Wilson Books

I found this book to be very well worth reading, everything is supported by factual evidence(e.g the letters and police reports)and Simmie keeps the story progressing very well from start to finish while keeping it clear and understandable for the reader to follow what is happening. It doesn't tell the story of a man consumed by love as most would say, but of a man consumed with himself and his selfishness, he wanted something and didn't care what or who he destroyed in the process of acheiving it.

All the letters and stuff were pretty boring to read. And the suicide attempt scene is probably the most horrible thing I've ever read and will scar me for life but this book was actually pretty...good. Especially since I hail from Regina, I reccommend this book to all the Skatchies

This is a great book! I would suggest it for anyone who live in saskatchewan. It shows how much control love has over one man. Enough power to cause him to murder, (...)

It's a horrifying story of a man who gains to much power in the mounties and kills his wife. If your from Saskatchewan, the places in the book are all close to home and give you a sense of realism.

Gary Wilson's Sing, Ronnie Blue grips you from the get go with the inevitability of small town destiny. We've heard it before-- best friends take different paths--but you've never felt it like this. Wilson's terse, almost poetic language propels his characters toward their unavoidable destiny, with a tragic climax written in the script of their youth that must be played out in the present. The characters are so well-drawn that you track with them on this collison course hoping they can change, that a circumstance will save them, that they can overcome what their Bartlett's Junction heritage simply will not allow. In the end, if you have a heart, it will break.

Ronnie Blue is an anachronism. He still looks the same as he did in high school and still drives the same car. He is "not the most wholesome person you could be spending your time with." He is a junkman's son.

It is the Fourth of July, Ronnie's 23rd birthday. He has recently lost his job at Carl's garage. Feeling persecuted, he decides to return to his hometown. With his girlfriend Charlene, he climbs into his anachronistic car and heads off towards Bartlett's Junction, Kansas, a small town that "came to a dead stop, where it has rested for eighty-eight years."

Back home in Bartlett's Junction, it is inevitable that Ronnie's path intersect John Klein's. John now works in his father's bank but during high school he and Ronnie sang duets at assorted club meetings and parties.

In Sing, Ronnie Blue Wilson explores small town life at different social levels. He examines the pressures placed on Ronnie Blue by an abusive father who has constantly told him he would amount to nothing. He also examines the pressures placed on John Klein by a father who has always wanted him to follow family tradition and become a banker.

The predictable, inevitable clash between the opposing social levels is fated to happen in Bartlett's Junction when Ronnie returns to discover that there is no longer harmony between him and John Klein.

Sing, Ronnie Blue suggests that contrary to Thomas Wolfe's adage, not only is one able to go home again, but one is never able to leave home, a person is defined by one's home. Ronnie can no more not be a junkman's son than John can not be the banker's son.

Wilson's short novel is compact and concise. His language is as solid and forceful as a rabbit-punch to the kidneys. The book has echoes of stories that have become part of American culture. While reading it, I could not help hearing, with the same tragic irony, Jimmy Cagney in the movie White Heat yelling, "Made it, Ma. Top of the world."

Armchair Interviews says: Everyone has a story of people in their hometown.

Gary D. Wilson's debut novel sold out its first printing right away. As a result, I had to wait for its second printing nearly three months before I held its handsome paperback copy in my greedy hands.

"Sing, Ronnie Blue" was worth the wait. Its publisher's jacket copy compares the book to "The Great Gatsby." Rather than Fitzgerald, the book seems to me to more closely resemble Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men." To be sure, the characters in "Sing, Ronnie Blue" aren't migrant workers. Wilson's conflict between a local junkyard dealer's 20-something son, Ronnie Blue, and his former best friend in high school, now the heir of all-American small city banking fortune, John Klein, pits a working-class grease monkey against a young man with money. Because Blue is the main character, however, this book seems to have its roots in 1930s Great Depression fiction moreso than in that of the Roaring Twenties. If John Klein and Ronnie Blue are no George Milton and Lennie Small, neither are Wilson's characters Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby.

The wonder of this taut, riveting novel is that Wilson creates a believable, if not lovable, protagonist. Ronnie Blue, who formerly teamed up with John Klein in a singing duo, returns years later with a hayseed teenage girlfriend after being fired from his job as a car mechanic in Witchita, to Bartlett's Junction, Kansas on Independence Day. In a series of hot-headed shenanigans - break-ins and burglaries reminiscent of the misdemeanors in a novel like Denis Johnson's "Angels" - Blue carves out his name and declares his independence in spades. Nowhere does Wilson bemoan Blue as a lost son or an unsung hero. Instead, the reader follows Blue's hell-bent journey as a revenant, disproving the platitude that you can't go home again. Blue comes back home all right, with a vengeance we understand, given his steely dad and cringing mom, his self-aggrandizing meanness. Throughout, Wilson manages to turn his novel into a paean for what must have been the stomping grounds where he grew up on the prairie. No matter that there is no actual Bartlett's Junction in Kansas. Wilson has lovingly sketched in its streets and fields, its carny fairground, as a kind of personal paradise lost.

I won't give away the plot of this spellbinding thriller. I'll only point out Wilson's extremely coy use of two authors' names as monikers for his fictional creations. Josh Billings, a renowned humorist back in Mark Twain's day, comes up on Wilson's page 37 as a local yokel, "a mean and cranky old man." Ron Padgett, a member of the so-called New York School of poets, comes up on page 53 of "Ronnie Blue" as an employee in John Klein's bank. Are these coincidences? Is Wilson playing games with us? Perhaps he knows Ron Padgett the poet personally. In Josh Billings's case, perhaps Wilson wants us to peel back the layers of his mid-American tragedy to see its comic underpinnings.

Overall, I can't sing the praises of "Sing, Ronnie Blue" loudly enough. As Stephen Dixon states in a blurb, "Wilson is one of the best fiction writers around." To top it off, Wilson's mother-in-law provides the funniest, most wonderful blurb: "I will not be recommending this [novel] to my Sunday School class"!

Excellent read! Explores the friendship of two men, class-structure in small town America, (mis)perceptions of who we are and who we will become, and, ultimately, the inevitable outcome. Masterfully written. Hauntingly real.

Ramsay's work is a classic and the updating of this edition by Mark Wilson adds much. Although the work is over a century old, it is still an easy read with an immense volume of useable information. The color photography throughout is quite pleasing as well. Christians who believe in the miraculous will take issue with Ramsay's attempts to explain away anything "non-scientific" but his position is understandable in view of the era in which he was writing. Still an excellent addition to any believer's library.

Great work by a first rate scholar turned apologist. Much of his works are free on the internet but you will want to get this for your library. If you are seeking not to be told what to think but more so to establish a strong historical grammatical basis for taking Acts and many of Pauls Epistles then you will find this valuable. One thing I notice and like from Dr. Ramsay is his passion for truth and the literal interpretation of the text. He also has a sympathy to the writer of the text (being a historian himself) knowing that Luke wrote Acts for the reasons he states and does a great job of pointing out Luke's style. So many commentaries try to read in various theological suppositions and motives that it is quite refreshing to read the work of a man who is just seeing if the literal can be taken and being cautious about adding to what is written..(Very cool that he is humble enough to say he doesnt know if he doesnt know!) I see that by just establishing the historical facts and taking the bible in the literal as the readers would have likewise taken them...that Luke indeed says what he means and means what he says. This is important since so many other epistles are intimately connected to the book of Acts . I think Ramsay makes a very compelling argument on the strong foundation of Acts and Its almost like Edersheims works...you just cant beat a commentator that has actually gone to the places...retracing steps and conveying things that being there in person can only convey. .. Check out some of his other apologetic works as well... he's a firecracker for sure! There is just something admirable in the Pauls,Cs Lewis', McDowells.. and Ramsay's coming from the side of skepticism and ending on the side of Regeneration by God's precious Grace! ...How Jesus does shine through those who have indeed tasted and have seen that the Lord is good.

Deftly edited by Mark Wilson and now published in a newly updated and revised edition, St. Paul: The Traveler And Roman Citizen by Oxford University's first professor of classical art and archaeology William M. Ramsay (1851-1939) is a breathtaking, full-color, guide and history of Christianity's premier missionary and apostolic father St. Paul, both before and after his conversion in Palestine. Originally published in 1939, this new edition of St. Paul: The Traveler And Roman Citizen has been enhanced with materials that the author Ramsay published subsequent to his book, as well as enhanced for the reader with more than one hundred color photographs, including many of the holy land where St. Paul once lived and traveled. A vivid, thoroughly researched, highly recommended study guide for any who wish to learn more about St. Paul's missionary travels.

I have been waiting a long time for this modern reissue of Ramsay's classic work. Wilson's edition does not disappoint. The book is beautifully printed (the old editions were so dreary) and now includes over a hundred color photos of relevant sites and images. These images are carefully placed near the texts that they illustrate. Also maps, charts and colorful sidebars have been added. Ramsay's work in Turkey is, and remains, the basis of all subsequent investigations - and Wilson is well qualified to follow in his footsteps. This book is a must for those who are interested in the expansion of Christianity into Asia Minor, Greece, and to Rome. This edition now presents a complete picture of the life of the Apostle Paul - it is a foundational work.

If you are new to lace or to knitting, the terms "faroese-shaped" and "seamen's scarves" refer to very specific shapes of garment. If this is the shape you want, this book is a great investment. I have made almost all the scarf patterns for gifts. While the basic pattern is always the same (moss stitch borders, ribbed center of the scarf so it will fit the neck better) Stahman uses different patterns for each scarf, so they are all unique. Like most lace, the scarves can be made with any weight of yarn.

I have not attempted any of the shawls, as Faroese is not a shawl style that I particularly care for, but the book was worth the scarf patterns, IF you don't mind that they are all exactly the same shape. They are perfect for gifts.

Myrna Stahman did a wonderful job with her research and planning for working a Faroese-Shaped Shawl from the neck down. Her information was detailed, informative, and creative. Her many hours of work have made my job so much easier! It does take some concentration to pursue these patterns. The end results are worth the challenge. Myrna Stahman has taken much of the frustration out of Faroese shawls. Her work allows you to pursue your own pattern designs with style and confident results.

I have knitted one shawl as presented in the book (Catharina), and one that I designed using Stahman's design guidelines. In addition, I have also made several Seaman's Scarves following her "Matthew" pattern (dedicated to the memory of Matthew Shepard). In all cases I used my own handspun yarns. While it took some concentration to adapt a totally different lace design to the Faroese shaping, I couldn't have done it without Stahman's many hours of planning and designing. I'm indebted to this book, and recommend it to adventurous novices or experienced knitters alike. [....]

wonderful book with various gorgeous shawls and scarfs. lots of helpful tips, and hints. it is highly recommended.

The book was in very good condition. The delivery was a little slow. The vendor, Woody's Book, sent an email inquiring if I had received the book. When I responded that I had not, the vendor took action to get the book to me as quickly as possible. This was most appreciated. I feel the vendor was proactive and provided good service.

I used this book to learn the COBOL language. I felt that it was a good book and overall I have little ill to say about it. The examples are well written and do a good job of reinforcing what you read in the chapter. You read a little then do an example, then read some more, then add to the example and so on. You don't need any Programming experience to use this book just a decent understanding of programming logic. The only criticism I could offer is that the editor should have used arrows when content is being continued on a new line for reasons of page space so that readers will know and understand (beginners can have trouble with this). It's a good book for learning COBOL as a whole from the ground up and for this reason it's worth the money. It's not an overnight crash course (if that is what you are looking for).

This is absolutely the best COBOL book out today. It uses the new, modern techniques for program design. There are numerous examples, clearly illustrating the various COBOL instructions. The examples approach real-world standards - more so than other COBOL books I've used. It is a book that explains clearly for beginners, but has so much information that experienced programmers use it also.

I have been using an edition of this book for years; first as a computer science student in 1983 and as an instructor at a community college (Foothill Community College in Los Altos, Ca) for 7 years. This edition is the same fine quality as the first. The examples are easily understood as well as the user-friendly terminology. Students are quick to understand and respond to the techniques and illustrations as they create their own programs. My students have been using hard-to-find, old editions. Having a new, high-quality edition is extremely welcome by students and instructor.

This unusual book may actually leave readers and viewers with not only enriched visual abilities but also a broader concept of buildings and of the nature of beauty. Wilson does this by showing us pleasing patterns to be found in everyday structures. He recognizes the utility and the aesthic qualities of sheds and barns and tanks, offering photographs and texts to illustrate and explain why we, like him, find his examples so pleasing: The texture of a wall that catches light just so...the slope of a roof that blends with the landscape...the sensuous angle of a doorway.
The text is crisply written and mostly jargon free--yet not oversimplified--a fitting complement to the original vision that led to these illustrations. This is a surprising and surprisingly satisying book. Hats off to Mr. Wilson.

Beautifully printed, the entire book is consistent and engaging in its design. The pages alternate between large full-bleed spreads and smaller collections of photos which complement one another, or photos offset by text, all of which lead the eye nicely through the book.

I appreciate how the book features just enough text to tell the story behind these photographs. The text itself is reflective and articulate, written by Wilson himself, and stops well short of becoming overbearing. Lots of room is left over for the viewer to simply meditate on the quiet and strange beauty in these utilitarian structures of the past.

Not a single person is seen in any of Wilson's photograph's here, but the human imprint on and within the land is the photographs' nexus. It helps, of course, to already be interested in this stuff. But even if you've never pulled off the side of the road in the middle of nowhere to look at an ancient grain silo or collapsing sheets of rusty corrugated metal walls, the photos and accompanying text offer some engaging food for thought about where we've come from and where we're going, and what will change in between.

I feel that book could have done away with a few of the photographs in order to better focus on the best of the best, but overall this is a nice comprehensive spread of Wilson's work that I know I'll come back to again and again.

Who would have thought that abandoned grain elevators, old elevated wooden tank houses (to hold water and supply pressure to agricultural areas) and hydraulic mines from California's gold rush would produce such remarkable photos. In the hands of photographer David Wilson these ancient commercial structures take on a life of their own. Sited in the mostly flat Central Valley and slowly disappearing this visual record fortunately captures many buildings for the record.

Just to have Wilson's photo book of these structures would be enough to make a purchase but I think the book goes a lot further. I think it is a very successful attempt to produce a package that works from the cover onwards. Book designer Todd Foreman has used the photos to create a sense of pace and interest as you turn over the pages, sometimes it is the use of a fifth color panel between photos on a spread or repeating one image several times on a page, butting some photos together, running some of the photos of the page edge or enlarging a section of an image.

Don't think though that this sounds like an over designed photo book because it isn't. The book's basic format is of oblong images (printed in 200 dpi) untouched on the page with the more graphic treatments blending in perfectly. Include the jacket, cover, fly-leaf, title, imprint, the five caption pages at the back, paper, layout and typography have all been considered.

Structures of Utility is one of those rare books that goes the extra mile for the reader.

***SEE SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.

Among countless books of beautiful photographs, I've found few that change the way I look at the world. What Ansel Adams did for the sights of Half Dome and El Capitan in Yosemite, David Stark Wilson has done for the lowly silo, the aging mine complex, the agricultural shed. After looking over his photos of those structures-the `structures of utility' of his title-I will never take a drive in rural America with the same old eye again. Wilson has ground a new lens for all of us that could and should impact the design of what he terms the "built environment", the spread of buildings that has become a texture on the landscape in so many areas outside of cities. Wilson makes a strong case for examining structures largely overlooked until now to rescue us from the endless expansion of tilt-up warehouses or soulless stucco cartoons. We have an incredibly rich tradition of utilitarian design, Wilson shows us, that should be drawn upon to help make the structures we build worthy of the landscapes they occupy. Every county planner, every mall designer, every architect, every student of design should own a copy of his important book.

I was particularly interested in reading this book in that my father served in the same Division as Mr. Wilson, the author. I was surprised to discover 1/2 way through that Mr. Wilson and my Dad were likely in the same section (messages), headquaters company, 3rd batallion of the 41st Division. While I have read several books and accounts of the 41st Division's WWII history, this is the first that gave me a sense of what day to day life was actually like for the soldiers that fought in jungles of New Guinea. Mr. Wilson - thank you for writing this account. I would love to get the chance to talk with you some day.

Written from the authors experiences in the south pacific durring WW2. As the author tells his war adventure he throws in little painless history lessons. well written, quick easy read. I would love to see more war veterans document their experiences.

From an old Navy veteran: The book is rather short and in some cases repetitive, but from my studies of WWII in the Pacific this is an authentic, first-person account of this soldier's memory of the war against a sadistic, evil, brutal, suicidal enemy. I especially agree with his opinion that the U.S. Army was often overlooked when someone wrote about the war in the Pacific with so much press given to the bloody battles of the U.S. Marines. Don't misunderstand, the Marines were in some miserable, bloody, awful campaigns, but so were soldiers and sailors and they seldom get the recognition due them. This book gives some of that recognition to the soldiers.

This is a great story of the GIs who served in the 41st "Sunset" Divsion and fought their way from New Guinea to the Philippines. A great personal memoir of a young soldier who, due to his vast resourcefulness, made the most of his overseas experience. My Dad served in the 163rd "Montana" Regiment of the 41st Division, and though the author was in the 162nd Regiment, his telling of what it was like over there must have been similar to what Dad went through. Dad would only occasionally mention in a sentence or two something about the War and New Guinea. Thanks, Paul Wilson, for giving us a detailed account of the experience. This book should appeal greatly to anyone interested in Pacific War, it was a quick read and hard to put down!

Do you want to learn an ideal golf swing; I mean really learn the swing? Then this book is a must for you as a student or as a golf instructor. The book would be beyond excellent without reference to the swing machine "Iron Byron" but its comparison makes for interesting and convincing evidence of the proper swing dynamics. I love the numerous, clear, color shots of the swing in all its stages. The author is precise, authentic, and dedicated to have everyone understand the mechanics of the swing. In addition, he includes explanations of what can go wrong when mere humans attempt to make a golf swing with corrections to the common faults like topping, toeing, shanking, etc. My copy is hard cover, 205 pages, with beautiful color plates. I have many golf books but I'm secure in saying this is the very best golf swing book ever published. Get one anyway you can. I bought one from an Amazon associate kone44 on the Amazon Marketplace. I wish every serious golfer can find a copy!

I was skeptical about ordering a used book, but was pleasantly surprised when I received it. It looks like a new book. From ordering to delivery it only took five days. Great service. Thank you!

I fully agree with everything the first reviewer wrote so I won't waste time repeating here. What I'd like to do instead though is explain how I stumbled upon this little gem and why you should buy it IMMEDIATELY.

I started playing golf back in 1988 when I was 14 and got down to a 2 handicap within 4 years. I was a natural, totally self taught, never had a lesson in my life and obviously, with that sort of progress, didn't think I needed one. I would just keep playing until I was down to +3 or +4 and then turn pro. The sky's the limit as far as I was concerned. I even went on a golf scholarship for 5 years in order to accelerate my learning. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. I didn't get any better in college and in the summer of 2004 had gone up to a 3 handicap. So what happened? I made the mistake of just playing a lot of golf and not having any lessons. Yes, I had natural ability, but I was certainly no Seve. My swing was pretty good but it wasn't solid enough to take me further. Without realising it I had been able to shoot low scores due to a pretty sharp short game but I missed most fairways and greens during a round. I started taking lessons in order to find the secret but they just made me worse. I just couldn't grasp the 1,001 things I was being told and apply them to my swing. I just didn't get it!

So to cut a long story short, I started surfing the net to find something, anything that would help me. And in the summer of 2004 I finally stumbled across the Swing Machine Golf book. In 200-odd pages it teaches everything you need to know about the golf swing and how to apply it to your game. I immediately incorporated it into my swing and am now hitting the ball better than I have ever done before. And further. It does take time to get used to the powerless arms feeling but once you do...just watch your ball soar off into the distance! I am now down to a 1 handicap and will get to at least +1 this year as I am now breaking par regularly. I went from hitting an average of 5-6 FIR to 10-11 and from 7-8 GIR to 12-13. That makes a huge difference at my level!

I just wish Paul Wilson had been teaching this method and the net had been around back in 1988!!

Buy the book now and take it seriously. You won't regret it!

The crème de la crème of this program is their commitment -their edge over competitors; even though there are plethora of methods out there discussing how to achieve a consistent swing, Paul helps me troubleshoot my problems by answering questions personally through e-mail messages. I don't know how he does it, but he always answers my questions and the next questions before I even ask. The e-mail tips are really helpful, I read them every week to make sure that I am not back in the rut. They are concise but very descriptive to enhance my level of understanding of a concept.

The book claims that you will improve your swing in 5 weeks. I did it in 3 months and I am still practicing it.I am a forth year golfer who had the bad start - hence, I had to allow some time for my subconscious to relearn the correct moves in golf swing all over again, a.k.a the non-consistent hand dominated swing. After 1 1/2 months, I faced a different challenge. On a course that I often play, I used to aim my 3-wood at a bunker on the left, to compensate my fade. This time, the ball doesn't fade anymore, it goes straight into that bunker - 240 yards. Then,
most of my balls goes at least 10-15 yards over the greens - into creeks. Puzzling. My friends said, "You've been taking lessons
from a pro, have you?" I said yes, through the book but they don't believe me. They are positive that I have my own
instructor at site!

In the end, I think the most biggest fear in golfers is to 'let-go'. In my journal, this refers to the powerless-arm swing.
It took a while before this idea percolated into my brain. Reality bites - no matter how great this instructional book is,
you have to battle your own nemesis at some point. Mine is the one that only I can feel - my hardened left shoulder. For
the love of the game, this is the off beaten path that I will follow - Paul's teachings. I can't wait to get my hands on
their future books/DVDs especially on the series that covers short-game area.

Kudos to Paul and Ken!

It is very much to the credit of the MFA that such fine catalogue ise published. This collection of works collected by William Koch reflects the personal taste of the collector but also of the museum. Wisely, this catalogue is lead by good essays. The photographs accompany the texts in appropriate places. But the overwhelming part of the book is the art itself. These are paintings of fine quality. The reader makes refreshing discoveries on almost every page. This is an historically important, aesthetically rewarding book that deserves audience.

This book is a well written and researched overview of one man's remarkable collection. What distiguishes this collection from so many others of today is the clearly individual stamp of the collector-the works are diverse, from guns to Picasso but everything in it is of the finest quality. Here is a collection worthy of the appellation outstanding.

Michael Carr,
Sydney, Australia.

Things I Love: The Many Collections Of William I. Koch presents the holdings of a cultural benefactor who has been an important financial resource and collector of the world's most valuable art objects. Koch is internationally known as an engineer, businessman and sailor - and he's also a collector of fine art, wine and firearms of world-class origins. His collection holds such famous names as Monet, Renoir, Degas, Remington and more, and THINGS I LOVE surveys the nature and extent of his vast collection, packing full-page color photos on every page.

It isn't often that you run across an exhibition catalog that
is both an excellent record of an exhibition and a very enjoyable art book. This book chronicles the collections of
William I. Koch, someone with the financial resources, taste,and knowledge to assemble a very fine collection of
varied items. The exhibition took place at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 2005.

Most museum collections have items that have been acquired from personal collections whether from a donation or a bequest from an estate. It isn't often that a museum will have a collection of a living person, and one that is so varied.

Mr. Koch has wide interests, from racing yachts ( won the America's cup)to collecting fine art and paintings, to collecting Marine art, to collecting old west guns and memorabilia, to fine wines. Amongst his amazing wine collection are some original unopened bottles of wine from Thomas Jefferson's estate.

In the book you'll see his collections in there original settings, his estates in Palm Beach Florida, and Osterville,
Cape Cod. There is the stunning collection of art with pieces by Dali, Magrite, Picasso, Matisse, Degas. Bronzes by Remington and western art. There is the marine art collection with pieces that represent his famous ancestor
Captain Lawrence from the war of 1812.

In short this is a very pleasurable book to read and own, something that will always be fun to look through over the years.

Hands down, the greatest cookbook ever written (take that, Better Homes & Gardens!). If you've never been to Threadgill's, you've never truly experienced the bounty of God's green earth - but you can get a fantastic taste of it with this book. I cook something from this book almost every day, which may not mean I'm the healthiest soul alive, but I sure get my veggies! If you thought a down-home cookbook was just a bunch of artery-clogging recipes for fried vegetables, you're only 10% right. In addition to fabulous recipes, this cookbook is actually an entertaining book to sit down and read! Trust me, it will find its way to that revered shelf in your bookcase that's reserved for the family Bible and the baby books. Yee hah!

This past haunt of Janis Joplin is a true Austin institution. And, so is it's food. But don't expect recipes similar to the Lutece cookbook or Cooking with the Master Chefs. These are master chefs of the home grown type. Their chickenfried steak with cream gravy is well, artery clogging delicious. The recipes are simple to follow, the ingredients are few and the taste fabulous. And, the narrative relays some great memories of Threadgill's. I've enjoyed cooking these dishes for other expatriated Texans and we're in heaven!

Homesick for Texas, and all those good eats? This is the book for you. It is much more than a cookbook, it is a piece of Texas to be read and savored. Having eaten at all the locations of Threadgill's and having spent many (too many, according to my college transcript) at Armadillo World Headquarters, opening this book was like a trip back home. Sure, there are the receipes for all the Threadgill's classics, including all the vegetable dishes. Sure you can try to make the wonderful chicken fried steak, but intertwined in all those recepies is the history of Threadgills, and the people who were there. You learn the thinking behind the place many called home, you remember the brand names of products that made Texas cooking great. You also get a bird's eye view of the Texas music scene and all the colorful people who inhabited that time and place. Threadgill's kept me from getting too homesick when I left Dallas, and moved to Austin. This book keeps me from getting too homesick for home.

As someone who moved from Austin to Washington, DC years back---and whose friends still ask me why, I don't have an answer. But I can tell you one of the things I miss is Eddie Wilson and Threadgill's. It's not fancy, it's not meant to be, but as Eddie says "This is not a lobster taco". This isn't fancy food, this is just good food, something you could eat every day, something that doesn't require an engineering degree to assemble and a degree in civil engineering to balance on the plate.