Arizona Books

INFERNO is a lovely gathering of photos by Michael P. Berman of the desert Southwest, reflecting author Charles Bowden's passion for the land he calls home. INFERNO was written while Boweden was lobbying the government to create the Sonoran Desert National Monument: it pairs his nature writing and descriptions with Berman's black and white artistic desert shots and provides both an artistic and a natural history celebration appropriate for collections strong in either topic.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This book was filled with wonderful descriptions of Phoenix personalities and I enjoyed the historical references peppered throughout the book. I live in Phoenix and it gave me some ideas for places to explore I haven't yet been to. The restaurant reviews were on target. I do suggest that it be updated each year as since publication a few of the restaurants have gone out of business. This is a good travel guide as it gives great ideas for activities that appeal to a broad range of interests. The insider tips were definitely a plus.

Inventing Norman Cantor: Confessions Of A Medievalist by Norman F. Cantor (one of America's foremost medieval historians and a leading contributor to Medieval scholarship) combines personal autobiography with experienced-based insights into the field of Medieval Studies from 1948 to 2001, as seen through the prism of his own academic career. Humorous anecdotes, wry observations, insights into academia, and more abound in this involving and informative memoir. The sequel to his very popular book Inventing The Middle Ages, and deftly organized into seven major sections (The Last Roundup; British Humanism; The Culmination of the Old Culture; Troubled University and the New Culture; Leadership and Power; Writing and Teaching; Knowing More About Academe), Inventing Norman Cantor is a superlative read and a welcome addition to Medieval Studies and Academic Biography collections and reading lists.

When I got this book I spent the first week enjoying the photographs. I'm glad I devoted some undivided attention for these images. They express a personal involvement with, and a command of the subject matter. They would make a wonderful, gallery show. I was not in a hurry to get to the text, though, probably because I thought I already got the gist of the book from the excerpt in "My California" (Angel City Press), or that it was going to be a bit of a travel log.

What was I thinking!?! I clearly forgot who I was dealing with. This is the author that cracked wide open my emotions with her story of the heroic power of a young woman in the same desert ("Twentynine Palms").

Besides the blind side assault on my status quo, this volume, as most of what Ms. Stillman writes, performs well on several levels. Geology, botany, zoology, humor, history, and politics are woven together with autobiographical anthropology. And, despite the nonfiction genre, the book subtly tracks the opening, conflict, climax, and resolution of a play or novel.

Much of my enjoyment in reading her work is my perception of the recurring theme of putting Pop-Culture, Americana, and civilization in context. A kind of Grand Unification Theory. All political debate prompted by the biting, well supported commentary seems welcome in this Big Picture. And, Baseball is more than just a metaphor.

This book does satisfy the nature enthusiast's desire for the must see, and might see highlights of the Park, but moreover, it's well crafted, moving, and much larger than it's size suggests.

Claire Sargent's journey from childhood to adulthood reads like a novel... entertaining, humorous, a real page-turner. She gives the inside dish on what it is REALLY like to run for political office, and what she had to endure during her 1992 campaign against John McCain. Reading "Journey Proud" made me proud to be a woman and I thank Ms. Sargent for letting us peek into her life as she paved the way for others to follow in her footsteps

Cecil Calnimptewa, Ronald Honyouti, Loren Phillips, Dennis Tewa and Wilmer Kaye ... they're all in this book, plus 22 other top Hopi carvers. Need I say more! Author/photographer Teiwes begins by tracing the life, history and religion of the Hopi and brings the reader to the doorstep of 1991 (the publication date). 24 color photos serve as the central focus of the book, but the final 63 pages which profile the 27 carvers is what really "makes" it. My copy is in paperback. I assume the hardback foremat is the same. Pick up a copy; you'll thoroughly enjoy it!!!

This is the amazing story of two young cavers who found a pristine cave and, with the help of enlightened landowners, kept it a secret for 14 years until it could be purchased by the state of Arizona. Kartchner Caverns is a wonderful resource, an educational tool and a great example of cooperation by diverse interests who shared a common goal: the protection of the cave. Miller details the process and the personalities. Thanks to his research and writing skill, we can feel the discoverers' excitement, frustration and, finally, satisfaction.

THE KING DANCED IN THE MARKETPLACE. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1964.

REVIEW: A Doctoral Thesis written with an eye to becoming a book. The author's research into the ascension to the "Great Speaker" by Moctezuma I is the focal point of the story. The book is written like a historical novel and well noted chapter by chapter. Of particular interest is the author's attention to the details surrounding the formation of the triple alliance and the great war against the ruling Tepanac realm.

Relationships between the leading parties of the day are presented with a liberal dose of poetic license. This is a book where the author has researched an area and written a supposition of what probably happened and what people probably said to each other. Interesting reading from a well research project.

Although the ordinary copies of this book have been long out of print (2001), a special edition was prepared of 100 copies on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of Kino's arrival in the Pimería Alta. These books, internally labelled "Rim Edition," include a parchment page with the official postal stamp issued in honor of Padre Kino and inaugurated on March 12, 1987. These special copies were numbered, signed by the author, and cancelled in Cucurpe, Sonora, on the day of first issue 3/12/1987. This edition also contains four photographs of events that took place in celebration of the anniversary. At this writing (July, 2001), forty copies are all that remain. The price of this extremely rare and special edition is $...(US). The edition was inscribed as the "Rim Edition" because Kino had reached Cucurpe on that very date, and the historian Herbert Eugene Bolton coined the phrase: The Rim of Christendom to describe the launching of Kino's great explorations and missionary apostolate.

Mr. Suran captures the history of the Kolb Brother's studio at the Grand Canyon through charming stories and wonderful photographs