California Books

I loved this book! Could picture myself and a few friends doing the same thing! Showed how friendships can be repaired and hearts healed. Anyone in their late 30's to mid 40's could probably relate to one of the characters and enjoy this read. Whether you're married, single, in a strained relationship, etc...this will encourage you.

What an awesome book. It is such a great story of friendship, and what friendship is really about for women. Celebrating all that we are, our differences, our sameness. I laughed, I cried, - A great story. This author does a great job. I'm going to find more of her books. Oh and by the way, a great guideline for turning corners!

Reviewed by Cherri Vanover and Kim Peterson for Reader Views (12/06)

A beach house in San Diego provides the setting for the reunion of childhood best friends Jo, Andie, Molly and Char. A feeling of homesickness while looking at an old photograph prompts Jo to invite the group to California to rekindle their friendship. The women celebrate their fortieth birthdays together.

The friends have all but drifted apart in the twelve years that have slipped by since they were last together at Molly's wedding. Although they feel delighted to reconnect, getting away doesn't bring the escape from everyday life that they expected. Their past link is influenced by their present situations. The once spunky Andie has faded into a fearful, mousy person under the influence of disparaging husband Paul. Molly and Scott are redefining their marriage now that the former stay-at-home mom and pastor's wife works outside the home as a substitute teacher. A single doctor, Jo struggles to keep from drowning her guilt about past career and relationship choices with alcohol. Neglected dentist's wife and mother Char seems to be overly friendly with her next door neighbor, Todd.

While the beach house setting encourages readers to visit, it is John's characters who invite them to stay. Jo, Andie, Molly and Char seem like real women with real problems readers can relate to and learn from in their own daily lives. Upon finding herself in a predicament that she doesn't like yet believes to be God's will, Molly prays, "Change my heart. Please change my heart." As Andie attempts to check off items on her "Adventure List," she hears in her spirit, "All you have to do is let go." John uses her characters' conflicts to share her faith with her audience in a situational rather than preachy way. What Christian fiction often aims at but struggles to do, John seems to accomplish with ease. This conversational style not only keeps the reader turning pages but also empowers readers to consider and listen for spiritual solutions to their own problems.

John creates a delightfully inviting setting, endearing main characters, intriguing secondary characters and a faith-based story with a message that lingers long after the last page. Fans of women's contemporary Christian fiction will find "The Beach House" a satisfying read.

I absolutely loved this book! I could relate to each of the four women at different times in their lives. It reminded me to take all things to HIM in prayer at ALL times.

I have been a long time reader of Sally John's books, and never once have I been disappointed. In The Beach House, Sally John weaves a lovely story of four childhood friends who have just turned 40, but have lost contact over the last twelve years. To celebrate their respective birthdays, they agree to share a beach house for one week and re-connect. Each woman is experiencing a time of trial, and Sally's expertise and style of writing sweeps the reader along in a medley of emotion, spiritual encouragement, and laughter. What more could a reader want?

I agree with the other reviews that this book is informative and engagingly written, with excellent and thoroughly researched paved and back road routes. However, I noted two cases in the Yosemite descriptions where the author confused left and right. In ride 74 at the bottom of page 264 he writes that you "turn left (south) and then xleftx RIGHT! immediately again onto narrow Crescent Meadow Road. That one is obvious when you're there, but the other is crucial: In ride 70, in the middle of p. 258 "...before arriving at a meadow. It seems like you should go left, but stay to the right of the meadow." Nope--you must indeed go to the LEFT of that meadow to follow the described route (and the overall loop is to the right), while the right fork soon turns into barely recognizable cowpaths that eventually dead end in the woods. I mention this mainly because he makes such a big deal of it, and want to warn cyclists using the book to take the directions with a hint of caution.

This book "Bicycling America's National Parks" is part of the Backcountry series. Even thought I like bikes I prefer to go on foot. The same trails lend their selves to foot also.

Many a time I have been able to locate ranger stations where you can check in and be loosed on the back country trails. Luckily many people are not aware of these areas. Some trails you can go all day without running into a soul.

David Story should be ashamed of him self fore giving away the secret. But I am glad I found this book.

The book is divided into 15 locations and in each location there is a description of where you can stay and where you can rent bikes along with other relevant information.

There are also trail maps and photographs from the area. Most important is inclusion of addresses for more up to date and more detailed information.

This book must be the first of its kind--a guidebook about bicycling in the national parks. The author shows that the common misperception that bicycling is not allowed off-road in national parks is just that-- a misperception. This book features some outstanding road rides as well as mountain bike rides. I think the descriptions of the parks themselves and the rides therein are well-written and clear. The author gives the kind of information you'd want to know before setting off on a ride, and does it in a colorful, sometimes very deadpan funny way. There's also some cool trivia about the parks and good, useful information about where to buy supplies, repair your bike, do laundry, take showers, camp, and other stuff like that. I think this is a book that shows you how to take part in the most fun sport in the world (bicycling) and do it in some of the most spectacular places in the world (the national parks of California). A must for any travelers to the national parks who want to get out of their cars and explore. (By the way: it's not just for hardcore bicyclists--there are numerous family and beginner-level rides as well.)

This book must be the first of its kind--a guidebook about bicycling in the national parks. The author shows that the common misperception that bicycling is not allowed off-road in national parks is just that-- a misperception. This book features some outstanding road rides as well as mountain bike rides. I think the descriptions of the parks themselves and the rides therein are well-written and clear. The author gives the kind of information you'd want to know before setting off on a ride, and does it in a colorful, sometimes very deadpan funny way. There's also some cool trivia about the parks and good, useful information about where to buy supplies, repair your bike, do laundry, take showers, camp, and other stuff like that. I think this is a book that shows you how to take part in the most fun sport in the world (bicycling) and do it in some of the most spectacular places in the world (the national parks of California). A must for any travelers to the national parks who want to get out of their cars and explore. (By the way: it's not just for hardcore bicyclists--there are numerous family and beginner-level rides as well.)

I just returned from a mountain biking vacation to Joshua Tree National Park, Mojave National Preserve, and Santa Monica Mountains National Recreational Area and this guidebook proved indespensible. It contains almost all information necessary to plan your trip and somehow manages to be both concise, thorough and readable.

Story introduces each chapter with a brief description of the geography and history of the park. Then Story lists several rides within the park, each accompanied by detailed descriptions (including technical and aerobic difficulty, best time of year to ride, overall length of trail, etc.) and maps. Though some road bike routes are included, most trails are for mountain bikes. Each trail I rode was accurately described. Each chapter also contains boxes describing the fauna (animals) and flora (plants) you'll likely encounter within each park.

This book isn't just a cycling guide, it contains virtually all the information you'll need to plan your trip. Story concludes each chapter with information about local lodging, camping, bike shops, grocery stores, and restaurants (his recommendations are first rate). He also provides helpful contacts (park visitors centers, etc.) which should be able to provide any other information you might need. Story has also eliminated the extraneous elements so many other cycling guidebooks seem to contain (elevation maps might be visually enticing, but let's face it, they aren't necessary).

What is really remarkable about this book is Story's terse, engaging writing. The abundance of information this book contains is presented in readable, often witty language. He doesn't just describe, he gives the reader a feel for each park and the surrounding communities (when applicable). Unlike most guidebooks I've read (which usually contain flat, predictable humor), Story's humor actually works; it isn't "laugh-out-loud" funny, but wry, witty humor that always relates to and never detracts from the subject matter.

The only improvement I would suggest for future editions is to provide a general map of each National Park. The trail maps only feature a small segment of the park where the trail is located. It is sometimes impossible to decipher where each trail is located within the entire park itself. This is particularly difficult for visitors not familiar with the area (like me). It was sometimes impossible to tell from the maps where the most convenient place to stay (closest lodging to the trails) is. The next edition should provide a map showing where each trail is located relative to the entire park. Before visiting a park, you should obtain a complete map from the National Park Service (Story does tell where to obtain these).

Story has set high standards with this guidebook, the first in the "Bicycling America's National Parks" series. It's the kind of book you'll enjoy reading even if you don't plan to hit the trails anytime soon. Story's writing is so engaging that finishing the 300-pages is effortless (300 pages may sound long, but it really isn't). This book is a must read for any cyclists interested in visiting the National Parks of California. I can't wait to read the subsequent guidebooks for other states.

For loved ones with any sort of mental abnormalities within the family this is a wonderful story of dedication, love, and tireless patience. I was amazed at these two parents and how they stretched themselves in every direction to help their suffering daughter.

BROKEN GLASS: A FAMILY'S JOURNEY THROUGH MENTAL ILLNESS tells of an unhappy child who grows up to have a serious personality disorder. Elene reached her teens in the middle of the counterculture years: her professor father here shares his story of the family's struggles with Elene's ongoing mental health issues, charting hospital and doctor snafus and interactions, family adjustments, and ups and downs which eventually led to helping her raise her own children. An eye-opening story evolves with plenty of lessons for other families struggling with mental illness.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I have read "Broken Glass" and found it extremely good.
I notice one of your reviewers calls it a novel. I can understand that
because it reads like a novel, a real page-turner. But it really is
not fiction but what the author says, a heartfelt account of a
father's relations with his daughter. Being a parent to a beautiful daughter, this book makes me realize that I should always support my daughter as Dr Hine always did.
I assume Dr Hine is right in saying everything is told as it was.
I have friends who can be called mentally ill, and reading
this book has helped me enormously in my feelings toward them.
Dr Hine is thoughtful, kind, and generous, and he understands and
explains all the paraphernalia of the mental health world. I completely agree with the W. Los Angeles reviewer, this book should be a must for people majoring in Health and Human Studies. A high recommend.

Dr Hine thanks for the beautiful, very descriptive and magic way of your writing, I also enjoyed your "Second Sight" book very much (a must) !!
I guess I'm an avid fun !!

Robert Hine has written the seminal book on parenting a mentally ill child."Broken Glass" chronicles Hine and his wife Shirley's heart-breaking and often harrowing experiences as they watch their daughter Elene veer into the world of mental illness. Never has the debate of "Nurture vs. Nature" been answered more clearly,for despite a loving home,two educated,cultured,concerned parents and the benefits of a middle-class upbringing(music,dance lessons,travel) Elene becomes increasingly more disorganized and disturbed. Hine's descriptions are unsparing,tender, and without attendant sentimentality.What makes this book rise to the top of its kind, is that Hine takes the reader beyond differing diagnoses,treatment modalities and eventual hope for a cure. He places us in the hearts and minds of aging parents who wrestle with their own aging issues, as they alternately assist Elene and attempt to employ "tough love" methods. Elene, now grown with children of her own, continues to have episodic bouts with mental illness."Broken Glass" delivers a mandate to a mental health delivery system and legal system that often fall short of understanding and meeting the needs of a mentally ill citizen.This book should be a required text for nursing,medical,social work and law schools.

This helpful book is aimed at parents who struggle everyday with their mentally ill children. The author, Robert Hine, not only helps the reader understand mental illness in children, but also provides the tools and resources to help assist parents deal with such a challenge. Parents play an important role in the first line offense of mental illness in children. In being able to identify the early warning symptoms, it is the author's hope that we can reduce the stigma and improve the quality of life for such children.

This book should definitely be a required text for those majoring in Health and Human Studies. It is also a great resource for practicing mental health services providers such as, social workers, psychologists, nurses, etc. Needless to say, law enforcement officers and law practitioners are not immune to the type of problems parents and mental health providers encounter because they also assist individuals with severe mental and emotional problems.

The focus of the book is on communication and patience and its approach is humanitarian, emphasizing empathy in dealing with the child welfare system and the juvenile justice system, as well as practical in suggesting guideliness for dealing with specific situations. Elene is among the few fortunate children whose parents never give up on them and support them in all aspects trying to figure out what's in their children's best interest. Broken Glass is the type of book you will want to read to the end. It is a remarkable story about Mr. and Mrs. Hine's strength and determination to travel in any direction on any road at any given time, just so that they could provide their daughter with the tools to achieve self sufficiency.

Dr. Hine, thank you so much for sharing your beautiful story of heartache and triumph. Your unbreakable spirit shines throughout this book.

This book was fantastic! It was a great guide for the Eastern Sierra. It took us to places we wouldn't have otherwise gone and that I'm glad we didn't miss. For instance, without this book I would have had no idea that there were hot springs in the area (Hot Creek) or that the Alabama Hills would be both beautiful and interesting. The photography in the book is fantastic and it's just beautiful to look at even if you never intend to go. My only complaint is that the author didn't say more about the Little Lakes Valley. It was an absolutely spectacular hike, although I had to hear about it from a stranger at a campground. The author mentions it briefly, but in my opinion, it's a "can't miss" area that she should have said more about.

The pictures are terrific. The coverage is complete, but doesn't go into excessive detail. The only problem with this being a great coffee table book is that people will won't stop reading it. Also the maps are very high quality.

I was fortunate enough to purchase this book on the first day of two-week vacation in the Sierra. Since part of the vacation was a planned visit to Mono Lake, the title attracted me. A brief perusal demonstrated the exquisite color photography throughout the book.

After reading sections of the book, plans were changed to include much more time in the Owens Valley and kindred points. We saw and experienced many things that I had never imagined, such as the Long Valley hot springs, the Owens River Canyon, rockhounding areas galore, Fossil Falls, the Coso Domes, Convict Lake, etc., etc.

The book is well writtten, and very well organized, taking the reader from south(Mojave Desert) to North(Bridgeport area, about 100 miles south of Reno) in successive chapters. Although written for any person with a high school background, the book is particularly well suited for students of earth processes, including physical geology, weather, and field biology. Attractions such as the Ancient Bristlecone pine forest, home of the worlds oldest trees, and the Mono Lake volcanic domes, one of America's most recent sites of volcanic activity, are especiall.y well discussed.

One of the most impressive features of this work is the careful road directions included at the conclusion of each subsection discussing a particular attraction. Without these guideline, finding some of the areas would have been much more difficult.

Mixed in with the recitation of attractions, and things to see and do, is a history of the area, where you will find discussion of the various mining ventures in area mountains and dry lakebeds, as well as a narrative of the Owens Valley Earthquake of 1872. America has not experienced a quake of this magnitude since that date.

The book was a treat to possess, both during my vacation and now. Its photography and text rekindle memories of this wonderful region of our country, and I recommend it as highly as possible.

The photos in this book jumped out at me and encouraged me to purchase it, yet I was very happily surprised by the thoroughness and readability of the text. I made a road trip down highway 395 this past summer through the Eastern Sierra region and this book proved to be an invaluable resource. It turned me onto many great places to visit off the beaten path. There is excellent history, wildlife and geological info, and descriptions of the towns along the way. The photos are just great, making this both a coffee table book and a great visitors guide. I stopped at the Interagency Visitor Center in Lone Pine (which I would recommend as a good starting point for anyone exploring the area) and among their large selection of books about the region I found this book to the best single source if choosing just one. You'll be very happy with this purchase.

This book has been a good friend to us over the last dozen or so years, as we have made many trips into the east Sierra/Owens Valley area, mostly for photography. The book is well-written, well-organized, and has thoughtfully-chosen sites to visit.

The photography, of couse, is wonderful, from some of the top landscape photographers in the western U.S.

If you might ever be headed in this direction, you need this book.

As I could relate with the age, time and place of the main character's life, I took a ride on the depth given to her by Jones. What a trip! I'm still sitting at the table with them over cioppino wishing everyone would come home again. Well, things surely change as California's Over reveals. I'll have to accept this and jump into another ferment of this writer's cast of characters.

This is not Jones' best, but it's definitely his most ambitious. He's trying to mark out territory as an important writer here, bidding to be a Big Gun. Commentary on society, etc. People in the throes of crucial emotions in their lives, etc. He's more at ease with the metaphysical, as in "Particles and Luck." "Particles and Luck" is a truly beautiful little book. A classic. However, I must say, the looser structure in "Californias Over" (the wandering over three decades in several characters' lives, the multiple point-of view, the flash-forwards to warn reader of future developments) all allow a new complexity here. And Jones' poetry is present. I just happen to prefer the tighter structure. His earlier books are more like DeLillo -- seem to have been directly influenced by DeLillo -- whereas this is more touchie-feelie.

A gifted, stylish writer with something new and original to say. Even though the time (1973) and place (Marin County California) and subject (family of a deceased late Beat/early hippie writer) are far removed from my own experience, Jones has the gift of taking you there, spinning you around, getting you interested in the characters and leaving you delighted and enlightened.

Louis B. Jones's California's Over is much more than a satire of the West Coast's Sixties legacy, though like all good satire it does have a deeply realized base of moral bedrock to put the clearly-observed human excesses and deviations in perspective, and like all good satire it is very funny without being cruel. But the book's real strength and beauty is in its tenderness, the sweet music of human peculiarity lucidly seen, and in its evocations of the loveliness of the sirens' songs that have drawn its characters toward their particular, poignant ruin on their particular rocks of reality. And the novel, like all of Jones's work, is ultimately a song of praise for the embattled decency, for the redemptive power in the feeble human longing for the simple human truth, for the humble beauty of the real, in the face of everything the world can bring of tragedy and temptation. Jones's language is astonishing, rich and lush and ever-inventive, a kind of sustained poetry. By all means check out his other novels--Ordinary Money, and Particles and Luck, which are also terrific. A beautiful writer, with hopefully a long and productive career ahead of him--a joy to read.

I read this in hardcover, and it's amazing. Jones is the only fiction writer I know of now who is truly driven to poetry, that is necessary poetry, not vague lyricism. Every line matters. I live in Saint Louis, MO, and Jones is here at a university to be a visiting writer and just gave a reading of his newest work, about Alaska in 1970, and it heads off in a totally different direction. There's no one writng today with his sincerity and poetry.

This is not only one of the most informative books ever published on the history (as opposed to the geography, geology, anthropology or wildlife - if you want those, go elsewhere) of Death Valley and the mountains surrounding it, it is a thoroughly amusing and satisfying read for any student of Western history and does for Death Valley what J. Frank Dobie did for territories further south. One gets the impression that in spite of its inhospitable nature, there may have been more frauds per square foot committed around Death Valley than any other American soil west of Wall Street. Lingenfelter traces them all, and one of the charms of his book is that while he is admirably even-handed in puncturing the inflated claims of bull-shippers like Death Valley Scotty and George Graham Rice, he seems to have a sneaking affection for all the boodlers, grifters, con men and watered-stock-artists he chronicles, as well as for the hopeful dreamers totally unprepared for Mother Nature's crueler side who seem to have populated the region ever since the first California-bound covered wagons stumbled into it. In fact, the only thing missing from this book that I would have found useful is a record of what is still there to be seen of the colorful boom towns he chronicles - for example, according to the National Park Service, Rhyolite still has quite a bit to reward the sightseer (even though it has had to be fenced off to keep tourists from carrying it away bit by bit as souvenirs to decorate their dens), while the once-flourishing mining towns of Greenwater and Bullfrog have so totally disappeared that there is nothing at all to be seen there today.

With a fifty-five page bibliography and a hundred pages of endnotes, you'd expect this closely documented history of this region, published from a university press by a professor (of physics!) to read like most academic texts. It does not. It's witty, insightful, droll, while remaining relentlessly focused not on the feel of the area (for that, see his "Death Valley Lore" edition of century-old tall tales and/or journalism or John Soennichsen's lively personal take "Live from Death Valley"; both books also reviewed by me on Amazon)-- but on its discovery by pioneers, its promotion by hucksters to gullible investors, and the sheer difficulty of getting its mineral and ore riches out of the Valley due to the lack of water and wood. No matter how tempting the surface finds might promise prospectors and speculators, the fact remained that more borax than gold came from there, and perhaps more lead than silver, and the enormous labor and climatic peril meant that, less than a century after it was stumbled upon by gold-rushers seeking a shortcut west, it became more lucrative as a tourist attraction rather than a mother lode.

Lingenfelter assembles his considerable data primarily from newspapers and government archives of the time. Maps both early and later help you visualize the places, and period photos give you a peek into a few of the sites. I wish more of these had been included, but it's a minor flaw. Chapters cover chronologically the pre-European settlers; the miners of the 1850s and 1860s; the Pocket Miners' boomlets that sparked buying frenzies for gold, silver, lead and later the humbler but savvily-sold borax; the copper and lead profits; and the rise of the auto, rail, and bus excursions that in the wake of Scotty's endless PR set the Valley indelibly on the map and on the silent screen. His opening paragraphs for each of the chapters and sub-sections serve as models for expository writing in their command of image, style, and intrigue.

The author wrote most of his account based on the contemporary reports from the area, and the abundance of press from the California and Nevada mining towns themselves must have rivalled dueling bloggers who try to cash in on the staked-out domains of the Net in our own feverish commercial marketing campaigns. Death Valley's Scotty and his lesser-known real-estate snake-oil rival C.C. Julian emerge from these closely printed, but largely engrossing, pages as larger-than-life promoters of their own image and of the dreams of avarice that they kindled in their readers all over the country. The narrative leaps energetically into such characters' humbug, and your patience for all the data on stock prices, lists of claims, and dutiful attention to grubstakes and legal battles, while all necessary for the foundation of such an informative text, is rewarded with a chance to feel the repelling yet fascinating charm of the salesmen who sold the spirit of the Gold Rush or Klondike or Comstock to later, more citified, folks, and delighted in the con all the way as much as perhaps many of their willing victims seemed to do. Likewise, the manipulation of Leadfield by Julian as the profits rose and fell on his considerable talents in advertising what his reader wanted can be rivalled by earlier, less-known efforts such as the Panamint and Bullfrog and Ryan mines that crested and tumbled their value on the stock exchanges in roller-coaster fashion.

Finally, there's a glimpse at such later figures as "Bob" Eichbaum, who built a toll road, sensibly, to found a resort smack in the middle of the Valley when his horses refused to go any further with his supplies for construction. He and the last to get rich off the Valley managed to do so by convincing Hoover, just before he left the White House, to protect the interests of those who had already cornered the market for the automobile-bound visitors. These developers wished to keep the mining going, while heading off any real-estate boom, and they succeeded in cornering their control of the concessions and sights, while getting the taxpayers to take over the bill for roads, maintenance, and upkeep.

Still, as Lingenfelter concludes, this may well be a great bargain, for in its appeal as a supposedly deadly, noxious, forbidden, or hellish place, its own Hollywood-fueled scenario makes it the largest National Park today. It also was spared the dispiriting subdivision of Palm Springs or the tacky sprawl of Las Vegas. In its not-quite pristine but still rather primitive state, it's a place where yearly one that half a million of us drive to, winter or summer, in search of the curious lure that impels us to look high up to Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the 48 States, while far below sea level at fittingly named Badwater.

In the Preface to this definitive history of Death Valley, Richard Lingenfelter writes, "This is the history of Death Valley, where that bitter stream the Amargosa dies. It embraces the whole basin of the Amargosa from the Panamints to the Spring Mountains, from the Palmettos to the Avawatz.... This is the story of an illusory land, of the people it attracted and of the dreams and delusions they pursued.... But mostly it's the story of the illusions - of the shortcuts to the gold diggings, of the deadliness of the land, of the bonanzas and immense riches ...." The history spans a period of time from its earliest recollections to 1933, when Herbert Hoover designated it a National Monument.

Apparently Death Valley got its name from a group of Argonauts passing through on their way to the California gold fields in 1850. The name first appeared on a map in 1861. Paiute and Shoshone Indians frequented the area, of course, long before whites showed up, and lived off crops they grew. The earliest whites were prospectors, looking for gold and silver. Ironically, the most valuable resource would turn out to be the white substance anyone could find just by looking: borax. Millions of dollars worth of borax was shipped out of the valley, first by the legendary 20-mule team wagons, and then by train. In the early 20th century gold was discovered in the valley and soon gold camps and boomtowns, places like Bullfrog, Beatty, and Rhyolite, were attracting miners and get-rich-quick schemers from all over the country. Copper and gas frenzies followed, but the next big change to the area was brought about by the automobile: tourists in their Model Ts were invited to "see Hell firsthand" and to experience the mysteries and uniqueness of this unforgiving area with Death in its name. And soon there was Scotty's Castle to ogle. Then in 1933, after years of wrangling, President Hoover declared Death Valley a National Monument.

Lingenfelter's book is dense with fact and incident, but it's a fascinating read from beginning to end. Although a previous book published in 1940 had attempted to be a history of Death Valley, it was incomplete and selective, and mixed fact and fable without distinguishing the two. Lingenfelter's book is thus the first to cover the ground completely and factually. (100 pages of endnotes attest to his serious intentions.) The book is authoritative and, as I mentioned earlier, definitive. Highly recommended.

This book provides incredibly thorough coverage of the history of Death Valley. For my interests, I wish the emphasis had included more information about Panamint Valley, Searles Valley, and the Darwin area, but these, somewhat peripheral, areas do get some coverage. The details provided by the author are very helpful and it is obvious throughout the book that the history presented here was carefully researched and authoritative. On top of everything else the entire story of Death Valley is presented clearly and in a style which is enjoyable to read.

This is much more than just a social or human history of Death Valley.

It's also a highly in-depth natural history. And, it must be.

No human history of the hottest, driest, lowest, and certainly starkest place in North America could discuss human history without examing both the climate and geology behind it.

And Lingenfelter does an excellent job of doing just that.

Learn more about early treks across this land, the Native Americans, precious metal and borax/chemical mining and more.

I had the chance to buy the 1957 hardback version used instead of getting the paperback. It is a fabulous book. I've learned a great deal about those three days in 1906.

I did not purchase this book through amazon.com, as I have a hard bound copy with an inscription from the author. This compilation, the narratives and photographs are timeless.

I AM SO HAPPY TO HAVE GOTTEN THIS FOR A GIFT . THIS HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY CLASSIC WILL HOLD A PERMANENT PLACE IN MY LIBRARY OF GREAT NON-FICTION & CLASSICS . THERE ARE 400 PHOTOS AND VERY DESCRIPTIVE CAPTIONS ALONG WITH SHORT STORY LINES THAT ARE WRITTEN IN PROPER CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER .

I HAVE EVEN TAKEN TO USING A MAGNIFYING GLASS TO SEARCH THE FAR BACKROUNDS OF MANY OF THESE HEART STOPPING PICTURES OF PEOPLE, ANIMALS FROZEN IN TIME DURING THE MOST FRIGHTENING DAYS OF THEIR LIVES . I'T SEEMS THAT THERE ISN'T PANIC IN ANY OF THESE FACES WHILE IT LOOKED LIKE THE WORLD WAS COMING TO AN AWFUL FIERY END . WHY HAVE WE AS A PEOPLE CHANGED WHEN CALM WOULD BE THE ORDER OF THE DAY DURING SUCH AN EXPERIENCE ?

MY DAD USE TO SAY MANY YEARS AGO, " MEN WERE MADE OF STEEL AND SHIPS MADE OF WOOD ...NOW MEN SEEM TO BE MADE OF WOOD "

Numerous writers and historians have told me that "The Earth Shook The Sky Burned" is still the definitive book on the events of 1906. Why have they told me this? Because my father wrote the book!

In any case, there is a reason the book has stayed in print for almost fifty years - it was meticulously researched and is an amazing pictorial essay. It is a must-have for anybody interested in those tragic and heroic days.

I was fascinated with natural disasters when I was a child. I remember looking through this book, lying on my parent's bed, staring at the pictures of this horrible event. They haunted me then, and I can still see them in my mind's eye, these 35 years later. This is a story told with visuals, not dialogue. It is beautifully photographed, all without censure or special effects. The photos are grainy and some blurred, but capture the heart of the people of San Francisco, as it is broken and burned. Some images are difficult to see, and readers must use discretion if light of heart. Otherwise, I highly recommend it for anyone who has an interest in natural disasters.

Ron Ely has done it again. Book has a well contrived plot with interesting beach characters. The volleyball techniques and play was laudable and blended in beautifully with the overall plot. Ron Ely can craft the finest plots and his Jake Sands protagonist is as good as you will find.

Great book. I have lived in Santa Barbara for nearly 15-years and Ron's does a great job of describing the "REAL" SB. The plot is sound and the pacing is excellent.

The Rumor is that he has written three additional novels, but the third Jake Sands novel was too heavily edited for his tastes by the publisher so he has chosen not to release it.

This is a shame, if the rumor is true.

If I ever bump into Ron here in town, I will try to get the facts and report back.

Maybe we should all email Simon & Schuster and express our desire for more Ron Ely works to see the light of day...

Great book. Ticks me off that the author has obviously been under-promoted by his publisher/agent. I enjoyed Ely's book for the ambience of Southern California/Santa Barbara, and for writing extremely well. Few authors, especially mystery writers, sound so natural.

The opening and closing lines in this book says it all. "Just another lousy day in paradise". The characters are so real you feel that you know them. Kudos to Ron Ely and I hope there are more on the way. The storyline is tight and the dialouge is as smooth as a single malt whiskey. I've read this book and Night Shadows several times.

I have always been a Travis McGee fan. Loved most of what John D. MacDonald wrote, but then came Ron Ely and Jake Sands. Never have I been so captivated by such a set of characters and the setting of Santa Barbara. If I could give ten stars, I would.

Voice of Youth Advocates Magazine October 2002 VOYA
Growing up in San Jose, California, Arturo Rodriguez and his brothers and sister endured an abusive father, their parents' unhappy marriage, and their father's absence after he returned to Mexico. Rodriguez coped as best he could, but his drinking and drug use, in the wrong place at the wrong times led to his incarceration in California's prison system for young offenders. Against all odds, he put his past behind him, married and had a family, and worked hard to overcome injustices and start a successful business. After his retirement Rodriguez began writing about his life and his family. This book is sequel to East Side Dreams (Dream House, 2001, published in Spanish as Sueños del Lado Este. In this second autobiographical book, he writes about childhood pranks and misdeeds, his mother's near fatal illness, his parent's divorce, the birth of his first child, and how his parents even eventually became friends.
The writing here is unpolished but sincere in true, and the reminiscences and descriptions are vivid and true to life. Neither how he grew to understand his father and other relatives whom he loved despite their flaws. His message for young readers is clear. It is possible to survived and overcome injustices and hardships. Rodriguez maintains a Web site at www EastSideDreams. com and invites readers to visit, view his picture alum, and perhaps send him an e-message. He will answer.-Sherry York Voice of Youth Advocates Magazine

The Midwest Book Review. May 7, 2002
East Side Dreams by Art Rodriguez is full of energy and the struggles that the author himself endured while growing up on the east side of San Jose, California in 1966.
I enjoyed reading this inspirational novel derived from the memories of a teenager who is now a mature and successful businessman.
East Side Dreams has been translated into Spanish to reach the Spanish speaking population in the United States.
As I read the troubling times of Art Rodriguez I couldn't relate to many of his predicaments, but I certainly felt compassion toward him and thanked God for my "normal" life. Mr. Rodriguez touches your heart as you read his passionate book of self-taught lessons.
As you read East Side Dreams, which captures the hopelessness of growing up with an unpleasant childhood, keep in mind that this life drove the author to his true passion-writing!
The author, Art Rodriguez has been honored by the New York Library System to be on the "2001 Books for Teenage List" for his book East Side Dreams. He was also given "The Mariposa Award-Best First Book" at the Latino Literary Hall of fame for this same book. Bravo! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and encourage young readers to read it, as there are plenty to learn from this book. It will bring tears to your eyes.

James A. Cox
Editor-in -Chief
The Midwest Book Review.

East Side Dreams is the debut book and memoir Art Rodriguez, of a Latino American who survived growing up on the rough side, at odds with a dictatorial father, and once an inmate of the California Youth Authority -- a prison system for young lawbreakers. Reflections on both happy and miserable times of his childhood, growing up, learning maturity and finally making a comfortable life for himself fill this heartfelt and revealing personal testimony. Highly recommended reading for young adults, East Side Dreams has justly earned the distinctions of being named the "Best First Book of the Latino Literary Hall of Fame", and has been honored as one of 200 Best Teenage Books in the United States by the New York Public Library System.

My son who is 21 came home with this book and said Mom you have got to read this book it is so good. So I said o.k. mejio let me read it! When I started to ready it it brought back so many memories (I grew up in the East Side of San Jose) and most of the things he was talking about I lived it. I laughed and cried and could not put down the book. This is a great book for all ages. After I got done reading it I gave it to my Father to read and he enjoyed it too.

Art Rodriguez takes us to jail with him so that we never need to go. He sits us next to him in his cell with nothing left to do but sit and remember. We try with him to connect the memories to being imprisoned, but there is no connection at all.

Although Art had an abusive father, he never once cites this as a reason for his violent behavior. He was a kid that made poor choices and got what he deserved. He blames no one but himself, and it is with this realization of responsibility that Art turns his life around. He went from street punk to a successful business man, a supportive father and an award winning author. He shows us that people can change and that bad mistakes are not the end of your life unless you allow them to be. Art Rodriguez is the silent roll model all troubled children are looking for.

This book is a great experience for audiences young and old. Buy it and read it.

This incredible book for me is a totally new
way of illustrating a fairy tale.
The description of this fantasy world using
postcards is innovative and very interesting.
I strongly suggest this book to all the
art lovers.

As an artist of middle age, I sometimes think of my art as good and my growth as complete... that is, until I look at work like this.

Suddenly I feel like a beginner again, with nothing to do but learn and get better at my art. Mr. Scheurer teaches this teacher how to teach better, just by the inspirational settings he creates and the drawings he does from deep in his imagination. There is a whole world residing in him that is too fanciful to describe. He is my new favorite artist.

Even though this book, at first glance, appears to be an art book, there is a very charming story woven into the "stamp" descriptions, as well. Each page features an illustration of a stamp from the imaginary realm of "Entropia" and a description of the event or history the stamp is commemorating. I read this book in two sittings, only because I had an appointment to keep that tore me away from such a beautiful book. Once finished, this book left me with a strong desire to read and see more of Christian Lorenz Scheurer's "Entropia".

Christian is one of my favorite artist. This new book is full of great stories and wonderful pictures! It's great for all ages.

Bought this book as a gift for a friend but then ended up keeping it for myself.
The fantastic story and beautiful illustrations felt like a mix between Nick Bartock's Griffin and Sabine and Miyazaki's Spirited Away.
This is most inspiring fantasy book I read this year!:)