSmet, some of Laura's writings on WWI from her early jounalism days, etc.

A lot of questions were brought up and instead of answering them, they are just made even more glaring and it really bothered me to know that we may NEVER know the answers to these questions.

Overall this book is a keeper, for the little gems inside, but not anything that shouldn't have been able to be condensed down to one of those little booklets, similar to those that are available on the Ingalls and Wilder familys from William Anderson.

My husband first purchased this book for me quite a few years ago, knowing my fondness for Laura Ingalls and also because I am named for her. It is a wonderful compilation of letters, recipes & pictures from Laura's personal collections. I would recommend this book to anyone who has a passion for history and those whom have lived it.

This book reads as a companion book to the Little House series while including information on Laura's life. It isn't a biography as I was hoping - though the author thinks that a complete biography is called for.

What this book was for me, was a farther glimpse into Laura's life. It touched briefly on the time during the books but seemed to focus mostly on the Ozarks. This was mainly because the author was striving to record recollections from people still living who knew Laura. I agree with the author, in the wish that someone had done that right after Laura's death or even before. There are also a couple chapters of Laura's writings, one on her thoughts of war. The pictures were nicely added as well. I also enjoyed the recipe section and appreciate the updates on the measurements and the ingredients.

The most unsatisfying chapter was the mysteries. I had more questions that I wanted answers to, and hardly any of them were asked in this chapter. It made me want to know more. In fact, the whole book seemed to be asking more questions than it was answering. In a way that is a good thing and perhaps soon, there will be other books on Laura that addresses more of her life.

You can easily pick this book up and read chapters out of order, gleaning the information you want at the time. It also reads well cover to cover, though I did do some skimming on the war articles. A valuable book if you're looking for another glimpse into Laura's life.

I am a longtime fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I have read many books about her life and visited most of her homesites. But I have always wanted to read a biography about who she really was, what her personality was like, her relationship with her husband Manly and her daughter Rose. It is difficult to imagine what a person is like when all you have to go by are a few books and pictures. I was thrilled by the detailed accounts in this book, it really gave an in depth peek into her likes and dislikes, her dogged determination, stubborness and unfailing love in the face of much adversity. I felt like I knew her, all of the friends and neighbors who shared thoughts of Laura and Manly paint a picture of a homey, loving atmosphere, that Laura truly lived what she wrote about. The stories made her seem more real, something tangible outside of the juvenile stories I had read (the Little House books) and several other journals and biographies. These are people who actually lived and breathed with her, amazing. I applaud the efforts made by the author, this book is truly a detailed and fascinating account of this beloved lady who has come to represent so much to so many people.

I realize it has been hard to come up with enough material to write a first-class biography of this cultural icon. This book is a teaser. There are some interesting bits in it, and Laura's unique writings are part of it. Needs a bit more illustration, but to all Laura fans it will scratch an itch to learn more about her.

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 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.

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.

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,