Montana Books

I love cookbooks that live...Big Sky does just that...it lives in all families. The recipes take you to a family dinner or a friendly get together. Big Sky brings wonderful recipes together with family and friends. What else is there.

Beautifully done. Pictures magnificent. Recipes unique. I gave this book as a gift to a friend who grew up in Montana... she was thrilled!!!!

The authors experienced a frantic Manhattan lifestyle tempered by visits to Montana until they bought a ranch and become involved in the food traditions of the area. When passionate cook Ellen Wright discovered the area's blend of fresh game and ingredients, she joined them and BIG SKY COOKING WITH REFLECTIONS features a fine blend of full-page color photos, recipes, and dishes steeped in Montana ingredients. Sesame-Soy Venison Chops, Elk Pepper Steaks, and Bison Osso Busco aren't dishes you'll find many other places, either.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Interesting book to read as well as some really good recipes

This book is filled with excellent recipes that are different from your every day common recipes. An excellent addition to my wife's cook book collection.
One recipe in the book "McCleod's Hot Mustard" is worth the price of the book.
Carl Robinson

I just got this book from my girlfreind and I wasn't that excited when i got it. A christian novel is a very strange thing for me.
Besides that, I live in Miles City, I work at "The Fort", and by other peoples dubbing I am a cowboy, not that I really think so. The book was a great read. I flew through this book in about 12 hours and I thought it was a great book. He brought in the discriptions of the area and the thoughts of this community great. I also liked his use of spiritualilty without making it a fire and brimstone chrisian novel. I almost didn't know that John Moore was that kind of author until later. I think I would have passes on reading this if he woulden't have drawn me in with the opening of the story, talking about the straind relationship of a young man living with a hard headed father on a ranch, which i have experienced and I can say he is very accurate to the experience.

GREAT BOOK

Good book! Some who start this story find it slow in the beginning. In a way I suppose it is. But the author starts it off in this way, I feel, because he is laying a foundation ... not just for the rest of the story, but also for the main character, Ezra Riley. Strong foundations can't be laid quickly, they need to be built layer by layer to be effective. In the foundation of The Breaking of Ezra Rily we see what it really means to be a Cowboy. As said before, it's not the Hollywood romanticized version, it's gritty and real. Throughout this beginning, the author shows who Ezra's parents and extended family are and we see how they influence who Ezra becomes.

About a third of the way in, Ezra's makes a choice, and it's here that the pace of the book picks up. Ezra finds that his father doesn't understand that his way of life is too hard on his poetic nature, so one day, without a word, he leaves. He wanders the open road becoming a "hippy", dabbles in eastern religion, hallucinogens, and the culture of the early 70's. (He even studies martial arts in a monastery in the mountains.)

Ezra eventually realizes, that the land he grew up in is such a part of him, that he must return and what eventually brings him home is his Father, the man who drove him away.

Throughout the novel there is a struggle between loving the land and the cowboy way, but not wanting to be owned by it. A powerful metaphor in my eyes.

This is a Christian novel, but it is the only recent Christian novel I've read that reveals the Christianity I've practiced and come to know. The author was not content with just telling the tale of how his character found faith, he makes it richer by revealing what walking in faith is all about AFTER coming to Christ.

The struggle between us and God, us and our fellow man, as well as the powers of darkness that try to influence us- all of it's in this book.

Ezra deals with a paganist nutcase, a witch, a millionaire who offers him everything he's ever dreamed of-for a cost of course, the generational curses upon his family, a friend who has the charisma but none of the character to be a "preacher man", thereby allowing Ezra to experience most of the pitfalls of Christian ministry.

If you get this book and start reading it, "don't quit the critter". Keep reading. It's worth it!

The Breaking of Ezra Riley has been my favorite novel for a number of years now. It has something that most "Christian" fiction lacks, even though I do enjoy a lot of Christian fiction. It is real, honest, and raw. I found myself relating with the main character and his struggles throughout the book. I think the message of this book speaks to men especially, most men who have grown up in the last century. You can't read this book and not sympathize with the main character and all he goes through to come face to face with his father and the truth about himself. If you have never known the love of a Father I highly recommend that you read this book.

I have had the pleasure of corresponding with John L. Moore and purchasing other books from him. He is a very genuine man. Some of the out of print books available in limited numbers by the author. I highly recommend this fabulous book. While not a fast reader, I was able to complete the saga of Exra Riley in a matter of a few days. One does not wish to put the book down and I often would tell myself ,"just one more chapter." This novel hit me in the right time and place and has me aching for wild spaces. It has been an encouragement as well, especially for all of us who feel that we don't measure up in some way.

This was given to me as a gift, and I really didn't know what I'd think of it. I've never been one for Cowboy books, I've never once read Louis L'amour. So to be quite honest, I really didn't care if this was a read that I'd put down half way through. Well, after the first chapter I found myself looking at my wife saying, "Ya know, this isn't half bad." That was kind of an understatement, it was awesome!

So you REALLY want to read about Montana? You want to read about horses, possibly learn about what ranch life is all about? Are you ready for this? Is this the adventure you're looking for? You'll find out. Ezra Riley is the man who comes back home to stay after his daddy's funeral. His daddy is Johnny Riley, and everybody knows ole' Johnny. One tough sonuvagun that Johnny. Ezra has his Uncle Sam and Solomon still alive in these parts of Montana, and they still speak their mind when the time comes. Steven Curtis Chapman wrote a song called "The Great Adventure" and it starts out with him singing in excitement, "Saddle up your horses!!!" If you read this men, or anybody for that matter, saddle up, and hold on tight!

One of the key themes in this is "Don't quit the critter." Now, living in New York, I think I even get the simple meaning of such a honky-tonk phrase. Is it that simple? Yep, and it packs quite a punch. It isn't as graceful as say, fly fishing, but it separates the men from the boys, so to speak. This wasn't an easy read at times. You feel some of the discouragement. But finish it if you start it, and you'll feel as if you earned a great prize. The simple prize of finishing, and persevering! That should at least be worth something.

"The Christmas Menorahs" witnesses an event that
reveals how an ordinarily silent majority can address
a hate-mongering minority effectively. It can be done!
Story is beautifully told and illustrated. Good for
children as well as adults.

This is a very important book - written for children yet making the story accessible to many adults too. Would that all adults could set the example of the adults in this story.

Our kids have turned this into a play, which they have enacted the past three years at Chanukah. It's an important about tolerance fighting hate.

This is an important story for Jewish and non-Jewish children.

This is one of the best books for kids during the holidays (or year round for that matter). It's great for adults too, I look forward to reading it every Hanukah.

I remember that night in December 1993. As Christians, we displayed the full paged Menorah from the Billings Gazette in our window. It was a message to the skinhead(s) that hatred and bigotry have NO place in Billings, Montana or anywhere else.

I have purchased 11 books to plan my trip to Montana. I do not wish to write reviews on all of them, but felt compelled to comment on this one. It is far and away the best book I have found for planning a driving trip through the state. It listed 3-4 times as many motels (apparantly all of them)as any other book. The same is true for places to eat. It listed every gas stop. None of the other books listed any. Its maps are much more thorough, and they have maps of small towns as well as the big ones. The quick reference charts are priceless, and it is the only book to offer discounts from the states merchants. A truly priceless book, and I highly recommend it to anyone even thinking of going to Montana.

I just bought five books including this one on traveling in Montana. I almost didn't buy this one because of the price. That would have been a huge mistake. Not only do you get what you pay for with this, it's worth twice the price. This is the only book that gave me a complete selection of motels and places to stay. The way they organized the routes and indicated directly on the maps where everything is located is a huge help. We can pick our place to stay and plan where we are going to eat before we even get there. This is also the only book that tells us not only where gas stops are, but what they have for services. And marking the attractions directly on the map with numbers is a great way to see just where things are. I like the discounts too. Seems like we should get our money back in a couple of days. I'm not crazy about having to present the book for the discounts, but hey, nothings perfect. I thought this was close enough to give it the highest rating after comparing it to everything else available. And hey, if you like pictures, there are hundreds of them in here. Anyone planning a trip to Montana would be just plain stupid to not get a copy of this.

I am retired and do a lot of traveling. While I like to find out as much about a place I am visiting before I go, I have a limited budget. After looking through all of the books available here, this one looked like a safe buy. I ordered it with high expectations from all of the comments here. I have to say my expectations were met. If you're looking for good solid information on where to eat, sleep, gas up, and play in Montana, you'd probably have to buy a number of the other books available to get this much information. I have planned my trip this Spring down to the minute using the information in this book. The only thing that disappointed me was that the discounts were expired. However, the publisher did include a form acknowledging that and allowing you to purchase the next edition for half price when it is released this Spring. Were that all publishers this honest. If you're even thinking about going to Montana, this is a must buy. I have traveled to most states and as a result have a fairly large accumulations of travel guides. I have to say, this is probably one of the best I have seen.

I couldn't disagree more with the reader from Atlanta. I travel extensively throughout the NW states, Canada, and Alaska. I have used the Milepost extensively for years when traveling to Alaska, and find it to be the best available for that area. However, I picked up a copy of the Montana Directory last summer when in Montana. I found the things that were missing from the Montana book were the thousands of useless pieces of information that the Milepost includes at literally every milepost. What I want is useful information, like where to eat, sleep and gas up. I have found the Montana book to be extremely comprehensive and useful for that. I wanted to know points along the route that are of interest. I so far have not found a signal ommission on the Montana book publishers part, and I have used it on half a dozen trips to the state since I acquired it. Perhaps the Atlanta reader is mistaking quantity for quality. Yes, the Milepost definitely has more "stuff". But the MT. Directory has"~ far more useful information and presents it in a very concise manner."~ paid advertisements and does not show you where they are on the map, you have to figure that out on your own."~ and quickly pick out the places that have what I'm looking for. As I drive a deisel vehicle, I find the charts extremely useful to locate stops that sell deisel fuel. You won't find that info in the Milepost. minor inconvenience. I did find an advantage in this as a few of the merchants refused to void the discount and told me I could use it next time through. Overall, I calculate I've saved over $300 using the book. The only discounts offered in the Milepost are buried in ads here and there, and don't come close to those offered in the Montana book. I am able get free drinks or coffee at most of the gas stops. Quite frankly, the book is worth the price for the discounts alone. A person will do well"~ to buy it just for the money they will save."~ roadside information is thorough, and I still feel like I got my money's worth many times over. I can't give it a 10, but I will give it a 9. Since there are only five stars I had to round up. While there are more "fun" books to read on Montana, there are none that I have found as useful. I hope your customers don't take that Atlanta reader's comments seriously. I noticed they really didn't say what they didn't like about it. I wonder what it is he/she would do to improve the book?

Awesome book!

As this was one of the higher priced books on Montana, I was leary when I purchased it. I noticed also, that amazon.com does not discount it as it does the others. Now I know why. It's worth every penny I paid for it and more. I love the "quick reference" charts for dining, lodging, and auto which make it easy to look up any of the businesses in that category. And unlike other guide books I have looked at, it appears to list every eating place, motel, and gas or repair stop, not just the ones the author likes. I never was crazy about authors telling me what places I should like and not like. This book just gives me raw information and lets me decide where I want to go. I also like how they number every business and interesting stop and put the numbers right on the map showing me where they are. And the discounts are real and abundant. I have paid more money for coupon books with less useful discounts. And these just come as a bonus. If you're even thinking about going to Montana--buy this book.

This is one of the best books I've ever read. Ms. Smith's style is simple and clean; yet in 368 pages she has crafted no less than 10 complicated, realistic characters and no less than 3 intriguing subplots--it is like watching that tiny car at the circus out of which many clowns emerge, each in a different brightly-colored costume, each with a unique face.

She had me by page 3; my attention was riveted by each character, so real and are they.

Ms. Smith is one of those writers who make Los Angeles come alive. She writes of the communities of the Hispanic immigrant, the wealthy white upper middle class and the working class. Ana, the protagonist, belongs to two of the worlds: her father is from El Salvador and her mother was a blue collar/middle class white. In the course of this mystery novel Ana explores both worlds and discovers fascinating things that had been concealed from her.

The characters and the settings ring true and and the plot effortlessly reels us in.

Highly recommended!

My idea of an FBI agent is of a taciturn hero with both feet firmly planted on the ground. April Smith's Ana Grey is not the FBI agent that I imagined she would be or possibly as mature a person as she should be, but she is a compelling character and one I would like to see more of. The various subplots regarding Ana's family history, personal relationships, and the major case she is assigned to keep you going and in the end leave you satisfied and yet ... the tendrils of the story and the characters have a life of their own and go on in your imagination. Not every author can manage this. April Smith does it well.

Okay, take Sue Grafton when she's at her very best, like in "F Is For Fugitive." Then take Joseph Wambaugh when he was really cooking, like in "The Black Marble." Then, stir them together and turn up the heat by a factor of three. A perfect combination! The literati liked this book, so I was afraid to buy it, thinking it would like P. D. James or one of those other major bores. Instead, I read the amazon.com reviews and learned it was great, so I checked it out. WOW! Monster book! Great insight, passion, smart....wonderful!

Depending on libraries is cheap but sometimes not always the best way to go. This is probably one of those times, since I generally wouldn't chose an abridged audiobook. In this case, this editors seemed to have sucked the life out of Ana Grey. So many of the other reviewers talk about an intriguing new protagonist. Well, the Ana I heard was boring and a bit whiney. I just didn't like her.

Tape or no tape, the bigger plot is also a bit out there - not the movie star part or the Salvadoran refugees -- just that Ana is related to them. Smith does a good job of portraying life in Los Angeles north of Montana Ave.

So, my advice - read the paper version, if anything. If you really want a sizzling new writer from So. Cal - try Don Winslow.

a solid book, garunteed satisfaction. more please!

In Pale Morning Done Jeff Hull skillfully fashions a world of believable people, beautiful places, noble causes and roiling relationships. Pale Morning Done made me feel as though I was living in present day Montana, restoring a spring creek, fishing and having a drink or two with friends at the end of the day.

C. D. Peterson
An old fly fisherman

Hull does a great job of bringing the fly-fishing guide sub-culture to life in this entertaining and sometimes poignant modern novel. I live in Montana and am on the fringes of this particular group and laughed out loud and in fondness during several passages. The tragedy near the end of the book keeps it from becoming too sweetness-and-light and kinda shook me up a bit. The only thing that annoyed me was the main character's chronic indecision--figure it out already! But then, I guess that's pretty true-to-life too.

Being a regional novelist (Suomalaiset: People of the Marsh, ISBN 0972005064), whenever I am out and about, I like to pick up regional fiction and read about the places I visit. While visiting Glacier National Park in Montana this summer, I happened to buy "Pale Morning Done" by Jeff Hull, a Montana author. Being a trout fisherman (a poor one), and a lover of the out of doors, the book piqued my interest. Little did I know how wonderful a read it would turn out to be! Hull uses the landscape of Big Sky Country as a separate and distinct character in this story of thirty somethings coming of age far later in life than one might expect. The protagonist, his love interests, his neighbors, his friends, are all crafted and portrayed with the hand of a deft and adept writer. The dialogue is pitch perfect and the narrative sections, especially those connected to the landscape, sing like fine poetry. If you're looking for a good literary novel with contemporary themes but timeless conflicts, read this book.

Early Xmas gift that I couldn't put down.

I have fished many places, including Montana. This book brought me back. Rich storyline, interesting characters and an honest portrayal of the complexities facing many of the storied fishing spots across the country. And, beautiful insights into why those of us who fish for the joy of it all are brought back to the water whenever life allows. Hull paints a picture of fishing a stream that fills all of your senses. I agree with the editorial reviewers who evoke the names of the great fishing authors when describing Hull's writing. He gets it and can put it into words that you can't stop reading. I can't wait for his next book!

Jeff Hull paints a vivid, wonderful story. This book takes you to Montana, and keeps you there well after the last chapter is read.

I loved this book! It was for me one of those rare reads where once you start you cannot put the book down until you've reached the end. I thought the writing was artfully done; I disagree with the reviewer who thought the flashbacks made the story difficult to follow. Characters may have been flawed, most interesting characters are, but these were characters that I came to care about. Well worth the time and one of the best books I've read this year.

Ms. McNamer has captured the essence of Montana life this last half century as few have. Her descriptions of the landscape, the concerns, the daily dialogue of its residents, the general diaspora of its citizens rings incredibly truly fascinating. Her word power is exquisite. To read this story is like having a long overdue conversation with a well loved, long lost friend. The story is fascinating. It is not an edge of your seat thriller but rather an enticing opportunity to immerse yourself in a challenging and often subtle slew of events. Having spent my teen years in Butte, I can vouch safe for the authenticity of the story regarding
setting and characters.

I enjoyed this book immensely. I sure hope the author keeps more coming.

This book opened beautifully. The author creates word pictures that are wonderful. The ending was contrived, the mystery really was never solved for Neil, who lived his whole life before we meet up with him again. I would read something else by this author because of the writing style and thats why I gave it two stars.

The end-flap of the dust jacket on this book relates a storyline extracted from it that sounds straightforward enough, but McNamer has written something far more complex and fascinating. She tells a story with a beginning, middle and an end, but not at all in that order. While the narrative is set almost entirely in Montana, timelines jump back and forth between 1927, 1939, 1944-46, and 2003. There's an extensive catalog of characters who get their time on center stage, their stories sometimes overlapping with others. Meanwhile, the supposed central characters disappear for long periods of time and we learn about them only indirectly.

Sounds maybe complicated, but I found the novel absorbing from beginning to end. Part of that owes to the subject matter. Two G-men employed by J. Edgar Hoover's wartime FBI start out as friends, and then something happens that sets them at odds. A young brother outlives his older brother by more than 50 years, but memory continues to bind them together. And in what seems to be a random universe, where people live and then die as if life itself were a plague, there are chance parallels like a B-29 running out of fuel as it returns from a bombing mission to Tokyo and a car running out of gas in a Montana snowstorm. Much of what makes the novel absorbing owes to McNamer's wonderful way with language, which is often poetic and haunting in its use of metaphor to capture nuances of emotion, attitude, and physical sensation. It's not a book you speed read. It's meant to be savored and puzzled over at a more leisurely pace. It's a book to get lost in; I heartily recommend it.

This gripping tale zigs and zags through the past century in Montana looking for meaning in a shotgun blast to the head and finding the deepest spot in America's heart.

"A Little Too Much Is Enough" may not be a novel, but it is a delightful, imaginary memoir of growing up in Hawaii in the '50s.
Mahealani Suzanne Wong is a bright, observant girl in a Chinese-Hawaiian-American family that is in a generational transition from more Chinese to more (Mainland-style) American. This is neatly encapsulated in the short chapter (they are all short) "Still the Same Saimin," in which Mahi recalls the fragrance and taste of saimin (noodles) throughout the years, first at home, then at the fair and the movies, finally at McDonald's in Waikiki.
Food serves the function that plot performs in most novels. There is no problem, leading to a crisis and a denouement. Rather, life for the Wongs is divided into sections marked by nine-course Chinese dinners commemorating weddings, funerals, graduations.
Mahi, clever child, uses these occasions to observe the social maneuverings of her women kin. Aunty Nona, the sensualist who can sell crackseed (local snack, not related to cocaine) to anybody; and Mahi's mother, full of platitudes and pretty good advice; and a host of cousins.
All the Wong women, and eventually Mahi, want to travel, to get beyond the wonderfully supportive but also smothering influence of family.
The men, barely limned compared with the vigorous women in the book, are completely content with life in late Territorial Hawaii. They never leave, or if they do, it is by force, as when Mahi's father, Kuhio, is "shanghaied" to grow up in China. Mahi's brother Buzzy sums it up:
"I could never be like you, Sis. I can never go away from here. I don't care if I never eat sweet pineapple again. But everything else I'm going to keep. They can't charge me fifty dollars for the beach and the sun and the surf. Hawaii no ka oi [is the best], that's what I say. Nobody can make me pay for that."
Nothing much happens in Buzzy's Honolulu. Members of the family and friends go to school, change jobs, marry and divorce, start businesses that succeed or fail. The only novelistic touch is the story of the adoption of Uncle Wing, an extraordinary and touching tale, but that happened long before Mahi was born.
The lack of storm and stress does not at all mean that "A Little Too Much Is Enough" moves slowly. Though it is quickly apparent that all that is going to happen is that Mahi will grow up and move to Oregon (as Tyau did), getting there is all the fun.
Tyau manages a doubly difficult task: She transfers the cadence and lilt of local speech to the printed page without awkwardness (though the non-English words will baffle Mainlanders). And she also manages to do so without slowing to the pace of loquacious local talk.
Plus, Tyau has a way with a phrase. "It's not easy to hold onto poi." "Her skirt rides on her hips like a boat in a storm."
"A Little Too Much Is Enough" is charming, graceful, sentimental and, with one exception, accurate.
This is an Oahu book. When Tyau goes to Maui, there is a serious mistake.
In "Ocean Is for Drowning," Mahi's best friend's cousin goes bodysurfing on Maui and breaks his neck. "Roy's sister told us that a lot of people have broken their necks at Makena, but nobody puts up a warning sign, because the hotels don't want to scare away the tourists."
Wrong all around. At the time of this novel, there weren't any hotels in Makena or anywhere nearby. Oneloa (also known as Big Beach, where I suppose this incident occurs) has a fearsome shorebreak, but there never were any signs, so the hotels cannot be responsible for their absence. (There still aren't any hotels at Big Beach; it is now a state park.)
( I did not like Tyau's second novel, Makai, nearly as much.)

This is Kathleen Tyau's second novel about life in post WW II Hawaii. Like it's predecessor, A Little Too Much is Enough, it conveys a sense of what life in Hawaii was like foe the native, local Hawaiians through the eyes and experiences of one family.

This is a much more expansive book than it predecessor. It introduces elements of the impact of mainland society into the picture through expatriate's returning home for a visit, providing for a comparative look at shared memories that begin in Hawaii during World War II and continue to a present in the 1970s from divergent viewpoints.

Alice's best friend, Annabel Lee, is coming back to Maui after years in Florida, but she has been preceded by her son, Wick, who is romancing Alice's daughter. Alice is beside herself with the preparations of Annabel's return and flooded with memories of their lives growing up together at St. Andrew's Priory after the war. As if all this weren't enough, Alice's daughter has announced she's broken up with her husband and is now seeing Annabel's son after a visit to their family in Florida.

Like it's predecessor, this is a book rich in detail and evocative of a time past that not too many people really know about. It stands as both a fascinating character study and history lesson as well.

On the whole this is a better written and more sophisticated book than A Little Too Much, but I thought the earlier effort was a better story as it captured much more effectively the spiritual and mystical side of native Hawaiian culture, which is almost totally absent from this effort. Nonetheless, both are excellent and I would recommend either in a heartbeat.

I must respectfully disagree with the previous reviewer who stated that the book was disjointed and didn't make sense. It is a warm, wonderful story with chapters that tell different stories from the point of view of some of the main characters. Not at all difficult to understand, and in a way it is like putting together pieces of a puzzle. By the end of the book you will be sorry that it has ended. A bit like Amy Tan's Joy Luck Club, with wonderful characterizations of the family and all the aunties and uncles. The Hawaii setting is great too, but the themes are universal. Highly recommended.

In this novel we can experience the cultural influence of the family, the society and the double standards that are commonly felt while growing up in a place other than your birthplace. It looks at our own perception of ourselves and how we see other people looking at us. Very good.

Set in post WW II Hawaii, "A Little Too Much is Enough" chronicals the life experiences of a young Chinese-Hawaiian woman growing up in Honolulu from the perspectives of various members of her extended family. A very rich, colorful, highly ethnic portrayal of Hawaii's development into a major tourist location and that development's effects on the native population. Several core incidents and experiences are told, and re-told, through severl different voices and perspectives, yeilding a rich texture in which one comes to savor the totality of the experiene's effects on the entire Wong family. Delivered in a highly vernacular Hawaiian voice throughout, "A Little Too Much is Enough" in the end stands as not just a wonderful story, but also as a rich, multicultural experience

Each principles are interesting. Very good book to start again your life but in a better way, a better direction.

I thought this was boring. It was recommended to me. Very fast read and because it was audio it was too slow for me. So, buy the word version so you can get thru it faster.

I'm into self improvement and thought it'd be interesting to hear the perspective of an athlete on how one can perform better. I thought listening to this (unabridged) audio CD would be a productive way to spend my commute to work. And I was right.

This book demonstrates which principles one should employ to achieve goals, be a team player, and a leader -- all while maintaining good spirit. Every principle was backed by examples of real and successful people -- so there is no B.S. and I like that. It includes stories of legendaries such as John Wooden, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, etc. It even includes business world examples from Tom Mitchell's (the co-author) corporate coaching experiences and Joe's business experiences. It's definitely not about Joe.

I am not a football fan, and was definitely not expecting their talk to be so real. Their advice is dead on the money. It was silly that they picked 16 principles because that was the number on Joe's jersey -- but all 16 of them are actually practical/useful.

Another reviewer said this wasn't sliced bread -- but if you listen to them and actually put their principles into practice -- in business, relationships, sports et cetera --you will definitely come out on top.

Recommendation: Buy. If you're going to get advice, get it from the best.

I'm way to smart to take advice from Joe Montana and some guy I've never heard of who are just out to make a quick buck! I'm not going to buy it.

It's the only book available to listen that I am remotely interested in from the Chicago Public Library this week? OK...bring it on.

Wait? I forgot, I like Joe! Oh, right, he was one of the greatest of all time! This other bloke, he seems to know a thing or two.

I'm being motivated! By Joe Montana and the other guy! The seem to have some good advice. I'll listen again. Wow, the 16 principles all work, all inspire and the practice work is helpful! Yes, Joe and other guy, why don't business people practice? Why not?

A good book by what some say is the greatest of all time. Glad I found it.

This book was excellent. Joe Montana will transform his winning spirit to you through these pages. It is a great book which will help you to use the winning strategies of a sports team in your own life. Anyone who desires to succeed will be encouraged by what is written on the pages in this book. I shared this book with a couple friends because I felt that some of the things written in it would bring inspiration into their lives. They both agreed that it was very good. I don't think anyone would be disappointed with one.

Montana novels are often about brothers (think of "A River Runs Through It," "The Power of the Dog," "In Open Spaces"). This is another one, and a very entertaining one. The narrator is a law school dropout whose family is giving up hope that he will ever turn out to be more than a drummer in a C&W band. The brother, in this case, is a deputy sheriff, whose own aspirations have been frustrated by circumstance and who deals with adversity and his own bottled-up rage by being fiercely self-reliant and intimidating -- not someone who should have easy access to firearms. From the moment he steps into the story, he is both a menacing and comic presence.

Our hero blunders from one mischance to another, struggling to recover some self-esteem in a family where his litigator father smacks him across the face when the truth of his son's aborted law career becomes known. And his mother adds insult to injury with her undisguised scorn and disappointment. Only an older sister is able to provide some solace in this domestic storm. And there is welcome relief in the gigs he plays at local dance halls and bars with a hometown band, the Cloverleafs.

Emmons gives us a wonderful comic vision into the "angst" of our young hero. I laughed out loud often at the unexpected turns of plot, the quirky turns of conversation between unlikely and off-center characters, the free-for-all fist fights that break out in bars, the cowboy machismo that spills unwelcomed from pickup trucks with gun racks. A particular pleasure is the insight into the psychology of playing sets of dance music for a beer-drinking bar crowd. The prose takes flight in these scenes.

Although all does not end happily for everyone, the author pulls things together for our musician hero, providing him with a love interest, the beginnings of resolution with his parents, and a good lawyer to help him beat a felony rap. (You'll have to read the book.) I happily recommend this novel to anyone with an interest in music and musicians, domestic comic-drama, Montana (there are actually two Montanas in this book), and cowboy culture.

Being from Montana, Cowby Angst realy hit home. The Characters in the book seem like old friends. The reality of life in the west and the struggle with family and friends will relate to many people. I hope there is a seguel.

Cited on its own cover as "Reality Bites with a cowboy twist," that pretty much sums it up. In fact, it's probably a better read if you a) don't read that comment; or b)don't get the 'Reality Bites' reference. All the major events of the early 90s fad flick line up with the events of this short novel. Not that it's bad reading. It's well-written, though not strikingly so, and has that everyday-life feel that can catch the reader and keep you gliding through. Probably better reading if you can RELATE to the lead character, who's caught between what's expected of him in the real world, and his artistic leanings. A good thoughtful read for anyone in transition, or wishing they were. Some humor, though I didn't have the impression the lead character was as funny or smart as he seemed to think; that has to do with the writer RELATING to the character. I have half a mind some of the scenes (the slower ones?) are cut from Emmon's life.

This is a comfortable story, easy to read and believe. You find yourself wishing Dennis McCance was your friend. If he was, he'd go out in a storm to get more wood for the fire and, while he was at it, run by the store and get another six-pack. Dennis is a young man in turmoil, too young to be having a mid-life crisis, but that's what it feels like all the same (without being pathetic, though - maybe he's just a forward-thinking sort of dude). Dennis is examining his values, his beliefs, his morals. Okay, his life. But in a deliberate and endearing way, one that draws you in and makes you feel like a confidante. Dennis may think he's stymied, bottomed out on a dead end road, but little by little he's putting his life in order. Just maybe not the order he had in mind.

Forget the "slacker" and "Gen-X" labels, this book trascnends generations. Anyone who reached their twenties without a clear path or calling will relate to the issues Dennis faced in this story. The tensions within the family that simmer and then erupt are told in fluid prose that moves like a swift current in a deep stream. My only regret is that the book ended. If Emmons is up to it I would sure like to read the rest of Dennis's legacy.