Utah Books

This book tells you what really happened to D. B. Cooper. He's dead, shot by the FBI. The physical items he left in the plane, positively ID'd by both his wife and mother, clinches the case. Don't believe any other junk you hear about Cooper on TV. In '85 I dated Dorothy Holland, who had been McCoy's sister-in-law as she was married to his brother. She's mentioned in the book. At the time she knew McCoy had been killed by the FBI, but she didn't know McCoy and Cooper were the same. She liked McCoy, who, unfortunately, was a sap who should have told his wife to get lost. He paid the price.

Richard McCoy was the victim of a fundamental contradiction in a society that gave him medals for violence in Vietnam, and life in prison for violence back home. I'd like to see a "McCoy Act" passed that mandates downward departures for vets like McCoy. He was a loving father, with a bitch for a wife, who'll burn in hell. Too bad he was excommunicated by his LDS faith. As devoted as he was to it, I think it would be a caring gesture if they reinstated his membership (just as they did for John D. Lee). slr383838 at yahoo.

I read this book and wish I could have been available to help support and add to its contents. I spent a great deal of time with the McCoy family and especially... Denise. I MISS them all especially Richard. He baptised me into the Mormon faith. So, Karen, Denise, Chante, and "dinky duck" (remember?) I am sad and wish you all Gods speed. I wish you had kept in touch with me. I still miss you Denise... Mike

I wrote a review before, but I was very wrong. I went to the library and checked out this book. It was so great, I learned small details that I didn't know before. This book goes into so much detail, it's amazing. When before I didn't know much about Richard Floyd McCoy Jr., now I know so much more. It seems that people can relate to him for being just an ordinary guy. The Cooper-McCoy similarities are too many to be coincidental. For a Cooper-McCoy fan it is very interesting. Although, if someone is into true crime, it is also great. I am sorry for my review earlier.

Absolutely fascinating, thoroughly researched book. This story is amazing but tragic--I came close to shedding a few tears for poor McCoy at the end of the book.
The author does a great job of backing up his claims with research, and honestly expresses his regrets about the things he wishes he would have asked McCoy.
Excellent read.

What's more exciting than an earthquake that shakes you out of bed first thing in the morning? Sarah Andrews' newest Em Hanson mystery - Fault Line - which kept me up until 2am this morning! Fault Line finds Em Hanson, out-of-work petroleum geologist and fledgling forensic geologist, living in Salt Lake City, sorting out her life. A 5.2 M earthquake on a branch of the Wasatch Fault wakes everybody up and the death of the head of the Utah Geological Survey really gets things rolling. Earthquakes aren't Em's specialty, so we join her as she learns more about the fault lines that run under Salt Lake City and through relationships and families. Cracks appear in the brand new stadium that is to be featured in the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics and in Em's relationship with her boyfriend Ray, Salt Lake City cop and devout Mormon. Shaky ground is found at the site of a brand new shopping mall and in the relationship of Faye, Em's best friend, and Tom Latimer, Zen FBI agent and Em's mentor in detecting. As always, Em the geologist teases out the big picture from a mess of details. Be prepared to learn a lot about seismology and engineering geology. Trips to the ski slopes in Alta, the [Flying] Pie Pizzeria, and the [beautiful] retrofitted City and County Building fill out the local color. In my opinion, this is the best Em Hanson mystery yet. On the Modified Mercalli Scale of Earthquake Intensity, XII means total destruction. On the open-ended [Gutenberg]-Richter Scale of Earthquake Magnitude, a 9.5 is the largest earthquake ever recorded. I can only give Fault Line by Sarah Andrews 5 stars, but if I could give it more, I would!

This is the first Sarah Andrews mystery I've read, starring main character Em Hansen, Forensic Geologist. I loved it so much that I'm planning to go out and buy every book of Sarah Andrew's that I can get my hands on !

The book takes place in heavily faulted Salt Lake City. Geologist (and informal investigator-in-training) 35-year-old Em Hansen is shaken awake about 4 AM by an approximate 5.3-level earthquake. She gets caught up in the two murder investigations of a geologist and a reporter who are out to expose earthquake damage in public structures, but which developers want covered up. Furthermore, we are drawn far into the Mormon world, and society, of Salt Lake City. Along the way, we also learn a lot of interesting science and geology. If you enjoy science at all, you will LOVE this whole mystery series.

I absolutely loved the main character. She has a lot of interesting friends, and an interesting, but very realistic life. In addition to this mystery, this author has a lot to say about life (through what her characters are experiencing) and gives her readers a lot to chew on.

I'm going to have to buy the next book in the series because I'm dying to find out what happens next to detective geologist Em Hansen, particularly her love life, and I'm not normally a fan of romances. But detective Em is very likeable and the reader cares about her, and there are a couple of very interesting men in her life as the book ends.

In this mystery, Em's relationship with her boyfriend, Mormon policeman Ray, is in difficulty from the get-go. Em is not Mormon and his family is not so happy about their relationship. Then there's Emma's career -- another problem area, since she isn't actually employed (she does some temping to supplement her dwindling savings). She moved to Salt Lake City to be near her boyfriend, but has been unable to find a job.

To top it off, there's this earthquake (in the first chapter), and Em begins to suspect that some of the buildings in Salt Lake City are going to collapse if a really big earthquake hits. How is it that the authorities allowed them to be built?

Then there's the murder of a state geologist -- is it related to the earthquake or politics or both? Em gets involved in trying to discover who killed her, even as she tries to sort out her troubled relationship with her boyfriend and his family.

If I have any criticisms of the book, it is that you might end up knowing more about earthquakes and fault lines than you want to -- but you will learn quite a bit on the subject, and quite a bit about Salt Lake City and Mormons.

All in all, an entertaining, amusing, engaging, "can't put down" book. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Sarah Andrews continues to bring together what I love - geology, and mysteries from a woman's view. I was hooked all the way till the end, but as a warning to others who like to solve mysteries, or who are enjoying the whole series, don't skip the 2 books before this one!

I was lost on Em's perspective and thoughts on certain key issues, which supposedly are explained in such full detail in the 2 previous books that she barely mentions them here. Sure, it's an interesting read (I'd say more about that, but wouldn't want to give anything away), but I would've gotten a whole lot more out of this mystery if I'd had a little bit more background. It probably wouldn't have left a sour taste in my mouth either.

The timing of this latest Em Hansen mystery makes the novel already dated but no less enjoyable for that. When a moderate 5.2 earthquake hits Salt Lake City weeks before this year's Winter Olympic Games, the local geologists, including Hansen, get excited. But when the Utah State geologist is murdered, the FBI recruits Hansen to look into the geological state of things. Coping with chronic underemployment and a rocky romance with her Mormon cop boyfriend, Hansen jumps at the chance.

Reviewing maps and tramping the terrain, Hansen discovers that her newly adopted city is riddled with faults, which the city fathers have virtually ignored. Between complacency and corruption, numerous public venues - from housing developments and malls to the spanking new stadium where the Olympics' opening ceremonies are scheduled - sit precariously on fault lines.

The murder investigation parallels Andrews' dire exploration of earthquake inevitability and its devastating effects on an unprepared populace. Greed, politics and religion wrestle with science in a story as much exposé as mystery. An engaging and forthright protagonist, Hansen's narration is interspersed with other viewpoints - a corporate villain, his trained construction geologist and an ambitious newspaper reporter among others - which heightens the suspense and the novel's scope.

Yes, Colm Toibin really can write. But Irish families... Ugh. I don't want to read anymore books about them. They are so cold, so silent. It must be how they really are, but I just can't take reading about them. It's too sad. The main character is so COLD. The plot is thin, too.

The Heather Blazing by Colm Toibin is a deeply emotional, deeply moving book. It's the story of Eamon Redmond, a complex man, grown on tender roots, influential friends, a keen intellect and a tangible distance between himself and those whom he loves.

The book is set in three parts, each of which dips in and out of time. We are with Eamon as a child in the small Wexford seaside villages he forever regards as home. Coastal erosion changes them over time and provides, in itself, a metaphor of aging, both of the individual and the community. Eamon's schoolteacher father is a significant figure, both locally as a renowned teacher, and nationally as a result of what he accomplished in his youth in the furtherance of Irish independence and political development. Eamon's mother died when he was young, an act for which, perhaps, he could never forgive her.

We also see Eamon as an adolescent, hormones abuzz, becoming aware of adulthood, a physical, intellectual and, for him, a political transformation. But it is also a time when his father's illness complicates his life. Throughout, we are never sure whether Eamon's perception of such difficulty remains primarily selfish, driven by self-interest. If we are honest, none of us knows how that equation works out.

We are with Eamon when he meets Carmel, his future and only wife. They share a political commitment and a life together. And they have two children. Naimh becomes pregnant at a crucial time. Donal is successful in his own way, but perhaps inherited his father's distance in relationships.

And then there's another time and another Eamon, the professional, the legal Eamon. At first he practices law, but later, at a relatively early age, he accepts a politically-driven appointment to the judiciary. He has powerful sponsors, but also toys a little with the idea that he is being kicked upstairs. The moment, however, is his, no matter how dubious the source of the patronage. And then there are the cases that he has to judge, cases that impact in their own way upon the substance of his own life, his own family, whatever that might be, however the entity might be defined. It remains a substance that is perceived mainly by others, it seems, as he enacts his training and judges other people's experience according to rules he has dutifully learned so that he might apply them dispassionately.

So Colm Toibin mixes these time frames and circumstances in each of the book's three sections. We are also presented with some intellectual arguments arising from the substance of the judge's daily routine, issues with which he must grapple in his assessment of competing interests. Eventually he must address the dichotomy of terrorism versus political action, a definition that, years ago, might have left his own father on this side or that, if ever he had been identified.

Eamon's friends, in hindsight, might not have been the most worthy or honest sponsors, and so, again only with hindsight, we might question his judgment. But the pursuance of interests, like life, itself, is a process, and a process that The Heather Blazing describes in its richness and illusory permanence. As the Wexford coast erodes, Eamon ages, changes, succeeds, fails, loves and loves again, all in his own way. He engages us, and yet we, like the trusting, thoughtful Carmel, his wife, we never really know him, and we never really understand why we feel that way. If only he knew himself. A quite beautiful book. Life goes on.

Kirkus Reviews blurb reprinted above is absolutely foolish. This is a magnificent novel, but one which, as Tobias Wolff has said, "repays attention", i.e., one must be willing to give oneself over to Toibin's deceptively simple prose. The cummulative affect of the chapters, as a picture of a life, is devastatingly poignant, but this poignance will only come through careful attention. A quiet masterpiece.

Colm Toibin has written a masterpiece of understated emotions, thought provoking prose and the chill of Ireland's coast in "The Heather Blazing." As Don Delillo says. "Colm Toibin never says too much and never lets us get too uncomfortable".

Eamon Redmond grew up in Dublin, the son of a school teacher and a Catholic Irish fighter. Eamon's mother died when he was a baby, and he grew up a lonely boy who learned not to ask anyone for anything. He had a comfortable existence. He was fed, clothed and educated well. He was an intelligent young man and learned to study at night while his father corrected papers. Eamon became involved in Fianna Fail, Ireland's Republican Party because of his father 's influence. His father was heavily involved and may have even murdered for the cause of Ireland. Eamon went to college, and then to law school and was promoted up into the Courts because of his support of Fianna Fail. As a young man he worked with a young people's group to further the cause of Fianna Fail. It was here that he met Carmel O'Brien. He fell in love with Carmel O'Brien, but she told him he was too withdrawn, too into himself. He never really understood what she was talking about. Or, he never really listened to what she was saying. Eventually, he won her over, they married and had two children.

Eamon was used to making difficult law decisions and became the top judge in his circuit. His decisions were often controversial, and his family differed in their opinion of the decisions he wrought. He preferred to be by himself and that was often apparent to his family. He could abide his wife's company, but just barely. It was not until she had a stroke that he realized how important she was to him. He cared for her until she had another stroke and died. He felt alone, all alone, He was unable to sleep in the bed they had slept in for years. He went to their summer home, and had to sleep in the car. He could not stand to be in the same room as they had been in together. He was unable to accept his loss. All this time he thought he had never asked for anything; now, he just wanted his wife back. He did all he could to avoid being in the home. He walked miles until he was exhausted. It was not until his daughter and her young son came to stay with him that he started to understand the meaning of family, of love, of sharing, of fun and of laughter. This is a book to be remembered. The more one thinks about this book, the stronger the impression it leaves. prisrob

I didn't really like Judge Eamon Redmond until I was almost through with this book. He certainly didn't show much emotion at all through most of the story. However, my whole attitude and judgement of him changed so much by the end of this engrossing story. When Eamon was very young he stood by silently and passively watching his father die (his mother was already dead), and then when he was older and a well-respected Judge, he watched as his wife Carmel die after having a stroke. Both of these dead's and there influence on Eamon's life are minutely detailed here. Eamon seems to be an intense and very lonely person. Yes, there is some attention given to his first girlfriend, and his children (who barely know their father) but the turning point, I think, is after Carmel dies. I think Eamon finally finds his heart, and the love he was too busy to recognize before. The ending is wonderful.

Colm Toibin has a way of beautifully describing family life and especially the landscape of Ireland. I learned a lot about Irish politics of that time, and how a judge makes his important decisions. A well-crafted novel from an author who has written many powerful books. I am always touched by his rich & moving novels.

i like this book since it covers all of southern utah. the feature i use most often and like best is the way they rate all the hikes. i do what i can and can't do, how long it will take and whether or not it's appropriate for kids. it also gives useful information such as average temperatures and nearby towns and what they have available such as restaurants, showers, laundry, stores, etc.

W.C. McRae and Judy Jewell's Zion & Bryce focus on Utah's two wonderful parks but also include sections on nearby Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches parks. A handy at-a-glance map on the back places all in perspective, while pages of detail cover everything from accommodations to day trips and overnight camping in each park. Accommodations are broken down by price ranges, hiking trails and scenic drives are outlined, and tips on making the most of each park's unique scenic attractions keep Zion & Bryce useful.

A great guide. Not only does it have the usual food and lodging recommenddations of usual guidbooks it also has great trail descriptions. this was the main reason I bought the book. Each trail guide is headed by distance, duration, Elevation cahnge, Effort and trailhead location. This info helped me narrow down the best hikes for my allowed time. Three good color maps in the front of the book: Southern Utah, Zion and Bryce, plus the various maps in the book with major roads and unpaved roads in the hiking areas. Highly recommennded especially for planning day hiking trips.

W.C. McRae and Judy Jewell's Zion & Bryce focus on Utah's two wonderful parks but also include sections on nearby Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches parks. A handy at-a-glance map on the back places all in perspective, while pages of detail cover everything from accommodations to day trips and overnight camping in each park. Accommodations are broken down by price ranges, hiking trails and scenic drives are outlined, and tips on making the most of each park's unique scenic attractions keep Zion & Bryce useful.

I was planning a photo trip to utah and so collected a large number of books on the area. I would rate this book as one of the best and most useful. It gives very handy hints on planning your trip. Most guides have so much info you can't wade through it all. This Moon guide assumes you have only a limited amount of time and helps you make decisions appropriatley. Highly recommended.

Well rsearched and presented. Although o.f most interest to Hillerman fans, I would carry the book on any western trip to Hillerman country, good descriptions of the country. Tie in with the Indian Country AAA Map issued by the Auttomobile Club of Southern California, and Tony Hillerman's Indian Country Map and Guide. Now that i have read all of Hillerman's books, and am not traveling west any longer, I regret that this book was not available earlier. Recommend possession,fun to browse, even when not reading one of the Leaphorn/Chee books.

I was disappointed in this book. I expected a map of the 4-corners area or several maps with details. This would have been fun to use as a reference as you read the Hillerman books to follow detectives Leaphorn & Chee travels thru Navajoland. Also, the few pictures that were in the book, were in black & white. That would have been OK if they had been sharper and crisper.

A great gift for Tony Hillerman fans. Gives rereading the older books a new meaning.

Tony Hillerman's novels swept through their readership every few years like a flash flood in the Four Corners. They weren't great literature. They weren't even very well written sentence by sentence, but they expressed a kind of warm integrity and humanity that many people preferred to the hard-nosed cynicism and sadism of much popular fiction. Tony seemed to respect and cherish his two imaginary Navajo detectives, Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn, as if they were living human beings. For that reason, they seemed "real" to readers also.

Tony Hillerman died a few days ago, at age 83. Let's hope he was buried in the sands of Monument Valley!

This book gives a wonderful, alive, feeling about the Hillerman stories. It puts the reader inside the scenes , and makes one understand the characters even better. It also makes you long to be there and visit those special places, and preserve them for all future readers.

After watching the movie September Dawn the subject of the Mountain Meadows Massacre was so horrifying and unbelievable I went straight to the computer and googled it. I thought the movie had to have been sensationalized as this could not possibly have happened and I didn't know about it. (I am extremely knowledgable on the subject of American History) Of the web sites I poured over, one offered thoughts, opinions etc. It was the web site that covered the reconciliation between both descendants of the survivors and the killers. My email was answered by author Wayne Capurro who then recommended his book. I found it fascinating..........in a horrific way....but also amazed that the Mormons had kept this secret for so long. More disturbing is that they continue to make excuses for why it happened!!! This is a must read for anyone interested in some TRUE FACTS in the history of America. Vicki Soles, Massanutten, VA

Last year was the 150th anniversary of the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
Surrounding that sad milestone a number of books have come out about the Massacre and more are on the way.

Capurro's "White Flag" is a historic/fiction account of the Massacre in the style popularized by Jeff Shara in "Killer Angels," an account of the Battle of Gettysburg as seen through the eyes of the participants. (Sharra's son has since carried on the tradition with a number of similar books on significant historic events.) Prior reviewers have critized Capurro for making up dialogue. That, of course, was his purpose-to put a human face on the aggressors, the victims, the LDS authorities, and those who became "collateral damage" as a result of the cold-blooded murder of 120 people. Capurro did not write another narrative of the Massacre. There are several excellent books that do so, including recent offerings by Will Bagley and Sally Denton. Instead, he uses these sources to draw a "this is probably the way it happened" picture by giving voice to the thoughts and substance to the actions of those involved.

Capurro is a direct decendant of Philip Klingensmith, the bishop of Cedar City, who participated, to his lasting regret, in the Massacre and who turned State's evidence at the first trial of John D. Lee. Not surprisingly, Klingensmith, whose murdered body was, many years later, found at the bottom of a mine hole (most probably the result of a Danite revenge killing) comes out as the most sympathetic of those directly involved in the murders. A cast of other Mormons, including Brigham Young, receive a deservedly less favorable treatment.

I have studied the Massacre for many years and think Capurro has done a very credible job of reconstructing the chain of events which led to the tragedy. Did he get everything right? There is no way of ever knowing. But from all the evidence available, and from his understanding of the workings of the Mormon Kingdom in the 1850's, I believe he has come as close as anyone is likely to do.

Although the book can be read without a background on the Massacre, it is most suited to those who have some working knowledge of the events that led up to it and its sad aftermath. It is a good read.

I love to read; this book will make you love to read as well. White Flag is one of those books where you cannot wait to turn the pages and move to the next chapter. The authors words seem to just flow and makes one feel as if they are in the story. Mountain Meadows Massacre is a terrible part of American history and was America's first 9/11, happening on September 11, 1857; through this book you will learn about that tragic event. I highly recommend this book.

I have read several books about the Mountain Meadows massacre, so I am not unfamiliar with the terrain this particular book travels over. I think the author does a good job of demonstrating that Brigham Young was indeed responsible for the incident. However, there are too many conversations that are cited that I don't see how anyone could know took place, which leads to some credibility problems. A lot of speculations about what was going on when and with whom. While this book may be a good primer for those interested in the topic, I would recommend readers to follow up with Will Bagley's "Blood of the Prophets" for a good documentary source.

As author and co-screenwriter of September Dawn, I found this book to be unsettling. I wish I had read it before I wrote the movie and book because there is so much information in here that only someone related to an "insider" would know. It is an incredibly detailed look into the Mountain Meadow Massacre and I would recommend it to anyone fascinated by the subject. It is one of the best insider's view of the Mormon Church in 1857 I have read and I've read a lot.

This review could have run anywhere from three to five stars. But, with nobody but worshipers at the shrine of St. Ed reviewing this book so far, this winds up being one of my context-based ratings, and so it gets three stars, not four.

First, let me say I agree with much of Stiles' take on the New West. Many environmental movements are getting a bit full of themselves, or a a bit full of strings-attached cash, at least.

Rationing of the West goes hand in hand with his commodification of the West. Witness how just about everything at Mesa Verde can only be seen by guided tour these days.

And, in some places, Stiles doesn't go far enough; he could have called for the Park Service to require a written test or something to get a permit to hike in many places, for example.

That said, Stiles is too good, or too much, at building up straw men. I don't think every mountain biker wants to ban cattle from national forests, or even thinks every cattleman is evil. Of course, Stiles might say such folks don't fall into his definition of the New West; I don't know.

Besides that, Stiles' version of Abbey's anarcho-libertarianism isn't the answer, either. (I take Abbey at face value on his own claim that he was neither an environmentalist nor a naturalist. Any man who remained unapologetic 30 years after pushing a tire into the Grand Canyon is neither.)

And, even if the New West is an evil, even if it is a new form of extractive industry, I still think it's the lesser of two evils when compared to the Old West.

Beyond that, Stiles didn't read Abbey himself carefully enough; he overlooks Abbey's own comment that "the desert always wins." Someday, commodified nature tourism will play out, too. More likely sooner than later, if continued drought and global warming turn out bad enough in the Southwest.

Then, it seems, Stiles is a bit black-and-white; I think there's plenty of people in Moab worried about the future but with a different take than him. (I talked to a couple of bookstore managers when in Moab most recently, mid-August 2008, and specifically asked about Stiles and this book.)

Finally, Stiles' book is long on problem and short on solution.

It's provocative, but it's more that than it is thought-provoking, and it's not "all that."

Of course, neither was Ed Abbey.

Brave New West
Morphing Moab at the Speed of Greed
Jim Stiles
2007 University of Arizona Press
paperback 260 pages

"A remark generally hurts in proportion to its truth." -Will Rogers

Events since the publication of Jim Stiles' Brave New West, remind us that the truth does indeed hurt. From the not yet deflated real estate bubble to the ongoing commercialization of public lands and now the awareness of global scale capital influencing our favorite environmental organizations, we're challenged to rethink much about ourselves.

Unaffordable real estate and property taxes, the loss of a small town and rural ways of life, adventure tourism on public lands, the loss of wildlife and wilderness, and perhaps most worrisome, the loss of our ability to value the natural world as it is, and for what it is, are all documented in Brave New West as impacts of an amenities boom that swallowed Moab, Utah over the last 20 years.

Along the way, we're inspired by the story of what happens when one man seriously questions the worldview that everyone else around him has staked their livelihood on.

Brave New West takes us on a journey back to Stiles' long ago adopted home town, at the end of an era. Old West Moab's uranium bust hit bottom just about the time Jim left the Park Service after a decade at nearby Arches National Park. Jumping through his only window of opportunity, he scraped together a down payment on a tiny house in town that would become his "ringside seat for the knockout blow to come".

Less than two years later, on the very day that his friend and mentor Edward Abbey died in 1989, Stiles' alternative view Canyon Country Zephyr was born. As it happened, economically desperate Moab was just entering into its love affair with amenities and endless growth, and from the start the Zephyr was there, reliably raising the red flag.

Now almost 20 years later, National Public Radio and High Country News recently produced separate features on the amenities economies of northern Arizona and western Colorado. While those stories gave wider audiences a chance to think about how skyrocketing real estate tears communities apart, we don't have to imagine the perspective of the man still holding his tattered red flag:

"New Westerners claim that the uncontrolled growth of the amenities economy is out of their hands, that market forces and the whims of American culture are driving the New West, not them. As one Utah environmentalist said defensively, 'It would have happened anyway.' In effect New Westerners now refuse to take credit for the extraordinary success of the very economy they claimed would save the West. They actually distance themselves from the solution they continue to promote. Every ATV rally, every new convenience store, every condo development, every golf course, every four-star restaurant in a town with a population of 5000 is an extension of the amenities economy."

For its first decade, the Zephyr was effectively the voice of environmentalism in Moab. Each issue contained at least one article authored by a member of SUWA or the Sierra Club. But as the impacts of "millions of those well meaning amenity clients" and resource damage from hundreds of thousands of bicyclists per year ("and it wasn't just the bikes, it was the vehicles that brought the bikes") began to literally change the landscape of Grand County, Stiles began to wonder when "someone from our side was going to speak up". He is still waiting.

Could it be that environmentalists were finding it hard to criticize the activities of their own supporters? When a company selling climbing tours in Arches National Park promoted itself as a "Proud business supporter of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance" it became clear that the enviros would remain silent on the impacts of too many recreationists.

Brave New West highlights the late 1980's change in environmentalists' wilderness strategy which aided and abetted the birth of the amenities economy and the New West. They advocated for the transformation of rural economies towards services aimed at upscale migrants seeking to live near wilderness. In the process, wilderness values became human-centered and economic rather than intrinsic and environmental.

As long as professional environmentalists sell their ideas using economic rationale, we are reminded of the political reality of the "death of environmentalism". (What public values make up that reality?) But we could also take a much harder look at the boards of directors of these groups. Since the publication of Brave New West, the resignations, securities fraud convictions, and prison sentences for multi-millionaires Bert Fingerhut and Mark Ristow, long time SUWA board members (Fingerhut was also on the Grand Canyon Trust board) make us wonder what is going on here.

More recently, Stiles' Greening of Wilderne$$ Part 2 (www.canyoncountryzephyr.com) exposed the influence of mega-capital on environmental boards large and small. For example, global venture-capitalist David Bonderman sits on the boards of The Wilderness Society and the Grand Canyon Trust. Mr. Bonderman's 2007 acquisition Luminant Energy, the Texas utility green-washed by the participation of the NRDC and Environmental Defense in the buyout, is right now building 2,300 MW of capacity from three new lignite coal-fired units. (What public values drive the need for more and more power?) How can a man with two 15,000 square foot homes lead the way either in reducing our consumption of energy or in the opposition to new coal-fired power plants on the Colorado Plateau?

Stiles' lament in the conclusion to Brave New West says it all:

"I wondered if Moab could have turned out differently...Could we have come to appreciate the life we had there, in terms that bankers, accountants, politicians, and chambers of commerce can't measure? Absolutely. We humans are a tragic lot, not because of our malevolence and greed but our indifference. It's never the bad guys that diminish our species, our culture, and our lands--their numbers are insignificant. We good guys empower them with our apathy. Our willingness to submit to things we know are wrong is always our undoing. It doesn't have to be that way."

Amen to that, Jim.

I met Jim Stiles years ago, when he was still rangering at Arches. I was one of those Abbey-seekers who had made a pilgrimage to Moab and Arches after reading Desert Solitaire ( this was September 1980, just before Reagan was elected and Everything changed ). I had found the site of Abbey's trailer, and his rusted septic tank and drainfield pipe. I had taken off my clothes and stood atop a rock to salute, as I recall, the spirit of everything Ed had written about. Ranger Jim came across this scene and said, understandably, "What the hell are you doing?". Well he was very civil and decent about it all. He confirmed I had found the sacred trailer site - heck, he even gave me a t-shirt with his infamous "Glen Canyon Damn" picture ( I still have it!).
Over the years I have enjoyed Jim's writings, and it is great to finally see him put it all in a book. Stiles definitely has the burr under his saddle that Abbey had, and it powers his prose better than most other "nature" writers in the 18 years we've been without Ed. I wish he'd write a novel, because I think he could bring the Monkey Wrench Gang into the 21st century, something we badly need.
I was in Moab, like I said, in 1980, and then again in 2003. Both times I ventured there in a VW Squareback ( Tradition!). I will admit that Moab was a LOT different 23 years later, though my teenage son and I still had a great visit. Christ it was hot! ( It was July, after all, with daytime temperatures as high as 116 degrees.) We explored Arches in the early-morning hours, swam and rafted in the hot afternoon ( and if that wasn't Pure Bliss I don't know what is ) and enjoyed good food and drink and an air-conditioned motel room in the evening. Moab is still a great place to visit, even if you are a low-impact non-biking non-jeeping old Abbey fan like me. Even on this second visit in 2003 I visited Ed's trailer site and easily found the septic tank and rusted pipe again, pretty much exactly as I had found it 23 years earlier. This time, however, I didn't take off my clothes, but instead read aloud the first chapter from Desert Solitaire to the land, to the place that inspired Ed to write his great book so long ago. No one was there ( in body at least ) but me. The timeless beauty and power of that place was - and, thankfully, still is - a real presence in the absolute quiet of that early morning.
Thanks for the great book, Jim. I hope it does well. Write on, brother. Write on.

Anyone who lives in a small, rural Western town, or anyone contemplating moving to, or, worse yet, just buying property in a small, rural Western town, definitely needs to read this book.

Stiles paints an unflinchingly accurate picture of how the tiny town of Moab became a crowded tourist town filled with fast-food joints and chain hotels. Longtime small business owners were forced out by the giant chain stores and T-shirt shops catering to out-of-town mountain bikers, Jeepers and ATVers. Alfalfa fields and orchards were sold to developers, who slapped up condos and luxury homes for mostly absentee owners, and conservative locals swamped by lycra-clad city dwellers. It's a sad and harsh reality, but Stiles manages quite a few laugh-out-loud moments: comedy is usually funny because it is so true.

The reason the book is important is that this phenomenon is repeating itself throughout the Western United States. Often local residents who may only make about $20,000 a year can no longer afford to live in the towns occupied by their families for generations. City dwellers take the equity from their city properties and invest it in rural land, driving prices out of sight, then bring their sharply different lifestyles to rural towns.

Most environmental groups have been completely silent on these issues, even as millions of new hikers trample the scenery into oblivion. Why? Perhaps because those same hikers and even some developers contribute hefty dollars to enviro groups. So while oil and gas companies contribute to the Bush administration, which then allows drilling on sensitive lands, environmental groups are running afoul of the same money trap--an ironic twist.

Of course the agent driving these ever-growing problems is our ever-expanding population, and Stiles is one of the few to tackle this problem publicly. Why can't our leaders even talk about this?

If you live in a small Western town, read this book, discuss it with your neighbors, and work with your local government to try and prevent this from happening to you.

If you are a city dweller contemplating a relocation or second-home purchase in a rural town, read this book and rethink your move. If you must move there, then stay there, work there, live there, don't build a giant mansion, be sensitive to the locals, try to get to know them. If you want their way of life, then LIVE IT, don't push your lifestyle onto them.

This is a GREAT book.

Tracing the growth of Moab, Jim Stiles has the huevos to take a long, cold look at what is happening in the Great American West. He has watched Moab (and, by extension, many other small Western towns) sucumb to carpet baggers, dirt pimps, speculators and, the cruelest irony of all, hoardes of nature-loving tourists encouraged by the "amenities economy".

Stiles takes on his friends as well as his enemies, and accuses enviromental groups of rolling over and playing dead while thousands of mountain bikers ride over their limp, unprotesting bodies on the way to Adventure Paradise. Stiles is neither a whiner nor a lamenter, and he shakes his fist at what he calls "enviropreneurs" out to make big bucks off public land. Commercialized nature theme parks are the future of the West, Stiles claims, reminding us of the debt we owe Edward Abbey when he coined the phrase "industrial tourism". Abbey was Stiles' mentor and friend.

Jim Stiles is a lively, accomplished writer, so this bitter pill is not too hard to swallow. Just be careful you don't choke while laughing out loud. Stiles is a very funny man and that's a good thing in these circumstances.

As an avid So Cal diver, I'm familiar with California's important urchin fishery. I've also lived and traveled over much of the state. As such, this was an interesting read.

That said, the book is very simply written, occasionally repetitive, and could have been more tightly edited. The book is somewhat autobiographical, and was a bit slower as a result. However, the author's Farallone experience and tales of Ron Elliot were standouts.

If I had the option, I would've given the book 3 1/2 stars, 4 was generous. I'd say if you're particularly interested in the subject matter, you'll probably enjoy this book. Otherwise, it's not the most compelling read. I'd recommend The Devil's Teeth by Susan Casey.

This book was an excellent journey through one mans life lived on and off the California coast, diving for urchins. It is a story about a simple life that centered around tides, weather, water conditions and other unseen hazards. It is a life that although is hard work, may prove envious to many (especially those whose daily trials and tribulations centers around traffic, spreadsheets, middle managers and sales quotas).

It is also telling of the way the California urchin (and fishing) industry has changed as a whole, from single owners and family owned businesses to the large commercial companies. From the days of no restrictions and limitless limits to the present day regulations that are needed to keep people from expiring the very items that provide them with a livelihood. It is also telling of the transformation of the person in the industry from someone who is mostly carefree and just works and surfs, to that of family man, to that of someone who has responsibilities and others that depend on them, to someone who has become jaded by the business aspect and competition of the industry, to finally someone that has come to grips with their own mortality through the deaths of those he respected and cared for. Mixed in are great characters, good stories and memorable adventures to virgin coast lines and reefs.

This book does not sound like an exciting book, but it was a book that I looked forward to reading. It is the type of book that is good to read if you want to clear your head and take a trip without going anywhere. Finally, it is a very good book that centers around the ocean.

After reading excerpts in The Surfer's Journal and hearing friends in the West Coast water world rave about this gem of a book, I bought it and devoured it a weekend. This is a terrific read, at once an honest, deeply personal memoir and an entertaining swash-buckling tale of adventure. Kendrick writes in a clear, deceptively easy style that grabs you off the dock on the first page and the next thing you know, you're down 85 feet deep on a big money dive in the gin clear waters of a virgin reef by the Channel Islands. And it doesn't let up.

Kendrick was a member of the Santa Barbara, California-based sea urchin divers who pioneered this offbeat fishery, reaping its rewards and facing lethal dangers, opening new waters in Northern California, even--and this is insane--harvesting urchins at the Farallon Islands, the stalking ground of the Great White Shark. There are some great stories here, moments of danger and reward, death and laughter, all told with great insight. This is a memorable book that deserves to be in the book collection of anyone who loves the ocean and the lore of the sea.
Rumor has it that the author has been hired to write a screenplay adaptation. This book is an absolute natural for the big screen. Highest recommendation.
John Grissim, author, Pure Stoke and The Lost Treasure of the Concepcion

As the last reviewer said, if your heart is in any way connected to the ocean, be it through surfing, boating, diving, fishing, or just spending time around the beach, you'll have a profound appreciation for this book.

Tom is an amazing story teller and Bluewater Gold Rush is an wonderful mix of adventure, friends, love, and loss. I often find myself retelling Tom's stories to friends, recounting them while I'm diving, or using new terms that I picked up from the book like "white buffalo". There are stories in the book that are laugh-out-loud funny and stories where you can't help but share the loss along with Tom when bad things happen to good people.

My one regret was purchasing the book in the middle of a particularly harsh work week. My job kept me really busy during the days and the book keep me up most of the nights. I simply couldn't put it down. I made it through the book by the end of the week but sleep deprivation almost did me in!

I had the opportunity to visit one the main settings in the book after I read it and I felt compelled to send Tom an email afterwards. I would like to close by sharing this email.

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I found myself in Santa Barbara for work a few weeks ago. I had some spare time one evening so I went down to the dock and stood there with a few dozen other spectators as the urchin boats unloaded. I couldn't help but wonder if any of the characters that I read about in your book were right there in front of me. I had a tremendous appreciation for the whole process after reading your book and found myself telling my coworkers tales from the book later that night at dinner.

The next night I managed to drag 3 of my buddies over to Brophy Bro's Bar. We went upstairs and I showed everyone the picture of Wiener. I volunteered to buy the drinks that night on the condition that they listen to a few stories first. I told them a little about your book and some of the adventures that you guys had. I told them about Wiener and how he got his nickname. I also told them about the shark. Of all of the things that you said about Wiener in your book and during your talk, the one that I always remember first was that he was the kind of guy would go up to his friends and give them a big hug and tell them that he loved them. We enjoyed our shots of tequila with the toast, "To Weiner - a man who wasn't afraid to tell his friends that he loved them!". It was a neat experience!

Picked this up from the author at a party recently. We had met for the first time & we found that we had quite a few similar experiences. Set about to read this book immediately it and finished it today.

Reading this book was a nostalgic experience for me. His writing style is friendly, accurate and fast. His years in the Urchin harvesting business were heady-times and he loved those years intensely; it comes across in many ways and makes this book a joy to read.

His take on things is not polished, gender neutral or politically correct which is absolutely refreshing. This is not a dull, chronological report of the evolution of a commercial diver, but a fast paced, personal account that will hold your interest and provide an education regarding one of the most interesting activities on the west coast in the last 50 years.

If you like diving, surfing, boats, fishing, interesting coastal stories or you just like to go out to the coast every once in a while, this is a book that I highly recommend.

I ordered this book for an upcoming hiking and biking trip in the Arches and Canyonland areas. We are striking out on our own after using a guided tour last fall. We are excited and apprehensive that we will not know where to go. This book is very detailed about the trails and we are now more confident about our adventure. I am glad that I ordered it.

This is a terrific book, with all the information necessary to begin some really interesting hikes. Details on each hikes include a description of the scenery, terrain (with a nice graphic showing the elevation changes throughout a hike), difficulty rating, total distance, time required, type of trip and trail. The details give a hikers perspective on each trail. Sections on backcountry roads, are also useful. The book lacks an index at the end. There are some informative tables in the beginning of the book that describe all the trails and a classification for each. Useful to gauge a hike to your experience level. Tons of pictures and maps.

Overall a very useful guide.

Many people think that the best way to see these two great canyonlands parks is to drive through them. But you will have no sense of these places unless you get out of your car and take a walk. You don't have to be a backpacker to experience these places on foot. Exploring Canyonlands and Arches is a great book for short, medium and long hikes and for finding the hike that is best for you and your physical condition.

Couldn't find some of the best hikes in the park, such as COurthouse Wash. Too basic.

We used this guide to do six hikes in the two National Parks and it provided excellent information for all of them. The writeups, descriptions, maps & summary information were all accurate and very helpful. Bill Schneider even seemed to anticipate the few times we would have a problem -- each time we were unsure of the trail direction, a quick look at the book showed that he had specifically included extra comments for the problem we had encountered. I recommend it wholehearedly for anyone wanting to hike in Canyonlands & Arches.

I reluctantly returned a well-worn 6th edition to a friend recently, and have purchased the 8th. What makes this guide special is the background history it gives. It is for the "worldly traveler," or one seeking to understand in-depth where she travels. It enabled me to have a conversation with a Dine about his spirituality that I would not have been able to do without this book. Keep sharing Robert Casey! S. Hancock

Robert L. Casey's superb guidebook is generally recognized as the best guide to the Four Corners of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. We've used various editions for several years on our driving and hiking trips. Casey describes his own trips by car, raft and on foot, and his essays give insights into geology, history and culture.

We found him excellent on the ground for Canyonlands, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde, Santa Fe, Taos, Arches, and Canyon de Chelly. His descriptions of Capitol Reef, Sunset Crater, Wupatki, Dead Horse Point, Durango, Silverton, and Telluride are compelling armchair reading. His book is particularly strong on the history and culture of native cultures.

Tony Hillerman, one of my favorite authors on the area, is a powerful advocate for Casey's work: "I've been prowling around, living in, and writing about the Four Corners states for more than 40 years, and I still find myself learning from Journey to the High Southwest. It's the best guide to this part of the world I've ever seen - and that includes ones I've written myself."

Casey provides specific travel information, including Bed & Breakfasts, Crafts shops, Campgrounds, Galleries, Bicycle Rentals, Hotels, Museums, Indian Festivals, Canyon Tours, Hot-Air Balloon Rides, Restaurants, Horseback Riding, Youth Hostels, Concerts, and Rafting Expeditions. This guide is updated every two years or so, but it is always worthwhile to check on the accuracy of current information.

This is a wonderful guide book whether reading at home or visiting the Four Corners.

Robert C. Ross 2008

I was previously a ranger at Mesa Verde. This is without a doubt the best guide to the High Southwest that I've encountered. For years I've recommended this to friends, and each time I've been thanked for giving them an outstanding, wide, yet in-depth, and well written source of critical information about one of the most fascinating areas of our country. From where to go, what to see, and how to understand it -- from history, to geology, to ethnography, and much more -- this is an excellent introduction to the high country of our Southwest.

I bought this book to get some ideas for our family's summer vacation to the "4-Corners" area. The book has alot of information, little of it very helpful for trip planning. Most of the book is about the history, geology and nature found in each park. Details of the actual parks are written in the narrative form as the author drove and hiked in the areas. If you are willing to read through all this you might find a couple helpful gems and tips on your journey.

I travel in the region covered by this book a lot; over the years I have bought lots of guidebooks and other books about the area. Journey to the High Southwest remains my absolute favorite.
I do not understand the comment of an earlier reviewer that it does not include helpful "tips" for "trip planning." You might consider supplementing it with a more standard guidebook of the Frommer/Froder variety, but I have used Journey to the High Southwest since our very first trip to the area (early 1990s) and have found it a trove of "useful tips." On that first trip, using this book, I was able, for instance, to plan travel through the Hopi Reservation, where to stay, how to find out about when and where there would be dances, etc. The recommendations of where to stay/where to eat are terrific. (We would never have found our favorite hole-in-the-corner diner in Espanola without this book!) In addition to all the good travel suggestions, it's beautifully written, a mine of information, and a joy to read. I am so happy to find that there is an 8th edition!