Idaho Books

I'm a little agog at other Amazon reviewers of this title. They seem to be reviewing the film version of "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" rather than its original Van Sant screenplay or even the second screenplay in the book. Why would you want to buy this title? I bought it because I enjoy Van Sant's films and because I'm an unabashed River Phoenix fan. So, if you, like me, are simply a fan, you will enjoy this title. You will enjoy reading Van Sant's markings as well as his discussion of how the screenplays developed and why he writes as he does. You will enjoy remembering the films as you read the words and marvel at the differences between origin and finished project. You'll lament at what was lost to Hollywood convention, and you'll nod wisely at what was changed to make the film evolve. No need to get this is you are simply a Tom Robbins fan. You want this if you know your Van Sant.

Sometimes you just watch a film that drags so painfully it hurts your heart. Tom Robbin's book is by far one of the best i've ever read---none of what made that book so phenomenal was even attempted to be recreated in the film.
And what's with Keanu Reeves? TEDIOUS, man.

This volume, suitable only for serious Gus Van Sant fans, contains the original script text for the disasterous movie of the fine Tom Robbins novel. The script adaptation drags and completly loses the counterculture spirit of the novel. Unless you are a film student, skip this and read the novel while listening to k.d. lang's excellent film score.

I purchased this as a gift for a relative who had just moved to Boise. She advised that this map was not very useful as the size of the maps was so small.

I assumed this would be a fold-out map but apparently it is in booklet form.

I had mixed emotions over this book. Mary Jo gives great details of how they manage to live off the land in Idaho for only $2500 per year income and as a person always looking to simplify my life and live below my means, I found this helpful and the reason for the 2 stars. This book also gives great descriptions of rural Idaho, as well as an account of building a home with no outside help. She breaks down costs and gives details. However, I came away from reading the book disliking Mary Jo and her husband Stew a lot! She says goodbye to her children and family to take up with a man she has known for only a few months for this dream of a modern day Walden. He kidnapps his own children and ends up in jail for custodial interference. The irresponsibility and self-centeredness that these 2 show is unbelievable and what is more unbelievable, she writes as if she is proud of it. If you can get past the personality, there is some good information.

I have read this book and just the fact that this book is about my great Grandpa. I found this book to be not informational and it is not a positive biography on him. It is based on stories by the two youngest daughters that did not even really know about what they were talking about. They were young when all his achievements happened and do not know the stories.
Most of the history that was written was based on others peoples views of what happened and not factual i would say that this is not a biography this is a fable and as some of the stories are kinda what happened it was written to glorify Deadshot and not just to tell his history. I would recommend that you read the book Raging War " The Story Of Deadshot Reed"

Jessica Reed
"Great Grand Daughter"

I was very disappointed with this directory since I feel it failed to cover a number of accommodations. Compared to the AAA guides it is lacking in substance.

First, let me say the Stuebner book is also a bad guide for the Boise area but for different reasons. Basically, there's no great guide for the Boise area.

OK, now this guide book will more or less get a rider close to some good trails. That is a good thing and also the reason I'm awarding 2 stars rather than 1. The author mentions in the preface that he understand many users may not like the number of roads he advocates using to create loops. He's not kidding. More than 50% of the suggested tread in this book is paved surface.

The author focuses on documenting actual loops for the rider rather than out-and-back trails. Great. Except... There's 100+ miles of trails in the Boise area, maybe as much as 150 miles. There's no good reason to ride roads on a MTB in the Boise area with all of these trails.

The maps and elevation profiles are better than the Stuebner book but that's not saying much. This book is only slightly better. The maps routinely leave out misc trails that connect to the main loop that the author is trying to document. Imagine riding a trail that has 5 left turns within a 2 miles stretch and trying simply guess which left turn is proper without any indicators on the authors map or text. A simple "take the 3rd left" would have been great.

I'm a new rider to the Boise area and I need to say, these hills are tough. I wanted a decent book to help me understand how tough a trail would be without getting myself in over my head. This book is pretty much worthless in that regard. There are 40 rides in the book and I'd guess only 5 of those rides are completely on dirt. Who wants to ride a 28 pound MTB around the roads? So I have the 2 Boise area guidebooks and the only thing I learned was where the big trailheads are. I have spent many a frustraing day lost in back country.

If a person wants a better resource, goto www.ridgetorivers.org

The map that is available through Ridge to Rivers is not a complete trail guide but it is acurate and more or less easy to use. It's $5 and it's worth 2x the cost of both Boise area MTB guidebooks. It's also available at most local bike shops and the REI.

Maybe you can find this book at half.com for $1, that's about all it's worth.

We bought this book while on a trip to Yellowstone. The pictures in the book were great but the written part frustrated me. Overall, for me, it just did not explain the variety of microbes in Yellowstone. It was scattered and repetitive at times. The book had four author and it felt like it did. It had this cut and paste feel, which made it hard to follow. I'm not a scientist, so who am I to say, but I would have preferred one knowable author.

This book covers only very well known locations and only of rocks and minerals suitable for lapidary. This book is a good 30 years out of date. In my own state, I have been to every location listed and 90% of them do not exist anymore or are no longer accessible. In addition, I know of several other areas that are well known but not listed. Don't waste your time with this book.

The other reviewers are exactly right; use Eckert's information as a basic starter only. Speaking for the Oregon, Washington, and Idaho locales, I have had to use a lot of imagination to figure out where Eckert was trying to point me. There just isn't enough specific information for some listings, and for others, "current events" (i.e., development) have long since overtaken the rockhounding locales.

One thing that would have helped when marketing this book would have been a little explanation of what is different from the last volume. I patiently counted up all the sites listed for Oregon in the new guide, then counted the ones in my old book, and there was no change! In fact, I don't think a single site in the book was updated, added, or removed for Oregon. I suspect very few locales were updated, period.

There are no pictures, and the maps are only very vague; many times, a rockhound locale will be referred to as near a city, and the map will just point to that city. If the books weren't so expensive, they would be at least useful if you were trying to put together a complete picture for a state that you intended to rockhound to 100%. But I spent $20 on a used copy of an old edition and still felt a little gypped.

Where the book does help is in pointing you to a series of gravel bars on a river or major creek. For example, the Oregon section pointed me toward Vinemaple on the Nehalem River, and I used Google Earth to pinpoint some likely gravel bars. It turned out, however, that there were barbed wire fences and No Trespassing signs everywhere; I would have had to put in a canoe or kayak to get to his suggested spot. However, knowing that Vinemaple was good once, way back when, was useful, and when I got access to the river way above the Eckert site, I found what I was looking for.

This series is one of the most poorly conceived mineral guides I have ever seen. The author obviously knows very little about minerals e.g. "quartz rock crystal" and his maps are so poor you would be lucky to find anything using them. I agree with a previous reviewer who said "do not waste your time with these books." L. Dee, Geologist

I bought this book sight unseen and I was bitterly disappointed. There is nothing in this book that you can't find out by reading the Idaho Fish and Game Upland Game pamphlet, except some listings of local resources such as sporting goods stores. It made me wonder if Retallic and Barker ever actually hunted birds in Idaho. The maps are especially disappointing, and they are typical of this entire series. They show absolutely no roads, rivers or streams by which you could pinpoint possible hunting locations. In this era of readily available digitized maps, these maps are inexcusable.

In short, any literate person could sit down with the Upland Game pamphlet and the yellow pages for Idaho and find all the information contained in this book. Don't waste your money.

The distribution maps and other data in this book are almost identical to what is given for free by IDFG. Ambiguity and vagueness seem to be the key theme in this book. As a nonresident of Idaho, this book does little more than frustrate me when it is used for planning an upland bird hunt to Idaho. Forget the information that they mention on valley quail hunting. From my experience, it is extremely difficult to find valley quail on public land in Idaho. I am disappointed in this incomplete book.
By the way, I don't expect the authors to give up their personal hot spots (if they have any), but some reasonable maps detailing public access areas would be great.

I was very disappointed in this. No where in the discription does it say it is a fold up pamphlet. It should have been no more than $2.98.