Washington Books

What a great nutrition book. It covers everything. It's like having a session with your own personal dietician. The format is easy to follow, the layout is colorful and interesting and it inspires the reader to make sound nutritional changes in their diet and develop healthier habits in their life. I wish I'd read this book years ago.

I found this book lives up to its title. It is an all around, useful aid to get off the yo-yo diet track, and onto a lifestyle change. We all know that is easier said than done. I am using the journals, and finding all their suggestions to be realistic. I love the idea of pleasurable eating as well as healthy eating. It is wonderful to have a "guidebook" written by professionals who really know their subject-and their audience.

This book is fun and easy to read. It is a week to week guide book on getting healthy. The assignments are realistic and attainable, so I was encouraged right off the bat! It's a refreshing realistic look at diet and fitness. I highly recommend it!

We used the Healthy Habits for Life as our winter employee wellness promotion and it was an overwhelming success. Staff evaluated it highly and provided comments such as "it was the most common sense approach I've seen." "It was the kick-off to our family's lifestyle change." We plan to offer it to our employees every year.

Suspend all your usual stereotypes about insensitive or materialistic surgeons! Donald W Miller, a cardiac surgeon, is a most knowledgeable, sincere, and deep thinker who has contributed a monumental work of art to our human quest for understanding. Heart in Hand is a wonderful gift, especially in this Information Age where true meaning and personal significance are often lost to Moore's Law and the next Microsoft takeover. Miller's exhaustive reflections on the nature of life are backed by solid scientific evidence, intuition, and a passionate appreciation for philosophy (especially that of Arthur Schopenhauer), Woody Allen movies, classical music, biology, and mystical experience. Although it seems almost impossible to integrate these diverse resources into only 213 pages of text, Miller does it brilliantly, adhering to his own message in the book that simplicity is a virtue. Examples of simplicity he provides include the guileless but compassionate fool of Danny in Woody Allen's Broadway Danny Rose, and the ageless simplicity found in the immortal music of the Beatles and Theolonious Monk.

Heart in Hand helps us realize that we are all deeply interconnected. All matter in the universe is comprised of leptons and quarks, force is really the same as substance, and we are all products of the big bang. He advocates for scientific and analytical thinking, but admits to the limits of this approach and suggests a need for mysticism and intuitive understanding too. However, don't mistake Miller's openness to mysticism as an endorsement of Western religion. Probing questions about religion will raise many ecclesiastic eyebrows, and he may get tossed out of a few churches! For example, he doubts that we have souls if we evolved from bacteria, and describes the secret and cunning of priests as "pretending to possess the means to satisfy mans great metaphysical need by saying that the great riddle has reached them direct." His deep sincerity and honesty is evident, and his description of Schopenhauer's writings on morality is a good primer for many supposedly good religious folk who are actually more instrumental in separating the human race through judgemental thinking than encouraging true compassion.

This grand integration of multiple dimensions of science and art succeeds on many levels. This is a technical book with tons of useful information on biology, history, art, and even sex, and Miller shares many personal preferences for future reading and listening. This is also a very fun book that celebrates life while standing on the shoulders of many significant and creative minds. You may want to read Heart in Hand multiple times, and will surely come away with new insights and pleasure every time.

There are still many questions unanswered. What happened before the big bang? Could there still be a personal God? Is there a personal purpose for each person during this brief planetary residence? Miller by no means answers all these questions. There will always be more questions to ask. What Miller does offer are personal experiences, knowledge that is extensive and refined, and great insight. Heart in Hand will most surely enrich your life. The surgeon adequately satisfied this psychologists' desire for a great read! I'll refer to it often in my work with clients.

Dr Miller told me of his book, and as I was so impressed with him as a person and a surgeon, it was the first book I read during my recovery. Even though I was still on pain killers when I started, I couldn't put it down, staying awake longer than I should have each night.

I heartily agree with the first two reviews written before mine, and will let them stand as my views also.

To unwind from his work, Dr. Miller told me he that on Saturdays he frequently gets an intellectually stimulating book on tape, and then takes his dog for an all day hike in the Cascade Mountains (near Seattle) while he listens to the book. This gives me the thought that he really is a renaissance man.

Pain killers aside, I thought the whole theme falls together for you during the last few pages. You may wonder as you go along as to how it all falls together. He does not disappoint you at the end.

I felt it was one of the best books I have ever read.

If one has trepidations about mortality, then Dr. Donald Miller may assuage his and her misgivings. His book, Heart In Hand, however, is not just about death and dying, it is about life and living. Indeed, Dr. Miller traces the beginning of life to the one-celled amoeba and carries it forward to man in its highest form, most notably, as defined by Arthur Schopenhauer, Richard Wagner, and Woody Allen. He also makes several references to himself, his family, his friends, and his patients.

He no doubt has spent sleepless nights in Seattle as a heart surgeon, and in the process, has much time to think about six facets of life, each one represented by a chapter in his book. While it may be unusual for one to cross the divide between Schopenhauer and Allen, one sees where the two are not far apart, except by 147 years between birth, and the book is filled with quotations of both, which are treats, and saves one from the tedium of heavy reading, especially Schopenhauer; all of this in just 213 pages of text, with additional endnotes, reading and film selections.

Dr. Miller's explanation of evolution has condensed the so-called theory into very interesting and coherent facts, and could be a primer for teachers. There are also many other facts that could be described as interesting trivia. And his explanation of sex, and indeed, compassion, touches the sensibilities. His chapters, "Searching for God," and the "Metaphysics of Music" are engrossing. But the chapter "Confronting Death" should get to core of everyone's being. Of course, death is inevitable, and when one is born, every day he and she creeps one day closer. But knowing it doesn't help. And for many, it is a perplexing and often debilitating experience. Dr. Miller enlightens us with one quotation from Schopenhauer, "Where was I before my birth?" "For it is irrefutably certain that non-existence after death cannot be different from non-existence before birth..." If one is hesitant to confront any of the volumes that have been written to assuage our fear of death, this chapter is enough. It takes us there without cringing, and with a simple but plausible explanation.

It is Schopenhauer and Woody Allen who are the main players in this book. Unless one has read the older philosopher, probably in his most important work, "The World as Will and Representation," and "Essays and Aphorisms," a compilation selected and translated by R. J.. Hollingdale, much has been missed about his views about compassion, living and dying. Likewise, unless one has analyzed the films of Woody Allen, and assumes that he is more than a comedian, then Dr. Miller shows where he is a deep thinker, and very preoccupied with death, which is made light through his comedy, but has a very serious and obvious cognizance. Dr. Miller is generous in his observations about Schopenhauer, Allen, and finally Richard Wagner, who was immensely influenced by the philosopher and his above mentioned book, and his chapter, "The Metaphysics of Music" is one that will inspire all music lovers, especially Wagnerians. The good doctor again reminds us about the soothing effects of music on our health.

So here we have a small volume packed with much to think about. It is a quick read, engrossing, and one which the reader will no doubt absorb in one sitting, and feel good about it.

If you liked THE POWER OF MYTH, the PBS TV series/book of Joseph Campbell interviews by Bill Moyers, you will be captivated by HEART IN HAND. Joseph Campbell tells us how religions and myths from many cultures are, essentially, one variegated story of humankind's spiritual journey. Dr. Miller, in a most readable prose style, takes current knowledge from many scientific fields--medicine, astronomy, biology, quantum physics--and relates it to philopsophy, humor, religion, and the arts, particularly music.

When he describes his book as 'reflections on the nature of life,' don't jump out of your easy chair. This book is the opposite of pompous. In our so called Information Age, it is hard as hell to get a grip on what we are really doing on the planet at the end of this tumultuous century. This book helps. Dr. Miller offers the layman, like myself, a science lesson and then shows how the intricate facts of the physical world relate to the domain of the soul. For one who is uncertain about what evolution means, he gives a telling explanation in terms of genes--ours and those of our ancestors. He draws from his extensive personal interests--microbiology, sex, opera, jazz, Arthur Schopenhauer, conducting a symphony orchestra, Jack Kerouac, Richard Wagner, Thelonious Monk, compassion in the practice of medicine, Woody Allen, God, and death--and translates them into integral meditations about what it is to be alive. As he goes along, he connects things, a lot of things. Joseph Campbell describes our mythological exit from the Garden of Eden as moving from unity with God/Eternity into a world of opposites/duality, man/woman, and mortality. Microbiology informs us that single-cell bacteria clone asexually and keep reproducing ad-infinitum, as long as they have a favorable environment. Death, in evolutionary terms, is not part of the 'program' until these little bits of life evolve far enough to reproduce sexually. This eventually occurs in more advanced single-cell organisms called eukaryotes that exchange and commingle their genetic DNA to produce genetically new offspring. These ancient ancestors also reside East of Eden, genetically programmed to 'senescence and eventual death.'

This is a highly personal and diverse choice of subject matter. If it were not, he would have written a rather eccentric textbook. Because he cares deeply, and has cared for a long time, about what is beneath the surface of things, this is an exceptional and valuable book by an unusually curious man. Dr. Miller is a wonder in his ability to concisely reveal so much useful information in a little over two hundred pages. He is completely honest in telling us what science knows and does not know. From his practice of medicine he offers convincing evidence of how our emotions and moral choices profoundly influence our physical health. He neither preaches nor does he attempt to dispel the mystery of existence. To the contrary, the 'big picture' he gives us is, as the kids say... awesome. He quotes jazz pianist Bill Evans regarding the meaning of art. Bill said it's to enrich life. This book will enrich your life.

Anyone who wants to understand--or shape--the presidential election of 2008 should read this book. Ted Van Dyk's work will also endure long after we select our next president because he captures the soul of American politics as practiced in the last half of the 20th century. Van Dyk makes available to readers the same depth of analysis and plain old-fashioned story-telling ability that made him so influential for so long in Washington, DC. He loves politics at its best, and it comes through.

Ted Van Dyk vividly captures the turmoil, egos, and inspired (as well as uninspired) political leadership of the 1960s, 70s, and beyond. What makes this memoir qualitatively different from other insider accounts is Van Dyk's compelling, non-gossipy narrative style. No cheap shots, just a mix of analysis and anecdotes that illustrate the limits, hubris, and, yes, virtues of the political class.

There's a delightful consistency to Van Dyk's approach--the equivalent of throwing a Jesuit or a Greek scholar into the political maw. Take a Depression-era kid from the Northwest with values cut like glass and set him in the moral murk of Washington, DC. Opportunists and hypocrites beware! It's instructive, only occasionally grumpy, and altogether entertaining.

I recently reviewed this book in the Boston Phoenix (http://thephoenix.com/article_ektid57111.aspx). As I wrote there, "Van Dyk's recent work is . . . well worth the attention of political junkies, students of American history, or anyone else who wants to know how politics really worked in the glory days of the Democratic Party.

Too often our histories of politics are colored by political biases and attempts to shade the truth. To invoke an old cliché, Van Dyk tells it like it is. His memoir is a great read, a wonderful primer for those who might seek to enter politics themselves, and a terrific walk down memory lane. His idealism and honesty are reminders of what once made the Democratic Party great -- and could again."

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in Democratic politics in the last half of the 20th century. Ted Van Dyk grew up during the Great Depression, became a journalist and a dedicated Democrat, and eventually worked his way up to a high-powered consultant who worked in numerous presidential campaigns, from Hubert Humphrey in 1968 to Paul Tsongas in 1992. Van Dyk can tell you where the bodies are buried and how things really worked in high-level, high stakes political races of the past. He's also an astute and keen observer of the current national scene.

Van Dyk doesn't pull many punches in this book (your stomach may turn at his descriptions of how LBJ treated his vice-president, Humphrey, and his opinions of Carter and Clinton are pretty scathing). But overall, this memoir is very insightful and surprisingly fair. I appreciated Van Dyk's perspective on how the Democratic Party has lost its way since the days of the New Deal, and how it might fight its way back to a strong national constituency.

Excellent reference for genealogical research. A very broad collection of maps makes it useful for a wide rage of topics (religion, ethnic population distribution, politcal boundary shifts in a place where someone's always fighting over boundaries and control). A timeless reference....

Almost 5 stars!

This atlas gives exactly what it promises: The history of the lands between the German and Italian-speaking peoples in the West and the boundaries of the former Soviet Union in the East - in short: "East Central Europe". Not to be mistaken with "Eastern Europe", which can exactly be defined by the European area of the former Soviet Union, or Russia, Belorussia and Ukraine of today.
Beside East Central Europe, the atlas also covers the Balkans.

This is the best English-language atlas of it's kind at the moment.
Balanced history telling, which tries to present both sides of disputed topics, illustrated by beautiful - although sometimes rough - maps.
This work presents the finest of Anglo-Saxon mapmaking.
To be used together with the series "A History of East Central Europe", and to be compared with the "The Times Atlas of European History".

Review based on first paperback edition, 1995

From the Baltic to the Balkans and from 400 A.D. to 1992 A.D., this atlas colorfully covers the territory in the best possible way.

Researchers with Slavic, Germanic, Jewish, Greek or other ancestry from east central Europe will find this historical atlas invaluable.

It contains 89 wonderful maps which show useful details such as the Catholic diocese and archdiocese as they appeared in 1900, the tremendous populations movements from 1944 to 1948, Jewish settlement, and of course the ethnic composition of the region at various periods. Each map comes one or more pages of explanatory text as well.

I find this atlas to be a constant help in my struggle to understand the changing borders of the region throughout history. You can't understand family history if you don't have an understanding of the history of the family's place of origins. This atlas is an ideal way to better understand the history of east central Europe.

This cartographic history of Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans is essential for anyone attempting to understand the current crisis in Kosovo. Author Paul Robert Magocsi gives concise histories of the major ethnic groups, and their kingdoms, principalities, and national states occupying the territories between the German- and Italian-speaking peoples on the west and the political borders of Russia on the east. The book gives extensive treatment to the Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Romanians, Yugoslav peoples, Albanians, Bulgarians, and Greeks, others, including the Baltic peoples (Finns, Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians) are discussed, as are the Belorussians and Ukranians. While these histories are necessarily abbreviated to short summaries of principal events, the overall effect is one of cohesion that gives readers a clear picture of the historical forces at work. My sole criticism is that the text sometimes repeats itself. On the other hand, the maps and their accompanying text tell volumes about political and social conditions there. Additionally, 32 statistical tables give comparative data on ethnolinguistic and national compositions of the populations of those countries. One cannot hope to understand today's news without resources of the kind this volume so amply provides. University of Washington Press. Paperback Edition, 1995, 218 pages, index.

This book is a great tool to locate outdoor shelters available to the public. This is the new updated version which has the latest pricing info. and great comparison charts between locations. However, I think it could use more maps and directions. Also, the older version of this book gave much better photos to help you understand what really to expect at these locations.

Now in a newly updated and expanded second edition, How To Rent A Fire Lookout In The Pacific Northwest is the essential reference guide for anyone seeking to spend a weekend in a remote forest ranger lookout tower offering a bird's-eye view of the trees and clouds -- and an impressively memorable view of both sunrise and sunset. Covering a total of sixty-five cabins, guard stations, and fire lookouts available for rent in Oregon and Washington, the sites range from pleasant bungalows just off the road, to 60-foot towers deep in the wilderness. Travelers and vacationers can available themselves of lodging in these scenic, secluded and historic structures offering personal sanctuaries in private places. Information on rental procedures, cost, capacity, and dates of availability for all 65 locations are provided, along with website addresses for each property where available, detailed directions on finding them, tips on local attractions, cabin history, maps, and illustrations of each individual location. The collaborative work of Tish McFadden and Tom Foley, How To Rent A Fire Lookout In The Pacific Northwest is a unique, practical, and ideal planning resource.

How to Rent a Fire Lookout in the Pacific Northwest is a valuable tool for exploring the beautiful backcountry of the Northwest! Authors Tom Foley and Tish Steinfeld have given a great gift to those of us in search of outdoor adventure. As a seeker of Oregon Stories within the landscape, I am enjoying this book immensely. I will include it in preparation of future sauntering and discovery!

Just astounding! I have stayed at three of the lookout featured in the book, and they are every bit as wonderful as the book illustrates. This book is a must for the nature lover. I'm not much of a hiker or skier, so fortunately this book tells you how difficult it is to reach each lookout. And most all the lookouts are a mere $25-$40 a night! My lookout trips have been the best vacations I've ever had. Please, please pick up this book if you plan to be in Oregon for any length of time and love great scenery...

This book is well worth it, for those of you who are sparked by the idea of Hydroplane racing. It has some very in depth info as well as some great photographs. Enjoy

If you are an Unlimited Hydroplane fan you will love this book. Lots of great information, stories and pictures. You won't be disappointed!

To this day, the hydroplanes race on Lake Washington in early August, and the crowds still come, but it is not the same as it was in the glory days of the 50's and 60's. Back in those days, the crowds were enormous, the hydroplane drivers were household names, and the sport captivated the city in a way that no other sport has done, before or since.

During race week, all three local television stations showed hour after hour of qualification runs throughout the week, and all three stations covered the Sunday race from early morning till late afternoon. Children - I was one of them - spent their summers creating their own wooden hydroplanes and racing them through the streets either tied to their bicycles or pulled by hand. And after three popular drivers died on the Potomac River in 1966, it was never the same. Many of us trace the end of our youth, the loss of innocence, to that day.

"Hydroplane Racing in Seattle" brings back images and memories of those years, and of subsequent years all the way up to the mid-1980's. This is not a detailed history, more like a scrapbook, and the narrative is anecdotal rather than strictly chronological. The focus is on the biggest names - Stan Sayres, the auto dealer-sportsman who's Slo-Mo-Shun hydroplanes captured the city's imagination and started the whole hydroplane craze in 1950; builders/designers Ted Jones and Anchor Jenson; drivers Bill Muncey, Ron Musson, Rex Manchester, Mira Slovak, Dean Chenoweth, Don Wilson, and others; and the boats themselves - Slo-Mo-Shun IV, Miss Thriftway, Miss Bardahl, Miss Exide, and many others; and, finally, the accidents, the shattered hulls that caused so much pain and sorrow.

For those who were there, this will provide an evening of memories; for those who weren't there, it will not mean as much. Why not five stars? Mainly, because it's all black-and-white photography, and that is not quite good enough for such a colorful sport. Also, there is little if anything about some of the sport's more peripheral but colorful characters - Chuck Hickling, Norm Evans, Bob Gilliam, Jim McCormick, and Dallas Sartz come to mind. And also virtually nothing about the media figures who were such an integral part of that era - Bill O'Mara, Rod Belcher, Pat O'Day, Keith Jackson, Charles Herring, Mike Rhodes, and a host of others. Perhaps it was just a case of "space does not allow . . . "

"Hydroplane Racing in Seattle" tells the story of the explosive growth in popularity of Unlimited Hydroplane racing in Seattle during the 1950s and the subsequent changes in the sport. This book is well-written and professionally packaged in terms of photo selection and page layout. The 125 pages are populated with approximately 200 mostly excellent black and white photographs of the boats and the personalities that made them go. You can do the math; the book is rich in photographs, and maybe a little thin in text. The front cover contains a small, tantalizing color photo of the restored "Slo-mo-shun V".

The scope of the book is limited to Seattle-based boats and Seattle races from 1909 through 1984. This corresponds to the piston engine era; one may conclude that the "hair dryer boats" (turbines) are out of favor with the author, but actually he has chosen a good cut-off point.

The story of Stan Sayres and his legendary "Slo-mo-shun" boats is well told in Chapters One and Two. The ongoing controversy over who designed which parts of the "Slo-mo-shun IV" is examined. Not explored are the contributions of other designers and builders such as Rich Hallett and his client Paul Sawyer. Subsequent chapters focus on the heroes of the sport (Bill Muncey, Mira Slovak, Ron Musson, etc.) and the legendary boats (the "Miss Thriftways", the "Miss Bardahls", the "Hawaii Kai III", the "Pay N Paks", etc.)

The fanatical enthusiasm of the Seattle fans is alluded to but not examined in any detail. No mention is made of the kids towing miniature hydroplanes behind their bicycles. Very little mention is made of the sometimes freakish "dream boats" such as the "Miss Skyway", the 24 cylinder "Scooter too" aka "Adios" aka "Miss Moses Lake", "Miss University District", "Shanty II", "Zephyr-Fury", and the first "$ Bill". The remarkable boat building career of Bob Gilliam is also pretty much ignored. Some of the other things that were omitted were the competition between TV stations for audience share (the battle of the long lenses) and the competition between newspapers for reader share. The sometimes bitter rivalry between Seattle and Detroit is given adequate coverage, but it would be nice to have a photo or two of some of the Seattle camp's tormentors like the "Miss Pepsi" or the "Such Crust III". The most glaring error in a mostly error-free book is the assertion that the "Slo-mo-shun V" qualifying flip in 1955 occurred in the first lap; most accounts state that the blowover was on the back straightaway in the third and final qualifying lap. There are many photographs of flips, collisions, and the resulting wreckage. Even Detroit-based boats are included in the photographic record of incidents that make hydroplane racing a truly dangerous motor sport.

I was there for the fiftieth running of the Gold Cup on Lake Washington in 1957. Reading David Williams' book brought back memories of that race. I would recommend "Hydroplane Racing in Seattle" to anyone who thrills to the sights and sounds of Unlimited Hydroplane racing... the roostertails and the outrageous color schemes, a V-12 aircraft engine revving beyond its design limits and that deeper, ominous sound when the driver punches the nitrous oxide button.

Bob Foley

Life in the colony of Virginia in the 1730's and 1740's -- the time that George Washington was growing up -- is described in lively detail with wonderful watercolor illustrations! Food, clothing, work, games, education, news, fashion, medicine and more are all brought to life for young readers.

How wonderful for children to get an idea of what kind of childhood formed the mind of our first American President.

I have several of the "If You Grew Up...." titles in my free-reading area of my sixth grade classroom. The George Washington title is one of the most-often chosen titles--probably because they are curious about our first president. This title also gives a good description of what life was like for the gentry class of Virginia in the 1740s-1760s. Students have been able to use the information to write comparison pieces about GW's life and their own. I highly recommend this title and the others in the series for both the literature and social studies classroom. Weak readers have a high interest in the subject matter; strong readers enjoy a quick read.

Outstanding look backwards in time to discover what it would have been like to grow up with George Washington. The book answers lots of questions; What kind of clothes would you wear?, What about the bathroom?, What did children do to have fun?, What would you learn in school? How did people carry their tabacco around?, Who made the laws for the colony? and many more... Loads of cheery illustrations cover the pages.

Although I don't have all the books in this series ("if you..."), the six that I have are so fun and interesting, that I intend to get them all asap. My three children (3-8), my husband and I LOVE them.

I've read the first 2 in this collection (Julip & The Seven Ounce Man) and I have to say that Harrison is quickly becoming one of my favorite American authors. His language is witty, but diverse. He can describe the heck out of a patch of woods using concision only guys like Fitzgerald could find, and then go ahead and give you a wildly humorous anecdote about a mistaken bar fight (one of my favorite scenes from The Seven Ounce Man). This will appear all within the same story and--more importantly--the two segments will actually be connected. Some authors make you forget that every word, every sentence, means something. Jim Harrison is not of that school. Every word is an important part of the story.

Harrison is merciless with his subjects. In Julip, he brings to bear all of the violence, fear, promiscuity, hatred, incest, drunkennes, and irresponsibility that permates the lives of these characters. Somehow I come away from the story liking each character (some more than others, mind you) and I don't feel like I was given any kind of direction to. I feel like I ought to have strongly disliked some of them, actually. But Harrison's style is such that it creates these beautiful portaits of such terrible things. I know the content is disturbing, but I love how well everything has been rendered!

The Seven Ounce Man is more overtly concerned with reservation of the North. B.D. is a remarkable character who--again, even though I can't sympathize with his lifestyle--I admire as a character. It's easy to see how his character is misrepresented time and time again, while he goes on to admit (during his stint in 1st person position) that a lot of the time he's just thinking about sex or how to avoid getting beat up. Meanwhile, well-intentioned, but ultimately hyper-empathetic characters like Gretchen are wrongfully attributing descriptions like 'fascinating' to this drifter. I can't help but like him myself, since he seems an honest narrator and overall quite a good person (barring some minor role in contributing to the national statistic of marital infidelity).

Jim Harrison really knows how to create a dynamic character. And by reading the stuff in this book, I am led to believe that he has an intimate knowledge of the landscapes in which his characters move. If I am wrong, he is faking very well.

Not the best by Mr. Harrison, but enjoyable. The 7 Ounce Man is especially funny. I liked all of his characters and they even reminded me of a few people I know. Read "The Woman Lit by Fireflies", it's one of my favorites.

read these 3 novellas on plane from New Zealand to Jakarta. Not much business to be had in Indonesia but the book made the trip worthwhile. A new writer for me and I was impressed with the ironic, slightly weary style and with the gentle humour - not taking itself too seriously. Highly recommended.

This collection of novellas by acclaimed poet and novelist Jim Harrison is to savor. He once said, "Art should be a process of discovery, or it's boring." Reading Julip is an engrossing emotional discovery as we share the lives of characters that only this author can create.

Julip, the title piece in this presentation of three stories is about an irrepressible 21-year-old whose name is "the mixture of a flower and a drink." Apt description that. Julip tries to convince her brother to say he is insane so that he might be released from prison. Brother Bobby is there for shooting (not fatally) Julip's three wealthy boyfriends.

In The Seven-Ounce Man another appearance is made by one of Harrison's familiar characters, Brown Dog. Many met Brown Dog, a rapscallion and ex-Bible student who lives in Michigan's Peninsula, in The Woman Lit By Fireflies. This incarnation finds Brown Dog the victim of Native American activists. B.D. enjoys the simple life - he reads Popular Mechanics and likes pork and beans.

The Beige Dolorosa, the title of the third story, is the name that a defrocked academic, Phillip Caulkins, has given to a bird, one bird among the 700 North American varieties he has decided to rename. Caulkins's daughter comes to his rescue and deports him to Arizona, where he becomes interested in ranch life and being a cowboy.

As always, Harrison's prose is entertaining and humorous. He is an original.

- Gail Cooke

This summer 2005 I used this book to kayak the inside passage from Anacordis WA to Glacier Bay, AK. I left Anacordis on 18 June 05 and reached Glacier Bay on 25 Sept O5. This book was my guide the entire way. I tried every recommended campsite, and paddled the recommended route almost entirely, without stopping, for 1400 miles, and 3 1/2 months. So ... perhaps, in a small way, I am qualified to review this book.

The book's recommended route is impecable - perfect all the way from Anacordis to Glacier Bay, with one exception, as follows: Between Petersburg and Juneau AK, the author routes the kayaker along admiralty island to see a bear sanctuary, and then into a blind lagoon where the kayaker is forced to use a land trolley to transport his kayak across a peninsula. This route is a poor selection because 1)The bear sanctuary is impossible for kayakers to see because of beligerant forest service policies requiring advance reservations. No exceptions; 2)The blind lagoon's trolley has the rails disconnected at the north end, requiring the kayaker to CARRY his kayak on his back down a steep, high hill to finish the portage. Instead, kayakers buying this book would do best in ignoring the author's Petersburg to Juneau route, and instead paddle along the mainland shore, where multitudes of iceburgs float, where the second best whale-watching area in north america is, and best of the best, where the Tracy Arm Glacier is, arguable the finest, most impressive and actively calving glacier in all of Alaska. Why the author bypassed the miraculous Tracy Arm to NOT see a bear sanctuary that doesn't permit impromptu kayakers ... we can only guess.

Campsites: The author openly admits that he lost his notes on what his campsites were for much of the trip. Thus, the campsites recommended on the book's maps are anotated in the book with painful phrases paraphrased like "... the topo map shows this to be flat ground, so there maybe SHOULD be a campsite there...." OUCH. Speaking as a traveller who has visited all the author's recommended campsites, the author is right only better than half the time, and when the campsite he recommends turns out to be a swamp ... or indeed IS flat ground but is fronted by jagged rocks impossible to haul a kayak up the beach on ... that means the tired kayaker must continue paddling blindly and exhaustedly, perhaps with light failing and conditions deteriorating, looking for a campsite on his own. Now this wouldn't be so bad, except that for the vast majority of the inside passage, the mountains fall directly into the sea, leaving jagged cliffy coastlines where campsites appear only once every ten miles or so. Campsites are as scarce as hens teeth. So ... a tired kayaker having timed his paddling day to end at the author's recommended campsite ... has only a 50-50 chance of indeed finding shelter there, and will perhaps be forced to continuing paddling on ... and on ... and on.

Author's commentary and background research is superb. Many times I found myself teaching the locals about their own area by reading them this guidebook's commentary. The book is very readable and fun, yet is highly educational. The author's anecdotes had me rolling on my tent floor in laughter many times. Exceptions: The author comments that one can expect to see one to five bears a day along the inside passage. This is not so. I paddled 3 1/2 months, and only saw 6 bears, all of them black, none of them browns. Bears, and signs of bears, were few. Land wildlife is actually very rare along the entire inside passage ... but marine wildlife abounds. Only three places in 1400 miles did I see a deer, for example.

Overall, this book earns its 5 stars. But note the exceptions above to correct the book's few quirks. Hats off to the author on doing such a good job guiding us through such a demanding, lengthy, and thrilling journey.

Mr. Miller has a wealth of knowledge in kayaking, the passage, and the environment. He shares this with humor and historic accuracy. I particularly enjoyed his observations of human interaction. However, it would be a much more digestable read if I didn't have to use the dictionary every ten minutes to discover the meaning of the obscure language he uses throughout the book. Although I clearly understand the gist, the audience (me)... would be more interested in a text that had a manageable rhythm. Perhaps he is trying to prove he is a literate, intellectual outdoor person. I will use this book to help plan my own month long trip in the inside passage.

Miller's book is filled with delights on every page. I picked it up because I'm heading up The Passage by ferry for the first time and I thought a kayaker's perspective could be interesting. I was not disappointed! Every page is an entertainment. From the trials of flood and ebb tides to the ever-present danger from bears to the capsulated history about almost every one of the 3,000 islands along the way. I felt I was present.

This is not just about paddling, which is detailed to the max, but about economics; and the climate; and the sheer brutality as well as the compassion of the men and women who braved it;

As I go on my comfortable armchair cruise, I will now know not only what is in front of me but what transpired at this spot 100 years ago, 500 years ago and even how the surface of the earth came to this spectacular visage.

How the eminent naturalist, John Muir got his come-up-ence from an elderly chief; how the first settlers crossed the land bridge into the new continent; how the more recent "discoverers" overcame hardship and missed opportunities to enter into a struggle between nations that, although currently without bloodshed, is still continuing.

I received much more than I was expecting from "Kayaking...". I received a wealth of background which will make my coming trip a true "delight".

Full of history, regional politics, and local knowledge, this book is not just for kayakers. Anyone planning or dreaming of an Inside Passage voyage will enjoy this read. And yes, it has the maps,references, and all the hard-to-find details for actually doing this trip.

I bought this CD last Halloween, and I just ordered one as a gift. I read the Library Jouranl review. WOW! has this reviewer ever read the book?? The "acting is over the top??" The BOOK is over the top! This recording nailed Washington Irving's beautiful words and brought the whole flavour of the book to life. The acting is great! Lincoln Clark is THE definative Ichabod Crane. The narration draws you in, and the music score deserves a CD of its own. This will surely be a Halloween tradition in my family. Library Journal - dust off the book and read it again. You will see that this production by the incredible Colonial Radio Theatre hits the nail on the head. It is a masterpiece!

This is excellent...5 stars...It does not get any better than this! How is that for a simple review? Well, I love audio dramas, and have been listening to them almost exclusively now for over a decade. I also love the writing of Washington Irving..So I feel the need to let the world know that finally someone has done my boy Washington Irving justice with his superb "legend of Sleepy Hollow". Colonial Radio hit the ball out of the park when they recorded this gem. The acting is FANTASTIC! They all captured the essence of these wonderfully absurd characters...I loved Icabod, as I loved Brom Bones. The narration too was a joy to behold (as he let Washington's prose speak for itself, though it was certainly performed with flair and pinache, just as one would perform a one man show...no dull audio book drone here). The Musical score was inspired (Three cheers for Mr. Gage), and the surprise musical number was a joy. I used to read this classic every October, now I make it a point of catching this chestnut while it is airing on XM radio, or I just pop in my CD. Great job Colonial, this truly is as good as it gets!

I make no bones about it. I am an Legend of Sleepy Hollow fanatic. I have loved the story ever since growing up in that wonderful region along the Tappan Zee. Every Autumn, I look forward to reliving what WAshington Irving so lovingly captured. This production is simply a wonder to behold. It captures the flavor and feel of what Mr. Irving with our doubt meant to present. I was stunned to discover (to their credit) that this production remained very faithful to the book (something rarely done in this Hip Hop age). This is a great CD and I hope everyone gets a chance to enjoy the acting and very powerful music score. Get a copy, you will be glad you did.

After listening to a friend's copy of Colonial Radio Theatre's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" I decided to purchase some for myself and to give as gifts for next Halloween. Of all the audio or movie productions I know of, this is by far the only one most like Washington Irving's book.
What fascinates me is that Irving's sumptuous and colorful writing style has been lovingly captured by the actors. Even his wonderfully descriptive--not to mention extensive--narration is performed with ease, gently drawing the listener into the spirit-filled world of Sleepy Hollow.
I applaud the producers who, employing excellent production values, have chosen to maintain the integrity of the original book.