Oregon Books

This well-known and highly-regarded account of the life of a fur trapper in the Rocky Mountain West was born as a corrective by its author of an earlier narrative (Pattie's PERSONAL NARRATIVE) that he thought was filled with inaccuracies. Osborne Russell spent eight years as a trapper in the employ of a number of fur companies before becoming an independent trapper working out of Fort Hall. Fortunately, when he first went to the mountains with Nathaniel Wyeth's expedition in 1834, he began to keep a journal. From his journal he compiled a manuscript for publication; it's from this manuscript that the present book is based on. Osborne had a tendency to run sentences together and to practice unconventional language usage, all of which editor Aubrey Haines retains in this edition. One quickly gets used to it, however.

Russell was an acute observer and, especially in describing his travels, was careful to mention distances and names (streams, mountains, etc.) when possible. Haines has been able to trace Russell's travels accurately, and ten accompanying maps illustrate his wanderings. (Haines's annotations are also numerous and thorough.) He trapped for a time with Jim Bridger, and some of what we've learned about him has direct bearings on Russell's journal accounts. In fact, Russell's book is the major source of information for a number of important events in the Rockies during this time. He also writes about the Indians (especially the Crows, Blackfeet, and Snakes) and much about the animals found in the West. Most of all, he tries hard to convey the life of a trapper - scouting the country, the laying of traps, hunting for game, dealing with the weather and terrain, the rendezvous experience (Russell attended six of them) - all the everyday routines trappers went through. This indeed is the most valuable thing about the book. Russell left the mountains in 1842 and settled in Oregon City; after an unsuccessful run for governor in 1845, he wrote his manuscript for JOURNAL OF A TRAPPER. He got the gold fever in 1848 and went to California, where he became a merchant. After his partner ran off with the company funds, Russell spent the rest of his life trying to pay off the creditors. He died near Placerville in 1892.

This is a must-read book for anyone interested in the fur trade period of the trans-Mississippi West. It's gone through many editions and always seems to stay in print, thank heaven. Highly recommended.

There's not much that one can add to this list of great reviews. That's what kind of book this is. I found it remarkable how quickly the landscape changed in those 10 years regarding populations of Native Americans, buffalo, and beaver. In the last few entries we begin to see some of the damage done upon the Native Americans i.e. small pox, alcohol, and lifestyle and it's very depressing. Likewise, Osborne describes the plummet in buffalo populations and the approaching end of the fur quest as beaver populations dwindled and other furbearers were becoming more profitable. These were a rugged bunch of men and this is perhaps the best look into their lives and into the changed and vanished West.

Osborne Russell was never one of the elite of the Mountain Men. He spent most of his time in the mundane tasks of cooking, cleaning, and other camp chores while on trapping expeditions. But he wrote one of the best accounts -- certainly one of the most accurate -- of the peregrinations and the exciting events in the life of a Mountain Man. Osborne was in the Northern Rockies between 1834-1943 and was a minor participant in many expeditions and fights with the Blackfeet.

Editor Haines has compiled the routes of Russell's travel in 10 maps and added explanatory notes to his narrative. However, a lot more could be done to make this book more readable. First, there are no chapter or paragraph divisions to ease the task of the reader. It's even hard to keep track of what year Russell is talking about. Secondly, there is room for many, many more footnotes and explanations of what Russell was doing and when and where.

We need a new edition of Russell's work which will make it more accessible to the reader. This old edition is invaluable if you are a student of the Mountain Man, but the casual reader will bog down.

Smallchief

The trapper's journal by Osbourne Russell during the early to mid 18 hundreds came as a bit of a surprise. First the book is a factual account without any explication of the events more than is necessary. It is not told as an adventure story eg "Last of the Mohicans" but rather as a journal pure and simple of the travels through the Rockies, mainly Yellowstone, of this young trapper over 9 years in the pay and as a member of Jim Bridger's fur company, around 100 men. The trade was at its peak at this time. As is true of most journals it is full of abbreviations of words because of time constraints eg brot. for brought, staid for stayed etc. This gives the impression of crudity in the writing, or of a man not used to writing but rather writing in only a haphazard fashion. Every reader knows how easy it is to loose all the fine points of writing when it is not practised constantly. The journal is full of place names and directions of travel and a few maps indicating the progress of the trappers. There is some description of the scenery and the Indians of the area eg Blackfoot which are a constant threat, Shoshones (Snake), Bonnack and Crow. Occasionaly I was pleasantly surprised by paragraphs of eloquence and beauty mixed in with the simplistic writing which was the norm. Russell was capable of very good writing when he was inspired or wished to do so. This is also demonstrated by his letters to his sisters which are written with great style and few grammatical errors, completely unlike his journals.

There is much which comes to the fore in regard to the period eg the waste and destruction as the parties of trappers even in groups as small as 3 wonder the countryside and simply kill a Bison Cow for a meal and then discard it, or just take the tongue to eat. Incredible disregard for nature is shown at times. The trapper is in continual fear of Blackfoot war parties who harrass them, both white and Indian, constantly. In one instance an enormous group of Blackfeet, thought to number up to 1000 or more by Russell, attempt to eradicate the entire group of Bridger's trappers, about 100. They decide not to due to an unfavourable (omen) display of Northern lights. Even in his day as the story nears the end of the 9 years Russell tells of the scarcity of Buffalo which were not wiped out in total until 1870 or so (80 million -> 1000). Its almost as if it comes upon them suddenly, "5 years ago thousands crossed the valleys of the Yellowstone, now its hard to find any". Russell even becomes a little conservationist in spirit when he states that maybe its time for the white man to leave this country because the wildlife has been so denuded.

An interesting book but with far too few passages describing the trapper's feeling along the way.

This is by far one of the best books that a fur trade re-enactor can read. It is also a must read for the modern beaver trapper as well. Osborne describes the everyday events of the fur brigades in their heyday. If you are a buckskinner, living historian, trapper or just an old west history buff then this is a MUST have!

Rudolph Terry Shappee grew up along the coast of Oregon during the Depression and the World War II years. His family lived in 19th-century fashion not from choice but because of poverty; they were poorer than the Waltons but just as happy. Shappee, a retired Navy Chief Warrant Officer who served in Vietnam, wrote this memoir to show a consumer-oriented modern society that family harmony can exist under dire circumstances. His family worked in the fisheries while living at Newton's Corners. The neighbors helped each other, particularly a young couple who were seperated by the war when he was called to service. During the 1950s, the Shappees moved to Warrenton, where Rudolph spent the majority of his childhood. Both of his parents decided that a better life existed for them if they left the fisheries and canneries and worked for the Singer Sewing Machine Company in Tillamook, Oregon. "Making My Way" resembles many of those nostalgic memoirs of family life, a la "Cheaper by the Dozen," "Chicken Every Sunday," and "The Egg and I" which were a staple of publishing in the post-World War II decade. The charm of this book is that it reminds a present generation that it wasn't so long ago that America was not so prosperous, that most people accomplished things without electronic tools, and that social organization was prized as a necessity and not a sentimental idea.

This is a well written account of a young man's journey through the 50s. It would be a quick read for anyone interested in fishing, the Oregan coast, or reminiscing about boyhood adventures. A true tale of Americana!

"Making My Way" is a nostalgic trip back to small town America of the 40s and 50s. Feels good when high tech and millennium headlines furrow the brow. Shappee, born in 1939, soaked up character, backbone and indelible memories in Warrenton, Oregon and other towns along the magic coastline. In this memoir, Shappee shares personal memories of his family, of early homes and chums. His dad was a fisherman, gone for long periods, so mom did the raising. In his teens, Shappee got to help his dad prepare the boat for long runs to the Columbia River and the Pacific. One home sat across from the general store and gas station at Newton's Corners, a pefect spot for curious, young eyes and ears. The author shows what really brought indoor plumbing home. "The biggest bear I had ever seen," had trapped his mother in the outhouse. A flashlight and screwdriver helped young Shappee discover a forgotten, boarded-up library in one house; including books with pictures of body parts! We ride along as the boy gains his sea legs aboard his father's boat in heavy seas, and smell the printer's ink during his first newspaper days on the hometown Columbia Beacon. All

Terry Shappee gives us a child's view of the rich tapestry of life on the Oregon coast in the forties and fifties. There, despite the hardships and financial struggles of his family, he learned the values he now teaches us in Making My Way. Mr. Shappee presents a collection of memories that reveal more about him, and ultimately all of us, than the great issues and worldwide problems that fill so many of the books in our bookstores and the television screens in our homes.

Reading "Making My Way" is like glimpsing into a later day Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn, or walking down one of the streets in "Cannery Row". The story takes one back to a time not too long ago, but a time that might be forgotten. You see life in the Northwest at a time when the world was going through one of it's most trying times. You are able to share a young man's life growing up in those times. This should be required reading for all school children. If it weren't for stories like "Making My Way" our past with all of it's good qualities would be lost. A must for everyone who wishes to experience those bygone days. -- Sam Younghans, Actor/writer 4/10/99

kylight Howells, Private Investigator, isn't exactly a split-personality. . . He's more of a multi-personality. Sky has several facets of himself which he becomes by donning various disguises. Dennis, for example, is a computer nerd and math expert and just by wearing Dennis' glasses, Sky can solve complex mathematical problems and break into computers. These six personalities are very handy for a detective and Sky wears them all--including Lulu--with an ease that is nearly scary.

Sometimes he thinks he might be overdoing it a bit, but the multi-personality thing takes back burner to his real problem--tap-dancing. Yes, Sky is a problem dancer, and hasn't been attending his meetings regularly. At any moment, with his resistance this low, he could duck into an all night karaoke tap club and--well, let's just say that the results wouldn't be pretty.

On top of it all, he's got work to do. He's trailing his high school nemesis to see if he's cheating on his wife and while still in the middle of this case, a lovely blonde bombshell of a computer programmer needs help with a murder case. Seems that some disgruntled nerd is killing computer program "documentalists". Her brother is a prime suspect and she wants to prove his innocence and find the real killer. Soon the killer becomes a serial killer and Sky--and the rest of him--must find out the whys and whos.

This is a very witty novel, with some sidesplitting read-out-loud happenings (the first use of the juicer, for instance, still makes me laugh). The mystery is not nearly as interesting as Sky's detecting and the solving of the case was a bit lame. Despite all that, I enjoyed it, passed in on to Stoney and refer it to anyone who likes their mystery to be slightly wacky and a whole lot of fun.

This is an incredibly ingenious and quite funny novel. It's one of my favorites. Its uniqueness would probably be appealing to many. I've read quite a bit of critically acclaimed science fiction over the years (including Maureen McHugh's 'The Lincoln Train', 'China Mountain Zhang', and 'Nekropolis', as well as Amitav Ghosh's 'The Calcutta Chromosome') and enjoyed this novel just as much, and possibly more, than those, which are pretty impressive but usually not as inventive!

It's also really refreshing to discover some science fiction with a sense of humor, since much of the field tends to be rather "doom and gloom" or horror-themed.

Ray Vukcevich's fiction is so off the wall it's astonishing. Hilarious, outrageous, ingenious fun.

From time to time, Ray Vukcevich's "Man of Maybe Half-a-Dozen Faces" pops up on my Amazon.com recommendations list. It sounded interesting and funny; and had the benefit of having been compared to Lethem's "Gun, With Occasional Music". I decided to try it.

I wish I hadn't. It might still seem interesting and funny if I hadn't gone and ruined everything by reading it.

Brian Howells, the protagonist in this erstwhile comedic mystery is a disturbed fellow who dresses up in different outfits in order to a) disguise himself while sleuthing, and b) give voice to his different personalities, such as Tag, "The Average Guy", Dennis, the computer expert and Lulu. He also is addicted to tap-dancing and has no friends other than those he consults over the chat rooms and Internet news groups. He's hired to track down a killer who murders bad documentalists, those who produce incomprehensible computer manuals.

"Who am I and what do I want with you?" shouts Brian upon meeting his newest client. This pretty much sets the tone for the whole novel - it's funny, but pretty inane. What client would continue and hire someone so obviously disoriented and mentally ill? The only way I was able to make sense of this book and not to throw it across the room was to imagine it taking place in an alternate universe, one where our accepted definitions of Multiple-Personality Disorder don't apply and where illicit tap-dancing parlors exist like turn-of-the-century opium dens.

In the end, that just wasn't enough. Vukcevich thinks himself way to cute and clever, but his story just isn't smart enough to carry one through the inconsistencies and annoyances of his narrative.

The next time it pops up as a recommendations, I think I'll just click "Not Interested" and move on.

Really funny book that deserves to be on the shelf of all the Dirk Gently fans out there. One man: six identities = great fun -- and a really well-equipped private eye. If you wondered about the passions of documentationalists (or tap-dancers!), this will reaveal all. Vukcevich is a premiere modern surrealist, with one eye on the punchline, and one foot dangling off the wire. Read everything he's written. With any luck, there'll be a sequel to this...!

Book I need for this course. Came in right on time even though we havent used it other than for example problems for the exam.

This textbook is required for Management majors at Clemson University. The textbook I purchased here was in excellent shape. The cover looked brand new and I could not even tell the book was previously owned. For college students on a limited budget, used books are the best way to save money that would just be wasted because most college students dont care if the book is used they just want to get it as cheaply as possible.

As a new student to accounting I must say I have not decided to give up. This book is excellent and I will recommend this book to anyone whi is going into the accounting field. Good luck

I was very satisfied with the condition and delivery of my book. I have no complaints.

I have to disagree with the majority of other people here. I am an MBA candidate, the MBA being my second Master's degree.

I found this textbook too simplistic in the readings to make a smooth transition to problem-solving (end of chapter problems more complicated than text examples). The text helps you understand concepts, but does not prepare you well to apply skills.

I am surprised at the typographical errors I discovered, considering this is a second edition and credits approximately 100 people with reviewing the book.

I believe the text suffers from haphazard layout in certain passages, seemingly jumping around in an illogical sequence. Many of the pictures are unnecessary fluff. I suggest eliminate side articles. Keep the readings concise; eliminate extraneous material to conserve reading time and reduce costs. The book is overpriced.

Great stories sort of like the ones that get passed around the internet that make you smile, send a message , and make you think . Stories of Compassion, Tenderness, encouragement, and Good deeds.. Makes you look at your life and see how the simple things can bring hope and peace...
Nicole (NY) Author Rainy Day Poems and more 1 and 2

This book was such an encouragement to me. It had approx 100 short stories that ministered to my heart. It is not something that should be read all at once but in bite size pieces

I found this book to be somewhat lacking in inspiration and encouragement. However, some of the stories are heartwarming and teardropping. The problem with this book is that you have to be in the situation where you need to be inspired without double and where you are at a tough stage of your life. I'm a happy person and reading this book didn't teach me much. It is just a hobbily read. I would recommend that you think of your situation before you buy this book.

After experiencing panic attacks - I needed to read books that would give me emotional strength. This book brought laughter, tears and hope to my soul. I would recommend this book to anyone who is going through a difficult time in their life and needs to be uplifted.

I really enjoyed reading the touching stories on this book, it really touches your spirit in many ways. I laughed, and cried and reflected on a all of the stories this book offers. If anyone is looking for a book that will move your soul in more ways than one, then this is the book for you!

The RV camping guide is one of the best because it gives you a little history of each region as you make your way down the road. Many of their property ratings are dead on, but I know of one highly rated RV resort in the book that is nothing like the book suggests.
On a scale of one to ten it was rated a 9 with a glowing review that made it sound like one of the finest RV parks in North America. When we arrived there was a run down dump of a place with mostly full-timers and an amazing amount of trash and junk strewn around. The full service sites with amazing views were actually muddy side by side parking spaces with potholes and hundreds of wild rabbits-- many of which were busy breeding. You had to drive around these rabbits because they weren't about to move. We turned our rig around and slowly drove around more passionate bunnies and sloshed through the mud and potholes to make our way out of this horrible so-called resort. As for the world famous pecan pie served in the resort's restaurant--- They can keep it.
I would still reccomend this book but only with a stern warning that the author sometimes gets it wrong.
We are convinced he must have had a nice meal there and was given a free slice of pecan pie for the road.

WOW! This book has it all! I have camped in Oregon, Washington and California for over 50 years and, yes, I own a number of campground guides. I couldn't agree more with the author's ratings of the hundreds of campgrounds I have visited. He provides great details on the campgrounds, maximum site length, contact and reservation information and even fishing suggestions. This book has also opened my eyes to very highly rated campgrounds slightly off the beaten path that I wasn't aware of. The book is broken into easy to follow sections depending on what area of each state the reader is interested in. Furthermore, there are no advertisements in the book that make the reader wonder if the ratings have been influenced by advertising income. In short, this is the camper's bible.

The book has a comprehensive listing of campgrounds. However it didn't appear the author looked at the logistics of getting longer or wider RVs into the campgrounds or thoroughly address what size RVs the campgrounds are suitable for.

Example: Table Mountain in the LA area. From the book: "There are 115 sites for RVs up to 32 feet or tents."

I checked this campground in a Toyota Camry. It has several loops, most of which have very narrow access roads. I had the foliage scrape the narrow Camry on occasion. There were several sites which could accomodate a 32 foot trailer which were near the entrance of the campground. There were numerous un-level sites. The book had no warning about entering the narrow one-way loops with an average sized RV.

Example: O'Neill Regional park in Orange County. From the book: "There are 85 sites, eight drive-through, for RVs up to 35 feet and tents."

This park is the opposite from Table Mountain in that it has wide access roads and many very large sites. Even some of the average back-in sites are 50' long and some of the pull-throughs are a hundred feet long. The sites are relatively level.

My thought is the author isn't an RVer and didn't look at these campgrounds from an RV perspective. The guide is most useful from the point of view of a popup trailer, smaller truck camper, or class B motorhome.

This guide is wonderful! It gives lots of information for not only the national park system but forest service, state, and private. I never knew so many campgrouds were available for our use. This book will become our mainstay for searching out where to go whether it's a weekend or full vacation. Thank you Foghorn!

Great book, I found a great campground in Columbia CA
that I would have never found without it.
Good information on the campgrounds including web site addresses, phone numbers etc.

A casual glance at the cover with accolades only from Oregon sources (at least in my edition) might give the impression that this is one of those local market books of dubious quality. This is far from the case. The text is clear and informative with good depth and appropriate caveats on how speculative or contentious a conclusion may be that treat the reader with respect.

The photographs are world class and far more than what you get in a the Roadside Geology series or most other books of this type.

For non-Oregonians not familiar with the state geography, more maps would have been helpful but not really an issue unless you are actually driving state roads trying to find these formations in which case a map and the Roadside book make a fine accompaniment.

As an illustration of the the in-depth geology of a region, this is an excellent book for anyone of any region interested in geology. For those interested in Oregon geology, compared to the Oregon Roadside Geology book, you will find the pictures much more informative and the text more thorough especially in its treatment of alternate theories (The Roadside authors seem to have an agenda, especially in regard to the origin of the Oregon flood basalts.)

This book is beautifully illustrated and well written, making it easy to grasp the geological concepts. I feel like I found a treasure. I have lived in Oregon all of my life. Now I am looking at the view of the mountains and river valleys--as well as that pile of "pretty" rocks in my yard-- with new eyes...

I gave this book to my husband, at his request. He's an engineer, so I figured that this would be a book that interested similar minds. :) It turns out to be really facinating - our extended family and friends have enjoyed sharing it, and the photos are beautiful and interesting for all ages. My only wish is that it still was easy to find in hardback, as I think that would be nice.

The book is written "story-style," which makes the information a lot more palatable to those who don't have a geology background. The historical and environmental perspectives are woven together with very thoughtful writing. There is a lot of data in this book, but I don't think it reads like a textbook, which is nice.

Overall, this is a great book. It makes a wonderful gift for just about anyone who appreciates the environment or anyone who has an interest in understanding the land formations they see or live on.

This book reminds me of an good meal at a restaurant ruined by the waiter forgetting your drinks. So much of it is excellent: the text is quite thorough and fairly well-written (if at times a little overwrought), the geological processes are well-explained, and of course the photographs are magnificent. What ruins the meal for me is the complete lack of a useful map. There is a map of Oregon at the back of the book, but it fails to include many of the locations mentioned, and the scale is so small and the notations so tiny that it is often impossible to locate the places that are labeled. I found myself flipping back and forth between map and text to figure out what the devil the author was talking about, but each place name required several minutes of searching to identify. After a while, I just threw my hands up in defeat.

The book should have provided small-scale maps on the same page as the text. This would have made it much easier to figure what the author was discussing. Alternatively, the author should have abandoned her detailed geographical descriptions and fallen back on much looser descriptions.

Here's an example of the kind of text that drove me crazy:

"The first Columbia River basalts to reach western Oregon were the extensive flows of Grande Ronde Basalt. Some followed the ancestral Columbia's broad valley. Others may have flooded through low places in the Cascades. Today, Grande Ronde flows are exposed along the Clackamas River, and at least four can be counted at Silver Falls State Park... Some of the lava covered portions of the Willamette Valley and what would one day become Portland. Today, about eight flows of Grande Ronde Basalt have been mapped in the West Hills..."

Wouldn't it have been much better to simply show a map presenting all this information rather than foist this avalanche of place names upon the poor reader?

Another failure was the absence of any geological map. I realize that full-bore geological maps are impossibly complex to present in a book, and very intimidating to the reader, but there's no reason why the author could not have included simplified geological maps to illustrate her points.

There are also no aerial photographs. Let's face it, some geological formations are best understood from the air, but the author seems determined to insure that nothing competes with her beautiful photography.

Lastly, there's the absence of diagrams. I'm sure that many readers would have appreciated a line drawing showing how a graben is formed, or how subduction works. But not one single diagram graces this book. There are some concepts that are best presented in a diagram, and no amount of colorful prose from the author can substitute for such diagrams.

It appears that the author may have wanted to present a nice coffee-table book that was informed with some serious geology; if that were the case, then she should have kept the geological explanations at a much simpler level. I myself enjoyed the detailed treatment, but the lack of any supporting material rendered the reading far more difficult than it should have been.

I recommend "Roadside Geology of Oregon" or "Geology of Oregon" by Orr and Orr, in preference to this book.

In describing the events and processes in Oregon's geological history the author repeatedly references and explains familiar landscape features. (E.g. Alameda Ridge is a gravel bar left by the Lake Missoula Floods entering the Portland Basin. Mt. Scott, Rocky Butte and Powell Butte are all remnants of Pleistocene volcanoes. ) This makes the geology lesson both clearer and more interesting. Likewise, descriptions of flora and fauna further illustrate extant conditions during our state's evolution. With its many excellent photos, the book could easily succeed as a 'coffee table book.'

This autobiography of an orphan, abused by her foster parents, offers the thoughts of a natural spirit in touch with the creatures who shared her private world. It is said to have been written in crayon while the six year old author hid under a bed and was first published in 1920. Real or fiction, it is a thorough delight.

This is a presentation of a portion of the childhood diary of Opal Whitely. Included is introductory material in which it is accepted that Opal's explanation of her Bourbon geneology may be valid. Larry Looney's excellent review describes this version of events. Opal believed that she had been of royal Bourbon birth, then orphaned and adopted by a rustic family of Oregonians.

Opal's unflattering portray of her "wicked stepmother" and her assertion that she was a surviving Bourbon caused quite a stir back in her hometown. It was pointed out that the girl looked like her rustic Oregonian kinfolk. People always wondered if the diary was too good to be true. Now the cry of "Fraud!" was voiced across the land.

Hoff seems to be getting to the bottom of things as he declares it highly unlikely that Opal Whitely secured outdated crayons and paper types to write a childhood diary upon, which she then tore into thousands of pieces and then reassembled. He also thinks it highly unlikely that she was an heir to the Bourbon dynasty. Rather, Opal was different and misunderstood. "Melancholy" ran in her mother's family, and her mother was harsh with her, fostering Opal's development of a rich imaginary life.

Even if the journal was written by a committee appointed by the Pope with assistance from Goebbels it's the most beautiful thing you could ever read. People say no child could write that. I say no adult could.

I prefer Benjamin Hoff's version, though. I find his understanding of the author more penetrating. Opal was special. Under different circumstances, who knows what kind of life she could have lived. It is hard to believe it would have been ordinary.

Re: the reader review that said "This book's authenticity is in question..."

I refer you to the exhaustive research that Benjamin Hoff conducted and later decribed in his introduction to The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow that argues very convincingly for the diary's authenticity, and disproves and discredits her detractors.

Opal was the real deal, and a true genius.

It is important to understand that this is an adaptation. It is not identical with the original text published in 1920. This version has been abbreviated and rearranged.

I read a quotation from this book long ago and knew I had to track it down. Little Opal is alive to everything, and she turns everything she experiences into a hymn to life. When I feel the mundane pressing down on me, I pick up this book and feel my heart lighten.

Is the book "authentic"? Was it really written by a lonely little girl out in the wilds on scraps of whatever paper came to hand? Frankly, I don't think it much matters. What matters is the creation of a spiritual tool which will endure and enchant.

Does changing the format of the original printing matter? I think that presenting Opal's writings as poetry serve them much better than as a flat prose rendition. If one really wished to represent the work accurately, it would have to be recreated as an exact copy of all those hundreds of little pieces of paper on which Opal wrote her words. The poetic treatment is very satisfactory to me, and I think most readers will also find it so.

overall, this was a pretty decent book, especially for someone who's stopped following basketball in the past 20 years. It contains alot of biographical info on Stockton, Jordan, Olajuwon, Perkins, etc. and every once in a while, it's nice to learn that kind of stuff - maybe it should have been titled "The Awesome 1984 NBA Draft," since it introduced alot of prominent players into the league. I remember wondering why Sam Bowie was the second overall pick that year, too, and this book sheds some insight into Stu Inman's thinking and how no one expected Jordan to become the player he eventually did, due to Dean Smith's system at UNC. The book is well worth it at the price it's at now.

With the crystal clarity of hindsight, pro basketball fans have anointed the Portland Trail Blazers' drafting of gimpy-legged center Sam Bowie ahead of Michael Jordan in the 1984 draft as the biggest goof in draft history. Many folks forget that a number of other all-time NBA greats were also plucked in that draft, including Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, and John Stockton. Bondy lays out the gory details of how the '84 draft played out and the implications that its results raised for the future of the league. We all know how Jordan, for better or worse, impacted the style of play and the marketing muscle of the league, but I found most of my attention drawn to the tale's tragic hero, Sam Bowie - a fine college player with fatefully fragile legs who never deserved the ridicule that he has received in the wake of Jordan's transcendence. A good read for both college and pro hoops fans.

Just think how the basketball landscape would have changed had the Houston Rockets traded Ralph Sampson straight up for Michael Jordan! The Bulls would have done it and were waiting for the Rockets to call but Rockets coach Bill Fitch was in love with the twin towers idea.
The Sixers had a deal in place to trade the aging Dr. J to the Clippers for Terry Cummings but didn't pull the trigger for fear of fan backlash.
Bobby Knight, the dictator that he is, had Michael Jordan in tears during the Olympic tryouts.
Charles Barkley showed up at the 1984 Olympic trials not with the goal of making the team, but rather improving his draft status.
When the tough Soviet team pulled out of the 1984 games Coach Knight cut Charles Barkley because he didn't care for his personality. But had the Soviets stayed in the Olympics Barkley wouldn't have been cut because his superb playing ability would have been needed to beat the Soviets.
Barkley gained 15 pounds within 24 hours to tip the scales at a Sixers predraft weigh in to scare them away from drafting him.
I could go on and on with all the interesting facts brought out in this book.

This book is not just about who was drafted when but more about how things fell into place. Teams with awful records playing hard at the end of the season because they had traded away their lottery pick - upsetting the teams that had traded for these picks. Teams with their lottery picks tanking it at the end of the season in order to get the highest pick possible. This tanking led to the weighted ping pong ball draft ordering system in place today.
It is amazing how many prior drafts and trades came around to help or haunt teams picking in the 1984 draft. For example, if the Rockets had drafted Clyde Drexler in 1983 instead of Rodney McCray the Blazers would have drafted Michael Jordan in 1984 while the Rockets would have had a dynamic duo of Drexler and Olajuwon.
This was an excellent book. I highly recommend it.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a very fast read for me. The author focuses on several of the top picks from this draft: Olajuwon, Bowie, Jordan, Barkley, Stockton, and Perkins. He spends a lot of time on each of these players and gets very in-depth, and that alone made the book a worthwhile read to me.

Also, the author talks about some of the fall out from this draft: The NBA draft lottery, salary cap changes, and the globalization of the league. I enjoyed the author's style, lots of quotes from major players at the time and reflecting on the time later. The bibliography is quite extensive. So I felt like the author pulled a lot of info from lots of different articles and books I might have read separately anyway. I felt he did a nice job sorting through the material.

Again, I really enjoyed the book. If you love the NBA and love this particular era, I think you'll enjoy the book.

A previous review is correct - this book is mislabeled. The book spends very little time detailing how this draft changed the NBA forever - but instead focuses on the upbringing and collegiate biographies of Olajuwon, Jordan, Perkins, Barkley, Stockton, and Bowie.

Nevertheless, I found this book to be remarkable. Reading firsthand from various GMs and Stern about the various deals that occurred and didn't occur that resulted in the draft order in 1984 was exactly what I hoped to learn. I wanted to know of the potential trades that could have occurred - resulting in Jordan on the Mavs/Rockets/Blazers/Cavs/etc. All of the inside information that fans never get to know about was presented by Bondy - in addition to the biographical information of each of the "Sweet Six" players that made the draft.

Even the biographical info on each draftee was solid information. Before reading this book I had no idea that Barkely simply saw basketball as a means to an end - a way to make money to set himself up for life - and lobbied hard not to be picked by Philadelphia b/c the franchise was over the salary cap - whereas individuals like Olajuwon and Jordan wanted to play basketball and were willing to go anywhere to make a name for themselves on the court.

Just as interesting was also the information detailing the Olympic trials and Bobby Knight. Seeing how Knight whittled away the talent to create the Olympic team and the way he managed the roster of future stars was an interesting read - as was the information regarding how Barkley/Jordan interacted and worked with Knight was a fun read.

Westward to home is a great book for 3rd graders. I recommend this because it gives a glimpse into what it was like in the olden days. They lived and traveled in a covered wagon and my favorite part was when they ate their pet dog and their horse.

This book is about a young boy traveling the Oregon Trail back in the day. He has many hardships and has to deal with lots of problems. They have to deal with death, sickness, and many wagon problems. The diary tells of how he feels and really shows his true side.

I thought Westward to Home was an okay book. It was about a boy named Joshua and his family moving to Oregon. At the beginning of the book Joshua's grandfather didnt want to go to Oregon with his family. He thought it would be hard for him to leave his wife's grave. He eventually decided to go to Oregon with his family. Joshua was excited. Joshua's grandfather surprises his whole family with something he does on the trail. This book is best for boys. They can connect with how he feels and what he goes through.

This book brings you back to 1848. It shows you the hardships people had to face as they struggled to Oregon. Loved ones, live stock, and whole families were lost forever. As Joshua struggles to Oregon with his family he meets new people, forms new friendships, and meets up with unexpected love ones. As Joshua gets ready to leave Independence, MO. His beloved grandfather changes his mind and decides to come with Joshua and his family. As they go along Joshua's grandfather meets a young lady and marries her, this is a big shock to everyone. Joshua overcomes his fear of water and finds the courage to go on.

I think my students will like this book and find it interesting but I am bewildered at the willingness of the author in adding gruesome episodes with little explanation. I find short passages that mention a gruesome death or injury and just go on to the next page. My main interest in using this book is for ESOL students whose reading levels are low but need American history lessons. This book fits the bill in history and reading level but I wonder if the book could have been written with a more comfortable fit. Students are going to end up with many more questions than a feeling of clarity. I will have to try to make that up.