Wisconsin Books

This was a good book and a little different. Paul was not the typical "good guy" initially. So it was a little more interesting to see how it would end up. I liked this a lot.

The Long Road Home is a great book for evey romantic at heart. The novel leads readers down a path of adventure and bitter heartbreak. I really enjoyed this novel; many times I had to force myself to put it down! The Bible verses and the characters' faith in God throughout the entire novel were of great encouragement to me. No matter what the circumstance the two characters remain steadfast in their faith. The struggles the characters face are practical and can be easily applied to everyday life,even if you don't experience that particular difficulty. For example,both of th main characters experience the loss of their mate. Both are shattered. Paul becomes bitter, while Abby accepts what is and tries to make the best of it.They find that the best way to deal with your struggles is to give them to God and in doing so life will be much easier. Who knows there may even be a reward ??? Read this book, you won't be sorry you did!

This Christian fiction book is a quick read and yet has some depth to it. It's the third of the "Place Called Home" series and I think the best. It gives insight into feelings when one loses a spouse and shows two opposite ways of handling it. Paul Cameron was a Pastor who got angry at God for letting his spouse die so left the ministry. On the other hand, Abby, a pastor's wife, accepted her spouse's death as God's will and relied on Him for strength and comfort. Although predictably, Paul and Abby fall in love with each other; however, the journey of how they arrive there was very interesting and entertaining. I also liked how Lori Wick included humor when Abby was nursing Paul back to health.

It is well written and I believe anyone who has prayed for healing for someone and they died anyway can relate to the feelings expressed in this book through Paul and Abby.

--Karen Arlettaz Zemek, author of "My Funny Dad, Harry"

I think this book, "The Long Road Home," by Lori Wick is really good. It is something that would appeal to all Christian fiction lovers and is a very entertaining ang good story. It's one that can be read again and again. In my opinion Lori wick writes top rate fiction!

The Long Road Home is a great book for evey romantic at heart. The novel leads readers down a path of adventure and bitter heartbreak. I really enjoyed this novel; many times I had to force myself to put it down! The Bible verses and the characters' faith in God throughout the entire novel were of great encouragement to me. No matter what the circumstance the two characters remain steadfast in their faith. The struggles the characters face are practical and can be easily applied to everyday life,even if you don't experience that particular difficulty. For example,both of th main characters experience the loss of their mate. Both are shattered. Paul becomes bitter, while Abby accepts what is and tries to make the best of it.They find that the best way to deal with your struggles is to give them to God and in doing so life will be much easier. Who knows there may even be a reward ??? Read this book, you won't be sorry you did!

This book, in its less than 200 pages, kinda sneaks up on the reader. It starts out with the writer/narrator filled with self-doubts, both about the voyage he has embarked on and his life for his first thirty years or so. Stay with it and you will be richly rewarded. By page 80 or so I was totally enchanted, first by what slowly unfolds to be a beautiful love story. A love story told with such restraint that it wasn't until halfway through the book that I realized that Bill and Brian were actually a couple, and had been so for more than half a decade. He writes about his partner with such understated ardor that I was sure that the story would end in tragedy, or that merely the two parted company. Neither is true.

Oh yeah, and Overboard was also a rip-roaring sailing yarn. And what would have been a rather pathetic coming out story (what took him so long?) until I realized how old he was. Denying oneself and getting married was a more reasonable survival strategy before Stonewall.

I bought this book because I was blown away by Storandt's first fictional novel, "The Summer They Came." However, as a straight male who does not know the first thing about sailing, I did not know what to expect from this work. My enjoyment of Storandt's effort is all the more impressive, given my lack of knowledge about the subject matter. Like all master story tellers, Storandt lets the reader enter his world by describing the situation in detail, with references to more familiar subject matter. For instance, when explaining why he cannot get out of bed during a severe storm, Storandt says that he can no more get out of bed than a potato worm can unfold in your hand ... brilliant! Storandt has 2 running stories in this book. In the foreground is his gripping account of his sailing adventure to Scotland (the homeplace of his life partner) across the Atlantic. In the background, is a discussion of his and his life partner's lives up until the time of the trip, with particular focus on how they came to realize they were gay. I highly recommend this book to even the most staunchly conservative "straights," and to the landlubbers most prone to sea-sickness!

Crossing thresholds, living dreams, staying steady and listening within! He did it! He writes it as only a person who has felt it all deeply and directly can do-it's not an "about" something book! So glad he wrote it for all of us-couldn't put thebook down!!!! Spellbound by all the possibilities it opens for each of us!

Sometimes a friend will surprise you. You know there's a memoir in the works, that it is to be published. Good for him. You'll have to read it. Reading it, you are impressed, knocked out, amazed. This is what happened to me with Bill Storandt's book, Outbound. The two stories, interwoven in alternating chapters, will satisfy both those seeking the taste of wind-driven mid-Atlantic salt spray and those who seek to better understand a gay man and witness his success in finding a life partner. There are wonderful side trips to Julliard, the Vermont woods, the Caribbean, the Scottish coast, and married life.
The book also satisfies a larger audience, however, and it does so with the simplest and most difficult device: honesty. Bill gracefully and without pretense shares his difficulties and successes, both maritime and personal. It is no accident that his boat is named Clarity. Because he has taken the risk to be so honest with us, an unusual bond develops between author and reader. The authenticity of his voice causes us to care about his perception of the world and to examine how it compares with our own. This happens rarely and it is a privilege and an adventure. We are in good hands with Bill, whose gentle and persistent humor, thoughtful consideration, and respect for all parties make the voyages we take with him away from and back to safe harbors both illuminating and very enjoyable.

I literally couldn't put the book down.

This is an interesting and fascinating memoir of one man's life who happens to love sailing and who is also a gay man living in a caring and loving relationship. You don't have to have a knowledge of sailing to enjoy this book. Although I have gone sailing a few times, I wasn't familiar with a lot of the sailing terms, but the author explains them very well. The author writes with dry wit, a questioning self-analysis, and deep passion. It was a pleasure to read his story, and it was never boring. This is a true-life story that will have broad appeal to many people.

Storandt tells in vivid detail the story of his transatlantic sailing adventure from Saybrook, Connecticut to Ireland, then on to Scotland aboard his 33-foot cutter named Clarity. He made this journey with his longtime partner Brian, and their friend Bob. It's an adventure that turns out to be exciting, unpredictable, and even life-threatening. They certainly get to test their sailing skills through rough seas, gale force winds, and a fierce storm. It's not "The Perfect Storm", but it's close. Interwoven throughout his sailing adventure we learn all about Storandt's earlier life; his marriage, being a freelance musician, living in the Vermont woods in a geodesic dome, leaving his marriage, coming out, and meeting his soon to be life partner, Brian, a Scottish doctor.

So whether you're hooked on sailing or just want to read a well-written passionate coming out story, this book is for you. I was disappointed when this adventure ended. As good a writer as he is a sailor, Storandt tells a wonderful story I couldn't put down till finished.

The 24th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment is probably best known because of one of its leaders. Young Arthur McArthur, "the boy colonel," won fame and, later, the Medal of Honor for his heroic conduct in leading his regiment in the storming of Missionary Ridge, Tennessee.
Also known as the Milwaukee Regiment, the unit was filled with heroic young men. The author weaves the stories of all of them into a fine unit history that gives a very real flavor of what war was like for soldiers in the ranks. This book also interlaces the stories of the trials the men went through on the front line with happenings back home in Wisconsin.
Through Beaudot's narrative telling of the regiment's story, the reader learns to know its members. It is sometimes heart-wrenching to read of the maiming or death of a young soldier you get to know through quoted letters.
I highly recommend The 24th Wisconsin Infantry in the Civil War for anyone interested in the Western Theater of war or in the impact of war on Wisconsin, especially Milwaukee. - Robert L. Durham, Civil War News, December, 2003.

How much more interesting and informative to read a history book which includes everyday folks and not just the well known leaders and heroes! This book is well written, easy to read and could easily interest even those who are not Civil War buffs or who don't even like history. It will be most helpful to genealogists as well. One of the better Civil War unit books I've ever read. I kept forgetting I was reading a history book! Also, it's about time the story of the 24th Wisconsin, a forgotten regiment, was told.

While some regimental histories are black and white, two dimensional laundry lists of thinly researched memories, William J.K. Beaudot delivers a full color, 3D panorama of life in the 24th Wisconsin Infantry. Solid scholarship provides the foundation for this vivid account by an acomplished story teller. This book does justice to the men and deeds of the 24th. Men like the young Arthur MacArthur and his winning of the Medal of Honor. A fine read and a real value to anyone with an intrest in Civil War history.

Writing a good regimental history is a complex task. While the foremost concern for any regimental author is to tell a story, it is also important to put that regiment into a proper context and offer something more to the reader than just the regiment "fought here" or "charged there." Noted historian of Wisconsin regiments, William J. K. Beaudot has succeeded admirably at presenting a well-balanced and highly readable regimental history in The 24th Wisconsin Infantry in the Civil War: The Biography of a Regiment.
The 24th Wisconsin, often times referred to as "The Milwaukee Regiment," has never before had its story told. Until now many only know the regiment because one of its members was Arthur McArthur - father of the famed commander of operations in the Pacific during World War II.
Drawing on an array of sources, which includes a sizeable body of published primary and archival collections Beaudot presents a history that would most certainly please the veterans of that regiment. The book is not only valuable to individuals with an interest in Wisconsin regiments, but is highly valuable to scholars and arm chair historians alike who seek to learn more about the oft-forgotten western theater and the life of the common soldier. -- Jonathan A. Noyalas, The Skirmish Line.

What a great book! Detailed, yet easy to read, this book covers all that anyone would desire to know about the 24th Wisconsin. As a regimental history, it ranks among the top that I've read. This book shows above all else the personal side of the regiment and the war. Beaudot shows how soldiers are tied to home in a much better way than have past regimental historians. As Beaudot was describing the 24th's final battle, the Battle of Nashville, I literally gasped as he told of the last man ever to be killed in the regiment. My story here tells of how much Beaudot depicted the personal side of the story. Readers become truly in touch with the men that make up this brave regiment from Milwaukee. This book is worthy to be on every Civil War buffs bookshelf.

I liked this book so much, I ordered another copy through Amazon to be sent to a dear friend, I met at the Redgreen lodge. I am waiting for the chance to see the documentary on most of our PBS stations again. Or Discovery, whatever they show it on. In either case, a good read for just about anytime. thanks, paul

Pack your bags and go along with Kenny as he ventures along the banks of the Mississippi River. You'll think you're right there with him.

I met Kenny and his stories are just as he is. He has a skill in telling stories that makes you wish you were there with him. I would recommend the book to all the people that enjoy the Mississippi river area.

Kenny Salwey's a talented storyteller with many Mississippi tales to tell! I recommend this author to all outdoor enthusiasts, & anyone that loves a good story. It's a MUST for anyone living in a little river town!

Wonderful book by Salwey...took me back to a simpler, down to earth time. Kenny weaves a profound story of man and nature.

I absolutely loved this collection of her letters, journal and diary entries, as well as letters by suitor and future husband John Love, and her friends. It's at times a very emotional read. You don't want the book to end and you definitely are itching for more info about their life together after they were married at the book's end. Author John McPhee, who wrote the forward , mentioned I believe that more of Ethel Waxham Love's writings exist and are still unpublished. Hopefully they will be published soon. Check out McPhee's Rising From the Plains which is a combination history and geology exploration centering on John David Love, John and Ethel's son. He was home-schooled by Ethel, Yale-educated and became a preeminent geologist of the Wyoming and Rocky Mountain region. There is quite a bit of info on John David's early years growing up on the Love Ranch in Wyo. and further info on his Mom and Dad's life after marriage. It's an interesting blend of geology lesson interspersed with J.D.s personal and family story. J.D. shared his mother's letters and such with McPhee and his book was the first time they were published- though he used only a small portion of what was available to him. Then Lady's Choice was published about 10 years later if I'm not mistaken. Director Ken Burns and Co. then later featured excerpts of the Love's story in their PBS series and book, The West.

This is one of the best books I've ever read and the subject matter is really interesting and engrossing. It's much more than a bunch of dry letters and diary entries that's for sure.

The book was compiled and edited by two of the Love's grandaughters, Barbara Love and Francis Love Froidevaux, with a forward by John McPhee.

I love stories of women in the American west. Ethel's limited diary entries are insightful and often funny. I also loved the letters from her varied group of friends, most of them educated women who were pursuing the only career choice available to them: teaching. John Love's determined, romantic letters to Ethel were poignant and irresistible. As her options narrowed, his steady offer became more and more attractive, but unfortunately, he could not deliver on many of his promises. I could have read much more about her life after their marriage! If letters and writings exist, I wish another collection could be published. For me, this book was a page-turner.

If you are looking for a book that captures the real-life essence of the hardship and romance of the American West, look no further; this book has it all. A wonderfully written story of the lives and loves of the ordinary pioneering people who made America great.

This collection is truly wonderful. Ethel Waxham and many of her correspondents are of such intelligence, perceptiveness, spirit, and wit that they are, as John McPhee says of Ethel Waxham in the Forward, irresistable. The jounal entries and the letters make it clear that the story of Ethel Waxham's journey from Wellesley to the ranch on Muskrat creek just south of Moneta was deeper and more complex than the story of the PBS series. The endnotes are particularly good -- a story in and of themselves. I do wish there were more pictures of the ranch itself and its surroundings (even from today), "where the gray hills lie, Eternally still, under the sky," and the people, and I wish that I could know more about Ethel Waxham and the authors of the letters. I also wish that the unpublished sources were available -- as they are by "EPW" and J. D. Love, both of whom are of indisputable eloquence, they would make wonderful reading. And finally, as stated by McPhee: "I will wait impatiently for the sampler" -- the collection ends in one sense where the adventure just begins, and I long to see more of the correspondence and hear more of the story of the life at the Ranch on Muskrat Creek.

When John McPhee published his now-classic RISING FROM THE PLAINS, he introduced Ethel Waxham Love in the first paragraph. All through the rest of the book he interwove her story with that of her son, Wyoming geologist David Love and the geology of the Great Plains. When fan mail came rolling in, readers wanted to know more about the "slim young woman" who stepped down from a train in Rawlings, Wyoming one fall morning in 1905.
LADY'S CHOICE is Ethel Waxham Love's story. Her granddaughters, Barbara Love and Frances Love Froidevaux, have collected her writings -- journals, letters, poetry, essays, stories -- present them in combination with letters from her friends and classmates as well as from the man she would marry.

Her story begins in the Fall of 1905. She has graduated from Wellesley and spent the Summer working as an assistant to her doctor father in Denver. When she gets the opportunity to teach in a log cabin schoolhouse in Wyoming, she accepts the offer. Her first journal entry describes her journey into the wilds of Wyoming by train, stage coach and wagon. With a sure pen and a sympathetic eye she records her impressions of the land, the people and events. Her observations are those of a sharp mind (she had earned a Phi Beta Kappa key at Wellesley, specializing in Greek, Latin and French), her descriptions are those of a major literary talent.

Of one acquaintance she writes, "Mrs. Butler. . .is a little war-horse of a woman, with a long, thin husband. I'm telling you about her because she has been improving him for twenty years and it is beginning to tell on him."

Her year in this community is surprisingly eventful, considering the isolation and the seeming lack of resources. But Ethel is a resourceful person, full of imagination, the kind of person who makes things happen. She visits friends, attends church services and "sociables," and dines in local restaurants. There are dances and suppers and school entertainments. And there is John Love, the man she will marry after the five-year courtship that is recorded here.

She is enchanted by her surroundings. "The color of the white hills against the pale of the blue sky is most exquisite i the world. The cedars are gray with snow, the sagebrush white clumps of crystals. Where a long way off the sun touches the tops of the snow-covered hills there are shines a streak of silver. A whole white world was there, rising around us, as far as we could see; there did not appear to be such a thing as direction. Everywhere the whiteness, everywhere the hills. Where the stubble of the fields of the range rose above the snow,there was a shading of gold over the white. . .and when the full moon shines out of the deep dark night sky, the hills are like shining silver."

You, too, will find a lady to love in these pages. Her journal begins as she stands on the threshold of her life, emerging from the chrysalis of a protected girlhood toward the challenge of womanhood. Here she records a land, a people, a life, a love, welcoming them as unequivocably and eagerly as only the young do.

LADY'S CHOICE eclipses others of its type. It not only showcases the lady's life and the choices she made, it reveals a true literary talent and a rare human being. Wallace Stegner (ANGLE OF REPOSE, SPECTATOR BIRD, CROSSING TO SAFETY)once spoke of the "inextinguishable western hope" expressed by writers of history as they look at the world and at humanity's place in it. Ethel Waxham Love's letters and journals provide a major contribution to that hope as well as to the history and the the belles lettres of the American West.

(c)2002 Sunnye Tiedemann
(Ruth F. Tiedemann)

Raised on a Wisconsin dairy farm about 15-20 years later than author Ben Logan, I have long since concluded that for me it was the Right Time - Right Place. Logan's living history of family values, relationships and life lessons, told in the context or rural farm life, lets me relive my life through his, and glean our mutual past for the source of our values. I just read The Land Remembers for the second time. I think I'll read it every year.

I'm biased, because I'm from Gays Mills, WI (I used to mow Leita Slayton's lawn!) - but I recently re-read it, and was surprised at how many of the anecdotes and images I remembered were actually from The Land Remembers, and not from Steinbeck or anyone else better-known. Parts of this book will stay with you for years and years. It's like going home again every time I pick it up.

This is one of those books I will always remember. My children were young when I read it and I felt that it contained many lessons on how to be a good parent. And all in the context of very enjoyable reading. The story about learning to use the horse drawn cultivator shows how a parents help their child develop self-confidence, which is something I see so many people lacking. I can't say enough good things about this gem of a book.

This book is full of humor and spends wonderful time on how a farm is run, explaining the land, the chores, the wonder of living on a farm. Ben's antics with his brothers are delightful, and his account of his evenings with his family are memorable. I read this anytime I need a lift, and share its richness with anyone who will listen.

One room school house, the changing of the seasons and the farm chores for each one...a memior of one man's boyhood experiences. I liked this book and my husband liked it even more than I did. He was born and raised in rural WI, picking rocks, milking, and going sledding with his brothers. This book is well written and reads like a time capsule...the people & chores on a family farm. I would have given it a perfect 5 stars, but there is too much about bees. Less bee watching and the author would have a classic here. Great that his story goes full circle. We learn what happens to the people we've read and cared about...which is always gratifying to us readers.

I do like some of them but mostly I have trouble understanding exactly what he is saying. Reading his poetry is similar to looking at particularly difficult abstract art. I bought this book because I had heard one of his poems and was blown away by the subject matter and the wording.

I have read this aloud over the phone to friends thousands of miles away. I've read it aloud at dinner parties. I've purchased it for friends. This is a remarkable collection of poems, a treasure. I don't want to sound so precious about it, but I can't help it. I found Hoagland's writing when I was 20, and I'm sure I'll still be coming back to the same poems when I'm an old lady. Amazing!

for about a year i have been struggling with my good intentions to try and fall in love with poems. now, i may be turning the corner. this is the 2nd book of poetry in a row that i have really, really enjoyed. last week i finished al purdy's "rooms for rent in the outer planets," and now i just got done with tony hoagland's "sweet ruin." both fantastic. hoagland's book had me turning pages with joy, rather than with the sense of a chore being gotten through. i highly recomend this book.

One of the most important books of poetry to ever cross my path. I return to this constantly. Earnest, real, vivid -- none of these words suffice to how incredible this book is. Get on it.

From the beginning of poetry, from the beginnings of Greek and Roman poems, poetry has striven to be both dulce et utile---pleasant and useful. Tony Hoagland is a poet who captures both of those aspects of poetry, and effortlessly so. Not a single word goes to waste, as he describes situations familiar to almost any audience, while making them sound extraordinary and worth reading about. The wishes of mankind are encapsulated in this poetry: "I should walk up the stairs right now/ and make slow love to the woman I live with." These are poems which are provoking and well-thought out, to the point of being accessible: "It wasn't easy, inventing the wheel..."
Reading Hoagland's poetry, a sense of life is gained, while in his poetry, life moves on: observed, undisturbed, and intact for the next reader.

Klein, Michael. "Track Conditions: A Memoir", University of Wisconsin Press, 2003.

Memorable Memoirs

Amos Lassen and Literary Pride

Michael Klein is an award winning poet and should win awards for his wonderful memoir "Track Conditions". It is both shameless and fascinating. After he followed his lover to an Ohio race track, Michael Klein began a three year career as a groom in the world of horse racing. He managed to bond with the 1984 Kentucky Derby winner, Swale. However he was plague with alcoholism and deeply concerned about his relationship with his lover which was on the skids as well as memories of having been abused as a child. His memoir is a story written from the heart and it is a tale of resilience. Using the race track as a metaphor for life, he shares his joys and his pain.
This is some of the most beautiful writing I have ever read but that does not mean that Klein does not get down and gritty. He holds nothing back as he illuminates his life. His life is not a pretty story--it is filled with excesses--but even so it is beautifully rendered. Here is an honest recreation of a life that is compelling.
We read as Klein succumbs to alcohol and enters a depressive state over lost love, dependency and casual random sex. It is never easy to read coming-of-age stories that are filled with pain but this is a coming-of-age story not to be missed.
It is likewise a story about horses and with the equestrian background we read about a relationship between tow men that are in the midst of deterioration.
The world of horse racing is a homophobic place but Klein managed to survive it and move up along the circuit as a groom. He discovered an affinity for horses and loved them as they loved him. We get to look into the world of horses and learn things that the average person never knows. He refers to the secrets of the world of horses as "racetrack society. The world of horse racing is a gritty and unreal world but it is not just that world that Klein tells us of. He writes of how little was available to a young homosexual with very limited means.
Written in the past tense, the memoir puts a distance between reader and writer from his beginnings until 1984 with quite a shocking ending. Klein makes no evaluations or judgments--he leaves that to the reader.
It is Klein's openness that makes this book so good. He defies the usual conventions of narrative and he is a writer to be cherished. The book is unique and very special and in no way follows the styles of other coming out stories. It is harrowing tale of redemption written by a poet in prose. The chapters are short and amazing and we realize early that there is little chance of resolution to be found. It is not a tell-all memoir--rather it is a half-told life and has something for everyone. It is not a book just for gays but rather a small life story that looms large.

Being a straight nursing student who lives in small town america,I wasn't sure I would relate to this book. But the writing and the openess of the author surpasses any differences between our lives. An amazing book.

Michael defies narrative convention while achieving its goals in his long prose poem/memoir/story. His is a story of triumph: whether found covered in ash and velvet and 100 dollar bills or perhaps in the spotlight of literary praise. Either way this story helped save me. Michael is a writer I respect and emulate.

donaldahearn@hotmail.com

This book is so unique and special -- not at all your typical gay coming out story. There are horses here and the tactile world of the racetrack and Klein's lyrical and spare prose adds just the right kind of music to a poignant and harrowing redemption tale.

Oprah, for a million little reasons, you chose the wrong memoir for your book club.

In an age where honesty in memoir seems to be a rare commodity, TRACK CONDITIONS is probably one of the most honest, compelling, and underrated books in print.

A fascinating glimpse into author Michael Klein's downward spiral into alcoholism, lost love, dependency, and casual sex, this lyrical memoir is not an easy read-never easy to read about another person's coming-of-age psychic pain. But this memoir is a must-read.

A real-life thoroughbred horse story, from a former groom's point of view, this memoir focuses on the deteriorating relationship between two young men in the midst of their own personal crises.

In 1979, Klein, a confirmed New Yorker, desperately followed his lover Richard Coatney into the homophobic underworld of thoroughbred racing, beginning his career as a horse walker at River Downs in Cincinnati and working his way up to groomer at Belmont, Churchill Downs, and Pimlico.

Among all the empty booze bottles and one-night stands, Klein discovered an aesthetic affinity for horses, in particular one special--and well-known--thoroughbred, precipitating the author's final downfall and then leading toward his eventual salvation--and this memoir.

Klein leads the reader into a world rarely ventured into by the average horse track bettor: vivid descriptions of lame horses being cruelly euthanized and the casual doping of horses for monetary gain. At the beginning of chapter three, the author summarizes, from his perspective, the visible and invisible aspects of "racetrack society":

"There are people you see all the time: the barn help, the trainers, the exercise crew, the men and women who deliver hay and straw and feed. And there are those you see only rarely, if at all: the jockeys, the parimutuel clerks, the owners, the starting-gate crew. Two worlds: the training world and the racing world."

Ironically, from the reader's perspective, the visibility/invisibility paradigm is directly the opposite from the author's.

And Klein offers insights into worlds which are largely invisible to most of us: in addition to the gritty side of thoroughbred racing, he also reveals the limited options available to an impoverished young homosexual, also a poet and rebel, of the late seventies and early eighties.

First published in 1997, the memoir's main narrative covers the author's racetrack life, from its inauspicious beginning to its shocking 1984 denouement, with some interspersed flashbacks to his abusive and incestuous childhood and Manhattan life with Richard.

While revealing vivid and harsh details about his life, the author maintains a psychic distance from the reader through his dispassionate use of the past tense; moreover, he does not editorialize from the perspective of the forty-something memoirist.

He simply unfolds his story, leaving judgments, analyses, and evaluations up to his readers.

The distance works well; the author never whines or asks his audience to feel sorry for him. He simply presents "in-your-face" statements and facts, like them or hate them.

It doesn't matter what the reader thinks; in the end, Klein, with a metaphorical kick from his equine friend, triumphs.

There is beauty and poignancy in Klein's spare prose, yet glimmers of humor add some comic relief, for example, when he describes some of the other grooms and other track people and recounts some his late mother's family stories.

I recommend this book for both gays and straights--anyone who appreciates a well-written life-story, no matter how down and gritty.

I own the 1997 hardcover edition, and it is worth every one of the twenty-two dollars that I paid for it.

Read this book in college, and the story and characters touched my heart. I still read it and it's still the same poignant, beautiful story I remember. I feel for Carl and his plight. he is a likable character. I felt sorry that his mother was a drunk and sexually promiscuous so Carl, age 16, had to escape by inventing a dream life and a fantasy sweetheart, and cheered when he moved up north with his farm-boy cousin and the cousin's folks, and he and his cousin became great pals and he even found a real girl to love -- the athletic blonde country beauty next door.
This should be a made for TV movie starring Cody kasch -- DanaZack on "Desperate Housewives" as Carl, David Gallagher -- Simon on "7th Heaven" -- as Robert, Carl's cousin, and Hilary Duff as Signa, carl's sweetheart

^^ I really would... I mean, the thoughts and feeling are so real and thought out to what a real sixteen-year-old boy in that situation of having and alcholic/protisute mother... I can really relate to how he's acting and feeling... I would tell anybody to add this book to their collection!!!! :)

I used to not like books this book changed my mind! a must read. Very touching and a great wake up call to life!

I read this book for an 8th Grade book report, and I have read it over and over again. Everytime I read it I get the same feelings I had the first time I read it. Carl Staggers feels what a real 16 year old boy would feel if he were in that same situation and it amazes me how well the auther expressed that.

Up Country is probably one of the most treasured books I own. I can relate to Carl's feelings and emotions, and every time I read it, the same situational segments of the story still make me laugh out loud. I would recommend Up Country to anyone, based on it's superb characterization and thought.

This was a really interesting book written by one of the more successful college coaches in recent memory. He takes you from his humble beginnings in Pennsylvania to his triumphs in the Rose Bowl. I found it particularly interesting because I got to see his perspective on a number of football games I had attended. Well written, it was an easy and enoyable read.

I like reading coach's books. If you're reading a coach's autobiography you can be sure that he was successful. Reading stories about successful people won't make you successful in itself, but you certainly can learn a lot from them.

Some coach's stories, like Mack Brown's "One Heartbeat II" are smarmy, folksy stories about the coach's life philosophy containing stories about overcoming adversity or getting a team to come together to experience that championship season.

A lot of coach's stories wind up in those business-motivational books, but I don't typically read those. Normally the messages they're delivering gets thinned out to the point that they become a manager's catch phrase. Executives buy them, then put them on the bookshelf in their office. Makes them look well-read. I've worked with a lot of executives. I usually make the point of pulling a book or two off out of their library and open it. 90% of them make that cracking sound a hardcover book makes the first time you open it. But I digress.

Coach's stories tend to fall prey to a fair amount of sugar-coating. Not so with "Don't Flinch - Barry Alvarez: The Autobiography". The book starts (after forewards by Lou Holtz and author James Patterson) with Wisconsin's 2006 Capital One Bowl against Auburn. Going into the game, no one gave Wisconsin a chance to win. Alvarez starts by talking about how he would have rather played Alabama. Alvarez played for Nebraska when Alabama beat the Cornhuskers in the 1966 Orange Bowl, 39-28, and relates how Paul "Bear" Bryant arrogantly humiliated the Huskers later at an awards banquet. Alvarez makes it clear that this isn't how he's spent his career. Beating people is one thing. Rubbing their noses in it is another thing entirely, and something that Alvarez doesn't condone. He then goes on to talk about how he handled his underdog status and coached Wisconsin to a win.

That initial story sets the tone for the book. Author Mike Lucas takes us through Alvarez' life, using his Western Pennsylvania background to set the stage for Barry's brand of football - conservative, hard-nosed, and physical. Alvarez played college football at Nebraska under legendary coach Bob Devaney. His first head coaching position was in Lexington, Nebraska where he chose to move instead of taking a job with the FBI. He later moved to Mason City, Iowa in a head coaching position. After being successful there, he went to the University of Iowa as an assistant under Hayden Fry. Later he joined Lou Holtz' staff at Notre Dame, serving as the defensive coordinator on the 1988 Fighting Irish National Championship team.

Along the journey you're treated to the reasons as to why he was successful in each position, and what he learned from the people around him, particularly coaches. All the while his goal remains clear - to be a head college football coach. There are times he strikes you as incredibly stubborn and/or arrogant but completely capable of listening to other people giving good advice.

He notes that during the 1990 1-10 season, there were times at which he would close his office doors and curl up on his couch in a fetal position. He had gotten so used to winning that his body ached from losing. There aren't a whole lot of big-name coaches that would admit that so freely in their autobiography. His wife Cindy plays a prominent role in the book making it clear, supporting him through rough times and sometimes bringing him back down to earth. As his coaching career is nearing it's end Alvarez makes an honest assessment of himself and concludes that it's time to move on, becoming Wisconsin's athletic director.

I liked Barry Alvarez before I read his story. Now I like him even more. The line "Don't Flinch" remains a constant theme throughout the book as Alvarez points out how to respond when the game (football or life) is on the line. Certainly Wisconsin fans should be interested in this book, but I'd recommend Barry's autobiography to anyone who's interested in reading those water-down business motivational books as well. The stories are much more interesting and just as insightful. On top of that, you'd probably finish this book. How many of those motivational books have you finished?

A great read and refreshing to know that hard work, focus and the love and respect of family is still the formula for success.

Barry Alvarez grew up in a hard scrabble Western Pa town and learned life's lessons early. It also shows that while it may not have been an easy road, it can be done. This book contains many stories and messages for any young man thinking of taking the road of football beyond high-shcool. More so it holds a story of one mans philosophy of hard nose, stick to it, don't give up mentality as a kid coming up from nothing to make it in big time college football.

Barry Alvarez came from little but had a lot instilled in him by his family, his friends and his coaches as he came up the ladder from Pee Wee Football to College player and then to coaching. Those coaches and family/friends instilled in him that you can do whatever your heart desires if you work hard enough and don't fear sticking to your guns.

Great read for any football fanatic.

My husband wanted this book for Christmas so I got it for him. He says it is one of the best books he has ever read. He is a diehard college football fan--but not necessarily a Wisconsin fan.