Nevada Books

This set of articles, originally written for magazines and catlalogues, is one of the most eloquent collections of mountain writing I've yet come upon. The book is divided up into chapters such as 'Climbing with Style', which features articles about "the whole art of natural protection" written at the the start of the clean climbing revolution, and 'Further Aborad' which includes the authors account of a climb on Ama Dablam.

One of the features I most enoyed about the book was the introductions to various historical figures such as Smoke Blanchard and Royal Robbins. And the memoir style accounts of what it was like for a small band of climbers to live in the mountains away from civilization getting their kicks out of the "simple joys" and living in bare subsistence, long before climbing turned into the popular sport which it might be called today.

Doug Robinson is well qualified to write what he does, and his style is nice and clear without being base. Most of it is written in an autobiographical style, dealing with developments on the climbing and skiing scene for wenty odd years. If you are partial to a bit of Dharma Bums then get this book. Also anyone interested in the history of the Sierra Nevada.

Norman clyde was a unique individual, a one of a kind! His mountaineering accomplishments with primitive technology is staggering. Hob en nail boots and hemp ropes would be laughed at today but in Norman's day it allowed him to do over 100 first accents which is a feat in itself, many done solo! Norman was more than a mountaineer, he could read in five different lanuages(to the best of my knowledge) and often carried numerous books on his journeys in his infamous 80 pound packs. I have spent thirty years of my life in the wilderness of the sierra's, guiding, backpacking, skiing, and climbing (some of the routes he established) and Norman Clyde was my inspiration from the first time I picked up this book in 1974. If you are a backpacker, adventurer, mountaineer, this book is a must read, his 29 essays will enlighten you, entertain you, and inspire you to explore and challenge one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the world (my opinion). Any of you who have stood at Iceberg Lake in the Ansel Adams Wilderness and have stared at Clyde Minaret(Named in Norman's honor) or have climbed it know what I am talking about!

The Northern Sierra Peaks Guide is available online at the THOUSAND PEAKS website. Please do a search on '"thousand peaks."

The guide is available at no charge, although we ask you to read and agree to the disclaimer, and read the explanations. Once paper copies were available, but the desktop publishing agreement we had was later disapproved.

Hiking, climbing and skiing are potentially hazardous activities, and the reader or user are advised to take every precaution to staying safe, or simply not engaging in any of the suggested activities. Only highly experienced wilderness travelers are recommended to use this guide. We cannot be liable for any injury, loss, damages, or death. And we may not be able to update the text as desired.

USE THIS GUIDE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

I enjoyed this book very much. The people that shared their stories were open and you felt as though you know the people. The book is easy to read yet very informative about weight loss surgery from the physical and emotional aspect. It is a "must read" for anyone contemplating or waiting for surgery, a family member of a weight loss surgery patient, and any post-operative weight loss surgery patient. It has something for everyone that they can relate and understand. I highly recommend this book. Thanks to the authors for sharing their experience and expertise by this book.

Amazing the advaced commercial thinking of the era. Most of the laws were protective in nature and seem logical from a modern point of view.

I had never heard of the author or the book when I picked up a British edition at a used bookstore. I had hoped that anyone writing a novel on Orwell would possess Orwell's virtues of directness, frankness, and lucidity while offering up some ideas. Caute succeeds on all fronts, and in some matters of technique he is clearly Orwell's superior. He also has a sense of humor and his characters - including Orwell himself - are more nuanced than any Orwell character.

The book's story is about Orwell researching Animal Farm. He finds the book's narrator - a boy named Alex - hanging on at the family farm after his Mum and Dad have both abandoned it. There are pigs and other animals whose names will be familiar to the reader. Alex fills us in on his contributions to both Animal Farm and 1984 and his continuing relationship with Orwell. The last page of Alex's narrative contains a surprise which is perhaps intended to show that - as Orwell says in the novel - Orwell is often wrong.

Caute himself has written 8 other novels and 10 non-fiction books, including several on the left, communism and fellow travellers.

Character, integrity, friendship, loyalty, morality, ethics, romance, personal responsibility and sacrifice -- you name it, this book promotes the highest standards in all of these areas. The author explains two very important historical events occurring in 1859-1860 in western Nevada (Utah territory at the time), the Virginia City gold and silver rush, and the Pyramid Lake war involving miners and settlers and the various tribes and bands of Paiute Indians. He intertwines a beautiful story of personal tragedy, hardship, romance and triumph with historical events to paint an accurate picture of the lives and times of the men and women during that era. This is a book that can be read to the whole family to spark wholesome conversation and discussion of values by which we should strive to live, especially those values respecting the wisdom, intellect and dignity of all races and cultures.

This is an insightful and unique view of a ranching community in Nevada. Howard Wright Marshall has crafted a scholarly look at the vernacular architecture created by early settlers, which included Italian stonemasons. This is a well-illustrated and indexed book that belongs on the bookshelf of anyone interested in vernacular architecture and the history of the western United States.

I enjoyed learning about immigrants when I was in school. The immigrants we learned about were from Europe and most of them settled on the East Coast. I was fascinated by these people who were so brave or desperate (or both) that they would abandon their homes, most likely forever, and start all over again in a new country where many of them didn't know anyone, or know how they'd support themselves. It was a terrific gamble but they came in droves. They still do.

While Las Vegas isn't known as a destination for immigrants, it has a population as diverse as Los Angeles or New York. How did this happen? The Peoples of Las Vegas, an anthology about some of the groups that populate Las Vegas, takes on this question. Essay by essay, it becomes clear.

We start by learning about the Southern Paiutes, the tribe that lived in Las Vegas before it was Las Vegas. Although the lessons in school about the Native Americans didn't hold my interest like the stories about the immigrants did, I found it eye-opening to read about how the Paiutes were captured and sold as slaves to the first European settlers by the Utes, who also lived in the Southwest. Like so many other Native Americans, they ended up on reservations in undesirable conditions, and in recent years have found some success by building and running a casino on their land. It's easy to see how Indian casinos in states without legal gambling are be a goldmine, but I was surprised to discover that the Paiutes' casino was also quite profitable, even so near Las Vegas.

Chapters on the Mexicans and the Chinese tell stories of hard work and assimilation. African Americans had to deal with segregation until 1960. We Westerners are often surprised to learn that there was segregation here as well, not just in the South. But while segregation was still the law until 1964, the casinos and hotels ignored the law when it no longer suited them. In other words, it was starting to affect their profits, and had to go whether the lawmakers were ready for desegregation or not. The lawmakers eventually followed the lead of the casinos, something that still holds true in Las Vegas.

The chapters on the Italians and the Jews go over familiar ground, since these groups pretty much made Las Vegas the gambling town it is and the stories of gangsters and ruthless businessmen have been told many times. I skimmed these chapters quickly, because it's the underdog aspect of the immigrant stories that always appealed to me. Italian and Jewish immigrants were certainly underdogs in many parts of America, but not in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas is not typical (when is it ever?) when it comes to immigrants. For instance, few immigrants make Las Vegas their first U.S. home. Most settle elsewhere and then move to Las Vegas when they learn about the many opportunities it has to offer people who have little education or job skills and who may not yet speak English, but who are willing to work hard. A significant, if small, percentage of newcomers to Las Vegas are refugees from places like Bosnia and Sudan who settle wherever the government and the aid agencies tell them to. Imagine the double dose of culture shock that any refugee would get from being plopped down in Las Vegas.

Another atypical aspect of immigrant life in Las Vegas is that there are very few ethnic neighborhoods or geographic concentrations of nationalities, other than the African-American "West Side" (which, as a result of Las Vegas spreading out in all directions over the years, is more accurately the North Central Side.)

Essays about immigrants from Greece, Croatia, Poland, the Indian Subcontinent, El Salvador, Chile, and the Philippines round out the collection. The editors are hoping this will be the first edition of a series that explores the stories of many more of the groups that are populating Las Vegas. Although The Peoples of Las Vegas is a university press publication, written mostly by professors and academics, it is quite readable. Many of the authors are members or descendants of the groups they write about, so there is a personal touch to the writing that is engaging. I can't wait for the second edition!

"Portrait of America" was a popular video documentary series in the mid-eighties, a product of collaboration between Superstation/Turner Broadcasting Corporation and Ambrose Home Video. Well-researched, each video is divided into 5 segments covering most unique historical, social, and cultural aspects of each state. Watching such an interesting documentary, each being roughly about 50 minutes long, without advertisements and other interruptions seems to be a privilege in these days!