Utah Books

I bought this book after seeing one with the same title and photographer in a bookstore while traveling. I thought it was the same book, but this one is paperback and only 80 pages (1/4" thick). The pictures are beautiful, but if you're looking for a coffee table book, this isn't a good choice--it's too thin and flimsy. You'll need to be careful to make sure you don't damage the pictures while viewing them (e.g., by creasing them if you open the book too wide).

I went to school with David Muench's sister. When she bragged a bit about him (and rightfully so), I began to follow his work. When I lived in Arizona in the early 60s, I saw his photographs everywhere. His images have become so much a part of my consiousness that I often wonder how many of the descriptions in my book were inspired by "the real thing" and how many reflect Muench's vision.

Muench's work is everywhere. It's in Arizona Highways, calendars, and in the libraries of many who love the Intermountain West.

This book is pure pleasure. Anyone who loves Utah will want to turn its pages and keep a copy with their other coffee table treasures.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of "This is the Place"

Utah deserves its PR-created title as "The Best of the West". When it comes to bright, even garish, multi-colored rock formations, canyons, mesas, arches, pillars, cliffs, and grottoes, Utah has no equal. What would be a national park or monument in any other state is a feature whose name isn't even known to most locals here. From Zion to Dinosaur, and all points south and east, Utah is a scenic wonderland par excellence.

This is the second of two books, bearing the same title, by photographer David Muench. Here, the companion writer is Ann Zwinger, the renowned Western naturalist. Zwinger's writing, of course, is peerless. In a brilliant essay, she captures the nature of this beautiful, but difficult, land and those who have settled it. I commend it highly.

Muench's photography is another matter. The subject matter is excellently chosen. In this book, as opposed to its predecessor, Muench has left behind the obvious tourist magnets such as Zion and Bryce Canyon, to focus on such little known, but equally striking areas of beauty and wilderness, such as the San Rafael Swell, an area that could easily be a national park. This is commendable.

However, as with most of Muench's work, undue emphasis is placed on use of the wide-angle and, particularly, the telephoto lens. The result is pretty pictures, but ones that are deceptive to the traveler/reader. No one is ever going to see, except through a telephoto lens, the things Muench shows in this book. You may detect that I don't care for this form of presentation, and you are right. I would much rather see photographs by Ray Manley or Fred Hirschmann, who obtain items of surpassing beauty without visual distortion being necessary.

So, while the book is a nice loaner from a library perhaps, I was disappointed after having bought it.

Good book- Planning to go to Utah for honeymoon-possibly Arches and Canyonlands or Escalante I need to decide though where I am going first before I buy the book-Wish that I could've seen more of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon-too bad there was a fire in progress

I waited for more than three months while Amazon kept telling me that they would ship this title soon. Finally, I shelled out fourteen bucks for a used copy just before discovering that there is a new, second edition, revised by the author Christy Karras. So, if you want this title, don't mess with this one. Search Amazon for the new author and buy the up to date issue. I hope this was helpful.

In 2002, I knew that we wanted to tour through Utah and this book was invaluable in planning the trip. I noted all the areas that we wanted to see, plotted it on the map and used this guidebook to determine the best route. A big part of my decision-making was based upon the author's descriptions of scenery and drives. We were so thrilled with our trip that we returned in 2004.

Inside the book were small "off the beaten path" dirt roads that were more than worth the price of the book. If they hadn't been mentioned in the book, I would not have known about them.

I definitely recommmend this book if you are planning a vacation to Utah.

This is a great book, the only complaint is that all of the pics arent in color, but overall a very use full guide.

If your heading to Utah I would recommend this book, the writer of this book has black and white photo's of each waterfall he listed in his book, near the middle of the book he does have 16 pages of color photo's of waterfalls.
As far as the detail on how to get to the falls, he does a pretty good job on giving that- only complaint is he has no maps whatsoever in the book.
At the end of the book, the writer gives his top ten list of the waterfalls in Utah- which I did like, although in order to find the waterfalls in his top ten list's you have to search through the index page.

This novel, which takes place mainly in New Zealand and America, details the story of two characters who travel down self-destructive paths. William, after believing that God revealed Himself to him while on a drunken night on his farm, obsesses over finding God and embarks on a spiritual journey that eventually drains him of his sanity. Myra, William's wife, who despite the abuse she consistently suffers from her husband, always finds a way to love him again. The author takes you into the mind of each of the characters to know why they choose their paths as such, though readers may grow weary of the suffering that Myra and her children repeatedly have to go through with William. Although mostly depressing, the novel has its small bright moments with other characters who serve as friends to Myra.

As an American who has lived in New Zealand, I found the author's descriptions were able to paint a very detailed picture in my mind of what life was like in both of these places 100 years ago. Through occasional flashbacks, Stephanie Johnson creates a large detailed world geographically and chronologically.

In late nineteenth century New Zealand, William McQuiggan, a victim of child abuse, strikes out at those who love him such as his wife Myra. William finds solace only in alcohol. However, while working in the hated fields, a drunken William sees a vision. He decides to go on a quest in search of God.

William leaves behind his pregnant wife and journeys across the Pacific to Utah where he joins the Mormons. When he concludes that religion as bogus, he tries the Jehovah's Witnesses, but feels that movement is a sham. He next heads to Illinois to join Dr. Alexander Dowie's Zion City utopia before souring on that faction. While on his American adventure, his wife and twin children finally join him and soon more children follow. He becomes further unhinged until he returns home in a last ditch effort to reach God through his own church.

Stephanie Johnson paints a dark work of historical fiction in that there is little hope beyond bleakness even for those who believe in God. The story line is vivid as it describes several locales, the era, and religions with clarity and depth. William is a wonderfully drawn character whose slow descent into a self-made hell makes BELIEF work though readers will tire of the abused Myra traipsing after her man.

Harriet Klausner

As one who has traveled, and will continue to travel and explore, the Colorado Plateau extensively, I find all of Mr. Baars' works both useful and entertaining. This one is no different. Mr. Baars has an excellent grasp of the geological complexities of this wonderful area and shares his enthusiasm and keen insights well. I would like to see more photography, especially color, because I believe it is important to visualize an area before seeing it in real life, if for no other reason than to enhance photographic opportunities. Even in this minor absence, the book is a great read,and heartily recommended for any student of the Plateau.

This book is definately worth the money. I bought it while at Arches N.P. because I was amazed by the rock formations of the area. It was so varying that I wanted to learn more. This book definately helped me to understand in laymans terms. This book is definately for the novice. It will make you want to study the subject even more.

I read this book in one day. I could not put it down. Monument valley is one of my favorite places, the scenery is just awesome. So as I was reading I was picturing it in my mind. And what a good balance of mystery, history and romance. I can't remember the last time I did a marathon reading of a novel. I'm looking forward to more from this author.

Southern California based museum designer Amanda Bell feels guilty that she was never there for her father, a renowned University of Colorado archeologist Dr. Maynard Bell who recently died in a fiery desert crash in Monument Valley. Over the objections of her socialite mother and her fiancé, UCLA Professor Elliot Sheffield plans to go to his last locale and sort out his papers and artifacts. When Elliot forbids her to go, she hands him back his engagement ring and leaves for the Navajo Cultural Center.

At the site she meets former Hollywood film director Durango Yazzie who is a born again Native American having once turned his back on his people, but now embraces their traditions. He does not want the tall white female nearby because he finds her too attractive at a time he obsesses over the heritage of his people. However, as she offers him ideas to improve his showing of the Navaho culture and she begins to find proof her father lives, they fall in love although someone would not mind another fiery car crash that would kill the two of them.

THE CHARMSTONE is a fascinating amateur sleuth romantic suspense that contains several late twists that will shock and delight readers though plausibility seems a stretch. Enhancing the entertaining story line is a fascinating look over the issue of ownership of Native American artifacts. Much of the first half of the book is establishing the relationships between key players especially the lead couple. However, once Amanda decides her dad may be alive, she is like a bull dog in her pursuit to save his life. Readers will enjoy C.C. Harrison's fine thriller.

Harriet Klausner

The author, born in 1898, grew up in Southern Nevada in a polygamous family within an isolated Mormon community. She became a historian and writer with a focus on Mormon history, numbering renowned author Wallace Stegner among her friends.

The author's view of Mormon history is uncompromising. Here, she chooses to tell the story of Emma Lee, one of the nineteen wives of John D. Lee, who was convicted and executed for his role in the Mountain Meadows Massacre of September 1857. It is the author's position that John D. Lee was a scapegoat for one of the darkest moments in Mormon history. The massacre saw the ambush of a company of approximately one hundred and twenty emigrants en route by wagon train to California. Mormon settlers slaughtered all but seventeen children under the age of seven, who were spared and ultimately adopted by Mormon families.

The author tells Emma Lee's story in austere, clear, crisp prose without flourishes. Born Emma Batchelor in England in 1836, as a young woman she fell under the sway of Mormon missionaries in England, as did one of her friends. Together they would convert to Mormonism and emigrate to America, bound for Utah. In December of 1857, Sister Emma would meet John D. Lee, and it would seem that it was love at first sight for the twenty-one year old Emma and John, who was old enough to be her father and had a daughter Emma's age. Within two weeks, Emma and John were married. Thus, Emma became a sister wife.

The book details Emma's life as a pioneer sister wife and the hardships and happiness she would experience as wife to a man who was initially well-respected within his insular community and was on a first name basis with Brigham Young himself. He would eventually become a pariah within that very same community and would move his wife Emma to Lonely Dell in Arizona, where they would establish a ferry service across the Colorado River, which would help with the general Mormon plan for colonization in Arizona. In 1876, however, John D. Lee was offered up to the authorities by the church hierarchy to expiate the sins of the Mormon community nearly twenty years after the fact for the atrocity of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Throughout her entire married life to John D. Lee, Emma would remain steadfast and true to her husband, no matter what difficulties would present themselves.

The author paints a picture of what Emma's life was like on the western frontier. To her would be left the entire responsibility of the household, including giving birth without the help of another adult, so isolated and lonely would be some of the places in which she and her children would live, as her husband's luck began running out. After her husband's conviction and execution for his participation in the Mountain Meadows Massacre, the church hierarchy dealt with Emma by ousting her from her home in Lonely Dell, Arizona and reneging on the promised payment. She would rebuild her life with her children in Winslow, Arizona, where she became a beloved member of the community until her death in 1897.

The book offers six pages of black and white photographs, some of which help illustrate just how hardscrabble life could be on the frontier, especially for a sister wife who was often left to her own devices, while her husband went and spent time with his other wives. Those who enjoy reading about pioneer life or Mormon history will enjoy this book.

One cannot visit Lee's Ferry without becoming curious about Emma Lee, John D. Lee's courageous and lonely wife, who lived alone at the Ferry while her husband was off fraternizing with Mormon bishops and ending up taking the fall for church leaders in the Mountain Meadow Massacre. Reading her life story, including giving birth alone in the rude cabin on the bank of the Colorado River, her dealings with Lee's other wives, and her steadfast and unswering loyalty to her husband, is a sobering look at the demands of a pioneer, and a Mormon wife.

It was a typical over-the-top western with ridiculous amounts of action, a nonchalant attitude towards murder, multiple beautiful women, a gunslinger who is looking to lay down his guns, lots of close friends that get killed, and in the end, the gunslinger marries the woman who doesn't die and they settle down to a life of ranching. It was cheesy, but not un-entertaining. It wasn't a complete waste of time, but I'll forget about it in a few months. It never pretends to be anything more than a cheap western.

My favorite TV Westerns were the ones were there were lots of gunfights and action. This book is like that. The author(s) - not sure exactly how much Ralph Compton wrote before he died and how much Joseph A. West wrote to finish it up - really do focus on moving the story along while also providing lots of adventure, action and gun play - perfect! This story would make a great movie. The author(s) really do know how to bring the story to life - it flows along perfectly with very good descriptive passages, just like a classic B- Western should. Highly recommended.

I was a little disapointed with this book..Out of 106 pages it has only 24 that actually describe the lakes in the area. There are over 60 pages of hand drawn maps- that's what topo maps are for. Doesn't mention any streams that are worthwhile. THought it would have had more information.

I tried several of the backcountry lakes in this book last summer. I caught and released many limits of cutthroat and brook trouts. This book is great for finding fishing hot spots, and it taught me how to fish the various alpine waters. It is small enough to easily carry with me, and the maps are helpful.

I've just moved to Utah and on the drive into the state I purchased this book at a visitors center. I couldn't think of a better way to explore my new state than while hiking to the highest summit of each of it's counties. Huff and Wharton do an excellent job of weaving stories into an informative guidebook. There area history section has greatly added to the value of the book, and has helped me learn plenty about the state of Utah. My biggest complaint is that the distances stated in the book are often grossly erroneous. For example, the Bridger Peak distances are off by ~50%. You'd think distances would be double checked before going to print, but these apparently were not.

A great book that is well written and easy to follow. Ms. Huff's articles are a definite bonus! She normally gives a general history of the area in which the peek resides. She goes "above and beyond" by interviewing inhabitants of the area/county and gets his/her view of the area's historical significance. In some articles, she even discusses how each peek or mountain range was formed geologically. The maps are ideal as are the accurate distances to different landmarks. This book is a must for any reader/hiker/outdoor enthusiast who wants hike Utah's highest peeks by county!