New Mexico Books

Mr. McCord has captured the special essence of New Mexico, which is nominally part of the USA, but really almost a separate country and culture all to itself. One could put the case that N.M. is really 2 countries:
1. N.M. in the summers and 2. N.M. in the winters. Both of these countries have a special charm like no other place and deserve a visit with care toward preserving such a vital resource. Buy the book!

This book is just alot of fun. Definitely the best of Bly that I have read. The plot is interesting and keeps you guessing. From the mischievous ten-year-old Paco to the mysterious, smooth talking Delnorte, Bly's characters are original and real. You can't help liking them. This book has a sweet love story that doesn't take over the book, as in most christian fictions, but is just enough for you romantics. This book also has amazing dialogue! Bly has a way of making you feel like you are sitting there right beside the character during a conversation. The heroine, Julianna, manages to weave the gospel message into her conversations without making it sound like a sermon. It was a pleasant surprise to read a christian fiction book and not get that deja veu feeling like you had read it before under a different name. In a world of christian fiction dominated by authors like Gilbert Morris this book is a breath of fresh air.

Outlaws & Desperados: A New Mexico Federal Writers' Project Book is an anthology of vignette essays, biographical sketches, and fascinating true tales about outlaws and desperados of the New Mexico Territory in the American West. Colorful figures featured include Black Jack Ketchum, the Apache Kid, Curly Bill, Devil Dick, Billy the Kid, the Dalton Brothers, and much more. They robbed stagecoaches, trains, prospectors, and settlers; their often murderous exploits were feared by many and glamorized by a few. Between 1936 and 1940, field workers in the Federal Writers' Project (part of the government-funded Works Progress Administration, or WPA) collected and wrote down numerous testimonies to provide an authentic account of outlaws in New Mexico. Now the original documents are published for the first time. A candid portrayal of New Mexico's unruly condition, as plagued by banditry and retaliatory hangings, as invaluable a primary source today as it was over six decades ago. Highly recommended especially for college and university libraries.

Paintbrushes and Pistols is the story of an unusual alliance that changed the American West and American art at the turn of the century. It was an alliance between Ernest Blumenschein and other immature, naive men of great artistic talent who became known as the Taos Society of Artists, Fred Harvey, a genius in the field of food and lodging, and the promotion-minded men who operated the Atxhison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railroad.

Together, they helped to create the westward migration that resulted in the vast cities and smaller towns that exist today. And together, the highly eccentric members of the Taos Society of Artists - the last artists who would devote themselves to capturing the dying West on canvas and in sculpture - radically changed styles of American fine art and commercial illustration.
--- from book's back cover

Total quality reference and educational resource. Quality writing and good graphics. Excellent overview reference on the Mogollon Mimbres.

As might be expected from an art book of a major exhibition put out by University of Texas Press, the presentation here is masterful. Large format, over 5 pounds, heavy paper, sea green cloth boards with gold print, extra paper added to dustjacket to resist rubbing, 327 pp, and a large number of impressive and beautiful illustrations, many appearing for the 1st time in print, reproduced with subtle color variations. Nonetheless, this is an art book that is not afraid of text.

Table of Contents

Forewords
Map of New Spain and Trade Routes
Spanish Painting and New Spanish Painting 1550-1700
At the Crossroads: Cultural Confluence and Daily Life in Mexico 1521-1821
Unique Expressions: Painting in New Spain
Originality and Invention in the Painting of New Spain
Catalog
Notes (over 30 pp)
References Cited (over 12 pp)
Index

Pajaro Verde: The Green Bird is an enchanting bilingual English/Spanish fairy tale about many-eyed sisters and an enigmatic prince named Pajaro Verde. Illustrated with beautifully rendered and realistic color artwork of fabulous scenes and events, Pajaro Verde is an unforgettable picture book story for young readers and would be a welcome addition to any school or community library collection.

Metz `s thoroughly researched and well written biography details the controversial life of one of the Old West's most interesting characters, Pat Garrett - the lawman who shot and killed Billy the Kid. The story takes Garrett from his Southern childhood, to his days as a buffalo hunter on the Texas frontier, thru his tenure as a federal lawman and Sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico. Metz addresses the mysterious death of Garrett . It was in that position that he became embroiled in the infamous Lincoln County War. The book also provides in-depth coverage of Henry McCarty - alias Billy the Kid. Thoroughly researched and entertainingly written, Metz's story of Pat Garrett will stand as the standard resource work on this noteworthy Old West character. James P. O'Connor - Nov. `9

I bought this as a textbook for a class, but would highly recommend it to anyone interested in southwestern American Indian cultures.

Who would want to read novels, or watch fiction on television when you can read the real life story of a famous western icon like Pawnee Bill? What a person to look up to! Western hero, defender of Indians, bison, savy businessman, millionaire, bucksins, gaunlets, Stetson hats, bison herds, courted and married a young Smith college beauty, bought a 2000 acre ranch in Oklahoma, bought out the Buffalo Bill wild west show, saved his friend Buffalo Bill from his debts! Build Old Town near Pawnee, helped the Boy Scouts of America with his generous gifts, friend to European heads of state and artists from Taos to Belgium. Highest recommendations, as a story of a western icon who outlived his peers. A tale of both triumph and sadness!