Utah Books

Aside from sloppy editing, this book wasn't bad. Not good, but not bad. The author's first book had a tight plot, but this one kind of meanders and doesn't go anywhere. There's no suspense and the climax seems hurried and forced. I hope the author will do better with his next book.

Reviewed by Dr. Carol Hoyer for Reader Views (2/08)

Author Norman has the uncanny ability of capturing the reader's interest from page one with his vivid descriptions of his early characters and their lifestyle, which happens to be contradictory to the majority of Utah's population - Warren Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Detectives Sam Kincaid and Kate McConnell not only enjoy working together, but they also enjoy their intimate relationship. Neither detective has much concern about protocol and rules - their job is to investigate, prosecute and put in prison. Little did they know when Kate called Sam to help her they would become involved in a gay community, hook horns with the new executive director of the Utah State Department of Corrections and put their own lives on the line. To add further interest to his life - Kincaid's ex-wife has decided that she thinks their daughter would be better off living with her.

Not only has Norman given us twisting plots, murders, runaways and a religious group that believes in polygamy - he gives us an in-depth view of life as a Latter Day Saint in the state of Utah. His background information not only adds much needed knowledge but also helps thicken the plot.

"Silent Witness" is the first novel the reader has read by Norman; I look forward to reading many more.

In Salt Lake City, police officer Kate McConnell investigates the brutal murder of Arnold Ginsberg and the disappearance of Robin Joiner; they are the eyewitnesses to a failed armored car robbery. Utah Department of Corrections Special Investigations Branch Chief Sam Kincaid joins Kate on her inquiry because the alleged armored robbery gang's leader, Mormon polygamist Walter Bradshaw awaits trial without any witnesses to testify against him.

At the same time as he works on the Bradshaw case, Sam also deals with his former wife filing for custody of their daughter. Still in spite of the distraction in his personal life that tears at his guts, Sam diligently and obstinately works the investigation along side of Kate; both hoping the college student who was snatched remains alive.

SILENT WITNESS, the sequel to (see THE COMMISSION), is an enjoyable Utah police procedural that uses the headlines of the Jett case to tell a strong investigative tale. Kate and Sam are competent cops trying to do the job, which entails rescuing a twentyish college coed while the brass hinders their efforts. Sam's personal life also intrudes on the investigation, but it is his new CYA boss who makes the inquiry that much more difficult. Michael Norman provides a fine thriller.

Harriet Klausner

This book would get five stars from me for being a compelling story of a walk through the southwestern desert (most of the locales well-known to me) if that's all it purported to be. But I downgraded it to three because it purports to be a spiritual quest but is almost empty of the kind of personal questions, thoughtful reflections, and insights you would expect in that kind of book. It seemed to me that he covered a lot of ground but never got anywhere. If you want hearty on-foot adventure and survival, though, your money will be well spent. Everything long-distance hikers have nightmares about: You'll sweat with him through a harrowing time when a friend forgets to send money at an agreed time to an agreed place and the author has no cash for food, and another time when his boots fall apart, the endless and sometimes frightening search for water. You'll wonder why he started his trip through the desert during the hottest time of the year, and it is never explained. Still, he's got guts and determination and these qualities see him through.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Brett's book about his amazing adventure into the wilderness of the Southwest. It is a well written and exciting story and I found that I did not want to put it down. I read the whole thing in two sittings. Few people have the courage to undertake what Brett did. The book has inspired me to live simpler and closer to my heart and to cherish the beauty of this Earth.

This isn't just a book, it's an adventure you can enjoy again and again. Brett's journey is a soulful evolution through the most magical land in the USA. It shows what the culmination of dreams and the human will can co-create. This man WALKED through 1400 miles of the American Southwest, recording his thoughts and personal unfolding. It is a journey not to be missed. If you enjoy philosophy, the desert, or just pure adventure, you will love this book.

Sometimes a book is born from a creative need, from a story caught in a head, a fantasy world that needs to be released. Sometimes a book comes from facts to be taught or a point to be made. And sometimes, every once in a while, a book is born from bravery. These are books that exemplify the power of words, of the sharing of an experience to both release and capture. These are the books that hug our hearts, embrace our souls and make us human. Stranger in my Skin is such a book.

Stranger in my Skin weaves it way through the life of a young woman. Back and forth through time and place Alysa Philips shares the story of her battle for survival. As the child of a Mormon family with a strict, harsh father and yielding mother she grew up in an environment she describes in terms that seem both commonplace and extreme. Her father counts the food his family eats and the gas they use with no exceptions. Her mother accepts this and adds her own brand of rigidity. It is from this background that she meets Joel, the man who will come to haunt her every minute for, what seems like now, forever. Joel is the son of a self identified doctor- a man who believes God has shared only with him the secrets to cure all disease. He uses his sons to help sell this idea of lymphnogenesis (not the real name) . His fervor forms the cult that entraps Alysa into a life of starvation, violence and rigidity.

Joel convinces her that she is ugly, unacceptable and unwanted. He and his cult family control every move of Alysa Her mother refuses to speak to her, "Instead, she emailed me or copied inspirational thoughts and scriptures onto pink cards, decorated them with stickers and left them in my shoes, under my pillow, or in my backpack. Her small notes added pounds to my backpack after I found them, but I never had the courage to throw them away." Alysa is alone to cope with the overwhelming stress of trying to measure up to the impossible as judged by the immovable. Her mother, doctors and teachers all ignore the obvious resluts of this strain, the bruises and cuts. With more strength than she ever gives herself credit for in this memoir, Alysa is able to leave Joel. Even though he continues to contact her and tries to see her, she is able to stay away. She begins a series of moves as she looks for a place that will be the answer to her search for relief, small town Arizona to Alaska and back. But the pain follows at every step in her journey; it can not be left behind.

This pain and fear in her life oozes out in the blood of her body as she self-injures. She explains she has "cut, burned, gouged and otherwise mutilated more than two hundred times." This is a powerful look at the world that engulfs her in confusion and panic. As she attempts to find out how to cope in a world seems to ignore her drowning, self mutilation becomes her tool for survival. In graphic descriptions Alysa Phillips has the courage to share her struggle though the fog and terror.

The poignant chapter, Afterword, gives a glimpse into the present, the world that still engulfs Alysa today as she tries to organize the past. The realization that she lived in the same cult with the nomadic pair David and Elidah- who becomes the infamous pair that kidnapped and held Elizabeth Smart- is a hard fact for the reader . It is interesting that Alysa does not use any of the true names of the cult or cult members to avoid a potential legal issue, which is telling in itself. The world protects the abusers but at what price to their victims, both past and future.

This book is a triumphant gift that shares its questions and fears with us. It will find its way to those who will see themselves in its pages, those that will find solace through familiarity. Self-mutilation, self-injury is no longer a hidden secret, Alysa Phillips has brought it from darkness to the front and center of society's consciousness. And in the glaring daylight it can be faced.

Stranger In My Skin is the true-life memoir of author Alysa Phillips, whose adolescence in a conventional Utah town turned dark and oppressive due to her controlling father and her involvement with a threatening boyfriend and his cult-leader father. The physical, sexual, and emotional abuse she suffered in her childhood left long lasting scars that simple "geographic cures" of moving herself from one place to another could not heal. Post-traumatic stress syndrome from the horrors she experienced drove her to mutilate herself and attempt suicide. Her survivor's story of a long, slow struggle toward the semblance of a normal life is an emotionally overwhelming testimony that cannot be put down.

As a somewhat-former cutter, I've read all (that I know of) the available memoirs about cutting, and this one is probably the best. The author describes vividly the feelings that have led her to cut, and I found that her words mirrored my own feelings and experiences. In addition, Alysa is just generally a great writer, putting phrases together beautifully and elegantly. It's a pleasure to read well-written literary nonfiction, even if the topic is a difficult one.

I would recommend this book for people who've come from rigid backgrounds and struggle with cutting. You'll see yourself often in the book. As always, of course, make sure you're in a safe place when you read the book in case you find parts of it triggering. I would also recommend this book for those who want to understand the people they love or care about who struggle with cutting.

Although the author doesn't offer a perfect, neat and tidy ending (is that kind of ending even real, anyway?), she does offer solidarity and hope that we all can begin to make better choices that lead us away from the pain we've been unwittingly subjected to.

This is the first of two books by photographer David Muench about Utah, each entitled "Utah". It is the better of the two, because Muench hadn't yet come to rely so completely on photographih tricks and overuse of the telephoto lens. In this book as opposed to its successor, the traveler/reader will actually see some photos of things he or she will recognize when the traveler arrives at the site.

The photographs are all in color and emphasize the touristic draws of the state, e.g. the National Parks, particularly Zion , Bryce Canyon, and Arches, and the national monuments.
Little attention is paid to more out-of-he-way places such as the Escalante canyons and the San Rafael Swell. Good pictures of Monument Valley and the Temple Square in Salt lake City are also present. Again, however, the reader is cautioned that Muench's use of the telephoto lens may result in a pretty picture, but that the sight depicted will never be seen without one.

Hartt Wixom's companion essay is a compelling, evocative portrait of the courage and determination his Mormon ancestors used in making Utah their version of the Promised land. It is well worth reading.

This book is worth having if picked up at a reasonable price. It is a fine coffee table work.

This is the book I use to entice friends and family to come and visit! An absolutely stunning portrait of an incredible landscape.

This is the second work by David Muench that I have purchased. I happen to be a native Utahn and looking at the photographs in this collection made me realize that I really don't get out much! Every picture contained herein has inspired me to visit these places.

Utah has some of the most spectacular national preserves in the country and David Muench shows us why they are considered national treasures.

Not being a history buff, I stumbled on this book while healing a broken bone and with nothing I could do but read. I found it to be a fascinating adventure. I would never have believed that I'd enjoy a history book so much - it's as much a study of the human mind as of historical events. Mr. Topping is brilliant and a fine fine writer.

Gary Topping attempts a summary and evaluation of five Western historians, all associated with Utah and Mormonism in some way (Bernard DeVoto, Wallace Stegner, Juanita Brooks, Dale Morgan, and Fawn Brodie), in this fairly broad but somewhat shallow book. All the historians receive both praise and condemnation for the histories they wrote. Morgan, for example, is praised for his factual thoroughness, but criticized for allowing facts to speak for themselves and for refusing to interpret these facts. (When one looks at the extreme psychoanalytical interpretations Fawn Brodie made regarding her subjects, especially Richard Nixon, one can appreciate Morgan's hesitation to go beyond the facts themselves.) Sometimes Topping's criticisms seem petty and academically self-serving as when he faults Juanita Brooks's lack of training in formal psychology when she writes of hysteria and mob violence at the Mountain Meadows massacre. Also occasionally a waft of political correctness filters through the text, as when Topping, referring to chapter 7 in DeVoto's ACROSS THE WIDE MISSOURI, praises him for acknowledging "the vital role of the Indian women who took up with the trappers not only as wives or concubines but also as business associates." I reread DeVoto's chapter again and failed to see the Indian wives described in any way approaching "business associates." Regarding DeVoto (and also Stegner, but to a lesser degree), Topping is right to criticize him as interpreting history often as overblown caricature, but he's also correct in applauding DeVoto's (and Stegner's) superb literary skills and boldness in advancing generalizations, attributes sorely lacking in the works of many historians writing today. Topping can also be repetitious. But he's especially good at showing how Mormonism, about which they all wrote at some point, effected each of these historians either directly or obliquely. Despite its faults, I still found this book thoroughly compelling and well worth the time spent in reading it.

"Utah Historians" is a study by a Catholic (imagine!) scholar of five writers whose careers revolutionized the practice of Utah and Mormon history. Indeed, the quirky, craggy faces of Bernard DeVoto, Dale L. Morgan, Juanita Brooks, Wallace Stegner, and Fawn McKay Brodie on the book's cover are a Mount Rushmore of native brilliance, sculpted from salt flats and starvation.

First, a word on what "Utah Historians" might represent. There is always the question of what roles a minority, whether religious, ethnic, or otherwise, will adopt within a community overwhelmingly dominated by another group. In Hollywood, which was invented by the Jews, Catholics found niches as censors and gossip columnists. In the State of Utah (a concept debunked by Federal Judge Willis Ritter as "a figment of your imagination"), invented, owned, and operated by Mormons, Catholic historians have made disproportionate and invaluable contributions to the annals. Aside from the afore-mentioned DeVoto, Utah's first Pulitzer winner, these have included Fr. Robert Joseph Dwyer, a skilled editor who vouchsafed several landmark volumes of Utah Historical Quarterly; Polly Aird, an expert on mass movements to and from Utah; and the author at hand, Gary Topping, archivist for the Diocese of Salt Lake City. Topping implies this contribution is possible because of the Catholic sense of irony, which (let's face it) is foreign to Mormon thought.

Although Topping respects and reveres his five subjects, he is sufficiently conversant with and perceptive of not only their writings but also their sources to know in each case when they were fudging and how, when, and why they did so. For example, while Topping admires Brooks's tenacity and skills of persuasion in tracking down original documents, he can demonstrate instances in which she "altered," "invented," or even "falsified" certain factual materials when it suited her. It is staggering to contemplate the erudition by which Topping saw right through his subjects, as it were. As was also said of Brooks and The Mountain Meadows Massacre, this may be a book that Topping was born to write, as it must needs be written with a clear head, absent a vested interest in whether Joseph Smith and Brigham Young spoke as God's mouthpiece.

In his final pages, Topping laments that despite the appearance of new source material, no Joseph Smith biography subsequent to Brodie's 1946 No Man Knows My History has "put forth a compelling alternative interpretation." He supposes this is because "no non-Mormon scholar has been willing to master the materials, while Mormon scholars are aware of the fate of [writers] who were rebuked by [their] Church and may be afraid to propose a bold interpretation that could challenge Brodie's." The solution would seem to reside in Topping himself, who has obviously mastered the materials and who, as a friend of the Mormons a la Wallace Stegner, is inclined to write with fairness.

I have the Utah book "4WD Adventures" printed in 2000 and I have been using it since then every two years for a two week drive in the desert. Spot on. I've tried the rest and this is the best. It's hot and you haven't seen another vehicle in the past eight hours but with Massey Wilson telling you to turn left in the wash, you turn left in the wash. My book is well worn but it has never lead me astray. My only walkouts are when they describe a place six years before and I try to cross. Guess what? The desert changes. So I'm buying the new edition.

ps. I'm out here right now after visiting Wild Horse Mesa east of Capital Reef. This is the first time in 15 years I have seen boulder crunching gully washers. These books describe the most amazing places in the world. Get off that tarred road. But bring water.

We took this book on a trailbike tour this summer, and it was indispensable. The Moab area is crisscrossed with many trails, and it's impossible to tell what they're like until you've ridden them. Although written for 4x4s and ATVs, with a little reading between the lines we could find the trails most appropriate for cycles. When looking for a trailhead, it's very important to read his step-by-step directions first. The trail synopsis will mention where it is, but a little too vaguely sometimes. I will say the author definitely has no fear of heights, because some of the trails he mentions as being "steep" are in fact terrifyingly close to very, very long drops. Assess your level of acrophobia before choosing a trail!

Many of the 4WD roads in the Moab area are notoriously unmarked, with numerous false roads going nowhere. Moreover, most maps of the area are incomplete or, even worse, erroneous, regarding 4WD roads. This book makes it simple and easy. The maps are perfect--just enough detail to be clear. The descriptions are succinct. The color photos are excellent. But it's the route directions that make this book so useful. They keep you from getting lost, but they don't deprive you of feeling like you're actually doing some exploring and route-finding. This book is really indispensable. (One odd omission: Trail #26 (Willow Flats Road) does not even mention the dinosaur tracks (at 3.3 mi. from U.S. 191), the primary feature of this road.)

I was so impressed with the content and writing style, I have made 3 of my friends read it so far. It is written with such description and clarity, I absolutely loved it. Thank you for educating the public collective on such an important subject.

I was raised in Southwestern Idaho with an interest in the history of the Native Americans of my area. Finally, I have encountered all of the information that I always wanted but had never found: IN THIS BOOK. This book is not limited to the "Weiser" Indians, but includes all of the cultures that traded or traveled through this area. It tells of a gathering area where an annual regional rendezvous allowed peaceful cultural and material exchange from the West Coast to the Great Plains. And it tells of a band of Shoshoni who had the foresight to quietly embrace the forces of change and thus avoid the genocide that destroyed so many others. It brings together historical accounts which are carefully annotated, and it includes the lives of numerous important historical persons. Thank you, Hank Corless, for providing this delightful book. It is good, readable storytelling, organized by timelines. This book combines readability with academic research, and it avoids romanticizing. I hope it gets reprinted. At the time of this review, it is out of print and only available used, but still well worth buying.

A fascinating study of how land molds people and forges alliances between groups who should be enemies. My sisters and I grew up in the Weiser Valley, never knowing of the existence of this group. When we studied Idaho history, we never learned about this hardy band who walked where our parents settled dozens of years later. The steep, formidable mountains which rise from the Weiser Valley still provide remote shelter to hardy souls who can survive in a non-electronic world. It pleased me to read this story and know that the white settlers in the upper mountains made their own alliances with the Weiser Indians and helped them keep their whereabouts unknown for many years.

The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument comprises a large area of Southern Utah, west of the Colorado River and Lake Powell. Easily worthy of a national park status, the monument was created from BLM lands by President Clinton in 1996. At present, the monument has very few paved roads, and this writer hopes that it stays in that condition. This fabulous book demonstrates why.

The present work is just simply the finest photographic essay I have seen on the monument, and is one of the very best on any area of the West. The pictures are uniformly displayed in excellent, clear color and quality, and readily demonstrate the beauty and grandeur of the countless hoodoos, arches, slot canyons, qnd other geological marvels that festoon the entire region.

A sparse, but very informative, well-written text discusses what the skilled photography highlights. Plainly, areas like this monument might be explored every day for a lifetime, and the same sight never seen twice. It is that good.

Kudoes to the author and photographer. They have produced an absolute masterpiece about a place that was saved for all of us just in the nick of time. If only the same had happened in Glen Canyon, but that is the subject of another book and review. What is portrayed here may be one of the most outstanding natural areas left anywhere.

The book is an an absolute jewel. Buy it, and love it. My recommendation is off the scale

Unlike the previous review, the book contains excellent photographs but superb essays by Taylor. Taylor is no Abbey wannabe, in his own right he is a more accomplished essayist, book author and magazine editor. The essays are personal, intimate and written by someone who knows the land better than 99% of reviewers. His book sandstone sunsets won critics acclaim and was named best contemporary non fiction book of the year by the Western Writers of America.

If anyone is curious to see what the new Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument looks like, Anselm Spring's photos are terrific! However, Mark Taylor is a pretentious Edward Abbey wannabe. All in all, a nice coffee table book though.

There aren't many species of herps in these two parks; they're cold and fairly far north. The book list 12 definite species and four or five possible species. However, the book covered them very well, dealing with their role in the parks ecology, how fires have helped shape their habitat, and so on. It's a really good refernce for how reptiles are distributed in the park, and how they interact with the other species. There are better sources for info on the various reptile species mentioned here, as the author's field of interest is narrow. Still, an execellent book on the herps of those two parks.

I laughed, I cried; two thumbs up! A science-based book, complete with citations of all the current literature, coupled with a readable, flowing style of writing. An important repository of all the scientific knowledge of these species in this region and issues affecting them (e.g., fire, climate change), yet engaging even to younger amateur herpetologists. Or, of interest to anyone who simply loves Yellowstone and the Tetons.

There are occasionally characters that stick around in my head, some for a while, some forever. Ghosts of fiction that won't leave, who comment on, inform, or even complicate my life. Some I love like dear friends, others not so much. Greta - Christine Allen-Yazzie's protagonist in "The Arc and the Sediment" - is still with me, she shows no sign of leaving, and she is as lost, erratic, and gritty in my head as she was in deserts of southern Utah, the book's setting. This is an intimate book, the kind that connects you to the author and the character she's created. I read it over a weekend. That weekend now feels like a sordid, but worthwhile, affair.

I picked up The Arc and the Sediment hungry for fresh modern fiction, and that's what I got. The narrative is not tidy; instead, it is complex, literary, real, and relevant. Gretta is a working Caucasian mom married to a Navajo man, Lance, who has left her--ostensibly because of her inability to stop drinking. But nothing is simple; Lance's leaving has also necessarily occurred against the backdrop of family resentments; the couple's location on the margins of the Utah politico-religious culture in which they live; and Gretta's struggle to find any sense of sustainable identity as a feminist wife, mother, and writer. This is a travel story, describing Gretta's road trip across the southern Utah desert to attempt to bring her husband back from the reservation and his family to their two children, a project about which she feels tremendous ambivalence. Drunk, weary, broke, and divested of hope for any morality but her own, Gretta is exhausted with the contortions of deciding what that might be. Thus, the novel takes on the messy themes of ethnocentrism, colonialism, and the crisis of inhabiting a postmodern identity. Allen-Yazzie's stark, understated prose provides the right tone for unfolding a story which feels sometimes tender, sometimes bludgeoning, and sometimes eerily barren. It's a book that deserves academic attention but also kept me rapt throughout my casual read. I'll definitely be watching for more from Christine Allen-Yazzie.