Utah Books

This romance is a great stand alone story! The characters are well-rounded and the turns of phrase are amazing!

It also introduces you to all of the people who arein the Grea Brain series as well.

Excellent book I will read to my children.

I read the Great Brain series as a kid, and continue to re-read them as an adult. Recently I discovered "Papa Married a Momon" and was not disappointed by Fitzgerald's story telling. But after doing a little online research I was disappointed to find that it is only very loosley based on his life in Utah (i.e. Fitzgerald was born in 1906 and the stories take place in the 1880s-1890s and papa lived until 1937). But I would highly recommend the book, especially if you enjoyed the adventures as told in the great brain series.

This wonderful book is a perfect mix of the Little House on the Prarie and Great Brain books. What I found the most interesting was the equal treatment of Mormons, Catholics, Methodists, and even Agnostics in frontier Utah. In fact, there are both good and bad examples of each. The overall religious message of the book is that "all religions are but windows in the same church letting in the light of God," which stresses the ideas of tolerance, love, and respect for all people irregardless of their religious beliefs. I highly recommend this book for all people who are fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder and John D. Fitzgerald or even pioneer life and Utah history. Although it's out of print, you can probably find a copy in your local library. For 300 pages, it's a quick read. I have to warn you, though, it'll make you cry in the end. Even I teared up a bit, and I very rarely get emotionally involved in books. I also laughed out loud a few times, too. This book is really special.

I have loved every book by John D. Fitzgerald that I was able to get my hands on. All of his books are wonderful but perhaps the best one is Papa Married a Morman. The true story of the Fitzgerald family is uplifting, powerful, and very entertaining. I highly recommend this book to any one who loves history and who loves a good story. The other two books in this serious, Mama's Boarding House, which takes place after Papa Married a Morman, and Uncle Will and the Fitzgerald Curse, which tells the story of Uncle Will from childhood up until the time of the end of silverlode, are also great to read.

I found this book at a swap meet--took it home more from the quirky title then anything...and I discovered my favorite book! The story is an easy & non-demanding read with pictures of the family--your unable to set it down! I once lent this book to my Mom, she in turn lent, and so on. The book was returned to me 2 years later, and had visited over 25 homes!! I know of no other book that has had that wide of an appeal, regardless of religious background...a DEFINATE must have!

We used the book on all our off-road trips around Moab, and discovered amazingly beautiful and interesting trails by following the book. We attempted only the "easy" trails as we were with an SUV (a new Toyota Land Cruiser) to which we did not want to cause any external damage. We found that the moderate trails would have very likely caused damage to our vehicle (very rocky). By the way - the book is available throughout Moab in almost every store, but you will pay close to $30 before tax.

Excellent book, great guide to follow, was very helpful on my ATV trip in and around Moab, UT. LOVED IT!!! Highly recommended.

I bought this book as a Christmas present for my significant other, so we can utilize it on an upcoming trip to Moab. He drives a Tacoma with 4WD and we're interested in knowing as much as about trails as possible. It looks like this book is going to come in handy. We plan on reading through it today. It's pretty detailed and has great maps inside of each trail. I would recommend it to someone who is a four wheeling nut and definitely to someone coming into Moab from out of town like us.

This is a very well written guide to Moab, UT. It has detailed instructions as well as GPS coordinates to all of the popular, and many not so popular trails. Excellent photography and super details to guide you through your adventure.

You will not go wrong purchasing this book if you like to spend any time in Moab. Again, Excellent Resource!

If your going to Moab you have to have this book! It was a great tool for finding trails, seeing the highlights, and judging how hard they may be. My take on the trail ratings... Level 1 is just dirt roads, 2 is a little hump and bump but can be done in most off roadish vehicles, 3s are for those who've been on trail rides and feel comfortable with their ride. I didn't do any 4s but I did some 3.5s and they had a few "tall" drop offs but again nothing a 3" lifted Jeep with 32" wheels could do.

Only think that could make this better is to be more up to date!

A 1950's folk singer and wild woman's memoir of her love affair with the Colorado River and Glen Canyon before the Glen Canyon Dam flooded her canyon. She tells of floating the river and exploring intimate side canyons on small personal trips.

This is one of the best and most special books I have read. Katie Lee really gives you the experience of Glen Canyon--it's beauty, wildness, and uniqueness. I fell in love with the place through her words, and felt her loss deeply when the damn dam was built. This act (the building of the dam) was truly a dark time in our history. I thank Katie Lee for sharing her thoughts and feelings and cheer her for her openness in those closed times.

Katie Lee has written a beautiful & powerful love story & funeral song to a place some considered the most beautiful on earth, now drowned under Lake Powell. The book is largely exerpts from Katie's river journals from 40+yrs ago & has an immediacy that left me feeling like I was in Glen Canyon with her. She mentions that she shared early drafts of a fiction version with Ed Abbey, who told her to just write her own story. That she couldn't make up anything better than her own experiences. Ed Abbey was right. I devoured the book in one emotional sitting, then spent the rest of the day wandering aimlessly with dreams & visions of lost desert canyons in my mind.

Katie Lee has given us a wonderful glimpse at a lost treasure. Her discriptions of the river and side canyons tell of her love of this lost world. My 2nd greatgrandfather went through Glen Canyon in 1872 with the second Powell Expedition and Katie has given me some feeling as to What he saw and the places he visited. I never understood what a treasure Glen Canyon was to Us till I read her book. Thank You Katie Lee

Katie Lee has led a remarkable life. But while she may be a fine story teller for a live audience, she is a poor writer. I found it a slow book to flog myself through- despite an enormous interest in the subject. Too bad she couldn't have put her ego aside and sat down with a professional writer. I can think of several women writers of the west that would have been a boon to the project. I look forward to the Katie Lee biography from one of them.

If you like white water rafting, this is a wonderful book about the birth of white water fun.

Anyone remotely interested in white water rafting will thoroughly love this book. Buz Holstrom was a true Maverick in the sport. The authors bring him to life through their wonderful narrative and easy writing style. He is truly an individual that was remarkably talented in his boat building and navigational skills. This book left me wanting more of Buzz Holstrom and wishing he were still around to tell us more about his short remarkable life.

The legendary Buzz Holmstrom was a more complex figure than I knew. His journal entries express the feeling of all who really love rivers and the famous entry that includes "the doing of the thing" should be read on every river trip.
This is the second Brad Dimock book I've read (the other on Bert Loper) and I am impressed with not only his skill as a writer, but his careful research. His handling of the tragic end to Buzz Holmstrom's life was that of a journalist with a sense of humanity.
I've already loaned this book to friends.

Even today, with rescue not so far away, few of us would have the nerve to go down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon alone, so imagine the nerve it took when Buzz was totally alone, with no chance of help if he made a mistake. But the most amazing thing about Buzz was that in the midst of an adventure that would leave most people totally preoccupied with survival, Buzz had the soul power to look for and see the poetry in the river and the canyon. Merely knowing how to survive can be much easier than knowing how to live.

I remember years ago when I was a kid a story my father told me about an amazing river rafter and boat builder. My Dad grew up in Coquille and went to school with Buzz's younger brother. His story always ended with how Buzz had been on a rafting trip in eastern Oregon and went off and committed suicide. I could never understand how someone who had done the amazing things he did could end his life on that note. I thought about that story many times over the years and always wished I knew more. This book is incredibly well researched and documented. Even though many questions were answered, many more were raised. Such was the enigma that was Buzz Holmstrom.

This is the first Louis L'Amour book I have read so I can not compare it to any of his other books. This story makes me want to read more L'Amour books. I like a book that can tell a good story in less that 200 pages, I don't want read books by the pound. It reminds me of the old term "pocket book" because they can fit in your back pocket and can be read and enjoyed in a short amount of time. The main characters are likeable and the villians are people that need killing, what more do you want in a Western.

Loved this book, told in the first person this is Matt Brennan who rides into town and into trouble - there are two ranchers who are fighting a smaller third holding who is between them, they want his land and water rights. Within minutes of getting to town both men tell him to join their crew - he refuses both and goes out to see Ball, on the third place - but not before he has fallen in love with the woman of his dreams.

If he is going to set up house he is going to need some assets behind him, he likes Ball, the old man caught between the two ambitious ranchers, and he makes a deal to be a fighting partner for the spread. Between the two of them they think they can make it work.

This is about much more than settling the problems of three men out for power - Brennan has to make peace with them all, but at the same time he has to sort out the huge man, Park, who is the current suitor for Moira (the woman Matt has fallen in love with) but there is also something sinister in Parks past - and in his current dealings. There is also something going on with a crooked lawyer called Booker who seems to be instigating trouble in the background.

Brennan resolves all so that peace can reign in the valley - and its really well done. This is a resolution that I didn't expect but like all of L'amour's books, there are some complex relationships based on loyalty and respect rather than black and white.

Louis L'Amour wrote many, many westerns and in my opinion this is one of the best of them. The story line is very cohesive and involving. The characters are rich and well developed. As always L'Amour weaves a rich and very detailed landscape, with a lot of attention to details. The plot was intriguing and kept you guessing right up until the end. Just a very, very well written story!

When I tell people that I love Louis L'Amour I get some pretty weird looks in return. To my friends I am known to read quite a bit of heavy history and biography and it seems odd to them that, given my normal reading diet, I could find anything good to say about such "light" reading as L'Amour. Still I find L'Amour's talesmithing abilities to be without peer.

L'Amour wrote with a distinctive style and filled his stories with action and intrigue. No, his works are not the extremely violent works that typify modern westerns like UNFORGIVEN or OPEN RANGE. But then L'Amour wrote in a time when such graphic action would not have been readily accepted.

With all this in mind, I loved SILVER CANYON, a tale of vengeance, lies and, as with virtually all of L'Amour's stories, of the good guy winning in the end. The tiny western hamlet of Hattan's Point is a sleepy town until the day that Matt Brennan seems to bring with him a heated, all out war that involves practically everyone in town. Matt makes friends and enemies with equal ease. He also finds the love of his life and is in hot pursuit despite her being the daughter of one of the main combatants in the feud.

Who will win out? Read SILVER CANYON.

THE HORSEMAN

When it comes to reading Louis L'Amour the modern western fan is faced with having to take things in context. Remember that L'Amour's works were primarily written in the fifties and sixties and, as a result, have a certain "dignity" about them that no longer applies with the westerns of today, especially those on the big screen.

Take SILVER CANYON for example. There is plenty of action here to be sure but it is painted much more subtly on L'Amour's canvass than, let's say, on those of Larry McMurtry or on Clint Eastwood's or Kevin Costner's movie screens. Frankly L'Amour or his readers would not have tolerated the graphic, raw, often harsh violence of today's western s offerings. It's still there he just expresses it in ways that are less bombastic. For example, instead of saying, "the bullet smashed into my elbow sending blood and bone flying everywhere..." L'Amour offers, "I felt a tug at at my sleeve..." even though it is apparent to the reader that the first version is still what happened.

L'Amour wrote with a clear sense of nostalgia and romance about the west. He was much for the kindred spirit of John Wayne and John Ford than of McMurtry, Eastwood or Costner.

I thoroughly enjoyed SILVER CANYON, a tale of revenge, deceit and, as is the case with all L'Amour tales, of ultimate white-hatted triumph and justice. Matt Brennan rides into the sleepy town of Hattan's Point and awakens the flames of a smoldering range war. He discovers friends, fiends and meets the girl of his dreams. Like all other L'Amour pieces reading SILVER CANYON in the correct mindset is absolutely essential. If you do you'll find another L'Amour western masterpiece.

Douglas McAllister

If you haven't been to UT, you need to go. Colorado seems to get all the hype when it comes to mountains, but UT is better for an assortment of scenery and things to do in the mountains. Benchmark Atlases are the benchmark from which all other road atlases are measured. My GPS nav system, as well as Google maps, will direct me to take dirt roads as part of a 'shortest route.' This is not an acceptable route on my Goldwing. These detailed maps clearly and precisely show the type of road from interstate to 4-wheel drive. It has helped me avoid bad routes numerous times.

The Utah atlas is very detailed and through the only thing I wish it had the milage on the highways like the New Mexico and Arizona do.

I own both the Delorme Utah Atlas & Gazetteer and the Benchmark Utah Road & Recreation Atlas and the Benchmark Atlas seems to have a lot less clutter when trying to find something. The roads stand out a lot better as do the terrain features due do the shading almost giving a 3D effect. This is why I use the Benchmark Atlas when traveling to Utah. I also have the Benchmark New Mexico R & C Atlas and it is also excellent in my opinion. I do, however always have Delorme Topo 6 running on a laptop computer and it is indispensable on road trips.

If your're going to Utah and plan on doing any driving there,whether your're staying on the main roads or driving on the back roads,Benchmark Road and Recreation Atlas is the book to buy.It lists the scenic byways,the backways and points of interest along the way.This book covers just about any recreational activity you can think of,from amusement parks to fishing,boating,sking,rafting and lots more.It's also very good for finding many of the hiking trailheads in Utah.I find it very informative,well oganized and easy to read.Well worth the money.A great book!!!!I highly recommend it!!!!

Benchmark are absolutely the best road atlases out there. I have the AZ, UT, OR, and CA maps that I have purchased for trips (I use my CA one all the time, but I live here) and find them invaluable. I can always find my way when lost, and they really do a great job of showing detail that you wouldn't expect, even in metro areas. They show the most random and remote Forest Service or BLM roads, and points of interest on those roads that you would otherwise need specialty maps to see. If there's a dirt road or otherwise going there, these maps show it. Highly recommended!

100 stories to read time and again.

The Decameron contains many references to the church and its influence. The first story of Ser Cepparello pokes fun at the church, but the storyteller, Panfilo, precedes his tale with a pious preamble: "It is fitting that everything done by man should begin with the marvelous and holy name of Him...I intend to start with one of His marvelous deeds, so that when we have heard about it, out faith in Him will remain as firm as ever" (25). Panfilo goes on to tell the story of the worst sinner in Europe who becomes a saint merely by duping his confessor. At the end of the tale, Christians worship the false saint, and Panfilo concludes with another tribute to God. The effect is hilarious. The tale makes religion a farce, but the opening and closing take religion very seriously. This disguises the biting satire of the story. By framing stories with prayers, the contents within the frame seem less irreverent. The second story fits in the same framework, as Neifile tells a story to promote "His infallible truth so that with firmer conviction we may practice what we believe" (38). She goes on to tell the story of a Jew named Abraham, who converts to Christianity after he observes the wickedness of the clergy in Rome. Abraham finds Rome to be "a forge for the Devil's work" and is amazed that "in spite of all this...your religion grows and becomes brighter and more illustrious" (42). The incredible corruption of the church, coupled with its success, baffles Abraham enough that he has to conclude that God must favor the Christians if they are allowed to be so evil. Like Panfilo, Neifile concludes her tale by praising God.

The third story also focuses on religion, but this time the main characters are a Saracen and a Jew. The Jewish lender, Melchisedech, posits Saladin with the question of which of the three religions is the one true religion. Saladin is portrayed as wise. The story shows tolerance to the Saracens through the characterization.

The fourth story returns to the Christian world, as a monk and an abbott succumb to "the warm desires of the flesh" (48). The two holy men sleep with a girl and invite her back for sex time and again.

Boccaccio avoids attacking the doctrine of the church, but he exposes certain realities of human nature. Those employed by the church cannot escape themselves, despite their appearances. They are as fallible as the peasants. In "The Author's Conclusion," Boccaccio defends his stories against protest by saying, "A corrupt mind never understands a word in a healthy way" (804). The addendum to The Decameron acts as a line of defense for the author from overzealous Christians who he predicts will take offense at the stories and accuse him of "taking too much license in writing these tales" (802). He points out that "my stories run after no one asking to be read," and implies that the sensitive reader should avoid the book altogether. The conclusion has comical elements as well. He gets a final poke at friars, saying, "they all smell a little like goats" (806). Boccaccio manages to make his point while keeping the tone light.

This was required reading for a graduate course in medieval history.
The "Decameron" is a collection of 100 novellas by Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio, probably begun in 1350 and finished in 1353. It is a medieval allegorical work best known for its bawdy tales of love, appearing in all its possibilities from the erotic to the tragic. Other topics such as wit and witticism, practical jokes and worldly initiation also form part of the mosaic. Beyond its entertainment and literary popularity, it remains an important historical document of life in the fourteenth century.

Decameron is structured in a frame narrative, or frame tale. Boccaccio begins with a description of the Black Death and leads into an introduction of a group of seven young women and three young men who flee from plague-ridden Florence to a villa in the (then) countryside of Fiesole for two weeks. To pass the time, each member of the party tells one story for each one of the nights spent at the villa. Although fourteen days pass, two days each week are set aside: one day for chores and one holy day during which no work is done. In this manner, 100 stories are told by the end of the ten days. Each of the ten characters is charged as King or Queen of the company for one of the ten days in turn. This charge extends to choosing the theme of the stories for that day, and all but two days have topics assigned: examples of the power of fortune; examples of the power of human will; love tales that end tragically; love tales that end happily; clever replies that save the speaker; tricks that women play on men; tricks that people play on each other in general; examples of virtue. Only Dioneo, who usually tells the tenth tale each day, has the right to tell a tale on any topic he wishes, due to his wit. Each day also includes a short introduction and conclusion to continue the frame of the tales by describing other daily activities besides story telling. These frame tale interludes frequently include transcriptions of Italian folk songs. The interactions among tales in a day, or across days, as Boccaccio spins variations and reversals of previous material, forms a whole and not just a collection of stories. The basic plots of the stories including mocking the lust and greed of the clergy; tensions in Italian society between the new wealthy commercial class and noble families; the perils and adventures of traveling merchants. The title is a portmanteau, or combination of two Greek words meaning "ten" and "day". Boccacio made similar Greek etymological plays of words in his other works. The subtitle is Prencipe Galeotto, which derives from the opening material in which Boccaccio dedicates the work to ladies of the day who did not have the diversions of men (hunting, fishing, riding, falconry) who were forced to conceal their amorous passions and stay idle and concealed in their rooms. Thus, the book is subtitled Prencipe Galeotto, that is Galehaut, the go-between of Lancelot and Guinevere, a nod to Dante's allusion to Galeotto in "Inferno V", who was blamed for the arousal of lust in the episode of Paolo and Francesca.

Throughout Decameron, the mercantile ethic prevails and predominates. The commercial and urban values of quick wit, sophistication, and intelligence are treasured, while the vices of stupidity and dullness are cured, or punished. While these traits and values will seem obvious to the modern reader, they were an emerging feature in Europe with the rise of urban centers and a monetized economic system beyond the traditional rural feudal and monastery systems, which placed greater value on piety and loyalty. Beyond the unity provided by the frame narrative, Decameron provides a unity in philosophical outlook. Throughout runs the common medieval theme of Lady Fortune, and how quickly one can rise and fall through the external influences of the "Wheel of Fortune". Boccaccio had been educated in the tradition of Dante's Divine Comedy, which used various levels of allegory to show the connections between the literal events of the story and the hidden Christian message. However, Decameron uses Dante's model not to educate the reader, but to satirize this method of learning. The Roman Catholic Church, priests, and religious belief become the satirical source of comedy throughout. This was part of a wider historical trend in the aftermath of the Black Death, which saw widespread discontent with the church. Many details of the Decameron are infused with a medieval sense of numerological and mystical significance. For example, it is widely believed that the seven young women are meant to represent the Four Cardinal Virtues (Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude) and the Three Theological Virtues (Faith, Hope, and Charity). It is further supposed that the three men represent the classical Greek tripartite division of the soul (Reason, Spirit, and Lust, see Book IV of Republic). Boccaccio himself notes that the names he gives for these ten characters are in fact pseudonyms chosen as "appropriate to the qualities of each". The Italian names of the seven women, in the same (most likely significant) order as given in the text, are: Pampinea, Fiammetta, Filomena, Emilia, Lauretta, Neifile, and Elissa. The men, in order, are: Panfilo, Filostrato, and Dioneo.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in literature and medieval history.

The translation that you choose will have an impact upon your enjoyment of any work written in a foreign language. In the case of The Decameron, the translations recommended by "The Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation" are those by (1) G.H. McWilliams and (2) Bondanella and Musa.

I purchased the McWilliams translation and found it to be enjoyable, although slightly wooden. There were also several howlers (e.g., addressing the women in the group as "Delectable Ladies.")

There's a 100+ page introduction, which I found to be overly academic and tedious. This is, as far as most readers are concerned, a fun book to read; the introduction should not detract from that experience.

This volume has extensive endnotes at the end of the book. Most of them are of little interest to the general reader and add nothing to one's enjoyment of the stories. Since they are short, and given modern editing technology, they could just as easily been included as footnotes at the bottom of the page on which they appear, which would have been more convenient. (Inexplicably, the notes to the Introduction are footnotes.)

The book is bawdy, but not obscene. McWilliams, justifiably I think, is of the opinion that certain passages are misogynistic and homophobic, which seemed to me to be correct. The latter is odd, because Florence during the Renaissance was notorious throughout Europe for its large homosexual population (most of its great artists reputedly were gay). Forewarned is forearmed.

I have not read the Bondanella and Musa translation, but McWilliams (who appears to be remarkably fair) speaks well of it in his Second Preface. Based upon the foregoing, I would choose it instead.

Funny, extremely entertaining, which is kind of shocking for medieval literature. I read the whole book in just 12 hours while sitting in the airport. It was the fattest book in the shop - great value for money.

I've tried to read these stories several times before but this is by far the best translation I've found yet. Very adult reading but passes for educational and is a great summer read!

Having grown up in Salt Lake, I found this book to be a riot!

Decker pokes fun at ALL the major players (LDS church, media, federal government, anti-government types, environmentalists, conservatives etc.) in a very evenhanded manner. Everyone is both ridiculous and has a very real point when Decker writes about them.

Each character rang true to the people and politicians that inhabit "Zion". I am buying it for my Salt Lake relatives to read. They will get a big kick out of it.

I've never been to Utah, but I feel like I have after reading Rod Decker's incredible book! Every character leaped of the page, and the ending had me talking to my friends for months. I hope Decker will favor us with a new book soon.

Everyone else is right on, this book is amazing. I recommend it highly to anyone.

I sincerely enjoyed Mr. Decker's book. He is as good an author as he is a reporter. Word has it he is working on a new book about Utah history, I can't wait!

I was passing through Utah about 4 or 5 weeks ago, and I stopped in a bookstore to pick something up for the flight home. "Environment for Murder" looked interesting, but I wasn't expecting much from a local author, even one with the credentials of Mr. Decker. I was pleasantly surprised. As a professor of English Literature I am not easily impressed, but Decker's flowing prose and intricate characters impressed me greatly. I recommend this book to anyone.

These DeLorme maps are great. I plan on visiting the state of Utah next spring and do some hiking while I am there and these look great. The details of the roads and all campsites are awesome. I plan to purchase more of these of other states. They even have details about fishing being available.

Quick delivery, good price, excellent travel guide for the state of Utah where you want to see terrain, not just highways.

I think the title says it all. It is very useful. I got it really fast and it is flawless.

Great maps as always from DeLorme.. I have 6 different states, great for fly fishing, fishing and hiking.. You can use the GPS cordinates to get to specific locations. A must have for the fisherman, hiker and camper.

I love these DeLorme maps. I love traveling in the West but since I live in New Jersey, I get a little nervous sometimes when driving around Utah or Arizona - it's just so empty compared to what I'm used to. These Delorme atlases are my security blanket. They're so detailed that no matter where I am, I can look at the map and find a road or a landmark that will reassure me that I'm in the right place.

This book is the best. It absolutely brought my family and me together. Instead of sticking to one spot that i know is succesful. Me and my family travel to a new place every time. We have traveled to half the places in Utah. My wife loves it and so do my kids, neither one of them have ever been so excited about fishing. The Utah Fishing guide is phenomenal, it's helped me learn new tricks for every place. I highly recomend this book.

this book is great. it's about time somebody did that. now whenever i go someplace new i don't have to learn from my mistakes, but can just get to catching big fish right away scott

I recently perchased "Utah fishing Guide" and I most say it has to be the most versitle book on fishing in Utah on the market! Very clear maps accres areas, and lures (Flies) etc... A MUST BUY if you fish in Utah..

This book is great. I have been fishing for thirty years and got tired of the same old spots around Salem. Now i can easily plan my trips to go farther away to new spots that are less crowded and more beautiful. This book tells you where you can stay at and what to use to catch a fish for a certain area. I caught my biggest trout at Fremont lake last week. I have many fishing guides, but none really measure up to this one. It's great.

Very comprehensive coverage on close to 700 waters. I was amazed at all the information. I'm not sure but there must be over a hundred maps. The book has introduced me to dozens of new waters and to some very successful fishing trips. Two thumbs up.