North Dakota Books

Was not impressed. Seemed to be repeating what every other writer said about Sitting Bull.

quite a comprehensive review of the history of the Lakota tribe and the input of sitting bull. I would have preferred a history by one of the first people instead.

Tatanka Iyotake - Sitting Bull - was not the killer of Custer. He was certainly no villain. He was a spiritual leader of our People. According to my ancestors, who handed this story down to my generation, Custer killed himself rather than take what he had coming - and had fully earned - at the Battle of the Greasy Grass / what the majority culture calls "the Little Bighorn". I'm a great-grandmother now, writing through my man's account, and I have no reason to doubt the truth of the story my ancestors told.
We kept it among ourselves because of the repercussions we suffered back then, and still suffer today. To this day, we Lakota out here in "Dakota" Territory are harrassed in every way, all too often. Not as openly as used to be, but it's still there - the coffee-shop talk, the disparaging stereotypes, stuff like that. I call it, "the Custer effect". My People beat the crap out of Custer and his goons that June day so long ago, and whites have been crying about it ever since, and trying to "prove what really happened".
Custer was no hero; he was a murderer of babies and women, unarmed warriors and the elderly. Sitting Bull was a man of great pride and honor and strength. This book is worth reading more than once. Thanks for writing it!

SITTING BULL
Bill Yenne

Sitting Bull by Bill Yenne is an interesting read. Yenne utilizes Stanley Vestal, Jerome Stillson of the New York Herald, Sitting Bull's Hieroglyphic Autobiography, and an assortment of first hand accounts to present this historic American Indian. For all of us "Custer People", there is a chapter on the Little Bighorn Battle in which Yenne writes "Custer probably feared that if he delayed his attack for another twenty-four hours - as he planned - then Gibbon would be a day closer and Custer would have to share this victory with him". There is an argument which establishes a good book. The book is filled with informative and controversial quotes. Yenne frequently dwells on Washington's government officials arguing over the necessary actions to solve their Indian dilemma. Politicians and red tape do not make a good western adventure, unfortunately that was their role in the history of the American West. I want to be with Custer out on the plains or in an Indian camp, not in an office in Washington.
Overall, the book was very good. Even the cover with Sitting Bull's picture and autograph is notable.

Just finished reading "Sitting Bull." Enjoyed it very, very much. There are wonderful photos and maps, one including good old Highmore, SD. The book is a dramatic and scholarly accomplishment. Professor Yellowtail's glowing endorsement must feel like a crowning feather. Has he given the author an Indian name?!
I was surprised to learn that Sitting Bull was only with Bill Cody's Wild West in 1885 and never went to Europe, never performed for Queen Victoria. As the book points out, it was his deaf stepson, later known as John Sitting Bull, who toured Europe with Cody's Wild West during a few years after the turn of the century. Indeed, the popular confusion about this persists and resurfaced the other day at lunch with our tennis players. How nice to have it right!

This book has a sheer raw gripping power that takes hold of you, drags you in and under, into a world that seems absolutely alien to middle-class Whites like myself. It lets you peek over the shoulder and into the mindset of Rudy, a middle-aged tribal cop on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Unfortunately, it does so in a language whose pubertal vulgarity doesn't quite fit a man in his 40s.

While the book has passages that I find hauntingly beautiful (the Deer People, to name just one), it also has a fair share of redundancies, suffers from an overuse of adjectives and - most of all - from a point-of-view that oscillates wildly between third person limited and third person omniscient. I often found myself wondering whose eyes I was looking through, so to speak: Rudy's as an adult? Rudy's as a teenager? Somebody else's? Whose?

Inspite of its shortcomings, I very much enjoyed "Skins". Louis is a talented storyteller. He deserves - needs - a better editor, though!

Poet, short story writer, and former journalist, Adrian Louis presents a harshly comic vision of Indian life in this novel set on the Pine Ridge Reservation in southwest South Dakota. He immerses the reader in a compelling mix of Indian and white cultures and the resulting ambiguities, competing worldviews, and conflicted values.

Rudy, the Indian cop, portrays these confusing conflicts beautifully, representing both the law in his tribal police uniform and vigilante justice in his blackface and pantyhose mask. Revealing other dimensions of Rudy's confusion, Louis explores his relationship to the women in his life. Married and estranged from his wife, Rudy indulges his growing attraction to his cousin's wife, Stella, while he carries on with other men's wives as well. Meanwhile, afflicted with hypertension, he takes meds that affect his sexual performance, and much of the novel traces the rising and falling cycles of his libido, all of which are unpredictable and seemingly under the spell of forces beyond him. It is significant that Iktomi, the trickster spirit and shape-shifter, is a central theme in the novel, for appearance and reality, wisdom and stupidity, pride and shame, love and rage are all in a continuing dance for dominance.

Also at the center of the story is Rudy's relationship with his alcoholic older brother, Mogey. While casting an unblinking eye on the devastating impact of alcohol consumption on the reservation, Louis both condemns and forgives those who seek oblivion in the bottom of the bottle. In his hands, Mogey is a wonderful creation. While there are vague allusions to the grim effect of two tours of duty in Vietnam, Louis doesn't excuse Mogey for choosing his path of self-destruction. Yet through his brother Rudy, the reader can begin to understand the deep love possible for someone unable to resist the pull of despair.

This book is not for everyone, as some of the reviews already posted here indicate. However, I recommend it highly for what it has to say about the Indian nations - in their own voices and without the moralizing or sentimentality of those who have never walked in their shoes. Also worth watching is the film "Skins" (2002, available on DVD), which is based on the book.

Alexie, Harjo and Welch have already explained why this is such an excellent story. I'd like to add a few personal thoughts. The characters are truly memorable. Rudy is part Rhett Butler, Rocky, Thomas Magnum, and Vinnie Vega. Mogie, offers us a face, a history, and an explanation for his thousands of real life counterparts. Several of the female characters acknowledge the often downplayed or even ignored fact, that Indian women are sexual beings.

I found it hard to let Rudy go at the end of the book. As with Rhett, Rocky, and Thomas, I wanted to know what happened to him next. How he made out during the years that followed.

I am a woman and I did not see Rudy as misogynistic at all. I'm sure there are some who would call Rhett, Rocky, etc. the same thing. To some, the glass is ALWAYS half empty.

As of 1-01, the book is expected to be made into a film. I read it a second time when I heard who has been cast. Picturing Eric Schweig as Rudy, Graham Greene as Mogie, and Adam Beach as a younger Rudy in flashbacks, just intensified everything I felt about the characters during the first read. There ARE some "don't miss" parts of the book that will not make the film. I'd highly recommend reading the book while you wait to see the perfectly cast film.

Adrian Louis is a genius! I could NOT put this book down! I even snuck it into work with me.
It is sad, funny, gut-wretching, sweet---it has it all! If you don't thoroughly enjoy this book--CHECK YOUR PULSE!!!!!

Admittedly, I couldn't put the book down and read it in a week. Even thought the novel is a work of fiction, it hits closer to the truth about Rez born and raised Indians than any other novel that "mystifies" Indians in the "butterflies and daisies" sense. Fact of the matter is, Rez life is hard, damn hard. There are many casualties in this novel. First and foremost: the dishonor caused by CENTURIES of abuse and the systematic extermination of Indians have produced a culture of people who love hard, live hard, drink hard, die hard, and hate even harder. And, the central common theme...even to those who refuse to see it is the Indian's hate of the white man. Rudy clearly has little use for most of the everyday characters he comes across. He has disdain for most of his fellow Indian police officers, his Indian boss and his Indian friends. He has no respect for Indian drunks, and loathes how the economically oppressed culture has turned Indian kids into violent drug users and thugs with little respect and no hope. Socrates surmised "all questions lead to God". On the Rez, all ills lead to the white man.

This hate is the saddest legacy that American's have cultivated from the abuses that have, and CONTINUE to be bestowed upon the red man. Most whites in America are not deserved of this hate. I think it is puzzling to many white American's why Indians continue to hate them, even though many white people have never even met an Indian, and are totally unaware of the abuses that continue to happen at the hands of the government, or greedy entrepreneurs.

The last insult of the book that disturbed me the most, was the consciences crafting of hatred and callous death and destruction to the most despised Indians that exist to most western tribes, whites of mixed Cherokee ancestry. Eastern Cherokee have long been the butt of jokes, ridicule and downright hatred because of their light skin, and often-light hair. The cruelest person on the reservation was represented by Wally Trudeau, a mostly white / part Cherokee (of suspect origin, and married to a full blood from the Rez) who uncaringly allowed the death of Mogie's best friend, Weasel Bear, by catching him in a steel animal trap during a blizzard in his back yard.

Wally was unremorseful and un-pitying. And, seemed not to respect tribal authority, nor the life of Indians. Eventually, he was killed in cold blood for some other deserved slight to another Indian. You could almost imagine the collective cheering by full blooded Indians everywhere. Though it is essential to any story to have a foil, I think Mr. Adrian Louis was making another of his now famous, calculated statements. Most Indians on the Rez are drunks. Most men/women on the Rez will cheat on you and leave you one day...All true Indians are deep red skinned with braids and live on a Reservation (even his wife Vivianne, who was Chippawa, had skin too light for Rudy's tastes). All others indians need not apply. This is further bolstered in the fact that when Mogie dies, he goes to heaven, "and there was not a single white face there".

I purchased this book to help my daughter get over her fear of the Dr.'s office. The book is cute but the story just didn't hold her attention. She ended up walking away about one third of the way into it.

The world lost a real gem of a writer when Stan Berenstain passed on November 29. Together, Berenstain and his wife, Jan, and eventually their two sons, created books featuring lovable but flawed characters who tackle just about every real issue that faces families.

All kids have fears of the doctor, and why shouldn't they? Most doctor's visits for young kids involve lots of uncomfortable poking and prodding, and, more often than not, shots. Yikes! However, going to the doctor is still necessary, we all have to do it. This book will help open a dialogue to let your child discuss their fears, and let you discuss why visiting the doctor is so important. Kids will enjoy the gentle humor and honest portrayal of a doctor's visit (yep, Sister Bear has to get a shot!) and the consequences when you don't go to the doctor (Papa gets sick). A great conversation starter!

Its the cubs time for their first check-up. Sister is VERy nervous, but both of them are worried because they thing that they might get a shot.

It is a good book to read to your kids if they are going to be going for their first check-up or anytime.

This book was the favorite book for my young children (now grown) when we
were preparing for doctor visits. It is still beloved by my retarded son
who is now 31, and I have bought many copies for him through the years. It
covers all the important topics: anticipation (dread), waiting room, routine
exams, and possible shots. All of this is with pictures and words.

Most children are afraid of going to the doctor (well a lot of adults are, too, but for completely different reasons). When the word doctor is mentioned to kids images of needles, blood, bandages, and strange looking objects come to mind. Reading THE BERENSTAIN BEARS GO TO THE DOCTOR may help relieve some of the fears that children have when they know they are going to the doctor.

In the story, Brother and Sister Bear have to go to Dr. Gert Grizzly to have a checkup. Brother isn't too bothered by the whole thing, but Sister is a bit worried. The next day Sister is able to help out some frightened younger cubs while she is in the waiting room and sets an example for all the children to follow.

Overall, a delightful little book that helps relieve children's fears of going to the doctor and gives them a broader perspective about life.

I found this book to be very helpful with pictures and building concepts easy to understand by the layman. The chapters are well layed out on each step of the building process and gives a lot of good tips both in dealing with the building code requirements and common sense ideas to building a straw bale house. While the houses in this book are architectually simple, a rectangle shape, the ideas can be use in more complex designs.

This was really a good book and I would recommend it very much.

Frankly, I like this book, despite my 2-star rating of it. It has some excellent information in it as well as excellent photos, and it is well laid out. However, it is intended for very specific and limited uses, which are not really disclosed in the product description. So, read on to learn what I had to discover about its limitations through trial and error:

This is NOT a book on the theory and history of straw bale construction. It spends very little, if any, time outlining the different styles of bale construction, nor the variety of techniques and details that have been tried over the years, nor the many factors - environmental, structural, practical - affecting a particular construction project that might make the builder choose one technique or detail over another. If you are a new owner/builder at the conceptual stage, trying to decide if a bale house is right for you, or how exactly to build the bale house that is best for you, this is NOT the book you want.

This book focuses on one philosophy of design only. It is a guide, not on how to build a bale house, but on how to build one specific bale house. What I find troubling is that it does not even explain, in most cases, why the methods being described were chosen. If you already know a good deal about bale construction, you will quickly read between the lines to see why the authors consider their chosen techniques most suitable for their situation - I did, and quickly determined that little in the book was applicable to my own situation. Ok, fair enough. But, if you do not already understand the basics of straw bale architecture, I can easily imagine the reader following this book down what might well be the wrong path for his or her own project and, at best, wasting a lot of time in the design stage considering inappropriate techniques. At worst, the reader could end up making some very poor and costly choices without realizing why they are poor.

So, what is this book good for? It presents a straight-forward, step-by-step guide to project planning for a particular type of builder attempting a particular type of project. It does not present enough technical details or drawings to be a comprehensive construction manual (what book does?), so it will not take the place of preparing blueprints or having them prepared for you. But, it is nonetheless an excellent place to start IF AND ONLY IF you are...

1) ...Poor, or otherwise interested in building a small, simple, budget-oriented house for a single family. Don't get me wrong: the house this book describes is perfectly sound, perfectly livable, and should last longer than most conventional houses, but it is definitely "no-frills." Frankly, all Americans should be focusing on more modest, economical, and sustainable housing, regardless of income level. Be that as it may, if you are wanting something bigger - multiple stories, luxury oriented, more architecturally unique - you will not find it here.

2) ...Part of a large community or very large family interested in helping you build this house quickly through a massive and intensive volunteer effort. If your access to volunteer resources is more modest and your construction schedule, therefore, more relaxed, you could well run into serious problems trying to follow the path laid out in this book. If you plan on hiring only professionals to build your house for you, well, you probably shouldn't build a bale house in the first place, but at the least you will need to find different books.

3) ...West of the Mississippi and building in a very dry environment. All throughout this book you will find details - 3 string bales, metal rebar inserted into the bales, moderately sized roof overhangs, cement-based plaster with ground-to-ceiling stucco mesh - that are either unique to the West or generally appropriate to a desert or prairie climate. For builders in other areas, most of this book likely does not apply to you.

4) ...Interested in a load-bearing straw bale design. See my note on rebar, cement plaster, and stucco mesh above. There is also much in the book on full structural window and door bucks as well as building a roof-bearing-assembly top plate. Of course, there is nothing wrong with load-bearing bale walls, but in many parts of the country they are no longer the most widely-accepted design solution.

I first became aware of straw base houses when I visited friends who had built one high in the Colorado rockies. In spite of the bad winters in that location, they reported that they very rarely used any heating beyond opening the drapes on the south facing windows. I don't know what the R-value of a bale of straw might be, but it is high.

They also reported that in the few years they had lived there they had had virtually no maintenance. I had imagined little cracks in the exterior covering and furry little critters living in the walls. But they reported that nothing like this had occurred.

This book is put out by the Red Feather Development Group. They are a non-profit group chartered to provide low cost but efficient housing on indian reservations. They have been developing straw bale contruction for houses over many years, many buildings.

This handbook is not exactly a complete primer on building a straw bale house, to me it is an idea book. There's not much here, for instance on plumbing, heating, wiring and so on. Fair enough, those things are much the same for any house, and well understood by architects and contractors. What this book does is talk about building the house itself, the wall structure, supporting the roof, the things that are unique to building with Straw Bales. There are lots of pictures, illustrating lots of points that you wouldn't think of unless you had been there and done that.

Highly recommended!

This book gives an over view of the process to build a home using straw bale construction that is used by the Red Feather Development Group. Modeled after Habitat for Humanity they help tribal members living on Indian reservations achieve home ownership. The book takes you through the building process with many photos and diagrams. There is also pictures and discriptions of straw bale homes that are still lived in after 80 years, showing that sustainable housing is not a passing fad.

I was hesitant to post a review of Downtown Owl, because I'm somewhat partial to the works of the author. I've loved all of Klosterman's books, and have always thought that his essays deserve their place alongside the finer works of the past ten years. However, if no one else is going to say it, I will--this book was simply okay. For a first stab at fiction, I would say it was just `good.'

People--myself included--are fast to rave about Klosterman's work, and one previous review even said that the writer `wouldn't have known it was Klosterman had the name not been listed on the cover. Really? The mentioning of obscure eighties rock songs, deep debate over the creative merits of the Rolling Stones, and Black Sabbath/heavy metal references didn't remind you of any certain author's favorite topics? To me it was obvious, but I confess that it didn't bother me. That's who Klosterman is and it's natural to think that some of his music essay writings would bleed into his fictional work. In my opinion, it doesn't discredit the work at all--in fact I welcome it--but to say it doesn't exist is ridiculous.

Downtown Owl's most powerful feature may be Klosterman's characters and their introspective dialogue. Such self-reflective accounts allow readers to develop a connection to each one, even if they are have nothing in common. Also, the pace of the book--though this may be idiotic to say--sort of mirrors the pace of life in small towns like Owl. Life moves a bit slower there, and the pace of the book stays congruent with that.

The main flaw of the book, in my opinion, is the latter part of the book where the storm begins to move in. Mitch, for example, is blown backwards--with apparently no idea of what just hit him. I feared it might be a supernatural force or an atomic bomb, only to find out . . it's a storm? I'm not familiar with weather patterns in North Dakota, but most storms I've witnessed can be seen at least a minute or two in advance. The speed at which the fierce weather enters, surrounds, and confines the characters is beyond unrealistic, and comes across as if (a) the author grew tired of writing or (b) his car was double parked while scratching out the last few chapters.

Overall, it's a good book. And yes, I liked it. But let's just leave it at that, and not inflate the book's significance or gravity just because we are so used to the author's previous--and more superior--pieces of work.

I love Chuck Klosterman's pop culture essays, but was concerned about a fiction novel. I bought this book mostly out of loyalty, but found myself reading at redlights and in the bathtub. This book is about people you know and if you're my age, albums you loved in junior high. I've thought about the citizens of owl driving home from work for the past several days. I'm not one to give anything away in a review, but to relay how it made me feel. I loved it and it haunted me.

I feel it is somewhat lazy to frame the review of the book with "first novel", so let me define what that means to me:
First novels are typically a bit more uneven, but a bit more energetic than subsequent novels by the same author. I think the trick is to attenuate the latter to prevent the former. The trade off might be an exuberant and sometimes fun and slightly, but acceptably sloppy book.
I believe Klosterman and his editor did a good job of not letting the engine vibrate the car apart, and then some. He showed some maturity -I thought it was a well-paced, and for the subject matter, a fairly ambitious book- and some thoughtfulness -there is a passage about cruising, described as "having a purpose but not a goal".
But he also showed promise, which is why I have to call this book (maybe just in the context of his total future oeuvre) good, but not great.
A few things I found distracted from the reading - ow, my foot, you dropped another band name. This worked the first few times, then became an exercise in cultural cataloguing. Also, I had doubts from the beginning about whether 1983-era slang had made its way to the youth of the Dakotas (we're talking about a rural area in the formative years of MTV and cable). There were a few times when I had more serious doubts that contemporaneous slang existed in 1983. These things contradicted the "hey, look at the band research" theme, and made me question the purpose of anchoring the story to a specific time frame.
I thought there was a little inconsistency in the development of the some of the characters throughout the book. John Laidlaw's character (football coach, English teacher, antagonist to Mitch, and philanderer) may have had too many themes. His role as football coach (say, in contrast to being an English teacher) did not provide any additional insight, so that might have been offloaded to another character. This is just one the point where the complexities of the characters did not work for me - Cubby (the town sociopath) and Horace (the curmudgeonly widower) were multidimensional and compelling.
I hate having more critical things than good to say about a book I enjoyed so much, so let me end by saying it was a thoroughly entertaining book that I was disappointed to finish. Like the another reviewer, I think it could have used more headroom, and I would have been happy to read another 100 pages. I look forward to his future efforts.

While I really liked "Downtown Owl," it is very much a first novel. A liken it to "Mysteries of Pittsburgh" which was Chabon's promissing debut. For someone who has already made a huge mark in the world of creative non-fiction, many of the events and certaintly the settings in "Downtown Owl" will be familiar to a person who has previously read any Klosterman. In this regard, I'm going to have to disagree with a previous reviewer.

While I lived my teen years in a small town, mine was not so... end of the map. Provincial? Still, a lot of scenes were familiar. I was brought back to hearing my friends complain about three-a-days (I didn't play football... I played hockey.) The inciting blizzard though... that should be familiar to anybody in the vacinity of the Great Lakes.

The community's occasional independence from intelligence (refer to the excerpt here on Amazon for some prime examples [i.e. the coach, the mascot renaming]) is realistic... and funny. After all, the high school I attended had a spellbinding school board president, who suggested that 'since we're taking in exchange students from Latin America, we should require students to take a year of Latin!"

The downside to this book, and disagree if you want; Klosterman spends so much time ranting between dialogue and action... that the pace of the novel can become uneven. Or maybe this would have been ebtter balanced if written from a first person perspective. Of course, maybe then a lot of people would assume that this was another creative non-fiction, though I'm sure a good part of it is. All in all, I stand by my four star rating. And I'm pretty sure I would've even if I weren't already a fan of Chuck Klosterman. You have to respect someone who can make such an interesting book out of such a boring place.

I have read every previous Klosterman book and loved them. So it is no surprise that I read Chuck's latest book, in less than four hours. What an absolutely enjoyable read. I won't go into the details of the plot, but Chuck touches upon issues of identity - how we are all more alike than we recognize. He uncovers the secrets we keep and how - even after a lifetime - sometimes we don't even know ourselves. He identifies how we tend to miscommunicate and completely miss each other in discussions. He laments how we are often wrong about what we think we can do, or who we really are. And he grieves over how our failures often define us more than our accomplishments: "We are remembered for the totality of our accomplishments, but we are defined by the singularity of our greatest failure. It does not matter what you have been right about, and it does not matter how often that rightness is validated by others. We are what we cannot do" (261). Chuck also identifies that the way the public remembers the past - and creates heroes and villains - is rarely how things really are. This was a great book by one of my favorite authors!

This book is one of the best books ever written. It is very easy to read and there are many illustrations to help understand. I really enjoyed this book then I'm planning to give a present to my nephew. If you think you are a biker, Hiram's book is a must. Thanks.

This book is one of the best books ever written. It is very easy to read and there are many illustrations to help understand. I really enjoyed this book then I'm planning to give a present to my nephew. If you think you are a biker, Hiram's book is a must. Thanks.

This is an awesome book that is well written and an excellent guidebook for the outdoorsman. The photographs are outstanding. The trail maps are very helpful.

I used this book as well as the Falcon Press "Hiking South Dakota's Black Hills country", by the Gildarts, on a recent trip to the Black Hills, Badlands, Bear Lodge Mtns & the Devils Tower.
Both books were useful, but I'd give the edge to this one:
1) Hiram Rogers' book includes photocopies of topographic maps. Reproduction quality isn't high, but is frequently sufficient for the purpose. The Geldart's book has only handdrawn schematic maps.
2) "Exploring the Black Hills & Badlands" has more material. As you can see from the info provided by Amazon, there are more pages, but this understates how much further Rogers goes. Descriptions of particular trails are a bit more detailed, usually, and there is more historical and natural history material given in most cases. You will find more material, especially, on the Badlands (eg. a section on off-trail travel in the Sage Creek Wilderness).
The Geldarts do touch on locales and details not mentioned in Hiram Rogers' book, so those planning to spend any appreciable time in the area might want to get both.
I see that there appear to be restrictions in availability through Amazon as I type this. If you aren't comfortable dealing with secondary dealers, I would note that I saw new copies of Rogers' book in the bookstores at Wind Cave National Park and elsewhere. Try the websites for WCNP, the Badlands NP or Custer State Park.

This book focuses mainly on hiking trails, so if that's your thing this is the book for you. It would benefit greatly if each trail entry was _clearly_ listed with it's approved uses. The index also needs a section under each activity, that way you can look up 'mountain biking' and find references to every trail they review where biking is allowed. Some of the reviews of the trails are questionable ... the trail from French Creek Horse Camp to Iron Creek is not ridable at all for mountain bikers, in my opinion, not even close, yet it's listed as 'an exciting mountain bike ride through the park's remote northern end'. I have no idea what they were thinking. Like I said, probably a better book for hikers than bikers, but still a good resource just to give you a hint as to what's available in the area and get you started. If biking is your thing, stick to the trails listed as having cross country ski access as well as for biking and you'll get some nice single track love.

I didn't know what to expect when I picked up all three of Lori Armstrong's books in the Julie Collins series. I don't read a lot of mystery, and I now realize that I've been missing out. How can I not root for such a passionate, flawed heroine? Wonderful writing, excellent characterization and a rich plot make this series a keeper.

Julie has been haunted by death. First her mother dies in a car accident, and than her half brother is murdered. The crime goes unsolved and Julie thinks it's due to the fact that her brother was half Lakota. Still reeling from her lose, Julie takes a job in the Bear Butte County Sheriff's department hoping that maybe, just maybe she will get a little peace. She couldn't be more wrong when a new murder turns up and it turns out the young victim is a sixteen year old white girl. Now everyone is interested in solving the murder. At the same time she finds out that her best friend and local PI Kevin has been on the case investigating the last two weeks of Samantha's life. He asks for Julie's help and she reluctantly gives it since this case hits just a little too close to home. Still before she knows it she and Kevin are getting closer and closer to a killer, and the killer is starting to get nervous. People connected to Samantha are starting to turn up dead. Is Kevin or Julie the next to fall victim to a murder that will stop at nothing to protect his secret?

I was blown away by this mystery. I started and finished this book in one sitting. The murder mystery kept me guessing until the very end and the characters were wonderfully developed. I loved Julie and Kevin not only was their relationship fun, but it was different. I loved their dynamics. I would love to see Ms. Armstrong expand on their relationship in another story. They are a great investigating duo! Ms. Armstrong took great care and effort in creating her world so the reader will feel truly drawn into what's happening. Julie is a very complex character and she made me laugh, and cry. Or should I say I laughed and cried with her. I highly, highly recommend Ms. Armstrong's debut read. She provides plenty of edge of your seat reading.

BLOOD TIES is Lori Armstrong's debut mystery and I liked it overall. This novel was recently nominated for a Shamus award (for best PI book), so I thought it was worth a read. This is the first novel in a series, with the second book coming out later this year.

The 34-year old heroine of BLOOD TIES, Julie Collins, works for Bear Butte County Sheriff's Office. She works there in the hopes of finding the person who killed her half-brother Ben Stalking Elk (all of this is explained as background). Over the last five years five Native Americans like Ben have been murdered, but another body of a 16-year old girl has been discovered. Julie teams up with her friend, private detective Kevin Wells, to find out the girl's killer. Along the way, she uncovers a lot more than she bargains for.

The main plot of this book is just okay. This is a standard serial killer mystery, where the identity of the killer isn't revealed until the end. There are a lot of characters in this novel, and it was hard for me to keep track of all the different names and relationships. Next time, I hope Armstrong does a better job of streamlining the plot.

The real attraction of BLOOD TIES is the characterization. The main character, Julie Collins, is a very likable person, and I found myself rooting for her. Julie is no angel -- she likes to swear, drink, smoke, and get laid. But she is a very compassionate person at heart, and it's hard not to fall in love with her crusading spirit.

Armstrong is a good writer. There is a subplot in this novel involving a neglected child that was just heartbreaking to read. She also does a good job of describing the day-to-day life in Sioux City, South Dakota, a small city that I would probably never get to know if it wasn't for this novel. Be warned though -- this book has a fair amount of graphic violence, sex, and profanity. Not the type of book to give to your grandmother (at least mine, anyway).

Overall, this book was a fun read and I look forward to the next in the series. Armstrong certainly has talent, and I hope she makes the jump to a larger publisher in the near future.

this book is one that will keep you in suspense. i read it in two days just because i had to know what would happen next! great storyline. i can't wait for the next book. way to go lori, two thumbs up!!!!

This book has a fantastic cover, which is what drew me to it initially. I like to read horror predominantly, and so I grabbed it. It turns out that this book is a mystery and that the author lives in my home town. The story itself is set in the Black Hills area as well. This is Armstrong's first novel, and is exceptional in that context. She stays true to area geography, landmarks and history. For instance, the series of mysterious deaths among homeless Native Americans used as back story really happened, and the biker organization known as the Bandidos really do ride here. Armstrong's characters are realistic, everyday people you can easily visualize. The heroine is one you can sympathize with and root for, with one or two exceptions where she gets a little "boy crazy" (she's attracted to at least three different men in the course of the book.) There are also moments of extreme violence which help keep the book interesting (for a horror fan like me). Lots of plot twists and revelations to keep you turning pages, although the chapters don't necessarily end with cliffhangers, so there are moments you may be tempted to put the book down for a while. Overall, I am glad I purshased this book.

A friend shared this at an adults only gathering several years ago, and we had to find our own copy of the book. My husband (a pastor) has used it many times since for Christmas-time devotionals~he has even read it during our morning worship service. Children love the book, too. It reminds us all what is REALLY important, especially during this notoriously busy time of year. If someone was "missing Baby Jesus", would they know to call on YOU? This is one of our all time favorite Christmas stories.

I bought this book to share with my children after a freind shared it with me. It is a nice little story that conveys the real meaning behind the Christmas holidays and helps children to focus on what is important and not so much what they want for Christmas. I wanted my small children to understand that giving to others is what matters most.

I am a pastor and found this story very touching. I read it to my congregation as a Christmas devotional and it was well-received.

This book is easy to read, simple in its point, and suitable for children as well as adults. As a 5th and 6th grade art teacher, I read it to my classes every year at the beginning of Dec., when we begin our Christmas projects, including recycling old cards to make new ones for a local family shelter. Much as "The Gift of the Magi" opened my eyes to what a "good gift" is, "If You're Missing Baby Jesus" illustrates the true meaning of Christmas. The fact that it is a true story makes the book even more attractive to me. It also brings the opportunity to teach things about "the good ole days," like living in a small town, you only needed to dial the last four digits of someone's phone number to reach them and there used to be such a thing as "penny candy." I usually can't get through the reading of this story without crying, it touches my heart so!

This is a wonderful little story with beautiful illustrations that conveys the true meaning of Christmas. A good choice to read aloud to a group of children (ages 5 to 8 or so), the story contains enough humor to lighten the message.

Ross Wetzsteon titled the introduction to this book "The Village becomes 'The Village,'" which sums up pretty well the central argument of this impressive collection of biographies. "Republic of Dreams" is not a history of a geographical area -- a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan with a fairly agreed-upon set of boundaries -- but rather a history of a literary, artistic, and intellectual set of ideas summed up by the phrase "Greenwich Village." Though the reader may not come away with a precise idea of what-happened-where for every event and individual he describes ("Republic of Dreams" doesn't even include a map of the Village), she'll certainly have an understanding of how Greenwich Village became the font of creativity and influence that it was, particularly in the first half of the last century.

Most interesting, I thought, was Wetzsteon's depiction of the decline of bohemianism from the Village's "first generation" in the 'teens, through the twenties and thirties, and into the post-war era. Whereas the original Villagers, activists and radicals like Jack Reed, Max Eastman, and Gene O'Neill had a positive set of beliefs and objectives, those who came afterwards often seemed to have little more than a grudge and a sense of entitlement. As Wetzsteon notes in his chapter on Max Bodenheim, "to many Villagers in the twenties -- and this perversion of bohemian ideals continued for decades -- disaffection from the middle class became an end in itself. When rejection by bourgeois society becomes a sign of merit, irresponsibility a sign of authenticity, incapacity a sign of sensitivity, and dismissal a sign of artistic temperament, it's not far to go until failure becomes the ultimate sign of integrity. ... Bodenheim and his ilk turned their outcast status into a racket" (p. 393). I have to admit that as the author chronicled this period, focusing on one rejected, irresponsible, incapable personality after another -- Bodenheim, Wolfe, Gould, Cummings, Thomas -- I found myself skimming the text. But clearly, that too was part of what the Village represented. As the author points out, "after all, in this community, scandalous conduct, anguish, and despair were among the surest signs of genius" (p. 525).

The fact that I didn't enjoy reading through page after page of that shouldn't be seen as a criticism of the author, though. On the contrary, I quite enjoyed Ross Wetzsteon's descriptive skill and obvious affection for his subject. I also appreciated his sense of humor -- while many historians feel the need to maintain (or simulate) Olympian objectivity, Wetzsteon isn't afraid to inject humor or the occasional arch observation into his writing. Given how dry I think this subject could have been -- particularly at this length -- in the hands of a less capable author, Wetzsteon's skill and distinctive authorial voice makes for a much better experience. As I walked the streets of the Village myself for the first time a few weeks ago, my experience was greatly enriched by having "visited" it first with Ross Wetzsteon. Someone more familiar with the area, particularly a current or former resident, would probably get even more out if it.

I have to give this 5 stars too simply because so much of it is useful and illuminating. I acquired it for the purposes of reading about Bohemia which is a mental state that has always been attractive to me. An added side benefit of Wetzsteon's approach, with its chapters that can easily stand alone, is that so many famous artists are thoroughly expounded upon within the spine (and cost) of a single book that it ends up saving you money. I picked up enough about Dylan Thomas, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Eugene O'Neill that their full biographies will remain on my Wish List for the unforeseeable future. What the author offers here is a shotgun blast of information concerning emblematic figures that made the village the village--or our own Left Bank--during a particular fifty year period. There's was a world not easily recreated and that's how it should be or else we'd all die of malnutrition and alcoholism. The writing is quite good and Wetzsteon managed to pack enough information into these pages where the book become more of an experience than a didactic history lesson.

or student of the history of NY in the 20th century. They were all here and lived within a mile of eachother.

A treasure.

Way back when America was still a conglomeration of British colonies, Greenwich Village was settled by the rich and merchant class of lower Manhattan as an escape from the recurring ravages of yellow fever and cholera. For this reason Greenwich Village was, essentially, never really mapped out; never really settled in accordance to any public plan. Of course, there was no grid plan either. Perhaps this haphazard beginning is what gave the area its combined flavor of anarchy and refinement. Where else would you find a Washington Square Park whose north end was the home to upper or, at least, bourgiose families, and whose south end was a magnet for immigrants not so rich?

Focusing on what was arguably the Village's heydays, the 50 years from 1910 to 1950, the late Ross Wetzsteon reveals to us a neighborhood as provincial and insular as any New England town in one way, and as forward-looking and worldly in another. REPUBLIC OF DREAMS is a look at the artists and writers, activists and thinkers, who populated this amazing world (e.g. Gould, Pollack, O'Neill, Reed, Sinclair). And, as Wetzsteon demonstrates, the Village sort of became an image for the entire world on the verge of modernism.

Prof. Wetzsteon's style is learned and academic, but far from stuffy or dull. And he peppers the book with anecdotes that are witty and tragic. It is a shame that Prof. Wetzsteon has been taken from us, but at least his REPUBLIC OF DREAMS will be with us for a long while.

Ross Wetzsteon examines the remarkable life of a handful of distinctive writers and artists that made Greenwich Village for what it was - a refuge for the bohemians that came from all points of the United States from 1910-1960. REPUBLIC OF DREAMS tells the story of the core of writers that drifted in an out of the Village during its most creative and innovative period, and displays an intimate and intense portrait of the most vibrant time in literary and cultural history. Wetzsteon brings the Village alive with the numerous stories that offer a glimpse of the person behind the person, which presents each writer or artist as humanly as possible -- self-absorbed, narcissistic, and always striving to maintain marginality as a means to creativity in their insular middle class upbringing (568). He parallels the difficult and at times, the idiosyncratic experiences that each subject faced to their spontaneous creativity. Hauntingly, their lives mirrored the novels and poems that they wrote may have followed the moniker of "live hard and die young." It is unfortunate that this became true for writers, such as Hart Crane, e.e. cummings, Jackson Pollack, and Dylan Thomas. However, others lived over the age of 50 despite living with their insane demons -- John Gould, Djuna Barnes, and Edna St. Vincent Millay; while others lived the starving artist life - William Carlos Williams and the Eminent Villagers mentioned in chapters six and chapter seven.


REPUBLIC OF DREAMS contains and immense collection of stories that Wetzsteon painstakingly compiled and researched. It is unfortunate that it isn't a complete narrative, but comes close in spite of Wetzsteon's untimely death in 1998, which is mentioned in the Afterword. This could have been volume one of a two volume set due to the enormous content of the book, 619 (569 of narrative) pages. The period in which he presents spans 50 years of Village life, and he does not cover every character that lived within this vicious circle of unrestrained eccentricity and vitality. Despite the number of pages, that should not discount anyone from exploring this important part of Americana. No one can say that these inhabitants of the Village lived a lackluster life, but one that overflowed with great extremity.

This book had a lot of research done to complete it. However it is subjective from a white man's point of view. There were many inaccuracies in the author's personal opinions which show in the writing. It would have been nice if he had shown the curtesy to consult Taoyataduta's blood relatives.A peace chief keeps peace.He was a medicine man.He was at the front of every battle and never fired. Other than a mate,"wives were women of braves who lost their mates and were provided for.The children who came with them were adopted. Blood had nothing to do with it.Read Honoring the Medicine for a factual concept

Gary C. Anderson is an expert on Dakota/Sioux history. His doctoral dissertation, published under the title "Kinsmen of Another Kind," discussed Dakota/White relations from the 17th to the 19th century. In "Through Dakota Eyes," Anderson collected dozens of Indian narratives concerning the 1862 Dakota uprising in Southeastern Minnesota. This book, "Little Crow: Spokesman for the Sioux," finds Anderson delving deep into the archives in order to present a better picture of that enigmatic Dakota chief Taoyateduta, known to history as Little Crow.

The main thesis of Anderson's "Kinsmen of Another Kind" was the importance of kinship ties within the Dakota tribes as well as with outsiders. Traders formed kinship ties with the Dakota because the ties allowed the traders to use the Dakotas to gather furs for them. Dakotas benefited from kinship ties because the ties involved gift giving. Whites had to give gifts to the Dakotas if they wanted to maintain trade and relations. As more and more whites moved into the region, kinship ties slowly disintegrated because whites no longer needed to deal with the Dakotas on an equal basis. It is important to understand these kinship ties when reading "Little Crow," as Anderson again makes these relationships central to his study.

Anderson begins his biographical analysis of Little Crow with an overview of Dakota culture. According to Anderson, it is impossible to understand anything about Little Crow's life and actions unless we understand his cultural underpinnings. Anderson discusses hunting, gift giving, medicine sacks and medicine societies, Dakota religion, and the role of a chief in Dakota society (chiefs, according to Anderson, held little actual power over the warriors; it was the position of speaker that held greater power, something Little Crow found out when he led the Dakota warriors during the 1862 uprising).

Little Crow's life is truly fascinating. Anderson discusses in great depth the role of Little Crow's grandfather and father in their relations with the Americans at Fort Snelling. Little Crow's grandfather and father took an accommodationist stance towards white encroachment on Dakota lands, trying to toe the fine line between keeping the Dakota people happy while dealing with the whites. Anderson argues that Little Crow, despite the bad reputation he earned due to the uprising, was an accommodationist just like his father and grandfather. Time and time again, Little Crow worked with the white Indian agents and soldiers to try and benefit his people. Little Crow was intimately involved in signing several treaties with the government, worked hard to placate the government after the Inkpaduta affair of 1857, and tried to prevent war in 1862. That Little Crow failed in his dealings with the government and failed to stop the uprising is certainly a tragedy, but should not overshadow his attempts to do the right thing for his people. Ultimately, no Dakota leader could have prevented the coming doom.

Little Crow is best known for the destructive war against whites in 1862. Anderson covers the war and its aftermath in succinct detail. Actually, this may be the best account of the war I have read. Anderson discusses Little Crow's failure to successfully organize his warriors, his failure to gain support with mixed-blood and Upper Agency Indians, and his failure to form an Indian alliance during his exile in North Dakota and Canada. When Little Crow returned to Minnesota in 1863, he knew his time was short. Little Crow died from a gunshot wound while picking berries with his son. Little Crow's remains, horribly mutilated by angry whites, ended up on display at the Minnesota Historical Society until the 1970's, when they were finally given a proper burial.

Anderson claims that Little Crow was an opportunist, a scheming sort of politician who always helped out because he wanted to elevate his own position within Dakota society. Anderson cites as evidence newspaper interviews with Little Crow which revealed Little Crow's propensity for pithy statements and his need for constant attention. That Little Crow had a knack for oratory should come as no surprise; he was a chief, and chiefs constantly debated issues with other leaders in the tribe. But is Little Crow a politician? I don't think so, at least not in the way we perceive the term. Is it possible that newspaper and other white accounts of the time framed Little Crow in terms whites understood? After all, documents show that many whites had no real conception about the true nature of Indians in the 19th century. White relations with Indians were based on a fundamental set of assumptions, most of them racist and false. To paint Little Crow as a sort of Huey Long type teeters dangerously close to error. After all, Dakota culture emphasized communitarian values, not the sort of individualistic elevation Anderson says Little Crow sought.

Anderson ends the book with an appendix discussing Little Crow's genealogy. This section is the most difficult part of the book due to the intricate relationships within Indian families and tribes. Terms like "father" and "cousin" do not carry the same connotation in Indian culture as they do in ours. A father's brothers can all be "fathers" to an Indian, and "cousins" are even more convoluted. A genealogical chart of Little Crow's family at the back of the book makes a medieval royal house look like a nuclear family. These genealogies are necessary to back up Anderson's claim that kinship is central to tribal life.

This is a scholarly book that manages to entertain while it teaches. It is definitely a must have for those seeking a deeper understanding of the Dakota tribes, or for those interested in the Minnesota uprising of 1862. If you don't come away with some sense of admiration for Little Crow, despite his failures, you did not read the same book I did.

This is the story of the life and times of Little Crow, the man chosen to speak for the Dakota nation. He was one of the principal men who went to Washington, D.C. working on treaty negotiations for his people.

The Dakota people had suffered treaty abuses for many years, losing vast tracts of land with each treaty. The many treaties made between the Dakota Nation and the United States were soon broken. Money promised by treaty never made it intact to the Dakota people, being siphoned off by greedy merchants and military personnel. The small sums which finally arrived late were never enough to cover the inflated prices set by the traders. Those same traders tricked the Dakota people into signing papers which forced the available monies directly to the traders pockets, bypassing the Dakota people entirely.

Speculators were selling off parcels left and right before the treaties were even signed. With encroachment, the natural dynamics of the land were destroyed, ruining the traditional hunting and gathering places. With no traditional food sources available, the Dakota were forced to buy from the traders.

One fatal year, during the Civil War, the treaty monies were extremely late. The traders would not allow the abundant food in the storehouses to be distributed without payment in hand. The people were starving. Desperate men, worried about their families, took matters into their own hands to liberate the food stored in the warehouses.

The Dakota went to war, up & down the Minnesota river valley forcing the inadequate army through it's paces. Individual warriors went on raids against the local settlers while the majority of the warriors organized themselves into war parties against the army.

Hundreds of Dakota warriors were tricked into surrendering as prisoners of war and imprisoned. Their families were impounded in miserable stockades. Those warriors who could, took their families and fled to Canada and the plains.

The Minnesota settlers demanded that all the warriors be summarily executed. The mock military trial comdemned any man who had participated in the war to death. Of the hundreds of men captured, 38 were hanged in Mankato in a mass execution the day after Christmas. The remaing warriors were imprisoned for up to five years before being released. Their families were shipped out to Crow Creek in South Dakota where they died of starvation and disease.

Little Crow was blamed for starting the War and a price put on his head. He had escaped to Canada, but had come back at a later time with his son. They were picking berries when some settlers saw them and shot Little Crow.

Little Crow was dead. His body was mutilated and his bones were kept in the Minnesota Historical Museum collections for far too many years.

Little Crow, Spokesman For the Sioux is a reissuing of a well-researched biography of the famous Mdewakanton chief from Kaposia (Minnesota), presented complete with period drawings, illustrations, and maps as well as an exhaustive genealogy of Little Crow (Appendix 2) which helps to explain his complicated series of alliances and growth to power. Little Crow, or Ta-o-ya-te-du-ta is presented as a reluctant war leader and a persistent accommodater, politician and tribal spokesman, a position earned partly by blood and good alliances and partly by sacrifice and risk. The Mdewakanton's experience of betrayal, disillusionment, cultural displacement and dissolution in the war of 1862 is central to the life experience of Little Crow. His death is presented as a metaphor for his life and that of his people. In "The Last Campaign" it is asked why Little crow returned to the Minnesota Frontier in September of 1862, where it was almost certain that he would be killed. Though he spoke of obtaining a horse for each of his children, it seems more plausible that he willingly headed towards his death as a deliberate sacrifice, being blamed for the war by both whites and Mdewakanton Sioux.

This is the tragedy of Little Crow's life.

Faithful to the conclusions suggested by his richly varied sources, Anderson presents a realistic yet compassionate portrayal of a great Mdewakanton chief. This is a scholarly work that reads smoothly and gives good tapestry detail. Colored plates of paintings enrich the text.

Nancy Lorraine, Reviewer

I live in the city of Hutchinson, MN in McLeod County. Six miles north of this city is a marker identifying the site where Little Crow was shot by a local farmer. The farmer had no idea who he was shooting at, just that it was an Indian and he would collect a bounty for his scalp.

Our city has a bronze statue of Little Crow looking out over the Crow River near the dam on the Main Street. Up until the time that I read this book, that summed up most of what I knew of Little Crow, the Sioux legend. We choose to drop the name Sioux that was given this people by our own ancestors, the Ojibwe. In our language it means "Snake". Their word for themselves is Dakota. It means "Friend".

Now I feel as though I know him as a man. I know of his character, his integrity, his family, his people. I know a great wrong was done.

At the present time there is a group of people involved in planning and hosting a reconciliation and restitution concerning the events that touched this city in regards to Taoyateduta (Little Crow) and his people. A direct descendant of Taoyateduta (meaning His Red Nation) and a direct descendant of the man who shot him will be part of the event, asking forgiveness of one another. It is never too late to say, "I'm sorry. Will you forgive?"

This book has been instrumental in opening the door to the healing of this ancient wound that is still alive in many hearts.