Nevada Books

This is an above average field guide, but the writing is sometimes so dry that while reading you may feel as if you are hiking through death valley, not Mammoth or the Ritter Range. The map that comes with it is fantastic, although, it comes from the 1920's surveys of the area.

Yes, you read that correctly. This guide is so brittle and dry it's extremely frustrating. The Devil's Postpile area of Mammoth has a trailhead which leads you to heaven, literally. The Agnew Meadows and PCT criss-cross this area and these trails are as beautiful as any place in this hemisphere. Would you know it from this overly technical, ZZZZ-ville narrative? Nope. The authors take a place so astoundingly beautiful and reduce it to just another locale, a sort of ho-hum place you might encounter while strolling in the plains of Kansas. But Mammoth is not just any place, it's a spectacular place, a hiking paradise, a one of a kind wonder!

The map is excellent but doesn't justify the purchase of this book. The map itself is still current, even though it was produced in 1927. The mountains haven't changed, but boy, have the trailheads changed. There is also a shuttle system implemented in the past year and it will cost you $14 per couple to hit these trailhead, unless you want to ride the bus. This is vital information which is not included in this book.

To sum up: see Mammoth and hike it for yourself. Don't put any credence in this outdated, obsolete, dry-as-a-bone book.

The world is full of bad books written by amateurs. But why settle for the merely regrettable? High Sierra Climbing is a bad book written by experts. Gripping, squeezing, mashing, bashing, this book will give a man cramps and a woman a prostate. It delivers. Don't fail to miss it if you can. This book will draw readers like a magnet draws hungry flies!

This book is of typical SuperTopo quality; that is to say, quite good. You would be hard pressed to find the level of approach/route/descent and historical detail presented here in any other single source. One minor issue is some overlap with the SuperTopo Tuolumne Free Climbs book, but that is excusable.

Just east of Death Valley and ninety miles north of Las Vegas, Amargosa Valley is one of those dusty little desert towns. Located between Death Valley Junction and US 95, Amargosa Valley isn't even a blink-and-you-miss-it town since most travelers take more direct routes to and from the driest National Park. Those who aren't connected to the mining industry typically make their way out to the area to explore Ash Springs and Big Dune, one of the few 'singing sand dunes' in the world. "A History of Amargosa Valley, Nevada" is an examination of this place. This book is a result of the Nye County Town History Project. In addition to appreciating existing research, a focal point of the NCTHP is to conduct extensive interviews with residents who can add light to the area's story. Robert D. McCracken is uniquely qualified to document this project having experience in local mining and a degree in Cultural Anthropology. This title first looks at how Indians originally used the area. The key feature to the parched landscape is Ash Meadows. Great detail is given to how the Paiute and Shoshone were the first to use this oasis. Afterwards, the author examines the period of exploration, including a summary of the Forty-Niners' ordeal. Included are actual accounts by the brave men who traveled through this challenging land. Farmers and ranchers eventually worked the land with varying degrees of success. The reader meets such laborers, outlaws, homesteaders and miners. Included are pieces on Jack Longstreet and Dad Fairbanks. The railroads played an important part in connecting residents with the outside world. While agriculture and ranching has struggled in light of water issues, mining has been (and is) the area's primary money maker. Used to process petroleum based oils, clay has been one of the most profitable finds. McCracken looks at life in a small isolated town. The author describes how people lived in such a hot environment prior to electricity, local schools and good roads. The Amargosa Valley Improvement Association eventually led to the area's evolution as an unincorporated town. "A History of Amargosa Valley" looks at the roots of contemporary situations. Various sides are looked at with regards to the ban on large scale development in the hopes of protecting the endangered pupfish. Also, Amargosa Valley is about 30 miles from the Nevada Test Site. It seems that there was as little controversy then as there is now for the impending Yucca Mountain nuclear waste deposititory. At 110 pages, "A History of Amargosa Valley" is an enjoyable read on the area, especially when considering the larger, broader and more academically inclined "Death Valley and the Amargosa: A Land of Illusion." The only significant drawback to this book is the total absence of maps and images that would have been helpful in making connections between places and showing people. It seems that there is an alternate version of this book entitled "The Modern Pioneers of the Amargosa Valley" which includes all of this title's text and 70 photographs. While I haven't seen that book, it must be preferential to this abbreviation. All in all, "A History of Amargosa Valley" is a enjoyable read about this dusty yet vibrant town.

Poorly written. Not much research depth. Vanity press level stuff.

Get Lingenfelter's book, if you want the early history of Amargosa Valley. The more recent history has yet to be written.

I was disappointed with this book. I found the story so laden with trivial detail that it seemed to lack purpose or direction.

Was hesitant to read after the previous episode. Was pleasantly suprised. Evans made a contribution to this episode. Although the plot was not the greatest I found the edition to be fast moving and entertaining. Could not determine who the true villians were until end. Evans did an excellent job of recalling previous episdoes: The Wendigo, The Stalking Corpse, and The Omaha Tinhorns. Excellent descriptions and depth of characters in addition to graphic descriptions of scenery. Was a pleasure reading this episode.

Would like to see Longarm meet people throughout history as in some previous episodes: Teddy Roosevelt, Gentleman Jim Corbett and U.S Grant.

This Michelin guide to Las Vegas is the worst guide of any city I have ever bought. I have a complete collection of more than 50 Michelin guides, mostly of european countries and cities and they are great, very detailed with precise indications and a through research.

This guide is nothing like those. It is very thin, for every hotel there's just a little paragraph and a photo, same thing for restaurants. This is a complete waste of money.

How can you describe all the amenities of monster hotels like the MGM Grand, the Bellagio or the venetian in 10 lines? They don't even compare room amenities or features of each hotel.

Same thing goes for the restaurants, the european guides tell you which are the best entrees and specialities for each restaurant, in this guide you will find a simple picture and a very brief description.

I own some 6 guides to Las Vegas and this one by far is the most useless of them all. It's a simple (and very incomplete) listing of the major hotels and restaurants with no worthy information.

If you are like me and trust the Michelin guides, be prepared for a surprise with this one, better yet, dont waste your money and buy the Fodors guide or the Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas.

Las Vegas is a city known for indulgence. While I had found some great places to eat, it has been difficult. The Michelin Las Vegas Red Guide does a great job of uncovering some amazing places to eat. I really appreciate that while many of the best places are on the strip, that there are many great finds off the strip. Looking forward to trying them all.

Shortly after this book came I sat down and read it. It does not contain a great deal of useful information. All the information in this book could be found in an afternoon browsing the internet. I was hoping to find some great new fishing spots, instead I was served up a list of places I already knew about. That said, It is nice to have all the information compiles in to one handy book. I will most likely give it to the next person I meat the is complaining about there being no ware to fish in Nevada. If you are new to Nevada I would recommend this book for a starting point.

I bought this book hoping to find out where to fish and how to fish Nevada waters. The book is very basic and might be good for an international tourist. However, for the serious angler you would be better checking internet sites. These will give you more information and nice pictures to top it.

How can Hyrum wallop Morphy with a skillet when he's on the trail for the white captive?

I enjoyed the plot of the book and the excitement of the expedition down the Colorado River. However, it was very long on stereotypical characterizations and situations ... hence the lower rating.

Sinning in the City is a Las Vegas travel guide that opens up Pandora's Box and shows the sinful pleasures of Sin City. It is wittingly split up into eight sections covering all the seven deadly sins with the final chapter dealing with repentance. The guides are up to date with all the latest and greatest sin's Las Vegas has to offer; lust can be found in the hottest dance clubs in the nation, and gluttony is appeased in the assortment of restaurants and buffets on and off the strip. It is a perfect gift for those visiting Las Vegas and for those who call Sin City home.

The info in this book is superficial at best. Repeat Vegas visitors will laugh at its naivete. First-time visitors can get much more value from any of the other guidebooks such as Fodor's or Frommers.

The global market for the sexual slavery of women and children is one of the great crimes of humanity in current time and past.
I cant say much more other then it is not a victimless crime: it's just that no one cares about the victims.

In the summer of 1998 I used this book as a guide when I traveled along I-80 in Nevada. I found the maps and directions excellent, and had a very nice trip as a result. Since then the Mustang Ranch has been closed by the IRS, and at least one place has changed its name. The guide deserves to be updated every year, and I would be happy to buy a new edition each year. The 1998 edition differs from the 1997 only in the date, as far an I could tell.

Let's put it this way... you wanna read about a manitou, stick with Eva Galli.

I have read all of Faye Kellerman's books so was looking forward to this one. It was a great disappointment--too weird for me. Connie of Oak Harbor, WA

What a weird book. It was mesmerizing, even as the plot became increasingly far-fetched. I can buy the theory better without the radiation factor, but then...I lived in Santa Fe, NM, for a while.

Then the end came and it just seemed so ridiculously out there.

But the characters are very well done. And the writing was pretty tight. The pace moves quickly and you really want to know what's behind these grisly murders.

In the process of trying to throw you off the track of figuring it out, Faye Kellerman throws in a wild card about a big Vegas guy who virtually controls the city and this girl who ends up dead - but not as horribly mauled as the others - and his ex prostitute lover whose house he blew up, and his preference for, and method of, procuring underage prostitutes...and other tawdry stuff.

Then as the end nears, and the main theme gets really ridiculous, she sort of spits that secondary plot one off to the side, wraps it up with an unsatisfying statement about this powerful and powerfully warped guy and never gives it anything else.

So you whip through this thing, unable to put it down, tied to the characters and their interaction in solving the murders and then at the end you throw it over your shoulder and say, "What a stupid book."

Let's face it, Faye Kellerman is never going to win a writing prize, but her Decker/Lazarus novels are good enough for their genre. On average, they're tight, compelling and memorable. And then there's Moon Music, a departure from her Decker/Lazarus series, where Kellerman stumbles badly. Maybe she wrote it in a hurry. Maybe she wrote it on crack. Or maybe trying to write a mystery involving Native Americans, nuclear testing, dwarfism, giantism, pimps and ho's, cancer treatment, mental illness, romance, the casino biz and a werewolf was just a tad too ambitious. Whatever the cause, this book is a poorly paced mess of subplots that go nowhere. The only sympathetic character in the book works on cadavers; perhaps Kellerman can take a stab (no pun intended) at making her the central character the next time she feels the need to give Peter & Rina a rest.

The basic premise of this book was interesting to me, and I'm a long time of Kellerman's Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus novels. I find her insights into Judaism fascinating...however, having read this book, I begin to wonder how much of her data about Judaism to trust. I say that because I am a member of the LDS church (better known to most as Mormon) and in Moon Music she makes some pretty basic mistakes about the faith (Mormon's don't wear crosses!) Over all, the book was disappointing, the plot was a little meandering, and while I liked some of her new characters, I missed Peter and Rina...