Minnesota Books

The above review of this book does a great job already, so I will try to complement it as best I can. Deleuze is a difficult thinker for newcomers. His ideas tend to refer to one another and have developed into a complex network of concepts over the course of his writings. The good news is that Deleuze is drawing an immense amount of interest in the US and UK now.
Deleuze sets out in the cinema books to create a theory of film and the image that stands in sharp contrast to the film theory we're most accustomed to. Deleuze does not accept that narrativity is a given in film. In fact, he wants to find a way of appreciating and describing what distinguishes film from language and narrative systems. For Deleuze, the moving image is not a system of reference. One doesn't refer to something through a segment of film. The filmic medium is direct, not referential.
Cinema 1 is thus a look at how the early cinema learned to produce the "movement image." It's a review of "auteur" film-makers and their experiments with the medium (in addition to those mentioned above are Welles, Godard, Eisenstein, Lang, Resnais, Hitchock...) to produce perception, affect, and action.
He contrasts montage with mise-en-scene. He shows how action corresponds to situations, either responding to situations or modifying them. He describes the discovery of depth of field, and use of affect in close ups and still images, the importance of shot and reverse shot sequences, and movement within the scene vs of the camera. He shows how pre-war film maintained a commitment to the whole. Characters' actions were motivated by situations, and films as a whole hung together.
The book concludes with Hitchcock's invention of the audience as a third term in the filmic experience: subject, object, audience. Audiences complete Peirce's sign system (firstness, secondness, thirdness) because they interpret the film. Indeed, Hitchcock's art was in showing the audience what the character would only discover later, and in making his films into logical puzzles rather than whodunits.
A dazzling book, I had to read it twice, and many of the films referenced won't be on dvd for years....

Gilles Delueze creates in his books on cinema a taxonomy, an attempt at the classification of cinematic images and signs. This classification is an insightful elaboration on Bergson's theses on movement and on Pierce's signs system. If this taxonomy is the core of the "movement-image" book, its heart is a brilliant and systematic history of aesthetic forms of the classical cinema. Some of the more interesting ideas are the two poles of the close-up, Goethe's theory of color and German expressionism, the space in Bresson, an account of Bunuel as naturalist, the difference between John Ford and Howard Hawks, the crisis of the action-image and the essence of comedy as in Lubitsch, Chaplin and Keaton. Nevertheless, it is not a book about cinema, nor is it a book of film history. It is the practice of concepts. Deleuze writes: "Philosophical theory is itself a practice, just as much as its object. It is no more abstract than its object...So that there is always a time, midday-midnight, when we must no longer ask ourselves 'What is cinema?' but 'What is philosophy?'". Only Deleuze, one of the greatest minds of our Century, could answer this question with so much elegance, profundity, ingenuity and mystical charm.

Our Hero Deleuze is back at it once again on his Bergsonian quest to conquer the movement-image.This time descending light from the plane of immanence will guide our hero through phenomenological blunders. Wow! what an amazing book! Deleuze has done it again, I mean talk about the varities! Perception-Image, Affect Image and Action Image. It totally clairfies any misconsceptions about the liquid, gasous and solid states. If there is such thing as a rhizomatic world, could the Time-Image be a prequel? Deleuze is smoking!!!!

I found this book to be an invaluable aid in understanding Amerindian life and conditions in the early 19th century in the upper Midwest. The book is very well written and engaging, not a common praise for authors of that time. The introduction explains that the author spent a great deal of time learning the language of the Dakotas, and was the leading expert in the region at that time. He actually lived and traveled for months with the various bands along the Minnesota river, making his accounts clearly first hand and vivid.

The book is filled with interesting stories and anecdotes, often favorably comparing Dakotas with white soldiers and traders in the same territory. (There were no settlers yet in 1834 in that region). One example is a story about a small company of soldiers marching over the prairie "panting like over-driven oxen" led by an Indian twice their age walking with "apparently with no great exertion."

What is remarkable is that this was written at a time when remarking on the positive attributes of the native inhabitants of Minnesota was generally strongly discouraged and often roundly criticized. Yet time after time this New Englander takes a common aspect of Indian life and finds a way to critique the European culture of that same time putting things on an even ground.

Pond even weighs in on the frequent comment made by Europeans that native men were lazy and let their wives do all the work. His detailed descriptions of the work and hardships faced by men clearly neutralizes this argument. Pond was very well read for his day, making references to the ancient European authors Homer, Virgil and Caesar. You likely expand your knowledge of the English language reading this book through Pond's use of interesting old words such as signalized, calumny, contumely, and opprobrious.

Fascinating for those interested in natural history are the accounts of deer and muskrat hunts. Those who think bison were common in the region during this time might be surprised to find the Native Americans around the Mississippi in Minnesota hunted almost entirely deer, with only a very few elk being taken. Muskrat hunts were of prime importance for use in the fur trade, beaver not being at all common on the prairies. There are interesting accounts of the Dakota uses of native plants as well, primarily as food sources.

The number of subjects covered by Pond were surprisingly high, making this book thorough and detailed, yet not ever getting bogged down. The cover and binding of are of reasonable quality and the book is a valuable addition to any Midwesterner's library.

On Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis there is a large rock with a heavily patinated plaque imbedded in it right under an impressive gold-domed church. The plaque is extremely weathered and greenish, and looks as if it has been reset more than once into the rock. It says that, above the rock on the hill, where the present day church now stands, is the original site of the first dwelling built in Minneapolis in 1834 by Samuel and Gideon Pond. I've walked by this historic marker for years while circling the lake, so when I came across Samuel Pond's work on the Dakota in Minnesota (including those that lived on Lake Calhoun), I had to read it.

Obviously, the salient thing about Lake Calhoun is the complete absence or even a tiny minute speck of evidence that it was once inhabited by Native Americans. They are simply gone without a trace. High rises and expensive homes now line the lake, and ice fishers speckle its icy surface from approximately October to February. From the viewpoint of today, it's almost impossible to believe Lake Calhoun was any different. That's only one thing that makes this book so great. It makes the reader aware of what was happening before the europeans arrived (or invaded as some people see it) in Minnesota.

The book was written by a missionary; Samuel Pond's sole purpose in habitating with the Dakota was to save souls. The somewhat happy and possibly unforeseen outcome of this was that Pond had to get to know these people incredibly unbelievably well to "save" them. So, as good missionaries will do, he literally shacked up with them. He hunted with them, observed rituals, went on long journeys with them, spoke their language fluently, and, most importantly, talked with them. This guy was there, he wasn't a journalist or a muckraker. He was literally on a mission.

The book, almost paradoxically, does not mention whether or not Pond was successful in "converting" or "saving" the Dakota. There is almost no mention whatsoever of his missionary work, so this is not a self-gratuitous work that shouts "look what I did!" What it is is an observance, a capturing of a people before that people completely disappeared (i.e., as they have today).

It is important to note that the book was not written while Pond lived with the Dakota. It was written some thirty or forty years after. Why? When Pond lived with the Dakota, there was no indication that within the next fifty years Native American culture would be more or less wiped out. As Pond observed this phenomenon, he found it best to write down his recollections of his life with the Dakota, since the culture no longer existed as it was in the 1830s. Pond wrote after what is now known as the Dakota Conflict of 1862, which radically changed the relations between whites and Dakota in the Upper Midwest, and resulted in the largest mass execution in United States History (in Mankato, Minnesota; Reconciliation Square now marks the spot where 38 Dakota were simultaneously hung by the neck for their supposed part in the events of 1862).

Pond is mostly very fair to the Dakota. He passionately defends them against what were the then mainstream accusations of laziness, uncleanliness, gluttony, and barbarity. Pond was overall very impressed by the Dakotas, and obviously had a lot of respect for them as a people. He is, however, not fair to the Dakota's religious practices - this is the one topic where Pond's ulterior motives really show - calling them "ridiculous superstitions".

All in all, Pond's descriptions and retelling of events are priceless for anyone curious about Dakota life before the overwhelming influence of european settlers set in. There are so many amazing stories winding throughout this text that picking one or two out as examples would be unjust to the rest. Pond also draws parallels between the life of european settlers of the time and of the Dakota. These are always fascinating, and Pond's intent seems to be making europeans think hard about their prejudices.

Why this book is not more widely read or talked about I'm at a loss to explain. Perhaps the missionary twist scares people off? Whatever the reason this book is vitally important in that it attempts to capture the culture that was completely destroyed in the 19th century. It is timely, of course, in that the Dakota are often referred to as "savages" or "heathens", but that adds a historical interest to the text, albeit a somewhat now sad one. One must prepare oneself for a 19th century read when dipping into this book. It is well worth the effort.

Lastly, this book has been reissued as "Dakota Life in the Upper Midwest" which is somewhat strange since the author intended the title to emphasize that the work focused on "how they were" in 1834. The title change is likely attributable to the word "Sioux" which is a derogatory word that translates as "Snake". Nonetheless, the new title detracts from the work, and removes a certain historicity from it. The original title should be restored for historical accuracy and perspective.

For many years, I, like so many others, have labored under the assumption that the Native American 'story' was somewhat like the depictions we had all seen and read.

The voice of the current Native Americans speak to the atrocities perpetrated upon them by the insensitive advancement of land hungry europeans.

This book, written by Samuel Pond, simply describes how the Lakota Sioux actually 'were' in Minnesota in 1834.

Samuel and his brother Gideon Pond were missionaries to the Sioux and, among other exceptional work, compiled a comprehensive lexicon of the Sioux language, subsequently translating the Bible into Sioux.

For those of you who would like to gain an unbiased view of the true Native American, this book is a 'must'.

It is also possible that after learning about Samuel and Gideon Pond, you will develop a deep appreciation of the dedication and hardships suffered by, and the good intentions and pioneering spirit of the missionaries who wanted to enrich the souls of Native Americans.

Samuel and Gideon Pond were truely 'unsung heros' of our American heritage. Their efforts have been annotated in this book, however, and so their exploits still live in the minds of the reader.

Even if you choose not to purchase this book, it would be well worth your time to 'surf' their names in the internet. You will be rather surprised at the results.

I am a bit late catching up on my readings. But amazings stories are timeless. I am inspired by David Moore's incredible love and compassion that he took the time to learn about the kids, whose stories would have vanished forever but now they can be read from generations to generations--especially the descendants of the boys and anyone in similar situation. This book is, in a way, Mr. Moore's story...how an incredible person would just take interest in someone (someone that seems to be out of place like fish out of water) and love them in a way that it would change their life (for the good) forever. I wonder how many folds over the love and understanding that the author shown to the "boys" had multiplied through the boys' lives?

Perhaps someday white male eurocentric assumptions will be sufficiently combatted so that we may learn about the incredible suffering of People of Color during the U.S.'s conflicts. I certainly hope so. This is an interesting book, marred only by the emphasis on males, when there are obviously many important voices that need to be heard from the Hmong.

Moore does a wonderful job of writing the stories told to him by the young Hmong refugees, as they fled from Laos at the end of The Vietnam War. The book is written in an easy to read style, yet tugs at your emotions. I have recommended the book for reading at numerous conferences and diversity presentations for anybody wanting to start trying to understand the Hmong. I have also suggested it to some of the Hmong teens born in the US, so they can have an understanding of their parent's sacrifices. Many people are unaware that The Hmong lost 1/3 of their race to help us. Maybe reading this book will help kindle compassion for such loyal allies!

I bought this at a library sale for a dollar. Life's difficulties kept me from reading the Washington part, but the early sections were riveting. Humphrey's father and two friends created a remarkably stimulating intellectual atmosphere in a small South Dakota town, centered on his father's drugstore. The credit squeeze's dramatic effect on the town and the Humphrey family give us an idea of what could happen with today's credit crisis
if safeguards are not in place.

It was illuminating how Humphrey won the Minneapolis mayorship as a graduate student in political science. We think of Minneapolis as squeaky clean in its politics, but in truth at that time the business elite was completely willing to turn its back on prostitution, gambling, and other petty crimes as long as its own interests were not interfered with. Humphrey's humble, incorruptible Greek-American confidante, who owned vending machines, told him how local rackets worked. As director os a WPA project at that time, Humphrey dared to reject sloppy work. That gave him widespread credibility that gained him his first major elected office and provided a springboard to his national political career.

This is a great read. Here, Humphrey sums up his life, his beliefs and his goals for the coming years. Those who want to know what our nation should be like ought to read this book.

Humphrey dreamed of an opportunity society in which the public and private good made sure that all of our citizens had access to such basic human needs as health care, a human and living wage, education, day care, family leave, a job and a safe neighobrhood and environment. He dreamed of a society in which we would all be equal, regardless of who we are or what our skin color is. Has his dream come true? Of course not. The 'new right' in America has declared war on all that is good about our government and its humanitarian goals. They have declared war on the workers and unions which Humphrey so adored. They have declared war on basic labor regulations. They ought to read Humphrey's autobiography and grow a heart!

Hubert Humphrey in his last speech before Congerss said something which has touched me and is my political motto:"The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped." We need to make sure that America does not fail the 'moral test of government.'

For those who see Humphrey as a has-been civil rights leader and as LBJ's Vice President, I urge you to read this book and see how radically pro-labor and pro-civil rights he was. It's a good read!

Now that we have seen the immense international goodwill for the US frittered away in the same way as its budget surplus by the present ideologues in the White HOuse, this book makes us think what the standing of the United States would be if such a vital, decent and exuberant man as Hubert Horatio Humphrey had made it to the White House. The Happy Warrior in his own words is conversational and irrepressible (about the only ungenerous thing he says about someone is that so and so is "a mean man") and his golly-gosh spirit bubbles throughout the narrative. That such goodness, intelligence and vision got lost to history is America's tragedy. This is a wonderful book for all who still have great hopes for the USA as an example of compassion and a friend to all nations.

Daniel Dennis

Brisbane Australia

An excellent book on the life of Hubert H. Humphrey, by the subject himself. I have read others pieces on Humphrey, but this work comes through in his own voice, as if he is sitting there talking to you. As biographies go, I think Carl Solberg's book on the late Vice President is the most thorough on the subject, but Humphrey's account is the most readable. The subject is also well done by Dan Cohen.

The title Fear of a Queer Planet is a play on the famous essay on race, Fear of a Black Planet; only readers deaf to history would fail to make the connection. This is a pioneering book, with essays by Eve Sedgewick, Henry L. Gates, and Michael Warner, among others, the first to push gay identity politics beyond its limitations within "gay and lesbian studies" and into social, economic, and transcultural theory. It is indeed "planetary" in its attempt to take gay and lesbian theory past the blindness of American identity niche-marketing and and fashion magazine triumphalism.

Queer as used in this title means sexual conduct that deviates from established norms. It is not gender limited. The question then is who is afraid and how does that fear involve the planet? Those who fear, evidently, are those burdened with imposing the norms. The first essay in this anthology tells the story of Balboa's encounter with Panamanian "sodomy." The burden in that case fell upon political and religious figures. The next-to-last essay tells how the defeat of Quebec's bid for sovereignity was blamed on its tolerance of homosexuality, thus situating the burden in the domain of the general culture. The last essay recounts the "outing" in the US pop media of a female entertainer with attendant public anxieties, thus situating the locus in the general culture. But how does that make the fear planetary? The introduction, best read as a postscript, attempts to connect the theme with the planet through the device of Pioneer 10's spacecr! aft design. But the connection is superficia,l and the reader is left to find it in the issues raised by postmodernism, which heavily undergirds much of the volume's ponderosity. Eleven of its 15 contributors are teachers of English, with a lit-crit approach heavily freighted with fashionable structuralism-desctructuralism jargon; but the diligent reader can find a rich cornocupia for reflection here and food for thought; but he/she must look for the planatary connection (and it does exist, we have no doubt) in the areas of ontology and epistomology that postmodernism leaves us floundering in. Howard of Athens

The title Fear of a Queer Planet is a play on the famous essay on race, Fear of a Black Planet;only readers deaf to history would fail to make the connection. This is a pioneering book, with essays by Eve Sedgewick, Henry L. Gates, and Michael Warner, among others, the first to push gay identity politics beyond its limitations within "gay and lesbian studies" and into social, economic, and transcultural theory. It is indeed "planetary" in its attempt to take gay and lesbian theory past the blindness of American identity niche-marketing and and fashion magazine triumphalism.

This short book is a series of forestry essays on a wide range of topics. The author is a professional forester and has a practical bent to forestry. It is more of an idea book rather than a specific how-to volume. I especially liked the essay on the red pine monoculture plantation.

I read "Finding The Forest" from my personal perspective of having forged a long driveway through our forest, often following hints of old logging roads - having built a home in the woods and watched as the second-growth forest matured around me. I have planted hundreds of trees in near-by fallow fields and gazed with awe and longing at huge white pine stumps found throughout the area. The forest is part of my home and a major part of my photographic travels.

What I discovered in "Finding the Forest" was an affirmation of common feelings, and the guiding hand of an expert offering fresh perspectives, such as in the chapter "Red Pine Maligned." Here, Peter rebuts the common notion of a red pine plantation being "an ecological desert" with a first-hand tour of his growing forest and the diversity found within it.

In a time when debate over forest management policies are often driven more by sentiment than by science, "Finding the Forest" offers woodland owners a good read and an excellent guide to looking at their own forest through the eyes of a professional forester.

Craig Blacklock, Nature Photographer

Peter's stories reflect a personal evolution of thought about forests and forestry. The episodic events are weaved into a colorful anthology of tales that are easy reading but can be deeply thought provoking. There's a solid base of practical stewardship philosophy that many forest owners would do well to consider. Lessons that have been learned and shared demonstrate a balance between people and nature that is more down-to-earth and applicable than most "nature-writers." The experiences delightfully illustrate a love of forest management tempered by the realities of natural processes. In this age of frequent conflict over natural resource issues, often single-use issues, this book offers a well-written respite that gently explores the quiet process of learning and living with the forest. "Finding the Forest" fits well into the forest landscape. It is simply written and expresses a wealth of unpretentious wisdom.

Kudo's to Jeff Forester for doing proper research and then telling it like it is. This book is well written, has great photo's, and is a must for anyone interested in the effects that we have on our environment.

Journalist Jeff Forester gives us a well-balanced history of American logging and its effects on both the American psyche and forest ecology. A solid, well-documented and engaging read.

Every time I've been camping, fishing, hunting or hiking in the woods, I've had a hankering to see them the way they looked when the pioneers first got to this country--you know, Laura Ingalls Wilder envy. And this book really helped me visualize the virgin landscape while understanding how the forests came to look as they do now.
I don't typically read non-fiction, but Forester (the author, not some guy in tan khakis & cap) really has a personal, close up and easy-to-read perspective on the North Woods and the book flows like a novel. Laura Ingalls couldn't have described the changing forest management models any more descriptively: from the fire-setting Indians and small-time pioneer loggers to the huge lumber barons and the birth of environmentalism. The book ends with great food for thought on the current land management practices and restoration forestry (trying to make the woods look like it used to using fire, as the Indians did).
Fascinating story. Incredible photographs.

Full Service's characters feel real. The interactions feel like they matter. There is a plot arc but it doesn't dominate the book - instead the book unfolds a particular summer, a particular lens on how it goes in a small white town and the larger world. This particular lens has a lot to do with sexuality and making sense of the world. There are a couple subtle gay characters but the focus is on heterosexuality - and this is one of the few teen books I've read where the women and girls are just as lusty as the men and boys and aren't made to suffer G-d's wrath for it. This is one of the books where each character is rounded with a virtue and a problem. It reminded me of "Our Town" but less feeling of allegory and more the feeling you could know people like these.

In the summer of 1965, shy Paul Sutton, at the urging of his mother, takes a job at the local Shell gas station in the tourist town of Hawk Bend, Minnesota. Paul is a bit apprehensive about his new summer occupation, but nonetheless leaves the shadow of his family's religious farming community and goes to "meet the public." Paul's stint as a full-service gas attendant quickly becomes anything but a simple summer job.

First, there's Kirk, the angry gas station manager whose frequent "service calls" and narrow-minded opinions soon get him in more trouble than he can handle. Then there's Harry, a kind, older gentlemen who's still trying to escape his gangster past. And beautiful Peggy, whose torrid love triangle between her controlling boyfriend Stephen and dark-haired Dale --- Peggy's on-the-side lover who's headed for Vietnam --- snags Paul into its tangled web.

Along with the great expectations of his community's fundamentalist ministers, the family of hippies visiting Hawk Bend on their way to San Francisco, and the various tourists who pass through Shell Station, Paul finds himself dealing with the prospect of a new independent life or continuing to lead the odd quiet farm life in which he grew up.

FULL SERVICE is about a young man's rite of passage as the world he lives in is undergoing its tumultuous own coming of age. It's a strangely compelling, nostalgic novel that may make readers notice how much the world has changed and how they themselves may have changed as well.

--- Reviewed by Sarah Sawtelle ([...])

" 'No, no, no,' she said impatiently, wiping her hands and turning down her radio, 'a real summer job--full-time. One where you could meet the public.'
"I glanced quickly through the screen door. 'What about Father?'
" 'I'll talk with him.'
"I shrugged. 'Yeah, well, what about the others?'
" 'For once let's not worry about the others,' she said. She turned back to her dishes, and her hands again moved into the soapy water as quick as trout among stones.
" 'The others' takes some explaining. We were a Midwestern family long on religion. Not Lutheran, but sort of. Not Mennonite, but kind of. Not Amish, but a little bit. Not Quaker, but a good part. It was a Christian nondenominational faith, a phrase mystifying to my few school friends who were not in it ('Come on, Sutton, how can a church have no name?'). Farmwork was communal. My family shared the larger machinery--baler, grain combine, corn picker, silo-filling equipment--with several other families in the Faith. Planting, haying, threshing, silo filling, corn picking were done on an orderly circuit: VandenEides, Grundlags, Sorheims, Suttons (that was us), and so on. Unlike the Mennonites in Canada or the Amish in central Minnesota, each family owned its own farm, but the focus was on shared work, worship, and fitting in with the others."

It's 1965, and Paul Sutton has spent his first nearly-sixteen years pretty-well sheltered by life on the farm, and living among those families of the Faith. Tumultuous events elsewhere--the Civil Rights Movement, the War--seem like they're taking place in another world as heard through Paul's mom's little transistor radio. But Paul's life is about to get shaken up in a big way thanks to one of his mom's infamous "plans":

" 'All right. I'm listening,' my father said, though he really wasn't.

" 'First, Paul finds a job--a real job, one where he can meet the public--and then we hire someone to take up the slack here at home,' she said.
"My father reached for the bread He began to butter a piece. The silence went on. Finally he said, 'First, I don't know that Paul necessarily wants to work in town. Second, who could we find to take his place? There are no hired men anymore. But third, none of it really matters, because there aren't any jobs in Hawk Bend for farm kids. Town kids have them all.'
"There was silence. I looked down at my food.
" 'It must be nice to be right all the time,' my mother said.
"I sucked in a breath and held it."

"Well, I try my best
To be just like I am,
But everybody wants you
To be just like them."
--Minnesota native, Bob Dylan (1965), "Maggie's Farm"

Thirty or forty pages into reading FULL SERVICE, I found myself thinking back to such wonderful children's books as BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE, A YEAR DOWN YONDER, and THE CANNING SEASON. These thoughts did not spring from any belief that Will Weaver's new book is the appropriate next read for the elementary school fans of those award-winning titles.

In fact, FULL SERVICE is a real sex, drugs, rock & roll, told-in-the-first-person, oft-rude, coming-of-age, YA novel that takes place back in '65.

But what Kate DiCamillo, Richard Peck, and Polly Horvath did so well with those books was to create unforgettable, multigenerational, ensemble casts of characters. And in FULL SERVICE, Will Weaver accomplishes this so exquisitely that I could easily imagine him writing another book about any one of, perhaps, a dozen different members of "the public" with whom Paul Sutton comes in contact as the result of landing a job at the Shell service station in downtown Hawk Bend, Minnesota (population 1,750) over that summer that he turns sixteen.

That list of characters begins with Paul's coworkers, Kirk and Bud. Kirk's the former high school jock with a wife, kids, and a rather healthy number of bad habits, as Paul quickly learns when he takes over manning the pumps at that full-service Shell station and starts meeting "the public."

"I met a local housewife with blonde hair piled high and sprayed in place. She seemed annoyed that I came out to wait on her, and she asked for fifty cents' worth of gas. She kept looking toward the office, the back room. 'Isn't Kirk on today?' she finally asked.
" 'Kirk is engaged by a service call.'
" 'I'll bet he is,' she said.
" 'Is there anything Bud or I might help you with?' I asked.
"She gave me a long look. 'Bud--it'd be a cold day in hell. And you--not for a couple of years.'
"My ears reddened like train semaphores.
"Unless you know furnaces, that is,' she said, raising one eyebrow at me.
" 'No, ma'am,' I stammered.
" 'There's the main boiler and then there's the pilot light,' she said, gesturing, drawing a circle with her hands.
"I nodded.
" 'Oh, you do know furnaces after all?'
" 'Well, kind of--I mean I know what a pilot light is,' I stammered. " 'Good. Good. A lot of men go through life never understanding the difference between a pilot light and the main boiler. My first husband, Bill, he never knew where to look. Matter of fact, he couldn't even find the basement.' "

Other notable characters include the "hired hands" Paul's mom succeeds in locating and "The Workers" who are supposed to be assisting Paul in preparation for his transformation into a grown member of their religious community.

Then those distant world events make their presence felt in Hawk Bend in the guise of a family passing through town in their VW bus on their way to joining the antiwar efforts in Berkeley, and a barber in town who lost his son in the Korean "conflict."

Through it all, Paul has to figure out where he stands in regards to his beliefs, his religion, and those world events, and how he fits into "the public."

In the long run, one of the characters we see through Paul's eyes who really surprised me is his father. The author sets him up as a rigid man of strict habit who strongly adheres to the rules of his religion, but, in contrast to stereotypes, Paul's father ends up as the rare character who really understands what being a Christian is all about.

As with Will Weaver's previous book, CLAWS, this is not only a book that I'm anxious to recommend, it is also a book about which I'm anxious to sit down with a bunch of teens and have long discussions.

This book gives general principles of gardens with prairie plants, examples of actual gardens, a few plans and lots of information on specific plants. The information on the plants is the highlight of the book. The plans that they show are excellent.

Searching Amazon for horticultural books on native and prairie plants? Look no further, this is the best of all the offerings.

Part how-to, part field guide, and part history lesson; the Wasowski's have quite effectively authored a book about a large topic that can be enjoyed by experienced professionals and newcomers alike. Just by reading a few pages one can tell Sally Wasowskis' passion for the prairie, this is obviously a person who loves what they are doing. There is a lot to learn from her experience.

Refreshing and unlike other books, is the mix of science into common place language. Plants are listed by scientific family--not the color of their flower. Then by common name with the scientific name following. As a departure from every other prairie book, the scientific names are given their pronunciation in parenthesis (YEA!). Then a description of habitat range, unique features, and often reference the medicinal uses by Native Americans or a little science of leaf structure, for example.

Gardening With Prairie Plants is not written from the perspective of let's say Illinois, where the prairie goes full throttle. It includes native plants that extend into the South, the West, and notably Canada. So if you don't live in the Midwest the reader certainly won't feel left out. The Wasowski's have traveled to all these areas and the plants are discussed on the basis of prairie plants being part of a hemisphere.

Much of the success of this book, and this may go unnoticed by other reviews, is the wonderful photography. All photos are in color. Andy Wasowski has done a superb job whether its the detail of a complex flower or a wide sweeping vista of the American West. The pictures are well placed and compliment the the text well. This book also makes for an interesting coffee table book too.

The best of the prairie gardening books, this is a well spent $30, you won't be disappointed!

[Gardening with Prairie Plants by Sally Wasowski], Native Plant Society of Texas News, 20 (March April 2002): 5.

Convincing people that native flora are ideal for their home landscape should be easy. Colorful native plants flower as early as late February and continue to bloom until late June. After a respite during the intense heat and withering drought of summer, a riot of blossoms emerge again from September until the first frost of late autumn. Few gardens comprised of commercially popular non-native plants can compete with the duration of such a showy display. And few can match the low maintenance, the reduced water requirements, and the environmental benefits of native-flora horticulture.

Sally Wasowski's latest book, Gardening with Prairie Plants, is aimed at converting skeptics who doubt that native-plant landscapes can make any difference in the world. These are people who argue the futility of trying to reverse the course of things in any given region. In reply, Wasowski points to native-plant landscaping as one way to preserve biodiversity. Biodiversity is like the human auto-immune system; it provides an eco-system with the means for successfully adjusting to disruptive new conditions.
Wasowski has a good chance of succeeding against the skeptics because her volume-reasonably-priced and readily available in Texas bookstores-is excellently produced. Not only is her well-informed commentary accessible to the average reader, but Andy Wasowski's accompanying color photographs are spectacular. The publisher wisely opted to print large illustrations, and the 241 that appear in Gardening with Prairie Plants prove the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. Since Texas is a prairie state, there are attractive photos of Brown County, Quitaque, Gruene, Fort Worth and Lubbock, among other Lone Star State locales.

Gardening with Prairie Plants commences with several instructive definitions, such as the difference between short-grass prairies, which tend to be found in dry regions subject to very hot weather, and long-grass prairies, which tend to be found in wet regions subject to very cold weather. But such distinctions can become somewhat more complex, and Wasowski negotiates various qualifications in an easy-to-understand way. Her book then proceeds to consider the design, installation and maintenance of prairie gardens. This section is highlighted by photographs of homes, schools and museums exemplifying successful transitions to native landscaping. The impressive experiment at Selah Ranch in Johnson City is also featured.

Most of Wasowski's book is devoted to plant profiles, which comprise a richly illustrated section of the volume and are accompanied by helpful horticultural data and numerous floral distribution maps. The flowers populating this portion of the book are so appealingly presented that it will be hard for some readers to resist wanting to adopt all of them. Consider, for example, the allure of the beautiful photograph of needle-and-thread (Hesperostipa comata), accompanied by this description: "Needle-and-thread sways in the slightest wind with a motion like water, and the awns have a silvery cast. ... Wind blows the `needle' onto the soil. The threadlike 5-to-8-inch awn is twisted behind the needle, and as it unwinds, the seed is literally drilled into the soil."

Gardening with Prairie Plants is an admirable work. It will be cherished by anyone devoted to native flora, but it will appeal equally to those who have as yet made only a modest foray into native-plant landscaping. Gardening with Prairie Plants is not only extraordinarily useful, it is also exceptionally beautiful-a lavishly designed book for enthusiast and dreamer alike.

William J. Scheick, a former NPSOT vice-president, is also a member of the Central Texas Horticulture Council and a frequent contributor to Texas Gardener.

In 2008, Minnesota celebrates its 150th year of statehood. And there have been some historical discussions about the state's handling of various local Indian tribes when the white man arrived--and the Indians were moved to reservations.

In August 1862, the Indian chiefs lost control of their people--because they were starving and angry, waiting for food that was promised by the government, food being held by men at the Agency warehouse.

In a time when it was often "kill or be killed," the reality of the early settlers jumps off the page. Featured is the Owen family: abusive and no-good father John; Ma; Hawk, 18; and Jake, 17 - Hawk, Jake and John's stories told first person in different chapters.

I can hardly find the words to tell how exciting this excellent storytelling is. Author Williams neatly wove fact and fiction to make this a real page-turner. Of course, being from the Ft. Ridgely area took me on a personal journey.

When Hawk and his father clash, the father kicks him off the farm in Ottertail County in northwestern Minnesota. A map shows the distances covered by foot, horse or ox carts, and it was amazing how far people walked those days.

This, the first in a three-part series, finds first Hawk wandering on his own, and then follows Jake, full of revenge because of his mother's murder by Indians. We are with them as they survive, meet with good and bad people-and use every stay-alive skill taught them by an uncle.

Hawk was befriended by the Métis (may-TEE), decedents of European traders who interbred with native woman. Most were French-Canadian trappers/traders who drove ox carts. Jake became reclusive, keeping a step ahead of trouble. John Owen sank even lower than he was as a father and husband.

Space does not allow room to tell their stories-but to say that if you love well-written history-and stories about survival, love, friendship-this series is for you.

Book 2, Sophie's Hawk: Spirit of the Raptor, continues the saga, as does Book 3, Hawk's Quest: A Superior Pursuit (2008) continues with the Owen boys as they find their way, make homes and families and again move around the state.

Any history buff, regardless of where you live, will love this author's storytelling ability.

Armchair Interviews says: IF you love historical fiction that seem so real that you root for the characters, this series is for you. Read the series in order so you know the characters.

Hawk's Valley is an fantastic book. The kind of book that you will sit down and read and hate to set down. Easy to follow, because you feel like your taking the journey with the characters in the story. All kinds of feelings flow in this book. Anger, excitement, humor. The kind of book you will read time and time again. Reading it a second time now, anticipating the sequel. Again, its fantastic!

Outstanding!!! It's one of those that you want to read again and again! The story is about a family as told through the eyes of three of the main characters, each giving a new perpsective on what happened on "that fateful day in 1861" that led them on their adventures to find one another. Throughout the story the paths of these characters cross in very subtle ways. There are so many complexities to the plot, yet it is an easy and enjoyable read. There were moments where I found myself laughing out loud and others where my heart was racing in suspense. The characters are so vivid and it was hard to tell which parts of the story were fiction and which were true accounts in Minnesota history. It was an enjoyable way to learn the real story behind some of the names and legends. I can't wait for the sequel!!