Nebraska Books

The story of the young Frenchman who murdered his family is a fascinating piece of documentary work by Foucault and his student assistants. However, I would have liked to know much more about how they interpret this "unusual" behavior.

The reason Foucault is not attempting to interpret Riviere's deeds is NOT to show simply how "people respond to a crime", as a previous reviewer put it. By publishing this collection of texts, Foucault was attempting to recover the struggles and plays of forces between juridical and psychiatric discourses in their attempt to make sense of the murders and the murderer. The legal and psychiatric discourses attempt to envelop Riviere's own account of his deeds in various power relations (mainly by marginalizing Riviere's voice as either that of a parricide or that of a madman). Had Foucault interpreted Riviere's deeds, he would have subjected them to strategies similar to those employed by the medical and legal experts.

This is a fascinating collection (don't skip Foucault's introduction though!), but a reader would definitely appreciate it more after reading Discipline and Punish or "Two Lectures" in Foucault's Power/Knowledge.

First don't be mislead Foucault has a paper in this work, but acts as editor not author. Having said that, it is another great work by Foucault.

Okay, the reason why Foucault did not interpet the reasoning behind the crime was because the issue of guilt or innocence was not his topic. He was more interested in how people treat crimes and approach the issue of criminality.

It is not Riviere who is at trial *again* in Foucault's book, but rather it is a trial described, which could be any trial. A crime after the fact is a story, a memory for those who were involved, but we all become involved in an event as if it were a story we have heard before. What other way to approach a murder that is to us words and the heaving bosom of a witness, the placid tension of the accused? We confront a forced performance with confused or feigned characterizations.

Yet even said, this is not Foucault, nor what Foucault was reaching for. All Foucault does is show how people act in response to crime and reveal the obvious ploys that repeat themselves throughout history, because the story that composes our lives has not died.

And if a man approached you with a mark on him, and claimed to have killed his brother, and the soil did cry out to you, would you raise your hand against him?

This book is a good accompanyment to his work Discipline and Punish.

It is early in February, 2001. Can it be said that America is in love with its Serial Killers? Sure. With the range of "Reality TV" and movies, the writing is on the wall. What about a healthy alternative to all this bloodbath? What about a truelly intellectual examination into the complexity of the criminal mind. Part Dostoyevsky, part unbelievable, "I, Pierre Riviere, Having Slaughtered My Mother, My Sister, and My Brother ... : A Case of Parricide in the Nineteenth Century" is a highly thought provoking analysis of the social construction of the criminal. The book guides you through the labyrinth/maze that is the criminal justice system and the mechanism involved in the prosecution of the criminal. The book is comprehensive, it includes testimony (from several angles), a suspect written confession, trial examination and post archival examination. Foucault has brought together through his talent to uncover archives and present them in an interesting manner. If you are looking for an alternative without sacrificing the excitement of a murder mystery - this is your entry ticket to the Post Modern examination of crime. Nothing less than 5 stars!

THis is one of the few books dedicated solely to exposing the hoax that is the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion' text. This author shows definitevly how it was created by the Czars men to discredit Judaism and cause progroms against the powerful Jews of Moscow and Odessa.

This book is an importnat book in the pnathyon of books that seek to explain anti-semitism. Recently the 'Elder' text has had a comback as it has been reprinted in its most viscous form, with no introduction explasining its fabircation, in Muslim countries like Egypt and Saudi and at least one un-truthful copy can be purchased on this website. Its sad to see these anti-semetic texts are still in circulation and widely beleived to be true by the ignorant and the hateful. This book helps unmask the ignorant and shed light on the fabrication that is the 'Elders' Text

A good read, highly recommended.

Segel's attempt to discredit the Protocols is successful, as is his exposition of its origins and effects on modern society. However, his writing is wrought with sarcasm and fallacious appeals to popularity. His passion is overwhelming at times, distracting the reader from the core points with bombastic remarks. This topic should be required reading due to the serious implications of the fraud of the Protocols, but readers would be best served to find a version by a different author.

Just because Henry Ford got suckered into beleiving the Protocols hoax, doesn't mean you have to be taken for a fool. This book is a well-written, well-researched, clear explanation of the history of the Protocols, demonstrating once and for all that it was a forgery. (If you insist on reading the Protocols anyway, then buy this to go along with it.)

Once while discussing the mythical "Religious Right" on an e-list, Ann Coulter's debunking of the myth in her book _Slander_ came up.

"Of course she'd say it doesn't exist," a young liberal observed. "She belongs to it."

We see the same reaction in neo-Nazis towards attempts to discredit the equally absurd "the Protocols are authentic" myth.

"Of course a Jew would say there's no Jewish conspiracy -- what do you expect from a Jew?"

We live in an age where Holocaust victims are dying, costing us their first-hand information. And at least one member of the House of Representatives (Cynthia McKinney, D-GA) uses the words "Jew" and "Israeli" interchangeably during her antisemitic rants (Ms McKinney has even blamed Jews for causing her to lose a primary in 2002; sadly, she's back in office).

Like books against Communism, we need to have books against antisemitism, too. And this one is a great book.

This is Richard Levy's 1995 translation of Segel's 1926 abbreviated version of his original (1924) longer, more scholarly work, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Critically Illuminated. It is a point-by-point refutation of this fraudulent document, and an indispensable reference. It is indexed, and includes a chronology of the hoax, as well as an updated bibliography. This particular edition includes an introduction by translator Richard S. Levy that would be worth a volume of its own. The following is based on that introduction.

While Segel's work is authoritative, Levy recognizes that logical, scholarly examination of this fraud has had little effect:

"The patent absurdity of the [Protocols] has had little or no bearing on its credibility for a large and varied public. ... devastating and authoritative judgments have failed to put an end to the book."

Perhaps the best example of Levy's point is Hitler's comment in Mein Kampf that Segel denying "the truth of the Protocols was the best proof of their authority." This was precisely argument employed to such effect in 1692 Salem: To doubt an accuser was to open oneself to accusation: Who but a member of the conspiracy denies it?

As outlined in Festinger's 1956 study, When Prophecy Fails, and more recently, in Susan Clancy's Abducted: how people come to believe they were kidnapped by aliens, the allure of conspiracies is well-known: Readers are "invite[d] to join the elite of those in the know." Moreover, "the [Protocols of the Elders of Zion] addresses an audience not thought capable of sustained reasoning. ... For many, the least likely explanation of great events seems the best because it is also the most effortless." Segel's arguments are therefore inaccessible to many for precisely this reason.

Would that the consequences of continued publication and belief in the Protocols were as benign as the copious literature on alien abduction and Doom's Day cults, but it is not. Levy sadly concludes:

"In the world at large, beyond the reach of the Nazis, the Protocols helped render Jews ineligible for rescue by the great majority of their fellowmen."

Words and ideas do have consequence.

There are some books about the women of the old west that are far more interesting. The one overwhelming impression I had from this book is how uncaring her family was and how she herself really was a very selfish woman, even wanting to go to a dance the night her child was deathly ill. I would recommend other books such as Doc Susie: The True Story of a Country Physician in the Colorado Rockies and also Tomboy Bride. Both of these books are about intellegent, caring individuals in the same parts of the country and in the same time.

With ingenuous humility, Anne Ellis recounts the first phase of her difficult life as if it were a cakewalk. Several passages convey such emotional impact that I remember them months later. A great read for anyone wishing to understand how women really lived in mining towns of the American West around the turn of the century.

Ann Ellis is the real deal! She's raw American...living, working, loving, and raising children in the gruelingly hard world of the mining towns of the Rocky Mountains, years before the amenities that we American women take for granted today...things like running water, ample heating, and doctors always available for very sick children.But Ann is tough and savvy, witty, and has a great sense of fun, even in the toughest of times. Her life is richly-laden with deep emotion.Her descriptive style is pure and simple, but takes us right to her heart. She never complains...only explains.You read the book with a great sense of admiration for these strong women who raised strong families,loved their men, had dreams and joyful aspirations, even in times when they were struggling to find their way in this sometimes brutal world of their husbands' lust for gold and silver.This lady was a true pioneer in every sense of the word. Her story should be shared with anyone who finds strength in true accounts of brave American men and women.

No matter what your own life experience has been you will find things in this great book that you identify with. This true life experience is from a woman who lived a heroic experience from penniless poverty to being elected to public office, rising above all her own expectations, A wonderful book full of comedy, tragedy, drama, supence, you won't be able to put this book down.

In an age when autobiographies are considered fascinating only if the writer survived abuse, rape, incest or murder, Ms. Ellis' account is refreshing because she survives life.

This Cubs Choke is followed on a game by game basis.
I don't know how interesting this story is to folks who were/are not Cub fans or who were/are not White Sox fans.
A fan of the Mets has no need to read this...THEY WON.
This book is fantastic for those of us in Chicago who lived this season.
It jogs the memories. It was an incredible ride. What is fascinating is that this ballclub lives on in mythical proportion and shows what a provincial town Chicago is.

The basis of the book was a synopsis of the 1969 season in review, month by month, until the final depressing month of September when the Cubs ran out of gas. The book did not include any sort of interviews of players, coaches or fans opinions of why the Cubs did not win in 1969 or what they could have done differently to change the final outcome of the season. It basically gave a recap of the results of the games until the final outcome of the season ending failure by the Cubs.

I truly enjoyed reading this book. It gives an in-depth summary of nearly every game of the "season that wasn't" and Mr. Feldman also documents other memorable events that occurred that summer(moon landing, Tate murders, Woodstock, etc.)which further helped to take me back to 1969.

"Miracle Collapse" does a great job in providing a day-by-day description of what happened during the Chicago Cubs' 1969 schedule. It provides great deal on the nuts and bolts of the season--long-forgotten facts on who was starting at certain positions at what point of the season, who was acquired by trade or purchase and for whom, and what rookies were expected to actually make a difference on that veteran team. What it lacks is a lot of human interest, personal interviews, and anecdotes. Rick Talley's "The Cubs of '69" does a better job at the human interest part, but is riddled with errors. "Miracle Collapse" is not and is meticulously researched. For any Cub fan whose scar of '69 will not heal, "Miracle Collapse" and "The Cubs of '69" are a tandem that is a must-buy.

Attn. Cubs fans and history buffs....
This is the book for you. Most books on the Cubs are mundaine, lifeless, and contain the same old things us Cubs fans have heard time and time again. In this book, Doug Feldmann has breathed new life into the team we all know and love. Even though the story highlights its defeat, the lore and lure of the team shines through thanks to the author's uncompromising use of detail. There's so much that Cubs fans have to learn about that fateful year of 1969.

I was a resident of Boulder Colorado for 40 years. Tom Horn is buried in the old Columbia cemetery there. I have seen the pink granite stone with the simple inscription In Loving Memory Of Tom Horn. Everything I have read about the man never disclosed why Tom was buried in Boulder until I read Dean Krakel's book, The Saga of Tom Horn, A Vindication written by Himself. Tom was born in Missouri, not Texas. He left home after his Dad gave him a severe beating for skipping school and chores to go scouting for varmints. Tom had a natural talent to speak other languages. On his way to the Southwest he learned Spanish and later Apache after he was assigned to live with the Apache at San Carlos and Cibecue to keep an eye and an open ear on the Indians. After the Indian wars he became a Pinkerton detective, a miner, and a cattleman's detective. It was in this last capacity that got him into trouble. Tom had a brother, Charles, who operated a freighting business in Boulder. After Tom was hanged his body was sent to Boulder where Charles received him and was buried in the family's cemetery. This was his only connection to Boulder.
I have read microfilmed letters that were sent to Tom by nieces while he waited in jail.The Boulder library has these microfilms,
In 1993, Sept.16th and 17th a new trial was ordered for Horn in the Laramie, Wyoming courthouse. Charles O'Neal was the oldest living descendant of Tom Horn at that time and was gratified that the modern day retrial won Horn a posthumous acquittal.
However the descendant of Willie Nickel, a niece named Viola Nickell Bixler, then 70 years old stated that she didn't think it was wise or reasonable to change history so many years after the fact. This information was taken from an article written by Kevin McCullen and published in Rocky Mountain News.
Another article about Tom Horn and written by William Hafford and published in the May 1996 issue of Arizona Highways is also interesting reading along with a few great photos.

The Saga of Tom Horn is a very good book on the trial of Tom Horn.It recreates the trial that found Tom guilty,and hanged him for the death of a 14 year old boy. A crime a lot of people including me belives he did not do. The book is very detailed on the trial, and about Tom Horn himself. A must read for all western history buffs.

This is a 'must read', for anyone interested in the 'Old West' and 'cattle country'. Mr. Krakel, dis-spells rumor and conjecture about Tom Horn. Through newspaper articles and interviews with the people who were 'around' at the time, Mr. Krakel, unfolds a story of mystery surrounding the killing of a 14-yr. old boy. With actual court transcripts, he relates the trial of a Wyoming 'Stock Detective'and his eventual hanging. This is about as close to the truth as we may ever get on the subject of Tom Horn. This review is in regard to the 'un-expurgated' edition.

I have read more western history than many and while the book is good as far as it goes, it overlooks most of who and what Tom Horn was. He hailed from Texas of German stock and had a very Wild West life - mining, Indian Scout, spoke the Apache language, worked with the legendary Al Sieber and was in on at least one capture of Geronimo. The Apache Chief in whose camp he learned their language called him Talking Boy, his Apache Name (used to describe one's character or most salient trait), and the one that proved his undoing. I believe Tom Horn was a great frontiersman and, like so many, used by the government, discarded without so much as a by-your-leave to either discard all the government had set his life to, or else be brought down. I believe many a Viet Nam Veteran will know whereof I speak on this. What is missing from this book is Horn's early experience, which is nowhere documented properly in print. He, Mickey Free, Al Sieber and a handful of other white and Apache scouts won the Apache Wars. And they were all dropped like hot rocks so soon as the war was over, with lesser men garnering glory and acclaim for what others in fact did. Tom Horn's story, here, shows what happens when a man out-lives his time, when a soldier used to truly vicious conditions plies his trade for his own purpose, and in service of the way of life he thought he was defending. I rate this at 3 stars only because I wanted to more know about Tom Horn from this book, and less about the penny-ante locals. The book's evidence shows pretty clearly, to my mind, that Tom Horn was railroaded to top it all off.

Tom Horn devotees will be enthralled with this book as it uses historical evidence and trial documentation to tell the truth. It is the most comprehensive book on the Wyoming years of Tom Horn.

This historical novel centers on the relationship between white settlers in the West and Indians during the period of the Civil War. The book opens with a horrific massacre. Manfred is extremely descriptive of the violence and, if once was not enough, he returns to it again and again throughout the book.

The opening massacre, and the behavior of various individuals, shapes the story. Scarlet Plume emerges as a one-dimensional heroic character; the one good Indian trying to help Judith, the beautiful white woman, who has been kidnapped by his tribe.

The plot weakens the novel. Judith, who escapes from her slavery with the Indians, longing for her home in Minnesota, ends up romanticizing about the tribe's good qualities and disdainful of her white race. During her journey away from them, she even dresses in settler's clothing she finds in an abandoned cabin, missing her home and all its "civilized" furnishings.

Judith's change occurs because of her relationship Scarlet Plume. Just as Manfred was obsessed with the violence, he seems equally obsessed with describing Scarlet Plume's "phallus" which turns up throughout the book. By the end we are to believe that Judith has forgotten all the horrors and losses she witnessed (and escaped from) and wants to return and live as a squaw.

This was without a doubt the best book I've ever read. I could not put this book down and read it in one day. The book is very descriptive and well written. I highly recommend this book.

I first read this book a number of years ago. I've re-read it now, about five times. It never fails to break my heart.

Although the time prohibited a romance between an American Indian and a white woman, the author made the concept believable and sympathetic. Well written with graphic descriptions. A real page-turner.

I have been reading loads of books on Indians and whites. Lots of them I enjoy. This one I could not put down. I ordered all of Manfred's other books - those that I could - since they are hard to get. You will not regret this book. I recommend it highly! And actually, I hate this day and age --- I would have been much happier as Judith. Carol King - not the singer - East Fallowfield, Pa.

Although Lewis seems to be a Sherman fan, he is very fair and is not patronizing. I am impressed with the number of sources Lewis drew upon in his writing. This is a long book and starts slowly, but picks up speed during the Civil War years. This is the first biography I've read about Sherman, and I feel like I "know him" very well. I think ultimately, this is a very good book that serious Civil War buffs should read.

In this works,the author depicted Sherman's temperament and the fighting style.Analyzed the compaigns through Georgia and the Carolinas.

The author brings you right into the fight with Sherman. He uses excellent language and descriptive terms. I reccomend this to everyone!

THIS BOOK OF LLOYD LEWIS' ON WILLIAM T SHERMAN IS AN EXCELLENT READ. LEWIS MUST HAVE SPENT A LONG TIME RESEARCHING SHERMAN AND HIS FAMILY, HIS LIFE AND TIMES. ANYONE WHO HAS READ THE BOOK WOULD AGREE I AM SURE. SHERMAN WAS AN INDEPENDANT THINKER AND A MAN OF HIGH RESOLVE. HIS CONTRIBUTIONS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO RESTORING THE UNION ARE CERTAINLY EVIDENT IN THIS BOOK. ALTHOUGH I AM NOT AN HISTORICAL EXPERT ON THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, I AM SURE THAT ANYONE WHO READS THIS BOOK WILL BE MORE INFORMED AN EDUCATED ON ITS HISTORICAL ASPECTS AS WELL. LLOYD LEWIS , IN ONE OF THE CHAPTERS REFERS TO "SHERMAN AND HIS INEXHAUSTABLE PEN". AFTER READING THIS NOVEL, YOU WILL FIND ALSO THAT "THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD". AFTER READING "SHERMAN - THE FIGHTING PROPHET", I FELT LIKE HAD KNOW THE MAN. W.MUNRO

This is one of the finest books that I have ever read on the Civil War and I have read dozens. It is insightful, interesting and full of details.
Harl Pike

This is a pretty good book on the Standing Bear controversy of 1879. By the end of the book, you will feel that you learned a lot about the events and the people involved. However, the footnotes are a joke as the references are cited without any corresponding page numbers. One large error occurred in the final chapter when Mr. Dando-Collins quickly tells when each of the main characters of the book, and some secondary ones, died. He forgot to include Thomas Henry Tibbles, one of the two main characters. I can't believe that no one picked this up. Doesn't anyone edit books anymore? Also, it is clear during the reading of this book that religion, or more specifically Christianity, played a huge role in the events. I feel this deserved some mention and introspection. On the one hand the Christian's believed God wanted them to have the land (Manifest Destiny) while on the other some, after the fact, wanted to defend the Indians. But why, was it to push their Christian views and make the Indians Christians and would they have helped Standing Bear if he always maintained his traditional beliefs? Most authors don't have the nerve to address this and those who believe in Christianity are probably incapable of seeing the wrong in it.

I prefer novels, but my book group 'makes' me read historical works every so often. And, I'm glad, because otherwise I would not know the incredible story of Standing Bear.

Actually, this is the story of the many people who sought justice for the Native Americans. From an army general, to a newspaper editor, to clergy, to attorneys - many people fought for the rights of the Standing Bear.

As a Presbyterian minister, living in Nebraska, this book makes me proud of the ancestors that have gone before me.

A friend recommended this book, and I am glad that I read it. This is a heart-felt tale of human determination to right a terrible injustice. The story of how American Indians came to be recognized by the courts as humans, and hence worthy of asserting their rights, is particularly timely in this era of indefinite detentions of "enemy combatants."

It took me about 30 pages to get into this book, but I was hooked from then on. Despite extensive reading about Native American history, I had never known the process or participants involved in granting Native people their rights as citizens. This book is factual, thought-provoking, and alternately sad and uplifting, but most of all it is interesting. The chapter about the trial, which ends with Standing Bear's address to Judge Dundy and the courtroom audience, made me cry. If Native Americans were considered savages, then what were we. The simple eloquence of this "PERSON" , his wisdom and the true humanity he posessed can be found in his words documented in this book. An excellent read and a "Keeper".

You have to be a person to go to court. No matter what their actions horses, dogs and the like don't go to court. Neither did slaves, and until Standing Bear neither did an American Indian.

This book is a courtroom drama, backed up by a tremendous amount of background information on indian life in the late 1800's along the American western frontier. It's not a pretty tale, most of what happened to the indians was not pretty, but it's the truth as best we know it.

and corruption ruled.
Helena Huntington Smith's rendition of the Johnson County War is a thorough investigation into the homesteader versus the cattle baron in late nineteenth century Wyoming.
The author prods, pokes and jabs into every facet of what occurred before, during and after the Wyoming Stock Growers Association's invasion upon the alleged rustlers.

With round-ups controlled by the WSGA in a time of overstocking and open range, coupled with the "Maverick Law" in favor of the Association's members, it was open warfare for cattle.
Although the invaders lost in the field, they won courtside due to the fact that an impartial jury could not be found; they had the backing of President Harrison, Wyoming's acting governor Barber; Senators Carey and Warren, the legislature and the courts; plus Johnson County itself couldn't pay for prosecuting fees.

A knock down dismantling of a tightfisted and gluttonous association.

On July 20, 1899, a robust hog farmer-prostitute and her innkeeper friend were strung up on a stunted pine overlooking Spring Creek Gulch. A detective working for the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association led the gang of lynchers.

Johnson County's hard-up cowboys turned homesteaders, whom the cattlemen labeled cow "rustlers," reacted with anger and fear and began arming themselves for the pending invasion of gunslingers hired by the cattle barons.

This true crime story --- if the West could have true crime before it actually had much law --- is recounted in wonderful detail by Helena Huntington Smith.


Smith tells this story with an engaging true to life flavor. To accomplish this she uses letters written by the cattlemen themselves, an abundance of not-quite-objective but many sided accounts by writers from the East and by Wyoming's country editors at the time. All this is supplemented with information from a few books and "confessions" produced by participants.

For anyone who has been fascinated by Westerns in film and on TV, this book should become a must read. It is as close as anyone is likely to come to "the true story" behind the myth that underlies the West.

The Johnson County War was well known in its day. It inspired many works of film and fiction. In April 1892 the big cattlemen with their hired gun men from Texas invaded Johnson County to drive off or kill the small ranchers and homesteaders. The sheriff, deputies, and some county commissioners were on their death list. This book tells about the preceding events and the aftermath. Those who planned this and murdered two men on the death list were able to escape justice after being rescued by the US Army; they had the support of politicians like President Harrison, US Senators, the Governor of Wyoming, plus the usual flunkies.

The cattle rush was on by 1879. Corporations stocked the plains for a later bonanza of beef. But changing conditions led to overstocking (too many cattle for the land), and the bankruptcy of many large businesses. The big cattlemen blamed the problem on small ranchers and homesteaders, not their mismanagement. The word "rustler" defines a person who is pushing, energetic, smart, and successful; they can take care of themselves. It was also used to refer to a cattle thief. It usually referred to any small rancher who tried to do business for themselves. Any cowboy who tried this would be blacklisted from a job. The big cattlemen, whose headquarters were the Cheyenne Club, formed a cartel where they would claim all cattle that were in Wyoming. But the citizens of Johnson County would not allow their property to expropriated. The first victims were Ella Watson and James Averell, lynched by a big cattleman who wanted their property (Chapter 18). One of the witnesses to this died, and the others disappeared, so there was no prosecution!

The classic Western film had a similar story. The people in the valley were oppressed by a crooked mayor and sheriff who were in cahoots with the big rancher. But when the people united they were able to win over this gang of crooks. In real life it wasn't this way. [If you think this is just fiction you may not know what is happening in your city, county, or state.]

After the usual conspiracy to affect reality, big ranchers and their hired gun men invaded Johnson County in April 1892. They killed two cowboys who were on their death list. The alarm went out and the citizens of Johnson County gathered together like the Minutemen of 1775. They surrounded and besieged this gang until the US Army cam to arrest this gang. The prisoners were taken away, then released on orders of politicians like the Governor. Witnesses were lured away, and the charges were dropped.

The author points out that other states (like Montana) did not have these feuds over stock. Unbranded cattle became county property and were sold for tax money. You can read this book to learn about American history that won't be found in official school history books. The author should have dedicated this book to George Dunning the gun man from Idaho (Chapter 36). This book also tells about the journalism practices of that era (and today?). The author did not note the future fates of those big cattlemen. Could they have been going insane?

The dust jacket has an illustration by Frederic Remington "The Price of a Maverick". This fantasy painting lacks any date and place to authenticate its subject matter. How many other paintings are like that?

I had the privilege of living in Wyoming for seven years. If you want to spark a LIVELY discussion,bring up the Johnson County War(which is the subject of this fine book) anywhere in Johnson or Sheridan counties. Decendents of both factions still live there & continue to have strong opinions on this event. Cutting to the chase,this was nothing other than an armed invasion of a U.S. territory by a mercenary army of gunmen hired by The Wyoming Stockgrowers Association with the express purpose of killing aproximately 125 people on a (very real) hit list & seizing control of established local government. The enormity of the conspiracy far exceeded any of the various western range wars of the period-even though the total body count was fairly minimal. Fortunately for the residents of Johnson county,these Texas thugs were about as adept at the blitz invasion business as were the ATF incompetents when attempting to enter the Branch Dravidian compound in Waco. It would be gratifying to say that these hired murderers were repulsed,arrested & punished. Unfortunately,that didn't happen. Cavalry from nearby Fort Kinney saved their bacon by rescuing the invaders from the furious residents & whisking them away to Cheyenne where the the entire matter finally fizzled out with no charges or trial. It did,however,effectively blunt the unchallenged power of the monopoly WSGA. Internecene sniping continued until 1902 with the hanging of their hireling Tom Horn. As Ms. Smith amply points out,however,Wyoming justice has rarely been a polished or unambiguous affair. I would say that this is the classic & most even handed account of a most extraordinary event even by Wyoming standards.

This is a very fine, well-written book, and it has become pretty much a standard text in the history of the West. Though the setting is by and large eastern Wyoming of the late nineteenth century, and the subject matter is cattle ranching, this book will be much more satisfying to liberal-minded historians and populists than typical cattle ranchers. Anyone who appreciates or sympathizes with the underdogs in SHANE but would like a more historically accurate picture of the struggles for land and cattle in the West might want to give this a look. It is wholly satisfying from expository, sociopolitical, and historical standpoints.

This book tells the much needed minority story of what it means to be transgendered. The author did not necessarily experience his difference as one of gender in early childhood. Instead, he just felt different than the other children. He came to see gender as part of his problem as he got older. Even then, he doesn't identify with the feeling of being a "man trapped in a woman's body". Literature usually tells the stories of transgendered people who have always known they are the wrong gender, and who easily fit stereotyped notions of what transgendered people are. It is nice to see someone who doesn't fit the mold and to hear a story told from a different perspective.

While this does add some diversity to the literature on transgendered people, it is not a good introductory book. The author takes an unusual and highly dangerous approach to obtaining medical care, so this book is not a good way to learn about the process of transitioning. Also, there is very little factual information in this book about what is involved in a transition. Since that is not it's primary purpose, though, it still makes a great narrative.

Raised a woman, Aaron Raz Link became a man - a gay man - at the age of 29. At least, he initiated the hormonal and surgical processes to alter his appearance toward a form closer to the person he had always felt he was inside. Because Link was trained as a scientist - specifically, taxonomy, the science of naming things - he is uniquely fit to analyze his unusual experience. It doesn't hurt that he's a beautiful writer as well as a thoughtful and witty one.

The book is nonfiction, he explains, and a memoir, but not autobiography: "It is a book about pieces that didn't fit the picture. As a result, the most confusing and difficult pieces play the largest roles." Strictly speaking, he writes, there is no such thing as a "sex change operation"; there are rather lots of little surgeries that were developed for other reasons, such as for badly mutilated soldiers, and infants and grownups whose bodies took an odd turn due to misbehaving hormones or cancer.

Link's analysis of his youthful fascination with movie monsters (they "were obviously the good guys"), of the Catch-22 of having to get himself diagnosed as mentally ill in order to qualify for the surgeries (legally speaking, "a mentally healthy person wouldn't want what I wanted"), and the absurdities of psychiatry and people's assumptions about gender roles, are all fascinating and well handled. There's even a kind of punch line: After an early lifetime of hating to be laughed at, following his sex reassignment, Link went to clown school.

Though a professor of English and women's studies who has been writing and publishing much longer than her son, Hilda Raz's less-than-a-third of the book is diffuse and less compelling - which probably reflects her passive and somewhat unwilling role in her son's transformation.

What Becomes You makes a terrific companion to Self-Made Man, lesbian journalist Norah Vincent's 2006 account of her three months dressing and living as a man. They're great food for any reader's thought.

"What Becomes You" is fascinating, moving, educational and revealing. In this book Aaron and his mother examine their lives within the context of their experiences and expectations of gender, what it is and what it isn't, what it means and what it doesn't mean. This book avoids sentimentality and sensationalism---instead it is gentle, intelligent and intimate. Reading Aaron's section, I felt as if I were sitting beside him as he told me the story of his life, his emotions as a child growing up feeling always out of place in a female role, and his struggles as an adult who chose to change not simply his body but his relationship to the world. Reading his mother's section I experienced the roller-coaster of emotions that she felt during the years of Aaron's self-discovery and gender change and, along the way, undergoing her own trials with breast cancer. Throughout the book the authors' love and respect for one another's lives is palpable. This book is not just a "trans" story. It is the story of family, longing, love, loss, society, work, literature, healing and much more.

I remember meeting Sarah many years ago.

Aaron has given me insights that will hopefully allow me to be a better friend to several folks who share her experiences, I plan to recommend the book, not just to these friends, but to their friends and famlies.

As a grandmother and great-grandmother, I share with Aaron the love of a wonderful person, his friend - my son. I thank him for the introduction, not only to Sarah, but now Aaron and the world he lives within. His book has furthered the limited education of this rural midwesterner, and I thank him so much for that.

And remember, Aaron, when you dig in the sand, fingers and flippers often bear a striking resemblance! But that doesn't mean a crime has been committed. Keep exploring, and keep writing.

At first I was little reticent, fearing a lot of gay/anguished person trapped in the wrong body kind of stuff. Instead, I found the author's viewpoint startlingly original, and very much angst and dogma free. Aaron writes with a clear voice, and the little asides, and various characters he meets, and situations he ends up in...are seen from a wry and humorous point of view. Which is not to say there are not depths. Indeed, this book will definetly set you mind spinning as to just how we perceive ourselves, and how we let the world shape us. While the book is very good, I would love to see the author use this writing style to take on other projects. I think he has great potential. If you have any friends who are going thru big changes, this is a book I think they will like. I will definetly be buying it for some friends of mine. I rarely write reviews, but I think this is a very worthy book, and applaud the author's, honesty, and style.