Western Books

This book was one the the best books I have ever read! I just couldn't put it down. As a Christian barrel racer myself, I can tell you, this book should be read by everyone who loves God and rodeo. Definately a ten star! Too bad the rating doesn't go that high!

"Chase the Dream" was one of the best books I read last summer! Another winner from Multnomah Publishers! If you enjoy christian romances you should check out some of their other titles. I "discovered" them a year ago and now they are some of my favorite books. "Chase The Dream" is a great example of the writing their authors put out.

I loved this book. I read it once for something I had to do and fell in love with it. I'm going to buy it so that I can read it again. This book kept me up for hours, before I found that I loved to read.

CHASE THE DREAM IS THE BEST BOOK IVE READ. ITS FULL OF RODEO FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE. I HAVE BEEN ON THE RODEO CIRCIT, AND THE AUTHER DID A GREAT JOB OF MAKING THE BOOK SEEM FOR REAL.I LOVED IT. CONSTANCE COLSON SHOULD WRITE A SEQUAL!

This book is one of the best books I have ever read! Being a rodeo girl myself, I enjoyed the truth to the storyline and the excitement! If only there were more books like this one!

Until now the Chicago Mercantile Battery for many years shared the unjustified obscurity of many western and trans-Mississippi theater units. Richard Williams has done a stellar job in putting flesh-on-the-bone of one of the more interesting artillery batteries to emerge from Illinois. Presenting and then carefully developing primary sources, the reader will walk away with a very complete and satisfying understanding of Chicago's mercantile battery and its heroic leader, Captain Patrick White. Well written, organized and attractively presented, this is certainly one of the better regimental histories I have had the privilege of reading.

Unlike so many unit histories, Richard Williams's new study on the Chicago Mercantile Battery is a deep, rich, and rewarding reading experience. The artillerists served from August of 1862 until the end of the war exclusively in the Western and Trans-Mississippi theaters. The high points of their service were during the Vicksburg campaign (where several received the coveted Medal of Honor) and along the Red River, where the battery was overrun and captured. In addition to offering a standard history of the war in a larger context and the battery's role therein, Williams weaves the letters of gunner Will Brown (and a few others) into the narrative. Brown's endlessly fascinating letters home to his father (which he wrote without believing they would ever be published) provide insight on battle experiences, slavery, presidential politics, generalship, and much more. Thanks to Brown's correspondence, we learn what he and his comrades were thinking and feeling while they were thinking and feeling it, instead of after years of reflection. An interesting twist develops when the coverage of the book splits to cover the survivors of Red River and their own unique ordeal, and the experiences of the other "Chicago's Battery Boys" who languished under terrible conditions in a Confederate prison. The extensive end notes span 120 pages, and the bibliography offers a wide array of firsthand research. Williams's study is well written and always interesting. Every history buff will profit from reading it. Includes a Foreword by notes historian Edwin C. Bearss. ISBN: 1-932714-06-5; photos, illus., original maps, roster, appendices, biblio., index, hardcover, d.j., 636 pages. $39.95
Highly recommended.

One of the few publishers still brave enough to issue regimental histories is Savas Beatie. What sets them apart are two things. The books themselves are always wonderfully designed and constructed. When you buy one of their books you get the real deal, top quality bindings and paper, bright illustrations, crisp text. But they also take care to make certain their readers get a good story. They do not give you the collated reprints of the Official Records that sometimes passes for a unit history.
Richard Brady William's Chicago Battery Boys is a shining example of why their books, on so seemingly parochial subjects, are so deserving of the time and money of student's of the Civil War. The book itself will catch your eye. The text will keep your attention. The Chicago Mercantile Battery was raised in the Windy City in 1862, in answer to the second great call for troops that went out that summer. Sent to Grant, they made their fame at Vicksburg where six of their number earned Congressional medals of honor when they carried one of their gun tubes by hand up to the rebel works and began firing at point-blank range through an undefended break in the wall. Their heaviest battle came a year later, at Sabine Crossroads, where they were the only gunners able to get their carriages off the field, only to have to spike them when the route of retreat became irretrievably snarled.
The book is packed with maps, illustrations, and pictures of the men who made this battery a great and memorable unit. The author freely reprints their letters in those instances where the participants themselves can tell the story best. When they can't, he steps in to clearly set out the course of events. If you have an interest in Grant and the western theater of the war, this book will be a welcome addition to your collection.

This is one book that one cannot put down. The narrative by Mr. Williams is so nicely done and unobtrusive that I found myself actually seeming to "hear" a professional narrator guide me through the historical events that were occurring on a state/regional/national level during the time of the civil war. I have become acquainted with all of the characters as if they were friends. Of course, Will Brown stands out as each of his weekly letters to his "Dear Father" gives the reader an authentic glimpse at the live of a soldier, which is succinctly intertwined and "in step" with the progression of the narrative. Mr. Williams perspective on the "politics" of the time, the Generals and their capabilities or lack thereof is particularly keen and insightful.

I have to say that this is one of the best novels/historical records that I have had the privilege of perusing. I was saddened when I am finished reading the book as I will miss the feeling of being an actual participant in the story rather than an impersonal reader.

I highly recommend this factual record by novice and historian alike.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this account of the Chicago Mercantile Battery. The book tells the story of its role in the Civil War's western theatre as well as what life was like from the view of the soldiers as the war wore on. Rick Williams did a wonderful job of weaving in Will Brown's Civil War letter collection and other material, which bring a vivid 1st hand account of the soldier's struggles to life.
One of my favorite letters is from Corporal Charles Haseltine. He and the Battery Boys encounter the 1st Regiment of Mississippi Light Artillery in the edge of the woods at Champion Hill east of Vicksburg. They get pinned down in front of the Coker house under heavy fire when a piece of artillery shell tears thorough a straw Rebel hat on Haseltine's head. He had just picked up the hat the day before and thought it would bring him luck. The shell knocked him out and the Battery Boys left him for dead at the end of the day. As dusk falls on the battlefield, the Confederates' Brigadier General Lloyd Tilghman is hit by the same shell that kills his horse and the Federals disrupt Pemberton's retreat toward Vicksburg. That night,, four of Haseltine's friends return to the Coker house property to retrieve his body and discover he is alive. Back at camp, a doctor stitches the corporal's forehead back in place, and he lives to tell his story!
The author goes on to describe the Mercantile Battery's role in the Siege of Vicksburg. The Battery Boys drag a one-ton gun up a steep embankment to within 20-30 feet of the 2nd Texas Lunette to fire 14 rounds into the enemy's fort, which enabled the Union infantrymen to withdraw without further damage..
A nice touch that every reader may not notice but will enjoy is the integrated placement of maps, photographs and sketches. Each of them is strategically located on the same page where it is discussed in the book. This placement must have taken quite a bit of effort during the publishing process, but it definitely makes reading the book more enjoyable.
I recommend Chicago's Battery Boys for history enthusiasts who are interested in getting a fresh perspective on what was happening during the Vicksburg and Red River Campaigns. Besides following the various battles, readers may also like the behind-the-scenes look at was happening with civilians in Illinois, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The extensive footnotes will undoubtedly appeal to Civil War buffs who want to delve into this story in greater detail.

I read this book when I was about 12 and I was completely captivated. I could not put it down and even after I finished reading it I kept thinking about the characters and the events. Some 20 years later, I still remember snipets from the book and the only problem is that I cannot find a copy to get my hands on for myself and my four nieces. Get it back in print - people everywhere are being deprived!

It's only loosely based on facts, but still a very good book. When I read it as a hyperactive 6th grader, I couldn't put it down. I wonder what ever happened to those Sager kids...

I couldn't remember the name of the book that so enthralled me in the classroom as a child. I do remember hanging on every single word that was uttered from my teacher's mouth as she took our class through the harrowing adventures of the Sager children. I couldn't wait til class the next day! Now as my book-a-holic daughter scours the shelves for her next great adventure, I come looking for a copy of this incredible tale...and I won't be letting go of it once I find it! A great read for all ages.

I remember being enthralled by this book when I was a kid growing up in India. Its not just an American story in that sense, because it a wonderful story of human courage, heroism and spirit. I highly recommend it to all lovers of adventure stories, adult or children. I recently moved to Oregon and re-read it and it is still incredible.

I too am amazed that there are not thousands of devoted American fans of this amazing book. Get it back in print and into your schools and libraries! Today I found this book at a Second Hand Book Fair in Brisbane, Australia, and have been firmly planted in my chair all night reading it from cover to cover. My only complaint is that it finished - I would love to know what happened to the children after they arrived in Oregon. The writing was simple and to the point - the story extraordinary. As our little girl listens to the story cds, I often quip to my husband that Pa from the Ingalls Wilder books frequently seems rather foolhardy - as a child I thought him magnificent and clever - as an adult and parent I see him taking ridiculous risks with his family's wellbeing and happiness. These people travelling to Oregon in their wagon trains make him look staid and careful. John Sager and his brother and sisters undertake an even more dreadful journey and this book keeps you frantically turning the pages - there are moments of terrible sadness, despair and horror - I cannot begin to imagine how children could survive this - but all the while you are so filled with admiration for their bravery and determination - and the descriptions of their surrounding environments are spellbinding. I am sure adults faced with the same odds would have just laid down and died. If you find a copy of this book read it - you will be captivated. I will never forget John, Louise, Francis, Cathie, Matilda, Lizzie, Independtia, Anna, Walter and Oscar. Incredible!

Susan Lowell is a genius. You can't help but read her books with a twang in your voice, and my child loves books read with funny voices. Cindy Ellen is great because it's a "cowboy book" that boys and girls alike can really love. Susan Lowell has produced another wonderful re-telling of a classic tale. Jane Manning's pictures are great, too, they really bring life and sparkle to Ms. Lowell's words.

Cindy Ellen
By Susan Lowell



Cindy Ellen had stepsisters and they didn't let her do anything. One day they got an invitation to a rodeo, and the stepsisters go but they don't let Cindy go and then she got sad. Then her fairy godmother came and changed her into a nice left. At the rodeo and the dance she met the ranchers son. The ranchers son goes around to see who fits the spur then gets to Cindy's house and the stepsisters try it on, it doesn't fit, Cindy tries it on it fits, and the ranchers son and Cindy get married.
The theme is good vs. evil because Cindy Ellen is good and her stepmother is bad and good is trying to win to marry the prince. The message is don't judge a book by its cover because Cindy Ellen thinks she is not beautiful just like how people think books aren't good because of its cover. The genre is fantasy fiction because there is a fairy godmother and magic. I recommend this book to somebody who has problems with there family because Cindy Ellen has a problem with her stepmother and stepsisters.
I liked that it wasn't a regular Cinderella story it was a western Cinderella story. And I liked how different the fairy godmother is dressed; she is dressed like a cowgirl. Also I loved the pictures they actually looked like a real desert. And in some of the pictures they didn't need words. And I really liked that it didn't take place in castles it took place at a desert. Also I liked at tethers end when they rode off they went in a wagon. It was kind of different then others. Also she didn't get rich at the end.

I read this book with my daughters at the public library one day and started looking to buy it from that moment! While my daughters loved it -- I think I liked it more! It is even better if you can read it aloud with a drawl and a western accent. When one of my daughters was in the first grade, they had Dads take turns coming in and reading a couple of books to the children. Some of the boys began to complain when they thought I was going to read them a Cinderella story . . . but by the end of the book, they were fans, too! (Since I don't have any sons, that is the best I can offer from a boys' perspective.)

A great book for everyone!

if you have ever seen Cindy Ellen, you have to read it. It has a prince that's really hilarious. And CIndy Ellen has 2 step-sisters. They like to treat Cindy Ellen bad to the bone. --by Meg, age 5 1/2, Feb. 2003

When sweet Cindy Ellen's father marries his ornery new wife, she and her nasty daughters take to picking on Cindy. This retelling of the traditional Cinderella tale is full of "twirling swirling" fun. Cindy's fairy godmother helps her get to both the wild and woolly rodeo and the square dance where Cindy Ellen meets the rodeo champion Joe Prince. Of course, sparks fly - as does Cindy at the stroke of midnight, leaving Joe Prince to search out his lost cowgirl. In this version, Cindy Ellen must gather her gumption to receive the fairy godmother's magical gifts and the result is a cowgirl who is strong as well as pretty, making this a positive read for both children and parents.

This book is intended to be a gift for my grand daughter, Clara Elisabeth Schumann. But first I am reading it myself. What a woman!

Nancy B. Reich certainly did her homework while writing the revised edition of Clara Schumann: The Artist and the Woman. Her resources include translations from primary texts in her native German, as well as other primary sources from the important friends in her life. She updated the 1985 version of the book in 2001 to include "a variety of significant documents-letters, medical reports, and music-that were in private hands and unavailable when [she] was working on the first edition". These texts include Robert Schumann's medical log, and Clara's correspondence with her husband's music publishers, the List family, and texts written by her granddaughter Julie. I felt this book was well laid out, and was able to include many thoughts and emotions from the people involved in Clara's life. By including information from the diaries and discerning when the passage was Wieck's writing or Clara's helped make clear whose feelings were really being expressed.
One thing I found was that Reich draws many of her own conclusions based on the information presented. Due to the difficulty of not having Clara's uninfluenced, uncorrected thoughts from the first twenty years of her life, it is difficult to actually know her true mind. Wieck's influence on her caused many of these primary documents to be soiled with his own opinions. They do, however, provide an interesting look at her motivations behind many of her decisions. He never spared his thought, and so, there is not as much need for speculation of his beliefs. Reich also does not ponder what her conclusions mean, she simply presents the facts, her opinions based on them, and allows the reader to agree or form their own ideas.
Her inclusion of a timeline of Clara's life in the beginning of the book is rather helpful. It allows the reader to follow her life and to find specific events within the book. Also, the division of chapters makes it easy to home in on specific parts of her life and to find the information easily. The second half of the book reemphasizes the themes in her life by forming separate sections with each grouping. These show her relationships with others and discuss the positions she held throughout her life. The second section might lose the reader's interest somewhat because of the recounting of many facts. She presents the information in greater depth, but she does so in a way that common themes are grouped together instead of emphasizing where they occurred in her life.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable read. It was very informative, and easy to follow. The writing flowed easily and the beginning held my attention. Reich wrote a book successful of influencing my emotions and teaching me more than I had ever known about Clara Schumann. This was a very effective story of the woman and artist's life, and I would recommend it as a great account.

Reich's beautifully written, thoroughly researched and objective book is certainly the best biography on Clara Weick Schumann in English. It is also one of the finest biographies I have read of any subject by any author.

From her childhood as a piano virtuoso through her 50 year performing career, Schumann was an international star of the concert stage, a composer and champion of the composers close to her, a woman who astounded and compelled those who knew her, a legend in her own time.

She was, as we know, beset by personnal tragedies of the most anguishing kind, beginning with her complex relationship with her taskmaster father, who taught her, drove her mercilessly, and made her a star at the age of 12, then refused to allow her to marry the love of her life,

She defied him at a dear price and married Robert Schumann anyway. The book explores at length her life as a beloved, then shunned daughter; as a lover, wife, mother, composer and performer.

She suffered terribly Robert Schumann's early and probably syphilis-induced insanity and death, the deaths of most of her seven children at a young age, and extreme financial straits in which she found herself most of her life.

Reich takes us step by step through all of the contingencies of her professional life: her lifelong celebration of Schumann's work; the 'Young Werther' relationship with her beloved Johannes Brahms, whose career she promoted tirelessly; her complex personality and deep involvement in her career and their effect on her maternal relationship with each of her children.

Throughout, Reich draws a richly variegated picture of the world of classical music in Europe from the early 19th century onward -- its characters, creations, rivalries, performances, highs and lows. Schumann interacted with many of the centuries' finest composers and performers: Chopin, Joachim, Liszt, Schumann (of course), Brahms...the list goes on.

Reich presents the incredible strength and courage for which Schumann is well-known, but does not flinch at exploring her more problematic qualities, for which friends, family, children and Schumann herself, paid a price.

Clara's deep understanding of the music of Robert Schumann and others, and its profound physical and emotional effects on its her play throughout. Here is Clara Schuman, de-mythologized, de-romanticized, and still amazing.

Intriguing, richly embued with testimony from original sources, a pleasure to read, Reich does not just tell the tale. She performs a symphony.

Author Nancy Reich's scholarship is impeccable, her research, comprehensive, and her passion for accuracy, uncompromising.

This is a completely thorough and compelling biography which reads as smoothly as an easy novel. It is powerful and sensitive; objective and personal. Dr. Reich's depth as a scholar and skill as a writer provide us with a rarely-, possibly never-seen view of this extraordinary woman, Clara Wieck Schumann.

Clara's life was fraught with pain, sorrow, frustration, and self-doubt, and how her genius managed to prevail is nothing short of remarkable. I took pause many times while reading to catch my emotional breath.

Dr. Reich also shares with us her enormous insight into the personalities of ill and troubled husband, Robert, dear friend and confidant, Johannes Brahms, and domineering father, Friedrich Wieck, making sense and coherence of the disjointed facts many of us know regarding these three very important men in, not only her life, but in the life of Nineteenth Century European music.

Clara Schumann was a truly astonishing figure - both as an artist (prolific composer, formidable virtuosa - some say Liszt's equal or superior), and as a woman (dedicated wife, mother, daughter, loyal friend). This book takes a major step toward giving a just measure of recognition to this awesome woman. It contains wonderful photos, sketches, pastels, and paintings - some, particularly of Clara alone, are especially moving. Her expressions tell nearly as complete a story as the text.

Though replete with musical discussion and analysis, one need not be a scholar or musician to comprehend and be totally struck by Nancy Reich's telling of Clara's story. If you care anything about wives, mothers, daughters, friends, or music, this book is a MUST READ.

I discovered this marvelous book on the Clara Schumann Society website of Dr. David Kenneth Smith, Geneva College. I recommend doing a GOOGLE on "Clara '96" (the name of the site celebrating the anniversary of her death in 1996). You will get an abundance of hits, all of which are very worthwhile.

This revised edition of Clara Schumann's biography by Nancy Reich is a gem. Not only is the scholarship impeccable and thorough, but the talented writing engages and fascinates the reader at every turn.

Features of this wonderful new edition include the use of new medical reports that have come to light regarding Robert Schumann's illness; reference to recently discovered letters and diaries that further elucidate Clara's friendships with people like Emilie List, Frederic Chopin, and the Mendelssohns; and the expansion of the Catalogue of Works.

The revised Catalogue alone makes this new edition compulsory for anyone-lay or professional-interested in Clara Schumann and her prodigious work and impact. The Catalogue records every known piece by Clara Schumann, reviews of her compositions, her own performances of her works, the location of autograph copies, and much more.

The 1985 edition of Dr. Reich's outstandingly researched biography clearly had a major impact on Schumann studies. It was followed by a continuing, worldwide outpouring of performances and recordings of Clara Schumann's works, articles about Clara, and studies of her music.

The biography is based on original research in German archives and first-hand consultation of letters, music autographs, diaries, and other primary sources. To this meticulous scholarship, Dr. Reich adds intelligent, compassionate analysis of Clara Schumann's life and music, the influences that shaped her, her inspirational marriage to Robert Schumann, and Clara's breathtaking, at times unbelievable strength and ongoing artistry amidst the sometimes horrific adversities in her life.

Rarely is such a magnificent feat of scholarship accompanied by such gripping and graceful writing.

This book is a must for anyone who professes interest in Schumann studies, nineteenth century music, and gender studies, or who wants to experience a true story of passionate, devoted love and the mutual pursuit of art that Clara and Robert Schumann inspired in each other.

I love Westerns, and I absolutely love the way Louis L'Amour tells his Western stories. Granted, there's not always a lot of suspense with regards to the outcome (L'Amour seems not to have been enamored of downbeat, twist, or morally ambiguous endings), but there's often considerable suspense along the way. The writer was a national treasure, and if your tastes run along the same line as mine, this book will be your personal treasure.

I annually purchase a Louis L'amour book for my dad as he has become an avid reader of his books. The stories take him back to days of Roy Rogers and Trigger. A great read for those who love the duke and weekend westerns.

recivied in less than a week in excellent condition. excelent collection of short western stories

I've been a fan of Louis L'Amour for as long as I can remember and I have always liked the audio tapes, and now CD's, that let me listen to the stories when I am driving. But I do have a couple of complaints about The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour Volume One and Volume Two. First, it would be nice if they listed the titles of the short stories, but they don't. There is no where on the CD itself, the CD case, or the slip cover with the titles of the stories. Why the big secret?

Second, and more important, neither of the readers, John Bedford Lloyd for Volume One and Jason Culp for Volume Two are good at doing voices. Their natural voices are great but then they try to change their voices for various characters, instead of simply reading with their natural voice, and that significantly detracts from the stories. And neither is any good at doing women's voices and shouldn't try. It is embarrassing. It is also embarrassing when Culp does the voices of some of the heros - they come of as either 10 or 12 year old whiny kids (as in The Drift) - or not very bright adults. What is the point? If different voices are important then they should use more than one person to read the story. If not, dispense with the attempt since it detracts from the stories.

Fantastic audio. I have been a devoted Louis L'Amour fan for eons. Another way to enjoy one of my favorite authors. I highly recommend this audio.

This book is great, written with crystal clarity and well paced. It is a must for anyone reviewing the questions of what is knowledge and what are we really trying to teach in school and associated probes. It seems best for someone with a math or science backgrounds but I would be interested in the opinions of those with other backgrounds; a theologian recommended it to me. It is long but one doesn't have to target reading the entirety, certainly not by any date certain. Excellent anyway.

As far as I have read this book, it is very informative and indepth study.

This is the definitive text of Bernard Lonergan's most important work, Insight, with over 130 revisions, based on the meticulous labor of comparing three texts, line by line, word by word! All students of Lonergan's thought owe a great debt to Frs. Frederick E. Crowe and Robert M. Doran for having executed their task with such thoughtfulness, perfection and devotion. Corresponding pages to the second edition of Insight, which has been the standard one, are given in brackets. My previous review was based on the second edition.

If somebody loves you authentically so much so that you become better person than before, you can't help loving him dearly. It happens. And it can happen even through a book! In this incredable book called "insight", you are invited to a wonderland of a higly diffentiated intelligence, only to find that it is no other than your real self. At first you wonder, you ask, you think hard, and you get it! For the first time you come to know what is understanding. You begin to doubt, you reflect, and finally you judge that you are a knower! Now you are changed. Now you know you are consciously operating in your experiencing, understanding, judging, and deciding. Now you know what knowledge is, what it means to you, and how it means to you. You become a living, knowing, acting subject. And you come to love Lonergan, since he introduced you to yourself. To "read" Insight may take a long time, years or decades. However when you finish it, you will begin to take another long trip to yourself, where no one had gone before...

Lonergan, a Thomistic philosopher,tries to explain the procedures of human mind,discerning a transcendental method capable to establish a fundamental pattern of every operation present in cognitional action."What am I doing when I am knowing?",that's the previous question Lonergan attempts to answer.This is possible integrating the operations "experiencing","understanding" and "judging",an INSIGTH which brings a startling unity to knowledge and to the pursuit of understanding in every field.

We were very unhappy we bought this through Amazon.The seller was asked to please put a RUSH on this book because our trip was planned in two weeks. We did not receive a response from the seller indicating it would be longer and we didn't receive out book before our trip to Colorado. It was a big disappointment. Never again.

F. Mitchell

The detailed and varied information in this book far exceedes other comparable travel books. It is well organized and concise. Especially enjoyable are the historical backgrounds provided about each place. Knowing Colorado better than my home state, as I travel there frequently, I would not go without this book!

The Colorado Guide (5th edition) is exactly what I was looking for in a Colorado guide book. Besides giving your usual guide information for Colorado, it also included some of the more unusual places to check out, like the Wheeler Geological Site for example, near Creede, CO. Wonderful history stories of areas of interest, and food and lodging info/ratings also. I use it to find new ares to explore and as a reference. I highly recommend The Colorado Guide, especially if your looking to explore this beautiful state.

I am a Colorado resident and use this book (and the previous editions) frequently for weekend getaways. In all the many times I have counted on the author's advice, they have never let me down. Excellent book!

Jim in Littleton

This book is a thorough review of things to do, places to see, state history, restaurants and places to stay. In brief, there is not a better guide anywhere!

i just wanted a light reading on love and this light read covers many major points of love that i never considered and gave me many "hah hah" moments.

Armstrong brilliantly brings key texts in philosophy and theology (especially Augustine), novels, and paintings to bear on the topic of love. It is an intelligent but also accessible collection of brief meditations on what it means to seek and receive love. Armstrong's emphasis on the role of virtue (broadly defined in a classical rather than Puritanical sense) is especially useful.

I was given this by a flatmate for Christmas a couple of years ago after she was given a copy and adored it.

I love this book, it's a reality check on all the overblown, hyped up expectations we have about love and romance these days but manages to show that the real thing (facing each other over the breakfast table for the next 50 years) has a grace and beauty all its own.

Clearly whoever I lent it to loves it as well, I haven't seen it in AGES!!

i know people arent suppose to judge books by its cover - i picked this up because i was attracted to 'jean - auguste-dominique ingres' work - (cover) ... i wasnt a an avid reader then...but this book- i got more than i expected from its cover. The essays included within each chapters were well satisfying to read word form word...Armstrong includes renown characters like Socrates, Eros, ...from other literatures like - wuthering heights...i got my money's worth with this book! i loved reading it...

'..... there seems to be a rarer - but still real - possibility of love growing over time and becoming stronger and deeper.' Anyone who can write this has an extraordinary view of love - challenging the common view that it must fade and be replaced by a comfort of familiarity. Armstrong links this growing love to music (which makes so much sense to me) and katabasis (a new word for me - but a feeling I know so well) giving me such strong encouragement in my feeling that real love can never die - one I find so much opposition to in the community around me.

I picked up John Armstrong's book because I have been doing some work with Dr Francis Macnab, whose book 'Hungry for Love' had been an awful confrontation. At every step of the way it seemed I was in opposition to Dr Macnab although I actually like the man. Was it his ideas that confronted me, or was it something about my view of love? (I now believe Dr Macnab's audience - perhaps subconsciously defined by Dr Macnab himself - is all those people for whom 'love' has failed. I am simply not one of them.)

There is so much insight in this slender book of John Armstrong that I recommend all should read it - those in love, those hoping to be in love, those recovering from disappointment and those who seem to have lost love. I learned much about myself by reading this book, and that is useful. But most of all I keep coming back to the radiant message '..... there seems to be a rarer - but still real - possibility of love growing over time and becoming stronger and deeper.' If only we could all achieve it!

other recommendations:
Francis Macnab - Hungry for Love
Ivan Turgenev - Spring Torrents (quoted by Armstrong)
Ernest Hemingway - Spring Torrents (a rather different novel)
Anna Kavan - Let Me Alone
Anna Kavan - A Scarcity of Love
Alma Schindler (Mahler) - Diaries

For those of us fascinated by the Lewis and Clark Expedition, this new novel by Jeffrey W. Tenney uses fiction to bring history dramatically to life. With an engaging style and a superb breadth of knowledge, the author has crafted a masterpiece. Reading this book will reveal the challenges and eventual triumphs of this first "Man to the Moon" quest in the nascent United States.

This one, plain and simple, has made me a believer in historical fiction. Too much of what I have tried in the past has suffered from weak and glorified characterizations, improbable, synthetic, hyped, and ultimately lifeless re-portrayals of media-worn events. Jeffrey W. Tenney provides us with a ground-level view of the historical, wherein the epic is broken down into its smallest, untidiest increments, and characters falter as much as they charge ahead. Everyone knows the basic plot and the 'star' characters of this epic story. Who would not now, after so many conventional renditions, prefer to see the Lewis and Clark Expedition through the eyes of characters like William Clark's slave, York? Or through those of the hunters, who spend most of their time in the backcountry where 'captain's orders' pale in the presence of the onrushing grizzly bear or the hard-faced Indian warrior? Tenney's narrative, pacing, and dialogue take the reader on a smooth, entertaining ride, but characters are the heart of this novel. The soldiers, hunters, guides, and boatmen of the Expedition, as well as the Indians met along the way, come in those mixes of flaw and virtue that make people interesting and sympathetic. Characters must battle their own inner enemies while contending with the layers of outer conflict the author heaps upon them. Using a highly creative structure, in each new chapter Tenney shifts perspective to portray different characters' experiences with these struggles. This device makes for chapters as vivid as short stories, the whole of the novel unfolding like a carefully pieced and brightly hued quilt. I recommend Corps of Discovery highly for the history buff, but even more so for the novice of that genre, as a guide to what it can be at its best.

Excellent novel, interesting characters, both heroes and scumbags. It may have been just like this on the real journey.

This one, plain and simple, has made me a believer in historical fiction. Too much of what I have tried in the past has suffered from weak and glorified characterizations, improbable, synthetic, hyped, and ultimately lifeless re-portrayals of media-worn events. Jeffrey W. Tenney provides us with a ground-level view of the historical, wherein the epic is broken down into its smallest, untidiest increments, and characters falter as much as they charge ahead. Everyone knows the basic plot and the 'star' characters of this epic story. Who would not now, after so many conventional renditions, prefer to see the Lewis and Clark Expedition through the eyes of characters like William Clark's slave, York? Or through those of the hunters, who spend most of their time in the backcountry where 'captain's orders' pale in the presence of the onrushing grizzly bear or the hard-faced Indian warrior? Tenney's narrative, pacing, and dialogue take the reader on a smooth, entertaining ride, but characters are the heart of this novel. The soldiers, hunters, guides, and boatmen of the Expedition, as well as the Indians met along the way, come in those mixes of flaw and virtue that make people interesting and sympathetic. Characters must battle their own inner enemies while contending with the layers of outer conflict the author heaps upon them. Using a highly creative structure, in each new chapter Tenney shifts perspective to portray different characters' experiences with these struggles. This device makes for chapters as vivid as short stories, the whole of the novel unfolding like a carefully pieced and brightly hued quilt. I recommend Corps of Discovery highly for the history buff, but even more so for the novice of that genre, as a guide to what it can be at its best.

This one, plain and simple, has made me a believer in historical fiction. Too much of what I have tried in the past has suffered from weak and glorified characterizations, improbable, synthetic, hyped, and ultimately lifeless re-portrayals of media-worn events. Jeffrey W. Tenney provides us with a ground-level view of the historical, wherein the epic is broken down into its smallest, untidiest increments, and characters falter as much as they charge ahead.

Everyone knows the basic plot and the "star" characters of this epic story. Who would not now, after so many conventional renditions, prefer to see the Lewis and Clark Expedition through the eyes of characters like William Clark's slave, York? Or through those of the hunters, who spend most of their time in the backcountry where "captain's orders" pale in the presence of the onrushing grizzly bear or the hard-faced Indian warrior?

Tenney's narrative, pacing, and dialogue take the reader on a smooth, entertaining ride, but characters are the heart of this novel. The soldiers, hunters, guides, and boatmen of the Expedition, as well as the Indians met along the way, come in those mixes of flaw and virtue that make people interesting and sympathetic. Characters must battle their own inner enemies while contending with the layers of outer conflict the author heaps upon them. Using a highly creative structure, in each new chapter Tenney shifts perspective to portray different characters' experiences with these struggles. This device makes for chapters as vivid as short stories, the whole of the novel unfolding like a carefully pieced and brightly hued quilt.

I recommend Corps of Discovery highly for the history buff, but even more so for the novice of that genre, as a guide to what it can be at its best.