North America Books

This is a lovely, paperback book and I recommend for those with young riders in their home or barn. Not too simple, and not too complex, the stories are entertaining and unique! Again, gorgous photos and a beatiful layout. A great gift idea for any young person who loves horses or American Indians.

Leadership through trust and respect is one of the many lessons the young reader will learn from this book. The simple tools and techniques for starting a line of communication with horses are presented in a wise and gentle manner. Indeed, the Native American philosophy of teaching horses coincides with their attitude toward all animals living on, in, or above Mother Earth, and that is responsibility for them and mutual respect among and between them. GaWaNi Pony Boy speaks of creating the right environment for understanding, and his thoughts, words, and deeds are relevant to everyday life. The book is artfully laid out and contains beautiful and decoratively captioned photographs. There are several Native American tales and sayings, such as, "...the reason Creator gave two-leggeds two ears and one mouth was so that we would listen twice as much as we talk." I found this book to be a most enjoyable learning experience and recommend it to adults and youngsters alike.

I have owned this book for years. I still read it when it is not possible to feel the wind in my hair for real. The breathtaking pictures, the lovely stories and the obvious connection GaWaNi has with Kola, his horse, all make this an outstanding book and mini escape for me. Thank you Mr. Pony Boy and Ms. Boiselle!

Nice pics but not a HUGE amount of substance. But, girls who love horses aren't looking for a lot of that anyway! They want pictures and romantic thoughts about being with horses. That's what they get!

I have both the hard back and the soft back and I found them both the same, but some has different pictures. I can not get enough of Pony Boy or the photos. The soft back is easier to read, and I know have the hard back on my coffee table, and the soft back in my tack room..very good, and my husband who is a horse trainer is now using Pony Boy's method to train his horse and others...I trained my horse Pony Boys method right off the begining

This is a wonderful book on several levels. I recommend it for kids and adults alike.

Arrived in perfect condition and my sister loved it as a gift.

I really enjoyed this book myself, and had to wait to read it till the kids were finished with it.....they shared it with all of their horsey friends! It was nice to see that a high quality, full color photo book was available, and the fact that this was in paperback made a great buy. Some of the most unique stories I have ever read were sprinkled throughout the text, and the design was nice for the kids, it seemed to really keep their interest. What surprised me was that they found a renewed love of their horses - which I didn't really expect! The history included in parts of the book, such as 'why Native American Indians painted their horses and what the symbols meant' was very interesting. I was thriled to hear a discussion in the other room about what these kids had learned in school about 'history' about "indians" and this book caused them to realize that there was more to the story....I am glad that this book is out there to educate as well as entertain. As a mom, I highly recommend this book for your young horse lovers - whether they own one or not. Disappointments? It could have been longer.

In studying history I have discovered that the more obscure places and people and stories are quite often the most interesting and memorable. This book offers many good examples. Few people know much about this region today. Fewer still know anything about it's history. But, the stories and history found in this book are a real treasure. For me, growing up in nearby Boise and having visited the Owyhee region on a few occasions made this book more appealing than it would for most others. But I believe anyone who has an interest in Western U.S. history will enjoy this book.

Being a fan of books about the area I live in and especilly the part of the state that I love to roam around in This book was a real read. A lot of familiar names both people and places made it even more intresting.

Look on a map you'll see a large empty area in southeastern Oregon and the adjacent parts of Idaho, south of the capital city of Boise. The Owyhee River slices through here and on the more-detailed maps you'll see a few places identified as towns such as Silver City, Idaho and Jordan Valley, Oregon. Calling them "towns" proves to be an exaggeration if you are one of the infrequent travelers passing this way.

You won't find much reference to the Owyhee region in conventional books of Western history -- but a lot happened there. The two authors have compiled a regional history that is full of tales and forgotten history of a neglected region. For example, I had never realized that the Bannock and Paiute Indians fought a series of wars with the White settlers. These were the despised "Digger" Indians and yet they proved to be pretty formidable in battle.

Moreover, the tales of the early miners, cattlemen, and sheepherders of the region are fascinating. Cattle to stock the region were driven all the way from Texas; Basques came from Spain to herd sheep; and Silver City briefly was one of the richest mines ever discovered. Even the story of how the region acquired its odd name is worthy of attention. Somehow, though, the Owyhee country didn't attract the mythmakers of the Old West.

The authors have remedied the lack of attention to the Owyhee with a well-researched and fair-minded history that is illustrated with many photographs and enhanced by the the personal experiences of Owyhee native, Mike Hanley, the co-author. The prose, I thought, was a little rough at times, but the quality of the material and the research overcomes this defect. This is a good regional history.

Smallchief

This book tells it all in regards to a part of the west that is not generaly known. The early pioneer days of south eastern Oregon and south western Idaho have all the richness and real west excitment of any place you could name. Complete with mining booms & busts, Indian Wars and hardy sagas of pioneer homesteaders and ranchers...Owyhee Tales tells it all! A great companion to any western history buffs collection or to the new crop of whitewater river runners who journey to the areas namesake river, the Owyhee.

I do not dispute Newcomb's scholarship. It is first rate. I do however, take issue with some aspects of his central argument. There is no question that American attitudes, inclusive of law and politics, is inherently biased against American Indians, as well as being rife with racism. What is not depicted, however, is that despite these attitudes, America and its colonial predecessors had no choice but to deal with Indian Nations, and recognise inherent rights to sovereignty. It was not until Chief Justice Marshall engaged in revisionist history in reinterpreting the Royal Proclamation of 1763 that the racism became the law in the case of Johnson v. McIntosh (1823). This was done for political reasons covered well in Conquest by Law by Lindsay Robertson.

Although clearly not intended, if the rationale for this book were accepted as legal cannon, it would severly undermine the notion that sovereignty and self government are pre-existing rights that are inherent based on the legal history. If such rights were never recognised in the European derived legal history, then any contemporary assertion of these rights could ONLY come about at the whim of the colonial nation-states.

The reality was that contextually, despite words to the contrary, state practice clearly recognised Indian sovereignty and ownership. They had no choice as Indian Nations were politically and militarily strong. True military dominance was not achieved until the mid 1800's and that is of course when the legal system came to the conclusion that tribal sovereignty and self government was a legal fiction rooted in paternalism.

So, while one would be inclined not to criticise this book, it would be unwise for the reader not to explore further. I staunchly support tribal sovereignty, and while this work is informative it does not provide the entire context. Well worth the read, thogh.

Is the United States policy on the Native American Indians far more based in religion than we believe? "Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery" is a look at the government's relations with the native people of this country and how the treatment of the natives, non-Christian indigenously, may be part of a sub-conscious Christian doctrine that the country has been following for centuries. Intriguing information from first page to last, "Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery" is deftly written and highly recommended to community library Native American studies collections.

Every educator or world peace advocate must read this book. Passionate and compelling arguments inspire readers to be more informed about overlooked and archaic policies in the U.S. Government. This contemporary work examines and explores doctrines that began with Indian Nations and are still being implemented in other areas of the modern world. Pagans in the Promised Land written by a Native American Scholar, Steven Newcomb, delivers some stimulating arguments based on over 20 years of research. This book is a must read for all universities prompting engaging classroom discussions.

Newcomb delivers an analysis on U.S. federal Indian law that traces its racist history to Christian discovery and dominion. The entirety of the book is devoted to elucidating the idealized cognitive models (ICMs) present in U.S. Indian policy that originated in the expansion of Christendom and the entitlement of Europeans as chosen people and conquers on native lands.
The final chapter is definitely worth waiting for as Newcomb summarizes and projects into the present-day his well-researched and professional perspective on how and why American Indians have always faced such extremely racist treatment from the United States. For example, he writes

"Because other books have dealt quite capably with U. S. statues and legal decisions dealing with Indians, the aim of this work has been to use some of the findings of cognitive theory to account for the mentality of empire and domination that has resulted in the assumption that originally free and independent Indian nations and peoples are now subject to the plenary power and dominion of U. S. government. The same mentality has also resulted in Indian people losing before the Supreme Court more than 80 percent of the time, more often than convicted criminals seeking reversals of their convictions."

He goes on to relate the well-developed, Christian-based, American psychology of dominion over indigenous people in the United States to the post-9/11 American Empire. Pagans in the Promised Land is an essential perspective for Americans of European-decent to grasp as even citizens of an atheist background will realize the depth to which our cultural attitudes and prejudices (racism, sexism, classism, etc.) are rooted in the Christian doctrines of domination, entitlement, evangelism, and superiority.

This is a great sinopsis of NW Coast archeology with beautiful maps and pictures. Although the authors' theory of a connection between large pithouse villages on the Columbia Plateau and extensive shell middens on the coast has been brought into quesiton by recent work on the Queen Charlette Islands, the book contains insightful information and analysis pertinent to the area's prehistory.

This book is highly recommended for both serious students and archeology hobbyists.

Peoples Of The Northwest Coast presents a condensed thematic overview. "The evolution of ranking and stratification among Northwest coast societies is at the heart of any understanding of the coast's cultural history (p. 254)." The text goes on to say "..obsidian evidence shows large -scale exchange networks existed on the coast by...10,000 B.C." This is a summary-survey of Northwest Coast archaeology with an emphasis on the role of variability in prehistory and cultural development. Written by two renowned professors of anthropology, the style and language of Peoples Of The Northwest Coast have been made deliberately accessible . The spare text is enriched by copious black and white photos, illustrations, maps, and diagrams. The richness and beauty of the Northwest Coast from Oregon to Alaska is always present in this 13,000 year archaeological history of its peoples. Cautious in tone, wary of leaping to generalizations or stereotypic thinking, the text achieves the authors' goals of educating the interested public with pleasure, presenting Northwest archaeology for popular consumption, and introducing to specialized students the pressing research questions of Northwest Coast excavation, and finally to present some of the value of archaeology to First Nation Peoples, the fourth audience. It is seen as another means to supplement and display the Coast Peoples' traditional oral histories.

Writing such a book is an ambitious undertaking. The result is well worth exploring. The role of art in these prehistories is especially presented in the ninth chapter titled "Northwest Coast Art." Nonlinear prehistory is not the oxymoron it might at first seem to be. Focussing on ecology, environments, oldest cultures, later Pacific and Modern Period Northwest Coast Subsistence Status, Ritual and Warfare, the chapters lead to a condensed complex of conclusions about variability, regional similarities, and cultural richness. The pathway to conclusions about community organization and social stratification is well defined.

Peoples Of The Northwest Coast is a respectable rave of a book.

Nancy Lorraine, Reviewer

It is all too often that the general public gets the impression that Native American cultures were monolithic, unchanging societies, with little or variation through the centuries. The greatest contribution of this book is to counter this misconception. Through its pages unfolds the story of a dynamic culture whose history contains as many twists and turns as any more familiar civilization. The text is enlivened by excellent illustrations and chapters focusing on specific aspects such as warfare and art. There is nothing in the book which should not be there, and very little that is missing, and although some less scholarly readers may get bogged down in the details, it is an invaluable reference for anyone interested in the subject.

Peoples of the Northwest Coast is a rich volume dealing with the archaeology of the Alaska, B.C. and Washington coasts. The thematic nature of the book allows the reader to explore topics such as Ecology: Environments and Demography, Northwest Coast Subsistence, and Households and Beyond. Photographs and illustrations offer an additional insight into prehistoric life on the northwest coast. Ames and Maschner have presented "their view of things", which may frusterate some readers; however, it remains the first synthesis of northwest coast archaeology and prehistory: a valuable book.

Pets in America: A History, was purchased as a gift to a friend who is a pet-lover. She seemed delighted with the gift. I skimmed but did not read the book in detail.

Katherine C. Grier has written a book that is both entertaining and informative. Although I don't think it was intended to be a textbook, it will be a very useful book to use in the college classroom...students will not fail to be engaged by it, which will result in good discussions and thus more learning about the way our society views companion creatures. Dr. Grier blends history and visual images in a way that supports and extends the reader's general comprehension and enjoyment of the many interesting facts in it. Beyond it's usefulness in my classes, though, I have to say that this book is probably one of the best reference works for the history of pets in America that has been written to date. It's also fun to look at the pictures. It is the work of a rare type of scholar: she "reaches the student before she teaches the student." I'm going to make this a required book in my classes next Fall. Thanks, Dr. Grier, for a job well done!Pets in America: A History

"Pets in America", an astonishingly comprehensive new book by Katherine C. Grier, relates the history of pets as we have known them from the earliest days of our nation. In doing so, she has given us a compelling look at the evolution of how different animals became popular pets, how we treat pets as a society and what their needs are compared to ours.

Grier begins by asking "what is a pet?" and then follows up with remarks about "why pets matter". She sets the stage for the reader to begin to view the animals we call "pets" (and what Americans in the nineteenth century called "favorites") in a different way than just furry little creatures that greet us upon our return home. One of the many surprises I found in reading "Pets in America" was that one hundred to one hundred fifty years ago the most popular pet to have was a caged bird. She explains part of the reason by saying that there was far less noise around then and songbirds added a cheerful level of volume that was most welcome in many homes.

While Grier's book understandably covers dogs, cats, birds and fish as the most common pets to find around the house, there is also a good deal of writing about livestock animals.....horses, swine, barnyard fowl and rabbits. There are many quotes from diarists of the 1800s and the most alluring ones come from children. Being much closer to "pets as dinner" she quotes a few girls who couldn't stand the thought of losing a newborn calf or lamb, knowing that it would end up on someone's dinner table....possibly their own. There's also a charming section on "the Bunnie States of America"....a club set up in 1898 by the children of an Albany, New York couple who had rules and regulations for their club, held meetings and wrote of the happenings of their beloved rabbits.

Grier takes an awful lot of time in the middle of the book describing the liberal goodness of the upper middle class and their views toward treating animals with kindness and respect. Although she presents her case effectively, it is the one place where "Pets in America" bogs down a little but she picks right up again with a chapter titled, "Pet keeping and its dilemmas". As animals moved closer to humans with their increased indoor contact, boundaries necessitated change. Understandably, at the same time, livestock became more foreign to many Americans with the advent of the automobile, as horses were decreasingly necessary for transportation. However, Grier describes in great detail what city life was like prior to that with pigs running through the streets, chickens cackling in many a backyard and the undeniable stench of horse manure. The seemy side of pet life....those who dealt in the selling, trading and butchering of pets is a terrific addition to the work. It's hard to believe, sometimes, that we are just a few generations removed from all of that.

The author finishes up with a look at the twentieth century arrival (on a large scale) of pet stores, pet food and other accoutrements such as "clothing" and bedding. There is not much about veterinary medicine in this book other to say that in earlier times, a pet's best caregiver (and often its only doctor) was its owner.

Many wonderful, early photographs and drawings accompany "Pets in America". It's a welcome addition to a fantastic book. I highly recommend "Pets in America" for its depth and incisiveness and I applaud Katherine Grier for combining a straightforward analysis with an outstanding narrative.

It's true that Americans love their pets. Ask anyone at school or work and your will usually get quite a story about the family pet. Katherine Grier's Pets in America: A History is a wonderful attempt to trace the history of pets in America. It is ironic to see how the social development of Americans so closely parallels the sociological importance of our pets.

This book is absolutely recommended for you or the pet lover in your life. It is filled with little pithy facts about pet ownership down through the ages. For instance, I was pleasantly surprised to read of George Washington's hounds and the level to which his personal correspondence referenced them.

Pet ownership has existed in some form since the 1500s and continues to grow in popularity. I found it intriguing how much of pet inclusion is tied directly to our sociological evolution. For instance, our incorporation of pets into photographs directly corresponds to American's desire to share memories with their posterity. The modern purveyor of the digital camera doesn't even give Fluffy a second thought to being included in a photo spread.

Grier also shares the realities for capitalism which increasing pet ownership brought to America. In some of these sections the minutiae will creep to the surface. You would be ill advised to sit down and read it in a few sittings. I did this and found myself absorbed in the details.

Instead, read this book in small chunks. It is filled with incredible information about pet ownership - and every pet lover will find it a must have for their library. George Bernard Shaw said it best: "Animals are my friends, and I don't eat my friends." I wouldn't recommend you eat your pets - but I do recommend you read this book.

Armchair Interviews says: This is a yummy book!

Perfect size, fits in a pocket. Has two maps. Subway map, greater philly map, and independence mall area map.

I love this map. fits right in your backpocket and is perfect for walking around where you don't know your way. The only downside to the small size is, well, the small size. I wear reading glasses of +1.75 strength, which is not too much, but without my glasses it's a struggle to read it. For those who don't need reading glasses, it will be perfect.

I took a trip up to Philadelphia with some friends and the friend we were visiting gave us this map to use when we go around. This map is AWESOME. It is everything you'll need to get around Philadelphia and it fits right into your pocket, literally.

SIZE ASSESSMENT
I first kept it in my purse and it was actually kind of cumbersome to constantly take out, so we started keeping it in jacket or pants pockets, and it rested there easily. Also, it's very small and discreet, so you don't feel like a tourist-moron when you have to bust it out to figure out where you are.

MAP ASSESSMENT
It has maps of the greater Philadelphia area, the Historic District (where the Liberty Bell, etc. are) and the Subway routes. They even suggest a "walking tour" that you can take to visit all of the places around the Historic District (takes about 1.5 hours). When it folds out, there is about an inch margin on either side that goes past the protective cardboard cover, and the mapmakers use this space to detail information about the best hotels, restaurants and sightseeing attractions. Everything is easily legible and the legend is also easy to find.

OTHER NOTES
I liked the map so much that I wanted to buy one for when I go to Stockholm this summer, but the typical sites (Amazon, Borders, Barnes and Noble) garnered no results or results that had extremely high shipping charges. However, I finally found a site that sells all the Pop-Out maps available (http://www.mapeasy.com/prod_polist.html) and even charges only $2 for shipping. After contemplating paying anywhere from $11 (in the Buy New/Used part of Amazon) to $20 (Amazon.com.uk), I was happy to get it under $9 (total) from this reputable website. Also, it's easier to find every single one, since they're in a list style, on this webpage. No more searching for me! I'll always know where to look to get my next pop-out map.

This is an excellent map.
It is detailed, but the writing is clear (no need for the magnifying glass).
It has Downtown Philadelphia in a popout map on one side (which includes some of the major shopping areas!) and Historic Philadelphia in a popout map on the other side. It includes a walking tour around Independence Mall. The back has a handy at-a-glance guide to Downtown Bus & Trolley Routes.

It has all the information you will want, popout the section you need and it folds back down again and can fit in a pocket or purse.

I am a Certified Arborist and this book is one of the best in my library when it comes to an all-around great reference book on the many facets of tree health and maintenance. I highly recommend it.

Printed by Oxford University Press, Pirone's Tree Maintenance has the heft and durability to withstand countless consultations. The text is informative beyond measure and very readable. The photography is black-and-white and didn't reproduce all that well, especially for small and detailed items; photos range from 'Fig. 7-15. Brush chipper and dump truck' (oh please...) to a hollowed-out, decayed Silver Maple resting comfortably on what appears to be a four-bedroom Dutch Colonial (illustrating the section on Identifying Hazard Trees). Good section on insects and diseases (with the caveat that the photos aren't that great); excellent tree-specific section. You will learn a lot from this book--it's a must if you want to rely on another source besides the local tree guy with a chainsaw.

This classic text gives a broad introduction to the field of tree management, including common health problems associated with trees and practical advice for solving them. It is an excellent primer for the novice arborist.

Pirone's Tree Maintenance (Seventh Edition) is one of about a half dozen books I keep within arms reach. While Parts I and II provide a fantastic amount of information on the care of trees and identifying problem, it is Part III that I use the most. This section lists common insects, diseases, and problems associated with specific tree species. While by no means comprehensive, it is an excellent place to start when trying to figure out what is going on with a tree.

Like any such book, be careful when looking at the pesticide recomendations. Chemicals come and go and the labels change (and the authors remind you of that). There are several products that are off the market that are listed in this book.

Back when the now-infamous Top 100 Books of the Century list was proposed, there were a number of glaring omissions, including Djuna Barnes's Nightwood, William Gaddis's The Recognitions, Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow and, yes, The Place in Flowers Where Pollen Rests. With the exception of William Gass's The Tunnel, I have never read such stunning prose so effortlessly rendered. The book centers around Oswald Beautiful Badger Going Over the Hill; too primitive to adopt white mentality, he is "too tainted with book smarts to be at ease among this tribe." He is overshadowed by the looming presence of his uncle, George The Place In Flowers Where Pollen Rests, a legendary carver of kachina dolls. Haunted by his involvement in the death of a porn actress, Oswald is forced to leave the low-budget film industry. A short time later, the Vietnam War pushes him to the perimeter of sanity. Whitmanesque in its simplicity and affinity for nature, West achieves a lyricism that brings concepts as overarching as constellations into the drawing room and hangs them there like bright mobiles. So detailed and incisive are West's descriptions-whether of life on the mesa, George's carving or Oswald's thoughts-the book is more an experience than a piece of literature. Uncle George tells Oswald "a doll covered with chisel scars is not more beautiful than the universe, of course not; but it is cut to our size, like the television." So West takes art, myth and Hopi cosmology and gives them to us in something handy enough to carry on the subway or leave on the bedstand. West's inexhaustible imagination and uncanny skill with language make the reader realize, as Oswald does, that she or he is part of something as eternal as the seasons and as incalculably vast as what surrounds us.

This is a difficult, provocative, awesomely beautiful book -- easily one of the great novels of the twentieth century. I can only think of a handful of other books I've ever read that are as brilliantly and thrillingly written: Styron's The Confessions of Nat Turner; Robert Penn Warren's All the Kings Men, and Faulkner's Sound and the Fury come to mind. It is the story of a man looking for his place in the universe, a member of a dying tribe trying to keeps its legends alive. It is the story of an artist, the story of someone merely trying to live and make sense of what living means. It is the story of every person, every culture, every tribe. I loved it.

Back in the fifties, a writer named Jack Green wrote a series of articles blasting the critics for ignoring the genius of William Gaddis's `The Recognitions'. By and large, the reviews were incompetent and had been cribbed from one another-most reviewers had not even read the book. Green went so far as to take out a full-page ad in the Village Voice, at his own expense, exhorting people to buy `The Recognitions'. That is the way I feel about `The Place In Flowers Where Pollen Rests'. The reviewers were anything BUT incompetent-all the reviews I have read have extolled its lyricism, its out-and-out originality and the sheer vision of the author. Readers, however, seem not to have given it its due.

Set on the Hopi mesas of northern Arizona and in the jungles of Vietnam, the book is told alternately by George The Place In Flowers Where Pollen Rests, his nephew Oswald Beautiful Badger Going Over the Hill ("not so much a name as an expedition") and even Sotuqunangu, a Hopi god. "Unhandy names, these," West writes, but they bring something to life on the mesa: a touch of color, which is the obvious thing to say, but also, to the very act of naming, something narrative, as if all of nature had been in motion at the moment of your birth. It was."

Oswald, who has learned to speak English and made his living in Los Angeles as a porn actor, returns after the accidental death of one of the actresses he was working with. He tries to re-establish the relationship with his "uncle", George, a carver of one-of-a-kind kachina dolls (a kachina is a kind of Hopi angel) who is considered the Picasso of his art. Nearly blind and hampered by a failing heart, George, for the first time, has need of Oswald-who is in fact his son-not only as someone to guide him through his perpetual dusk, but to listen to his stories of Hopi gods, Jimsonweed girls and the ghosts of his past. Ironically, it is Oswald who, in his confusion of two cultures, receives guidance and it George's voice, perhaps, that is Oswald's salvation while fighting in Vietnam.

Returning to the mesa after his tour of duty, Oswald tries, after his uncle's fashion, to get up-close and personal with stone formations, with the desert wind and even, after picking up a book on astronomy, with the stars.

There is no page you can turn to in this book where you will not find a sample of an extraordinary prose style or an observation that a lesser novelist would have saved as the punchline to end the book. For example, on the topic of happiness, West writes, "Don't try. Don't try not to try. Happiness is an incidental thing like feathers falling from a bird in flight. Fly, be a bird, and feathers will fall." In these few sentences West has captured the essence of the Baghavadgita and its "Way of Right Action." The book is simply loaded with stunning insights and beautiful sentences--the kind that put many younger authors of "Big Books" (Franzen, DeLillo) to shame. One of the absolute best novels I have ever read, readers have far too long ignored this masterpiece.

PS -- the Voyant edition has two previously unpublished essays at the back of the book; "The Backlash Against the Novel" is a fascinating read all by itself.

To merely say that the prose is lyrically buoyant is not enough, to say that the writing is merely insightful is not enough. I'd probably need the gifts of Paul West to be able to adequately get across to you just how beautiful the experience of reading this book (3x) was for me.

For me to comment on the book's story or plot would be a waste of time, because turning the pages for me was not a matter of what will happen next but a matter of what deftly rendered prose was waiting. You can get lost in it like a Faustian moment, a Coltrane solo, or an inspiration that makes you miss every exit home.

This is West's best work by far, as well as one of the best works to come out of 20th century literature. He is in absolute command of his voice, of his subject, and of his characters. If you love to read for the sake of reading, read this book. You won't be disappointed.

The late Carl Sagan thought that science should be "user-friendly," presented not in jargon but in regular English. He believed that the general public could -- and should -- have access to the latest scientific discoveries.

Sagan would be proud of _Planet Ocean._ The central theme of the book is stated clearly on page 1: "Nature is a workshop, not a temple." Matsen spends the rest of the book supporting this concept, explaining that life is not a stately, well-executed design where species climb a ladder of progress; rather, evolution is an inescapable and completely random condition. Animals and plants breed, have offspring that are slightly different, and continue to become slightly more different with each successive generation until the distant grandkids look nothing like the original parent. In addition, through totally weird, sometimes avoidable and sometimes unavoidable circumstances, the species as a whole will either do very well, or get pushed out of the scene. The environment works like the stock market -- fortunes are made, and fortunes are lost. (The metaphor of "rolling the dice" comes up more than once.)

Matsen's prose is engaging, entertaining, and extremely informative. In one of my favorite sections, he describes the success of the trilobites (who survived for 300 million years in Earth's oceans):

"They would eat anything and breed anywhere, and they made themselves as unattractive to predators as possible. We all have relatives like them. From [trilobites] and their success and longevity, an evolutionary rule of thumb has emerged: 'The more specialized a species, the less able to cope with change it will be once the inevitable happens and old habitats change beyond the point of recognition' [...]. In other words, generalists usually outlast specialists, and evolutionary progress is not necessarily a matter of refinement. [...] Ninety percent of success is just showing up. Ask an arthropod, like a trilobite or a cockroach. [...] Generalism won't get you to Carnegie Hall with your cello, but a cockroach doesn't need a cello." (p. 14).

This conversational tone is used throughout the book, and it really works. Matsen's prose reminds one of an after-class discussion with a very generous, patient biology teacher -- the kind you always wished you had, and didn't. Matsen takes otherwise very difficult subject matter and explains it in understandable terms that don't insult the intelligence of the reader. He even suggests amusing mnemonics to remember the order of epochs in the Palaezoic and Mesozoic eras ("Crying over sleeping dragons may puzzle people, terrify, (or) joyfully convert") as well as for the Cenozoic era ("Palaeontologists eat only murky plankton porridge hot").

Interwoven with the education that Matsen offers is the story of his and artist Ray Troll's voyage of discovery. Brad and Ray actually travelled to many of the sites discussed in the book, and the little personal touches -- Brad's vision of the Cretacious sea as they drove across Kansas, Ray's discovery and naming of a totally new species of pterasaur, and the fishing trips enjoyed by both -- really draw in the reader. One becomes intimate with the friendly voice, the casual, personal stories, and history of life on Earth.

Not to be missed, of course, is the wonderful art. Ray Troll is a meticulous artist, and his offbeat sense of humor is perfectly in place with the spirit of the book. For example, his illustration of a lungfish's hesitant voyage out of water is captioned, "Out of the ooze and born to cruise." Not to be missed are his "ads" for a wrist watch that measures geologic time; Burgess Brand Primordial Soup; and that great French wine, Chateau Mosasaur. Doodles, sketches, and highly detailed pastel paintings are strewn throughout, and they are worth the price of the book by themselves. (Interested readers can preview some of Ray's art at his homepage, www.trollart.com)

This book is an excellent introduction to evolution, palaeontology, marine biology, and/or marine science. Alternately light and serious, one is sorry to finish the book. It -- like the 650 million year history it encapsulates -- is such a joy to experience. Highly recommended.

Brad Matsen and Ray Troll's "Planet Ocean" is a lively swim through the fossil record, beginning at the beginning 650 million years ago in the watery depths.

Troll's whimsical illustrations accompany Matsen's humorously accessible explanations of what we've learned - and think we've learned - from the earliest fossils. Matsen traces evolution from the primordial soup to the first colonies of multicellular organisms to the ubiquitous trilobytes - "the most diverse and successful animals on Planet Ocean until the Permian extinction claimed the last of them."

He discusses the engineering that went into chambers (the nautilus) and hard shells and the arrival of backbones and speculates (with the experts) on the role of extinctions in evolution, including our own.

Although he sometimes demolishes or supports theories without sufficient scientific explanation, Matsen's watery perspective is well-organized and refreshing and Troll's drawings and paintings are as likely to be detailed and informative as they are fanciful and quirky.

I bought this book essentially to serve as additional curriculum support to my 'Science & The Art of Discovery' workshop designed for kids, 8-12. I have kept it in the office library where the kids can have ready access.

Participating kids often like to take out the book to browse. I often find them transfixed with awe.

The book is a wonderful visual & intellectual treat. The printed text integrates natural history, paleontology, geology, & biology into a wholistic narrative about the origins of all life on earth.

I like to conclude this review with a quotation from the book: "We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started. And know the place for the first time. (T S Elliot, 'Four Quartets')"

I would enthusiastically recommend this entertaining book to your kids, particularly when they have an interest in science.

This book was a pleasure to read- even though it was mostly facts (and this is coming from a teenager)! Sure, I love learning about evolution and fossils, but I rarely sit down to read long, boring books about it. But this book is fresh, colorful, full of information, and INTERESTING!!! I congratulate the author and illustrator for putting out such a masterpiece! It is sure to recruit paleontologists for the next generation!