Ford Books

Hey, I wrote the book--how could I not love it? In 1967 I took the publisher's advance for "Incident at Muc Wa" and loaded my VW Beetle for a winter in Aspen. I ended in a hostel called the Garret with a bunch of college dropouts, Vietnam vets, and people like me who just wanted to ski in a place so beautiful we could scarcely believe it existed. Out of that winter came the fantasy of the High Country Illuminator, who puts on light shows and tries to rid the town of rats. Now it's back in print through an Authors Guild program called (are you ready?) Backinprint.com. The book exists in a computer. You buy a copy; they print a copy. Don't believe the 3-5 weeks stuff. It's much faster than that.

This is a period piece. The boots are leather, with laces. There's a psyceldilic Volkswagen van, pot in the oregano jar, and the evil Corporation trying to cope with the counter-culture. Altogether, a delightful yarn about nothing in particular except skiing the most beautiful mountains in the world, and those skiing scenes are wonderfully well written. The town is Aspen, of course. (I know because I read the book last winter in the Pitkin County Library, on the recommendation of a ski patrolman who knew the author way back when :) Great stuff, especially for skiers and anyone who was young in 1970.

I bought this Mustang book along with others and I thought this one was the best. It gives a good break out of the years of the mustang starting from 1979 to present. It also gives some great details on what parts go good with certain years of the mustangs. Wish they had more books like this one

This has taught me more that I care to know about Mustangs. Very informative piece. Great photos of models I had forgotten. A good buy. Thankx for putting this together to share.

The books are wonderful, but if you think that the books are gonig to be like any other version of The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, you are dead wrong. If you read the introduction to the books you know that each version is meant to be different than the others. That is the beauty of Douglas Adams work. They are all unique but all worth you time.

Okay, for those of you who haven't read the book yet but did watch the movie you guys missed out on a lot the movie didn't include all the scenes that I personally though was very well.
Now that that's out of the way. Douglas Adams in his one of his possibly best know books really out did himself. In this adventure a boring simpleton named Arthur Dent living on the planet we call earth has befriended a guy named Ford Perfect, who is not as he claimed from earth but from a planet called Betelgeuse. Where he was sent from to do research for "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe" (it's a book where it has everything and anything that you could possibly need to know about the universe). Ford tells Arthur that he isn't from around here. He isn't from Earth. In telling Arthur this he also tells him that the earth is about to end.
And since they have gotten to be really close friends he takes Arthur with him when he hitches a ride with the Vogan ships (these are what the aliens are called that destroyed our planet earth). Vogan's in particular don't like hitchhikers very much. So they kick them off the ship, shortly after they get on. And by pure chance they get picked up. And the story goes from there.
Now that I've told you how the book starts I'll leave it up to you to read the rest of the book. And if you read this book, then watch the movie. You'll see that the movie is hardly based on this incredible book .

This is a magnificent expansion of Kitses' 1970 book, which looked at the Westerns of Anthony Mann, Budd Boetticher and Sam Peckinpah. It is fine reading for anyone interested in the Western.

Kitses has added a marvelous chapter on John Ford, which examines all Ford's westerns from Stagecoach (1939) to Cheyenne Autumn (1964). Kitses' comments are sensible and to the point. His discussion of The Searchers is very well done, and he raises excellent points about The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Also, he has written good analysis of Sergeant Rutledge and Two Rode Together, two late Westerns that few critics pay attention to.

Kitses has left the text of his original work alone, except for adding some to the Peckinpah chapter. While his comments on Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid are perceptive, the Peckinpah chapter is probably the weakest in the book. I am not sure if Kitses dislikes Peckinpah or if he disliked critics who like Peckinpah.

Kitses then adds two chapters, one of Sergio Leone and one on Clint Eastwood. The Leone chapter is okay but is far colder than the rest of the book. However, the chapter on Eastwood is terrific, one that strikes a fine balance between praise for his achievements and an awareness of the flaws in those achievements. This is perhaps some of the best serious analysis of Eastwood as a director that I have read.

Strongly recommended for all readers interested in Westerns.

Back in the late 1960s Jim Kitses wrote an enjoyable study of three western directors who at the time were not nearly as highly regarded as they are today. His chapters on Anthony Mann and Budd Boetticher were marvelous because both directors had pretty much completed their contibutions to the western genre. The chapter on Sam Peckinpah left something to be desired since, at the time, Peckinpah had only three feature films--all of them westerns--under his belt. This new edition addresses that problem by providing a career-length reassessment of Peckinpah's contributions to the western. The other new material--mainly on John Ford and Clint Eastwood--is certainly readable, but I'm not certain that it was essential. Nevertheless it is good to have this volume back in print once more.

The book arrived sooner than I could of imagined. Great condition. Quick Delivery

For those who appreciate fine furniture, this is a wonderful book. Litchfield provides the reader a historical perspective on the evolution of furniture that is truly eye-opening. The drawings of the various pieces are spectacular. In their way they are more descriptive than photographs; although the book could have benefited from some well chosen color photos.

The book contains more than 200 illustrations/sketches from every major historical period (up to the 1890's) and is a historical treasure. It is a must for those of us who are addicted to the Antiques Roadshow.

The need to fly, even vicariously, is strong among pilots, aspiring pilots, aviation enthusiasts and many, many people in general. This wide interest in flying, particularly in America, has produced over the years hundreds of books about flying and the people who are involved with it. Too often, however, the authors of flying memoirs, notable pilots they may be, are not so skillful when it comes time to set down their memories in books. This is clearly not the case with Kenneth Ford's In Love with Flying.

Ford is a gifted and disciplined writer, and the art and science of flying are well suited to his ability to describe, teach and entertain in clear, uncomplicated sentences. Possibly because he was a highly respected physicist and teacher and "in the air an earnest amateur" before his retirement, he has taken considerable care to make this book a standout in its quality of writing and interesting material. Traces of his science and teaching background make small appearances, for example, in descriptions of old and new ways to navigate, the different kinds of lift available to glider pilots and the unique design in the 1940s of the first tricycle gear small airplane, the Ercoupe. (One of the design features of the Ercoupe allows it to land in a strong cross-wind in a crab attitude all the way to touchdown on the runway; a fouette he elegantly calls it. I had to look it up to learn it's a turning move in ballet.)

But it's the individuals Ford selected for his nine biographical profiles that, he says, provided a main reason for his writing. They are truly the heart of the book, representative of the many interesting and talented people he encountered in his fifty years of flying "who gave up whatever more lucrative careers might have been out there to do what they most loved doing, which was to fly". These sections give the book the feel of a journey through America, its small airports and landing strips, where even now you will encounter nearly invariable kindness and often friendship. The flying community is like that, and the author, who was a notable participant in it, has given us a fine chronicle of his well-lived life in the air.

This is a delightfully original book, and if Ford flew as well as he writes, he was also an excellent stick and rudder man.

This is a joyful account of one man's keen pleasure in flying small planes and gliders. The author is a superb writer who makes you feel as though you were there too. His "plane" talk helps you better understand how planes and gliders fly and soar and why things can go wrong sometimes, though it is not a technical or "how to" book. His stories of small plane airports and their habitues are entertaining. A pleasant book.

This is a wonderful and educational book for children and adults alike. I have shared the book with my friend's children. The author did a great job of taking the reader back to the era, especially with the photos. Justina Ford was an inspirational woman. Justina's Bio, once again, proves that hard work, love of life and respect for others leads to so much self satifaction. The book helped to renew my determination to reach my own goals. I am so glad I had a chance to read it!

Although this book was written for children, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and learning about Justina Ford. What a remarkable woman. I think that the "Now You Know Bio" series is a wonderful idea for educating our children and ourselves! I look forward to reading more of them. Ms. Lohse is a talented writer and I look forward to reading more of her books. I bought this book for several of my nieces and my 83 year old mother enjoyed it too!
Thank you for fine writing for all ages.

This book is not your run-of-the mill parenting book. It's just a fun book to read where other Moms tell their less-than-perfect parenting moments. You will realize that you are not alone and you are not the only one who messes up! It also makes you feel less-guilty when you know that many of these moms are speaking from when their kids were small. Their kids are now grown and "turned out fine" in spite of the Mom's mistakes. I especially enjoyed the frog-cooking story. I laughed so hard. This book will have you giggling while you hide from your kids in the bathroom. :)

Julie

Finally, a book for real parents. Sometimes the tooth fairy forgets, chocolate cake for breakfast? Sure! No longer do parents have to do penance for not following Dr. Spock word for word. We all parent differently and how refreshing to read about the mishaps of others. Thanks!

Davis Ford has compiled a labor of love, this by capturing the thoughts, ideas and personas of an era that is quickly leaving us. Just as Tom Brokow has referred to those who participated in WWII as members of a great generation, so are those whom Dr. Ford memoralizes in his book. You can almost hear the campfire crackle as the cowboys discuss their lives in a time soon to be remembered only by the false pictures generated by Hollywood of men who are truely of the ages. Everyone who has even sat astride of a horse, or watched John Wayne in action, needs to read this book to hear the true story of the American west and the men who made history, and won a country, in their own quiet way. This book will be read 100 years from now by those who want to know the true story of the American west and those that left their own personal brand on our country.

In his excellent book, The Last Cowboy, Davis Ford creates a colorful mosaic not only of Leroy Webb but also of many other authentic cowboys - as well as the development of an entire region. The format of the book enhances the story with quotes encased in barbed wire, action pictures, regional maps and appropriate quotations interspersed in the text. The Last Cowboy is an outstanding chronology of an era told through ancestral history, geographical details and economic facts woven into telling the life story of Webb. It is a pleasure to read this well-researched and well-crafted history, augmented by humorous anecdotes and the personal observations of the author.

Ford and Mitchell sure do know their stuff. This book is as enjoyable as it is insightful. Anyone who is interested in the undeniably huge fad that is the "MAKEOVER" (be it "interested" as in "love it" or "interested" as in "people have lost their minds")will find Ford & Mitchell digging into the past to help explain the current phenomena. Finding the history behind the trend, Ford & Mitchell shine a new light on this obsession we have with trying to make everything "better". The deeper questions they pose are important ones for society. Buy this book, sit back and enjoy their wit and intellect (as they have both in spades). And by the way...glasses really aren't unattractive...so don't believe everything you see on the silver screen.

The Makeover in Movies: Before and After in Hollywood Films, 1941-2002, by Elizabeth A. Ford and Deborah C. Mitchell, is an interesting study of what might be called "eyebrow movies." In several of the films that Ford and Mitchell examine (Now, Voyager, The Princess Diaries, and Miss Congeniality, for instance) thick eyebrows are one of Cinderella's attributes before she gets made over, finds Prince Charming, and finally achieves self-fulfillment (usually in that order). Thick or dark eyebrows = ugly. I don't get it. As Ford and Mitchell ask, don't movie-makers realize how attractive audiences find actresses like Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz?

The book is incisive and witty, but one problem with this film genre is that just by identifying it and outlining its characteristics it's hard to avoid making negative judgments about most examples. Ford and Mitchell do point out movies with positive messages and happy endings (Amy Heckerling's Clueless, writer Nia Vardalos's My Big Fat Greek Wedding), as well as films with unhappy endings but worthwhile warnings (director Brian Forbes's 1975 version of Ira Levin's The Stepford Wives). However most makeover movies give would-be Cinderellas bad messages, especially about beauty, individuality, and women's reliance on each other.

As My Big Fat Greek Wedding and The Stepford Wives show, there's a thin line between romance and horror, and in the movies it's usually Prince Charming who crosses it. Either WASP Ian sees the beauty inside Greek-American Toula and they live happily ever after, or Walter murders his feminist, career-absorbed wife Joanna and replaces her with a perky-breasted, servile robot. There isn't much middle ground.

Sometimes books about a particular type of movie make you understand the films in a way you didn't before. This book helps you understand better why you're rooting for Cinderella to change, and makes you think a little more about whether she should.