Minnesota Books

This is an extremely thorough, even-handed and well-written bio. The author's approach is intelligent and his research and references are extensive.

One learns that Brooks began as an upper middle class wildchild from the plains who determined early to be a great dancer. She had talent and determination. But Fate along with timing made it possible for her to escape Kansas for New York City at the tender age of 15 (!) to train with a premiere dance company. She seems never to have gotten past being that wildchild and was, at 17, dismissed from the troupe for unacceptable behavior. Soon she was a dancer on Broadway, including a stint with the Ziegfeld Follies. Next stop, the movies!

Being admittedly "selfish and stubborn" as well as volatile, Brooks tore through New York, Paris, London, Hollywood, Berlin and back, living it up and burning bridges all around. By age 25 she was finished in terms of ever becoming a movie star or great dancer. She eventually disappeared into a gin bottle, was reduced to dance instruction, retail sales and finally "love for sale."

This is all fascinating enough, but her late-in-life resurrection as a rediscovered silent era "icon" (based mostly on films made in Europe in the late 20's) and as a newly minted writer is the surprising twist toward the end of an otherwise bleak life story.

Her work in Pabst's "Pandora's Box" ought to provide Brooks all the immortality any actress could desire. She is spectacular as Lulu and deserves every accolade. She was a beauty, but there were other beauties of her era who achieved greater stardom - Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow. Her "black helmet" hairstyle was well suited to her looks, but it's more likely that Colleen Moore actually popularized the look, having been a superstar of the 20's (which Brooks wasn't)and the iconic "flapper." As for her skill as a writer (with reference to "Lulu in Hollywood"), I find Brooks interesting, insightful and even poetic, but there is an underlying note of bitterness that undermines any claim of objectivity. And, considering her decades of gin guzzling, I question her ability to be very accurate 40-50 years after the fact. For me, the mystique and power of Louise Brooks comes down to her performance in "Pandora's Box," her primary and glorious claim to fame.

Read "Louise Brooks" by Barry Paris and form your own conclusions. Don't miss "Pandora's Box." The Criterion Collection DVD boxed set includes Kenneth Tynan's 1979 profile, the TCM production, "Looking for Lulu," a 1970's interview with Brooks and other extras.

This book is an expansive overview of the life of Louise Brooks and also of the early days of the movie industry. Very throughly researched, it gives a nuanced look and the beautiful, brilliant and maddeningly self-destructive icon. It also is a wonderful history of the entertainment world in the 1920's and the personalities who populated that world. A must-read from fans of Louise Brooks.

Several books have been written about Louise Brooks, but this book is probably the most concise and most thorough of them all. The book starts off with Louise's birth and it describes all the people that helped to make Louise so interesting and famous. There are many black-and-white photos of Louise, from the time she started in show-biz (at age 4) to Louise in her later years, just before her death.

Since Louise Brooks had such a fascinating life, it is not a surprise that this book is so long. Each Chapter basically covers a chunk of her life, and each Chapter describes (in detail) the characters that encountered & shaped Louise, and also all the Theatre and Movie productions that Louise was involved in.

This is what a biography should be: insightful, understanding, offering a measured & complex view of its beloved subject. And what a subject Barry Paris has in Louise Brooks! Her beauty, her intelligence, her compelling charisma all shine in these pages, giving us a multi-faceted view of this ravishing star. For someone who had never heard of Louise Brooks, this biography will send him or her in eager pursuit of her all-too-few films & her own writing -- and both are of the very highest standard.

It's clear that Brooks never did anything without wanting to give her all, to make true art out of it, a work of beauty & meaning that would stand the test of time. And the same could be said of this superb biography. While Paris clearly adores Brooks (and with good reason), he never succumbs to blind hagiography. Nor does he stumble in the opposite direction of pathography. His purpose is to explore the life of a fascinating woman, and to present it to the reader as thoroughly & lucidly as possible. He succeeds on every level. Louise Brooks emerges from these pages as both a flesh & blood woman, and as the dazzling, mysterious icon she became to countless admirers.

In short, the best book on Louise Brooks you'll ever find, most highly recommended!

I have not yet read this entire book, but just glancing through it when it arrived I would find that I have just read twenty pages or so whenever I openned it up. I can't wait until I read it cover to cover.

My daughter and I recently came back from Ireland where we saw the Book of Kells. Yesterday we went to the exhibit of the Saint John's Bible at the Phoenix Art Museum. If you have a chance to see the exhibiy in person don't miss it. The Saint John's Bible is the Book of Kells for our time. This art is astounding! There are no word's to describe the wonder of the Art. The most compelling image for me was the view from space of the earth. As a child of the space age the art appealed to me because it has the roots of the past yet with a modern twist. The book itself is wonderful. I am a 3rd generation "printer", the book itself is magnificent, but yes it is a quality printed book, and a reproduction. It is not the "huge" original. But it is available at an extremly reasonable price to hold in your hands!!!! Last semester I paid $150 for a Calculus book which does not even come close, but I needed it for my job. Buy this book to feed your soul and mind - it is unforgetable. This book has modern artistic sensibilities and translations speak to the mind of one who has seen the universe.

To have a copy of Gospels and act hand writen and the art is amazing. This is something one could pass long to family members thru the years or ages. It is bit prices, but it the Holy word of God and art about the son of Man.

I too have seen the originals and was captivated by idea and the execution. When they said that they were going to make versions of them for the public I immediately planned to collect the entire set.

Now, 5 minutes after opening this (the first I had ordered), I have already printed off my return label.

The font is too small and too cramped. Since it is calligraphy, instead of being difficult to read, it would be nearly impossible to read. The dimensions of the book itself make severely awkward to hold while reading.

So if you want a beautiful piece of artwork to sit on your bookshelf, buy it.

If you want a beautiful Bible to study and read and enjoy, don't buy this. That's not what it's designed to be.

This book is absolutely beautiful and inspiring. Have never seen anything like it and I will most certainly buy all of the other editions, as they come out. The price was excellent, I first saw this at the Museum of Natural History in San Diego, CA, where I live. I went to see the Dead Sea Scrolls on exhibit, they had a copy of this book in the book shop at the museum, the price was $20.00 more than what I paid on Amazon. And, as usual the price, service and delivery were excellent. Anyone who buys this will be absolutely please. A wonderful collection for your library. Thanks Amazon

Just got the book today. I was excited when I opened the package. The book was in pristine condition. Nice packaging and no nicks or scratches on the cover. But the real treasure is in the individual pages. The pages approximate the color of the original vellum used (creamy to beige). The colors are crisp and the primaries are the dominant ones: reds, greens, blues of different hues. The gold color could not capture the original gold foils. I saw some pages from SD Museum of Natural History. I was spellbound. HOWEVER THE GOLD COLOR OF THIS EDITION COULD BE MANIPULATED: TRY READING IT USING NATURAL LIGHT (COMING FROM THE SUN) AND ANGLE THE PAGES A LITTLE BIT OBLIQUELY AND YOU CAN SEE WHAT I MEAN. If you are not satisfied what this edition could offer, try getting the facsimile edition which looks like (from the measurements down to the gold foils) the real thing. But the asking price is $150,000 to cover up the expenses in making the original one. This edition is printed on alkaline paper and the individual pages are thick, made in China but the quality is excellent. I even went further of my perfectionist stint when I examined the print using x10 jeweller's loupe. The print is a little bit grainy which is no different from the best printed books of today. I was just hoping it was a Giclee print (much more expensive, though) which does not reflect on the book's price. As usual, the technique used in this printing is the time-honored color separation. The artworks used in the Gospels are superb and strikingly modern. Some, though, still mimick the Greek-Byzantine icons of the 5th to 17th centuries. I really like the full-page artworks especially the opening pages of each Gospels, Transfiguration, Good Samaritan-Prodigal Son and the page in the Acts depicting St. Paul. Calligraphy used in the majority of the text is somewhat monotonous but an art in itself. What striked me most is the attention to detail of the print. You can see some pages where the colors and ink bleed from the other side of the page (which you can see in the originals). Other peculiarity is the unintentional omission of the whole sentence/verse found in Mark chapter III between verse 20-21. The artist included the lost verse by using a figure of a bird picking it up and "inserting" the verse into the line. This makes this Bible more intersting and beautiful. There are other things I could say but this review would only spoil the surprise (spoiler alert!). Try experiencing the magnificence of this first release of the seven. I'm planning to buy the complete set for my collection in my personal library. P.S. The Book of Psalm received a very bad press and a lot of them (reviewers) were disappointed. But that would not deter me from buying the book.

Just ordered this and awaiting it anxiously. I have just finished two later collections The Hill Bachelors and Cheating at Canasta (the title story in the latter is heartbreaking and just a perfect piece of writing). I also immediatley ran out and bought After Rain and A Bit on the Side. I had overlooked Trevor for years. I now fully acknowledge that in doing so; I deserve to be tried for crimes against humanity! Being from Ireland and living here, I also live with the constant knowledge that Trevor is a god and part of the literary furniture. Somehow, strangely, I just took him for granted and never read him. I had also wrongly assumed that Trevor belonged to that somewhat stuffy Irish "big house novel" literary tradition (if one can call it that). By chance, I picked up The Hill Bachelors and have found literary salvation! He is utterly brilliant and consistently so. 12 collections and counting. Nearly every collection consists of 12 stories, each about 20/22 pages long, divided in to 5 or 6 scenes. His structure is so simple and within it he performs miracles, over and over again. It is also wonderful how his stories alternate between a story set in Ireland and a story set in England, the country that he has lived in since his 30s. I adore short stories and all the great North American and Irish writers in the genre: Hemingway, Carver, Wolff, Munro, Joyce and McGahern. But I think Trevor is now my literary hero - plus he's a first rate gentleman (not always so with literary geniuses). Although now 80 let's hope for a new collection from the master in about 2010 and God help him, maybe more after that.

If you enjoy consummate skill in the written word you will treasure this book. It is the most beautifully crafted collection of short stories I have ever encountered. The characters are powerful, endearing, heartbreaking, loving, loathsome, self centered, generous, and sometimes frightening - the scope of this work is breathtaking. It is unfortunate that a book perfect for "dipping into" is so large and heavy - a reissue in rice paper would halve both (The Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1918 has 1166 pages and fits quite comfortably in a coat pocket!) William Trevor is a genius - if you buy his book you will not be disappointed. Dr Peter J Kirby.

It took me a couple of months to make my way through these 85 stories and it was definitely worth the time I spent with them. Trevor's prose is always simple and clear, yet his range of characters and plots is astonishing because of their superbly captured detail and variety. Most of these stories deal with Irish and English characters, and many swirl around the realities or possibilities of extramarital affairs. "In Isfahan," one of Trevor's best stories, a married middle-aged man carries on an impromptu affair with a young woman he meets while in Iran; in "Lovers of Their Time," another top-notch story, a married man carries on a long-term affair with a shop girl by meeting her in a hotel's second-floor public bathroom. Trevor is also quite adept of presenting the romantic yearnings of women. In "The Ballroom of Romance," a country girl's dreams and consequences are highlighted in her trips to the local dance hall; in "Afternoon Dancing," a middle-aged married woman dallies with the idea of an affair with her dance partner after the death of her close friend. Like Chekhov, to whom Trevor is often compared, this writer also has an admirable sense of comedy. "Mulvhill's Memorial" finds an unlikely pornographic set-up within an office; "The Trinity" has a couple booking a vacation to Venice and ending up in Switzerland. Accidents spiral out of control in "The Penthouse Apartment," and in "A Complicated Nature," a man is forced to help his upstairs neighbor when her suitor unexpectedly dies. Another one of the best stories of this collection is "Broken Homes," where an elderly woman suffers the indignities of having her kitchen painted by a team of indifferent youths. Other first-rate stories include "The Smoke Trees of San Pietro," where a boy's sickness propels his mother into an affair, and "Death in Jerusalem" where a mother dies while on vacation.

Someone else here refers to the problems of 'star' hyperbole. He's right. The five stars Trevor deserves must be especially large and dazzling.
He goes wrong, just a little, once in a while. So did every truly great writer we know. Most of the time he opens a door on the world of two or three people, and shows us the universe in the process. He is a breathtaking artist. Witness 'Another Christmas' - in a dingy living room and armed with no one but an aging Irish couple, he brings home the Troubles in Ireland in epic, heartbreaking scope. And 'Torridge'...a girl said to me when this story first appeared in The New Yorker that it was like Beethoven's Fifth; you can't imagine it not having been around before. It's that good.
Readers! You can do no better than to get to know what this man can do with a pen.

Had never heard of the guy - got it at a bookstore because it had 1200 pages (I needed a lot to read) and because it was written by an old guy (well, he's old now, at least - well- wrinkled but kind looking). So far I'm about a third of the way through it, but like everyone else has said, this book is great. Some writers get lazy and write the same story over and over. Not this guy - every character, every situation is unique. For people who like movies, read the one about Istafan and compare it to "Lost in Translation". The story about the swingers party is indescribably great also, just in the way he describes a man kissing a woman's hair or them barely dancing at all.

Though I have often thought of the similarities between the noses of bears and my own labrador retriever, and been tempted to ascribe those labrador characteristics to bears, I knew better. My reading about bears has included many tales of bear maulings and their extreme medical consequences. This book, though, showed me that bears can equal our canine buddies in establishing full and rich relationships. This unique story of love among the Minnesota woods made me wish that I could pull up stakes and establish a home in the woods and wait for the bears to visit. It really makes one wonder what relationships with other animals we might have if given the opportunity.

I never understood black bears until reading Jack Becklund's book. I laughed and cried, feeling as if I was right there with Jack and his wife Patti. Afterward, I wanted to visit that area, see the house, see the yard where Little Bit and the other bears played. I now want to find out more about helping these wonderful creatures survive. I have never been more moved by a book. I would love to communicate with Jack and Patti some time and get a picture of "Conversation with a Bear". They are incredible people and so fortunate to have had such a gift in their lives as becoming intimately involved with God's beautiful wildlife.
I would HIGHLY recommend this book. I am reading it again now for the second time. It is hard to put down. Thank you Jack and Patti for sharing this beautiful experience with us.
Joanne Setlock
Wallace Ave.
Buffalo, New York 14216

If you love animals, nature, the great outdoors, and reading about people who love all those things too, please get this book, sit down with a box of tissues, and enjoy! You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll shake your head in wonderment. The author Jack Becklund and his wife Patti, move deep into the Minnesota forests. Their property is home to deer gamboling on the lawn, chipmunks and hand-fed squirrels munching seeds on the porch,wild mallard ducks swimming and splashing in the creek below, and a colorful array of native birds. But the real heart of the story is Little Bit, the black bear cub who toddles onto the back deck one day, and stays for the next six summers as a welcome, loving, and deeply loved guest of the couple. She is a magical spirit, a living, breathing gift from God, sent to bring great joy to their lives. We are honored to meet Little Bit's cubs, her mates, and numerous other black bears who live in the area, and come to trust the Becklunds. The story itself is incredible, but between the lines, we watch the couple come to love and appreciate the power of this sacred trust they've been given...the joy of the relationship they share with these magnificent animals.This is a book for all time...a classic in every sense of the word. The photos are magnificent, and bring the personalities of the animals into beautiful focus.

Summer with the bears is by far the best book I've ever read. If you don't have it or haven't read it do so now. It will change your life in some way I'm sure. I first read about it in the Reader's Digest and put my copy on order for the moment it came out. Little bit and all of the other bears touched my heart so much it's hard ot describe. I felt like I was there with them as events were happening. Jack and Patti you are so lucky to have had this special time in your lives and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your sharing it with us. Just goes to show that all animals are not as we always imagine them to be, yet we know at the same time they are not all created equal. There are those that possess a special trait and willingness to be different, that was little bit. Your book was written from your heart, and the pictures helped us to be there too. I laughed and I cried along with you. so few of us will experience what you did interacting with the bears on the level that you did. I attribute your book to helping me find a hidden talent I did not know existed in me. I started sketching, and yes mostly bears. I did one of you and Patti with little bit, if you'd ever like them all you need to do is ask and they are yours. You touched my life in such a special way that in turn I'd like to touch your lives too. Hope there will be more books and I wish you all the best in your lives. Thank You for sharing your special lives with the world.

Summer With The Bears is about a couple who decide to leave the city for an adventure in Minnesota to observe the bears. At first Jack & Patti started out just observing the bears for hours to learn their habits and earn their confidence. And they do earn their trust. There were many more animals that they befriended. They kept a journal on everything that happened concerning the bears and other animals. They even named the bears.

As a true animal lover, I really liked this book. The pictures added to the book. If you are looking for a short and sweet read this is the book for you.

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The url above lists ALL Maud Hart Lovelace's books (including ones for grown-ups, some of which she even wrote along with "Joe"!). But of course the Betsy-Tacy series are for grown-ups, too! :-) I agree with everything everyone's written! Utter joie! What I love about these books is how boys and girls, and then young men and young women, HUNG OUT together (how Julia-of-the-thousand-beaus advises her sister Betsy not to hold a boy's hand because that was being "spooney"!). There is a kiss or two exchanged in this series, but don't tell anyone! How Julia's beau would give Betsy and her friends a dime to get rid of them! Ha ha! The PAIN of love is so well recounted, jealously, lessons learned -- remember how in highschool a few of the girls (Betsy the ringleader) form a "sorority" and how this cuts them off from people and the pain they suffer in this discovery? Remember the goatgirl, the Syrian Village...how they could roam their whole world, safe and free? What one reviewer said about rereading them and finding new gems each time... Ah, yes! Every true gem, when you turn it, dazzles with new sparkles. God bless Maud Hart Lovelace!

Look at the Wordsworth poem with which she chooses to set the very first book off ("Betsy Tacy"):

There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
The earth, and every common sight,
To me did seem
Apparell'd in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream

I grew up on the Betsy, Tacy, Tib novels as a child. I followed the adventures and drama of Betsy, Tacy, and Tib as children and all the way until they were in college. "Betsy-Tacy and Tib" is the follow up to the popular "Betsy-Tacy". The book pretty much picks up where "Betsy-Tacy" leaves off. In this book, the girls get a third friend named Tib, a cute blonde girl who had moved to Deep Valley with her family from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It didn't take very long for the two girls to hit it off with Tib.
It quickly becomes apparent that Tib is more adventurous and free-spirited which gets Betsy and Tacy into heaps of trouble but what young girl didn't get into trouble at their age? "Betsy Tacy and Tib" is an equally wonderful follow up to this classic series. The introduction to Tib is well written and a real treat.

Betsy, Tacy, and Tib is a wonderful book in a great series. Maud Hart Lovelace did a spectacular job writing these stories. My mother read the books and loved them, my sister and I read the books and loved them, and now my little girls are reading them and loving them. These books never seem to grow old even though they are set during the turn of the 20th century. As a child, I not only read them, I wore the books out! I read and re-read the books, I couldn't put them down. I talked about them so much to my friends, they started checking them out from the Library and we would play Betsy-Tacy during recess. Now set in a period of a hundred years ago, they are still captivating kids today. My husband read the first four books in the series to our kids (Ages 7, 5, 3, and 1 at the time) and they love them all. My oldest begged me to let her keep my copies in her room so she could read them herself.

There are many great books in the series, this one in fact is not the first in the series. Check out the other books in the series, Betsy-Tacy, Betsy-Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, Betsy-Tacy Go Downtown, Heaven to Betsy, Betsy in Spite of Herself, Betsy was a Junior, Betsy and Joe, Betsy and the Great World, and Betsy's Wedding. The books take Betsy through grade school and high school, to Europe right before the 1st world war, then back to America for her wedding and the joys and troubles of married life. Some other books not in the Betsy-Tacy series but also by Maud Hart Lovelace and worth checking out are The Trees Kneel at Christmas, Winona's Pony Cart, Carney's House Party, and (my personal Maud Hart Lovelace favorite) Emily of Deep Valley.

This book is about some basic nine year old girls just trying to have fun in many adventures like begging for cookies. It's one of the best books I have read.IT'S A MUST. I REPEAT MUST BUY!

The Betsy,Tacy and Tib books were among my favorites when I was a child. In fact--except for the Oz books--they were the only books whose author's name I remembered! Images from all these books remain vivid in my memory--Betsy and Tacy going to the top of the hill, the twosome becoming a threesome, Tib's blond hairs, and all the rest. Betsy, Tacy, and Tib grew up in a simpler era but they still speak to modern readers. I'm so glad to see these books still in print for another generation to enjoy.

First of all, the title of the audio book "Canoeing With The Cree" is misleading. This work is not about Cree Indian canoeing style. Nor is it about a trip taken with Cree Indians. It is about two boys, Eric Sevareid (later a famous journalist and TV reporter) and Walter Port aged 17 and 19 respectively, who take the trip of a lifetime canoeing some 2200 miles from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay over the course of one summer. Although they do occasionally paddle with or get assistance from both Indians and whites alike, they are pretty much on their own in the world of 1930- No GPS, no satellite phones and a route with long undeveloped stretches between towns and eventually trading posts. The route was incompletely mapped, and nobody could find record of this route having been used before. A better title might be "A Summer Canoe Adventure; Triumph Over Adversity" or just "From Minneapolis to Hudson Bay By Canoe".

Eric and Walter managed to obtain sponsorship from a local newspaper before they asked their parents for permission to take the trip. The parents reluctantly agreed... The boys quickly obtained a used canoe and christened it "Sans Souci". They packed a non-useful pup tent, mosquito netting, a .22 rifle, fishing gear, food, $5 and some traveler's checks and they were off!

From the beginning, they were doubted by nay-sayers who didn't believe they could do it. Even well into the trip, their final destination raised eyebrows. Indeed, it was a daunting task, and many miles had to be covered before the early winter freeze-up in the north country. In addition to pressure to beat the weather, Walter found out he was offered a college scholarship that would only be valid if he showed up at school in late September. The boys risked their futures and their lives by undertaking this trip.
Along the way they encounter blistering heat, and freezing cold, illness, injuries, doldrums and windy weather, flat water, rapids, and wind-blown whitecaps. At one point, they cheat a little and ride aboard a ship when they were wind-bound on Lake Winnipeg, but the majority of the trip was just the two boys paddling through wilderness, even many miles going upstream! There were many miles of portaging their boat and gear between waterways, only occasionally aided by a friendly passerby. Most meals they cooked themselves- Even a dinner of (ugh) carp! You can almost feel their struggle as the cover mile after mile, hour after hour racing towards the saltwater of Hudson Bay.

Their struggles were not always against the elements. Sometimes they got bad directions, including instructions to run the rapids on the right side of the river, when the safer course was belatedly found to be the left side. They made it through, but it was pointed out that the local Indians sometimes didn't... Another struggle they faced was a result of stress due to the elements arduous journey, when they briefly came to blows. Fortunately, they got past their fight and continued on their journey and remained lifelong friends.

This audio-book is highly recommended, and is worthy of repeated listenings.

The late CBS News Correspondent Eric Sevareid's highly regarded adventure chronicle Canoeing With The Cree has been given new life in an enjoyable audiobook production released by Holton House Audio. The story, as written by the late Mr. Sevareid, is one of an epic journey through the Canadian wilderness during the summer and fall of 1930. Sevareid and his friend Walter Port, both just teenagers, set out from Minneapolis, Minnesota, in an attempt to do what no one else had ever done before: canoe over 2,200 miles north to the Atlantic Ocean.

Holton House Audio chose Mr. John Farrell to record Sevareid's epic tale, and it has chosen well. Mr. Farrell's pleasant baritone displays a wide range of emotion that consistently matches both the intensity and innocence of Mr. Sevareid's story, and Farrell's reading style adds what almost seems like visual and sensory components to the recording. At times, as I listened, I could see and sense the stillness of the Canadian wilderness that Mr. Sevareid experienced, while at other times, the tone in Farrell's voice led me to imagine the deafening roar of crashing rapids. I could sense the perils that Sevareid and his friend faced on many occasions. Also, Mr. Farrell's ability to give characters in the story their own unique voices added yet another enjoyable aspect to this quality recording.

I found it refreshing that Canoeing With The Cree was exciting, and yet profanity-free. The recording would be a great addition to any public library's audio collection, and it would also be appropriate for use in High School English classrooms. I intend to start using it in my own Alternative Education High School class this fall, and will make this wholesome and engaging story a regular part of my curriculum for many years to come.

Eric Sevareid's Canoeing With The Cree is a great story, and it's been well told by Mr. John Farrell. I highly recommend this new Holton House Audio recording.

This story is about two high school boys who decided to take a canoe trip during the summer of 1930. Not only is it an adventurous tale but it is a lesson about survival and the determination to accomplish a goal. It is well written and very descriptive making the journey very realistic. This is a must read especially for teenagers who love the sport of canoeing.

2250 miles in a canoe - a great adventure and a book worth reading. I can't add much that isn't already perfectly described in this book.

At the start of the trip during a brief stay in Fargo, North Dakota, a friend and doctor named Frederick Gronvold sets the boys on their journey in a proper frame of mind. "Don't let anyone, no matter who he is, convince you that your trip can't be completed. You have youth and strength, and courage too, I hope, and with a little common sense you can do it."

When the journey finally ends and the boys share their tale with the adults at York Factory, they are asked why? Bud responds simply, "Oh, for pleasure, I guess." A journey simply for the sake of the adventure. It is an idea lost on some of the adults listening to the boys. "Pleasure! What a jolly funny kind of pleasure!" Better yet, maybe the idea isn't lost. Colonel Reid continues, "Oh well, that's youth. Things look different when you're young, I suppose. My word, I almost believe I envy you."

Enjoy the beginning and the end; enjoy the pineapples and everything in between. Enjoy the journey simply for the journey; it's an adventure that is perfect for any reader of any age!

"Eric Sevareid made his name as a CBS news correspondent. But at a young age, Sevareid experienced an adventure most only dream of. Sevareid detailed the journey in his book "Canoeing with the Cree". Now to mark the 75th anniversary of Sevareid's journey, two Minnesota men plan to make the same trip." Tim Post

In 1930 two young men paddled their way from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay in Canada. A trip of 2200 miles. Everyone told them it could not be done. Eric Sevareid, then a 17 year old, fresh graduate of high school, and his best buddy, Walter Port, planned the entire trip. They garnered financial support, collected supplies and a canoe and paddles and off they went. Five months later after trials and tribulations, they made it to Hudson Bay. Their journey is documented by Eric Sevareid, who gathered the weekly diaries he sent to their local Minneapolis paper, and in 1935, he wrote this book.

I stepped back in time to the 1930's when life seemed to be more innocent and the world a safer place to be. Sevareid who went on to become one of the most revered journalists of our time, wrote in an unpretentious manner, and we can feel the excitement of their adventures. They traversed unknown land and water. No one, it seems, had ever accomplished this trek. Even the best canoeists in the country failed. How then, did these two young lads accomplish this journey? Intelligence and good luck, I'd say. They questioned everyone they met, took upon themselves to digest all of the information and made decisions based on their best judgement. And, most of the time they were correct. They had no radio, no maps( this was uncharted country), little preserved food except for hardtack, but they had their ingenuity and the assistance of all of the people they met.

The North Country was mostly woods. Camps, small towns and two larger towns had been established for hunting and trapping. Most of the humans they met were Indians who were kind and generous. As a matter of fact, most of the people they met were in awe of their journey and shared whatever food, equipment and conversation they were capable. The trip was amazing when we look at the obstacles they faced. Water, roaring cold water, sometimes rapids, sometimes falls, no maps, only the word of mouth of strangers, and cold brutal weather at times. Or hot humid weather with flies and gnats. They discovered all sorts of wild animals but were never in real danger. They had their tent, two paddles, food, water, ponchos and several blankets. This seems like a story of new adventurers discovering a new world, and in fact this is what they were. Two 17 year old lads set out on an adventure and one day after another they found one. Extraordinary when you think about it.

Since the time of Eric and Walter, several other duos have made the trip by canoe. However, they had maps, food that could be kept for months and the best of camping equipment. This is not to lessen these young men's courage, but to think 78 years ago, this was accomplished with such primitive arrangments and care.

This was an exciting read and one page after another flew by. The book was difficult to put down. Easy, simplistic writing. but some of the most important writing I have found. The boys parents and friends did not hear from them often and at times, I am sure the parents were worried. But the two lads persevered and the trip was taken.

Highly Recommended. prisrob 06-26-08

Not So Wild a Dream

The Eleanor Roosevelt Story

Lovelace ends the stories of Betsy's childhood with a warmly written story about thr triumphs and misadventures of being a wife. The story continues to shows Betsy's faithfulness to her family, friends, and now her husband, while giving a glimpse of life in the World War I era.

This book is great for children and teens. They will learn about life in the early 1900s in a very readable and enjoyable way.

This is the best of the Betsy Tacy books. I read them out of sequence having read one earlier childish one and then picking up Betsy's Wedding in the school library because of the awesome cover. I later read the rest of the Betsy books and this one is definitely the best one. I think the author changed the level of maturity to match the age of the characters. I'm definitely a fan of Maud Hart Lovelace in the way that some readers are hardcore fans of the Anne of Green Gables writer (I'm not).

If you haven't gotten into the Betsy-Tacy series of girls' books, based on author Maud Hart Lovelace's childhood in turn-of-the-century Minnesota, treat yourself or a young lady you love. Starting with Betsy's Wedding (or any of the books) is fine; Lovelace began this series about the close friendship of 3 little girls at a reading level appropriate for their age in the first book ("Betsy-Tacy," about age 6), and masterfully upped the reading level to match her growing heroines' ages. Betsy's Wedding is a young adult book with charm, period grace and accuracy (Betsy is very concerned about learning to cook for her wonderful groom Joe) but also prescient in its concerns for her budding career as a writer (a la Jo in "Little Women").
A personal note: I was a close friend of Maud Hart Lovelace's daughter Merian, for whom these stories were originally told as bedtime tales. And Maud was apparently as lovely a person as you'd expect from reading the series--a great lady, capable of being very funny, but never never talking "down" to her young readers.

I love these stories. They are like escapes into the past. Very cute.

Hang on to your hats for one huge push of the envelope... a rebuilt UN has succeeded in dividing the US into enclaves under mandate control by other countries and a civil war is raging which puts family and friends on opposite sides. The Sovereign Forces are fighting hard to preserve our Constitution and save our one remaining asset - missile silos in the Middle States. The action is non-stop in the field and the home front as well. Technical descriptions and gritty put-down comraderie among the SF men crackles with authenticity - perhaps straight out of Mannske's own Gulf War experiences?

Can't wait for the rest of this triology - how could the UN get this power and how do we regain it? Hope Mannske doesn't make us wait very long. It's a sure-fire movie hit - heads up on this one Hollywood!

The author calls this book, "Near Fiction," i.e. "a futuristic story that ping pongs somewhere between non-fiction and science fiction." It is certainly all that and much more.

The book is about the US-UN War. Far fetched?

It is Book 2 of a trilogy and Books 1 and 3 have not been written yet. Odd?

Ask George Lucas.

I have to admit that it took me several chapters to wrap my brain around the author's concept of a near fiction war between the US and the UN, but the further one goes into the story, the easier the idea is to accept.

The thing which makes this all work for me is that Michael Mannske can flat out write. His characters come alive, his scenarios become plausable and his knowledge of the military gives the book an authenticity that near fiction and science fiction need in order to remain plausible.

Mannske says in the Afterword that he wrote this book because he was bored. That he wanted to escape the post 9/11 world and be "mesmerized again by cataclysmic clashes and superpower showdowns...where military strategies are brought to life and age old SIOP [Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol] war plans dusted off and tested in the crucible of the imagination."

The crucible of this author's imagination is white hot. If you are looking for a book that is not boring and quite mesmerizing, Foreign and Domestic is just the ticket. I promise you it will make you think and probably keep you up later than is good for you. It did me.

Great book! In the "against all odds" tradition of great novels this book really got to me. A glimpse at a not too hard to imagine predicament and "Hobson's" choice we could be faced with. Solzenitzen warned us - Mannske has too. Love the characters and their development - I can't wait for the next one. This book would make a great movie.

With the support of our president the UN has placed large areas of the US under the control of its political forces and a civil war is raging putting friends and family on opposing sides. The Sovereign Forces are fighting hard to preserve our Constitution and save our one remaining asset - the missile silos in the Middle States. The action is non-stop in the field and on the home front as well. Technical descriptions and gritty put-down comraderie among the SF men crackles with authenticity - perhaps straight out of Mannske's own Gulf War experiences.

Can't wait for the rest of this triology - how could the UN get this power and how do we get it and our country back? Hope Mannske doesn't make us wait very long. It's a sure fire movie hit - heads up on this one, Hollywood!

The book was very timely for it portrays a likely senario of what the UN might do if it had the power. It also shows the complacency of the American people to accept whatever is handed to them without question. We as Americans need to question what our leaders are placing on us and either reject or accept it with clear minds and be willing stand up for what is right, according to the Constitution of The United States as written and understood by the framers of that document, and not based on the interpetation of any group, court, or other entity. This book may be fiction, but it has so many true facts that are relevant to today's enviroment, that only the story line may prove to be fictional. I thought the book was great reading and had trouble putting it down. I would recommend it to anyone with a conservative view. I look forward to this author's future books.
Shelby G. Lowery
P.O. Box 73
New Albany, MS 38652

The book reveals a surprising fact that the British had secretly redrawn the Indo-China boundary without Chinese agreement. Moreover,

When the British relinquished the Indian Empire in 1947, they started to translate the McMahon Line from the maps as the effective northwest boundary of India, despite that the Line appeared on its maps only ten years before. As the British departed, the new Indian government assured that they would complete their work: "If anything, they intended to pursue an even more forward policy than had the British."

I can't believe that we were all fooled by the media. India, not China was the aggressor!

Recently, India and China, the two most populous nations on the planet, have taken significant steps to improve a bilateral relationship deeply scarred by a 1962 war centering over a territoral dispute in an area bordering Chinese-annexed Tibet. This thaw in relations may reflect a generational shift in both countries since this dispute. It is not entirely surprisingly that press commentary on these events, notably in India, has also revived attention to this book published in 1970 by British journalist Neville Maxwell which focuses on the 1962 war which had since scarred relations between the two Asian giant.

Anyone who has not read this book, but has an interest in the future relationship of these two Asian powers, should read it, if only because it remains one of the most important, albeit somewhat controversial, reference on the Sino-Indian conflict.

Maxwell's account of this dispute is held by some observers, including many Indians I have talked to, to be biased against India, particularly as Maxwell (described in at least one Indian paper as a notroious Indophobe and Sinophile) has written QUOTE Indians will be shocked to discover that, when China crushed India in 1962, the fault lay at India, or more specifically, at Jawaharlal Nehru and his clique's doorsteps. It was a hopelessly ill-prepared Indian army that provoked China on orders emanating from Delhi, and paid the price for its misadventure in men, money and national humiliation UNQUOTE

It is timely to reintroduce this book and the controversy surrounding it, since any improvement in this relationship is likely to be mediated by a new generation in both countries, and to involve a generation outside both countries, which did not live through the 1962 conflict.

I don't think the book is biased against India, expecially after reading much materials about this war from Chinese side.
This book is exclusively based on documents from Indian side, so inevitably adopt many Indian assertations. for example, It claims that Indian army in this war was outmanned and outgunned by Chinese. In fact, the two army of both sides are of roughly the same size. Since China got many more strong neighbours and enemies than India, She has to maintain large forces on the border of Soviet Rassia, on the border of Korean in preparation for the possible invasion of US force, and on the southeast coast to watch Taiwan, who always threat to recover the mainland.How can Chinese outmanned Indian on the desolate Tibetan plateau?

another wrong Indian assertation in this book is that they believe Chinese army are better supplied in the war. If we simply have a look of a map we would easily know the Indian side of the border is mostly plain, while Chinese side is the vast mountainous Tibetan plateau.It's much more difficult to build roads on Chinese side (in fact there is no railway cuts into Tibet even nowadays, 2004). Indian army could be supplied by air, the Chinese actually were supplied by men and mules.The author could have easily know this point if he got chance to read some Chinese documents about the war.

This book is definitely one of the best book I've ever read about a limited war between two countries. While I don't think the author has any bias against India, as one of my fellow reviewers suggests, I believe other reviewers have already discussed the merits of this book. I would only like to add three points in this discussion:
1. It is really sad that the UK's imperalism/colonailism haunts these two countires even after withdrawing from India. The MaMahon line is not a written agreement between UK & Chinese (Ching dynasty) governments but a product of some irresponsible officials in India & Tibet. The UK government should have the ultimate blame for the whole debacle.
2. It reminds us that how media can affect our point of view so easily. We must beware of our inherent assumption about the righteousness of a democratic government.
3. In view of Nehru's statement about "driving out the enemy", recent Indian leaders' decalration that China is still the biggest threat for India, I think these Indian leaders should concentrate on improving the life their people instead of fabricating an emeny from these agressive statements.

Since the book tells the truth of Nehru's government's foolishness, arogance, adventurism and opportunist mentality, this otherwise excellent book however was not very popular in India, even to this date.

The disputed McMahon Line was a unilateral imaginary line drawn by the British colony authorities without the awareness of the Chinese and without consulting to the Chinese government. Therefore it was not challenged by the Chinese government before British withdraw from India in 1947. During Nehru's rein, he foolishly pursue the so called "Forward Policy" to take effective control the territory and border that the British imagined and wished to establish. But China in 1962 is no longer the China 1897 under Ching Imerial dynasty who was unable to exercise a strong protection of her own territory. Now Nehru faced with was a formidable Chinese Red Army (PLA) who was battle hardened and had just defeated Chiang Kai-Sheik in 1949 and have fought a war at par with the US army in Korea (1950-1953). Nehru foolishly believed China has no will to defend her territory by force. Therefore Nehru advanced to McMahon Line and tresspassed it. The "Forward Policy" inevitably provoked the Chinese garrison force and the war was erupted inevitably. Although the Chinese has tried to settle this by negotiations, but it was flatly refused bny Nehru's government. The result is the illprepared Indian force suffered humiliating defeat on both west and east fronts. The war however was stopped by a surprising Chinese unilateral withdraw back to the north of McMahon Line. The rest, is history.

Neville Maxwell's book was the result of his extensive research of the Indian Defense Department's archive. It sould be noted that Maxwell was unable to access the records from the Chinese side. So how could it be biased against India? For the reason along, how could it be said he was a Indophobe and a Sinophile? For a loser who does not learn from his mistakes and admit his own failure and shortcomings, a bigger disaster is waiting to happen.

As a sports fan I found Blades of Glory to be a great story of a team's journey toward fullfillment of a life long dream. Rosengren does an outstanding job of highliting the ups and downs of high school athletics and the culture of youth/hs hockey. Additionally, the historical aspects of the book made me more appreciative of past programs and the role the sport plays in the hearts and minds of Minnesota residents.
However, as a high school coach, what I found even more valuable were the qualities and characteristics needed to build and maintain a successful program. Rosengren's brings to life a number of ethical questions that coaches face concerning winning, loyalty, and relationships making this a must read for anyone interested in coaching.

This is a great inside look at an elite high school hockey program. From the players to the coaches to the parents to the cheerleaders to the fans, no angle is left unturned.

Humor, history and controversy: Blades of Glory has it all. More important, Rosengren taps into truth from a variety of perspectives, including those parents, players, coaches--and scouts whose livelihoods depend upon not just upon a prospect's potential but also his circumstances.

But these aren't the reasons I selected the book in the first place. No, I picked up Blades of Glory because I'm a hockey fan (of all levels) and a hockey player; I selected the book because I have lived in Minnesota and have coached hockey (and other sports). I didn't know I'd learn so much about things I thought I knew about, and I didn't realize I'd get more than just a fleeting glimpse of the big hockey picture.

There is a wide variety of hockey books sitting on the virtual shelves at Amazon.com: NHL autobiographies, training manuals and minor league misadventures. I have read many of these books. I'll continue to read them--and will enjoy them for what they are. But these other books won't likely be laced with the same doses of humanity and history as Blades of Glory.

The story of Bloomington Jefferson Jaguar hockey in 2001 could easily have been written about my high school 15 years prior. I grew up one 'burb over and attended Tom Saterdalen's hockey schools as an early teen. It was held at the Bloomington Ice Garden in "prestigious West Bloomington" - the storied venue chronicled in the book.

High school hockey in the Lake Conference is a very big deal. I knew as much from the time I was a Mite and my dad took me to watch our community's team play. Yes it is competitive. Yes there is a win-at-all-cost mentality that draws fire from many - including some of those that have reviewed the book for this site. You can be the judge of whether that is good, bad, or neither.

We (and I'm including pretty much every male hockey player in my community) all wanted to suit up for Varsity very badly. We wouldn't have wanted it so much if it weren't as competitive, as important. Like professional sports, successes are a great source of civic pride.

Blades of Glory takes you inside this world for one sometimes glorious, sometimes frustrating season. Indiana basketball, Texas football, Minnesota hockey. This isn't participatory high school athletics in obscure sports at some random school. Rosengren does a very good job of capturing the emotions. He also weaves in enough tales to make stabs at social commentary without coming across as preachy.

My only knock against the book is that he opts for an effect that takes things out of their chronological sequence in order to emphasize certain emotions and certain points. (Example - wait until you read about the Jefferson Jaguars GIRLS hockey team late in the book. We hear about how some of the boy players are dating girls that play on the team throughout the book... their successful season is covered late, almost as an afterthought. Another example - much is written about a parent's critical letter to the community paper in the early 90s about Saterdalen's overzealous competitive drive. Context on the source is provided at the very end. I'm not sure why that was held back as some sort of finale.)

Anyone that thinks they'd like this book will. A great work.

A former UM-Duluth goaltender loaned me this book. I enjoyed parts of it, but Rosengren's factual errors call into question the whole narrative that the author asks us to believe.

Among Rosengren's goofs:

1) Larry "Pops" Ross never coached at UW-River Falls, as Rosengren claims.

2) Scott Stevens never went head-hunting for Eric Lindros, which led to Lindros' sixth concussion. I watched that game, and Stevens hit Lindros with a legal shoulder check delivered at chest level. Lindros came across the blue line with his head down and he paid for it. There was no malicious intent on Stevens' part, as Rosengren implied.

3) The United States Hockey League (USHL) is not a "beer league" filled with goonery as some of the Jefferson players in the narrative state. Rosengren later slips in subjective evidence to reinforce the notion that the USHL is a thug-filled, bottom-end league. He's way off: The USHL is a top-tier Junior A league with many talented players that end up playing collegiate hockey and beyond.

Here's proof: Blake Wheeler, who played with the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers in 2004-05, was taken fifth overall by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2004 NHL draft. A bloke named Gretzky runs that outfit. In the NHL's 2005 draft, 26 USHL players were selected by NHL teams.

Must be some beer league. I don't know of any beer leagues that have teams that draw more than 100,000 paying fans a season.

Moving on, I had trouble keeping Rosengren's five hockey-playing characters straight. Perhaps that's on me.

Give Rosengren credit for exposing the drug use among the Bloomington Jefferson players and head coach Saterdalen's erie obliviousness to drug use by his players. I liked the way Rosengren neatly worked in Minnesota hockey history, assuming the new history I read was accurate.

As for Minnesota hockey parents, he nailed the worst ones dead one. I coached youth puck in Minnesota for two decades. While most hockey parents in Minnesota are wonderful people who put the game in perspective, there are the toxic few who only see their investment (child) and nothing else. Some of the Jefferson parents demonstrate what psychologists call "achievement by proxy." It's grossly unfair to any young player.

I sometime suspect that we hockey fans are so glad to have anything in print about our sport that we become giddy with joy reading it. This is an average hockey book that fires some of its factual content wide of the net.