University of Nevada Books

What a find! This is a great book--49 poets, from 1-17 poems each, averaging maybe 7 each, written 1930-1990. These moving, vital, contemporary poems stand on their own without a Nevada connection. A quote from the editor, Shaun T. Griffin: "My motivation at first for editing this anthology was an undefined desire to see Nevada poets represented in more than passing form. But now...it is because of the poetry itself that I edit this book. The poetry made the journey worth the coming home." By Adrian C Lewis: THE CHICKEN BLUES/Outside his room the rain/sizzles upon government roofs./Inside, he fries chicken thighs/and tries not to spatter his unmade bed./Whispers circuit through the smoke./Tiny faces dance in the grease/and leap to his hand/to sink their teeth./Faces of all the women who cooked for him./He still lurks in the shadows of their eggshell skirts/and if he is fragile in his solitude/and scrambled beyond measures/of good, white taste/it is because of reasons he has yet to manufacture./He is the master of excuses./He will quite drinking tomorrow/he has said for twenty years/but then again, maybe he won't." Run, don't walk....

This book captures both the sad and the joyful. In the desert, the mountains, and the worlds of relationships. Moody and precise language make this a great read. Spend some time with it!

Having grown up in Boise from a young age (10), this book brought back to me the Boise of a simpler time and place. The author, Pamela Johnston, captures my memories of Boise and provides a moving story of growing up female, with all its uncertainty and heartache. The two young women in the novel (Cindy and Frances), had to make adult decisions at a much younger age than I ever did. Johnston has a way of capturing all that youthful angst and the girls' conversations and perceptions of life ring true. And, ultimately they learn what we all come to know as adults; the life choices we make, including the people we allow into our lives, are truly what makes us who we are.

This is a lovely, heartfelt first novel and I look forward to reading this author again.

We all know that you can't judge a book by its cover, but if we didn't know that we would go for this book at first touch. Holding Little Lost River in your hands, it feels substantial, solid, like it is meant to endure. The cloth binding backed by a page of quality paper with actual texture harkens back to the days when publishers offered substance to their readers. Best of all, Johnston's writing in this book matches the vessel that bears it: substantial, enduring, endearing. Johnston shows us the textures of life in the everyday places we live. She is especially successful at using metaphors that are both subtle and expansive. The title of the book comes from a river that runs "underground and [shows] up again a hundred miles away, in tiny springs that barely resembles the river it used to be." (264) This provides a guiding image for the unforeseen flow of life that Cindy and Frances experience. Along the way, the conversing reflections between the two young women are moving. As I listened alternatively to Fran and Cindy each sharing her perspective on life, I came to understand my own life better. I remembered that some people who made little more than a cameo in my life have still left a deep impression. I saw how I often judge too quickly before knowing the journey that has made people who they are. And more importantly, I learned again that tracing that journey along side of a person can awaken compassion to replace the hastily made verdict. Bubbling up in the middle of the book is the voice of another young woman that works this miracle well. This beautifully bound book covers life in its highs and lows. Johnston invites us to witness life in all its fragility and the love that is necessary because of such fragility.

"The Opium Debate And Chinese Exclusion laws In The Nineteenth-Century American West" by Diana L. Ahmad (Associate Professor of History at the University of Missouri-Rolla) is the story of a mid-nineteenth century 'war on drugs' and immigration restriction policies carried out by governmental agencies. Professor Ahmad articulately explains how anti-Chinese propaganda and the spread of opium addiction led to exclusionary immigration laws and the attitude that the Chinese and the recreational use of opium associated with their communities were a danger to the national economy and middle-class Anglo-American domestic life. A fascinating and scholarly study that features extensive notation, an exhaustive bibliography, and a comprehensive index, "The Opium Debate" is as informed and informative as it is well organized and 'reader friendly'. This is an impressive and very highly recommended contribution to academic library 19th Century American History reference collections and reading lists.

Not being a historian, I have little background in the history of the American West. I really enjoyed this book which undertakes the study of the Chinese in the American West from a new angle and makes the story both informative and interesting. The book is well researched and talks about a seldom discussed topic. We are made aware of the reasons for excluding an element of society, whether right or wrong. Drugs are not a recent phenomenon and it is fascinating to see how they played a role in our country's early history. This book is an easy and interesting read.

I have had my issues for years, and still use as a reference guide. Includes history of many lines that barely started.

Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California is the premier work on transportation in the Silver State. The photos are suprb, the text inclusive and the maps are a must for rail buffs and modellers seeking authenticity. I have owned this set for 35 years and it is nearly worn out from reference. The section on the southern roads is espcially well researched. I have been able to relocate features and buildings from Myrick's maps alone.

David Myrick did an excellent job of weaving history with technology in this readable work. Profusely illustrated, it connects time, place, and Nevada's colorful mining history together in a delightful fabric. The research appears flawless, as I have yet to find contradictory evidence in the several areas I have delved into. Reading the stories, one obtains a feel for the flow of commerce, the excitement of new discoveries, the character of the players in this real-life American drama. Detailed discussions of railroad technology, planning, construction, finance, and operations make this a delightful research tool.

The binding and printing are excellent, with beautiful crisp type and exceptionally clear photgraphs.

Overall, this set is a MUST for any serious student of Nevada railroads. Well worth the cost at todays price.

While it's less nihilistic and sharp than Irsfeld's Little Kingdoms, Rats Alley offers more than enough in truly sympathetic characters and heart-tearing scenes. The portayal of death to a young man and its after effects on those left behind is carefully played out, and hardly a point of view is left out of the progressing story. Serious reading for those interested in such.

In Rats Alley, John Irsfeld creates understanding and even compassion and sympathy for a wide variety of the most ordinary human beings. His characters are the nameless police officers and high school kids and housewives that most people would never notice and soon forget. Yet, in this story, these individuals stay with you long after you have finished the book.

Set in Houston and a small Texas town, the story explores right and the wrong and the string of consequences that spring from seemingly incidental actions. Above all else, however, Irsfeld is a great story-teller, in the tradition of Faulkner, Twain and other great Southern writers.

J. David Green

My brother and I traveled through Surprise Valley and the Black Rock Desert last Sept.19,'02.We camped at Onion Valley Reservoir(20 miles N of Quinn River Crossing at road 140). What looks to be dry and desolate desert, these three authors bring to life. As usual with really good books, It's the people that make it ring true. You would think living out in the sticks would get you away from government hassels: it ain't goin' to happen, partner. A beautiful read; go for it!

Many readers may not realize there is a little-known area in the northwestern corner of Nevada, up on the border with California, that is a part of the West every bit as beautiful, inspiring, [endangered] and sometimes controversial as anyplace in the better known tourist destinations of the "other" West. It is in the Great Basin area and is cattle and ranching country.
This book is unique in that three very unlikely women that live in the area have written personal essays describing their lives in what has been called the Sagebrush Ocean. Linda Hussa is a published writer of both fiction and nonfiction and the winner of the Nevada Writers' Silver Pen Award. She lives on a ranch near Cedarville, CA. Sophie Shepard is an accomplished artist and environmental activist living in Lake City, CA. He paintings have been exhibited in galleries from San Francisco to Montana. Carolyn Duferrena is a freelance writer, geologist, and grade school teacher. She lives on the Quinn River Ranch in Nevada. All three women came from different backgrounds and cultures but found a common ground in their love for the area and their desire to protect the environment while at the same time continue their livelihood of ranching. Many scholars argue that the two goals are incompatible and cannot be accomplished in any meaningful manner. These essays refute that argument and are a testament to the progress that can be made when friends and neighbors care enough about a place they call home to listen to each other and work together to protect their unique place in the West.
This collection is special in that it relates down to earth, on the ground stories of families living off the land and caring for the enviroment in equal measure. This is a close to the real West as a reader can get without actually living there. There are stories of the familar, constant struggle to conserve water when "...most years there is sand in our drinking glasses by the end of July. We run the drip lines to the garden at night to minimize evaporation. We haul water to the sheep, move the cattle farther into the high country. We wait. Dry years teach us to wait." There are stories of the U.S. Air Force's proposal to use the airspace in the area for bombing runs and practice flights; of living for the first year in Surprise Valley with no outhouse, water, or electricity; of a flood of devastating consequences; of the ever present fear of developer's plans to turn the area into a Disney World complex; and a host of events and issues that face western families on a daily basis. Nothing fancy here, just heartfelt stories of real people struggling to live in, and protect, a special part of the West. For those who claim that the much-debated issue of ranching and environmental protection is virtually unsolvable without decimating one or the other I submit this book as exhibit No. 1 to refute that doomsday prediction. This is a good as it gets in describing the real West.

This is the book that took me through too many nights, and early morning units of biology and on into my Masters Studies. A quick reference book that has most of your common everythings on it -- it gets you into a ballpark and usually that is close enough for almost everyone. Plants, birds, mammals, reptiles, fish, insects --- it is all here in one place and the big bonus is that it weighs about 300 pounds less than a set of professional reference books. If I could take only one book with me camping or hiking in the Sierra, this would be the one. And don't forget your 5x and 10x Loupes.

Bought this book for some friends, and they've gotten quite a bit of use out of it for identifying trees and wildlife in the numerous parks in the Sierra Nevada near where they live. Sounds like a winner to me.

My grandmother wrote this book. It is dedicated to a people who's fathers survived with stone tools and whose son's saw a man walk on the moon.

My grandmother tried to record the vansishing skills of her friends, the Paiutes of Tonapa, Washoe, and Goldfield. Female anthropologists were rare, and my grandmother was a rare and special woman.

Sensitive to the people she recorded. Savage to those that threatened them.

Here is a story not in the book but that you must know. A man scraping bat guano out of caves refused to stop despite my grandmothers please that is was destroying a priceless archaeological find. With no law protecting indian artifacts she took matter's into her own hands and dynamited the mountain-creating the famous "hidden caves". Three years before her death from diabetes she revealed their location and today she is a state heroine in Nevada.

Any student of Native American history must read this book by this exceptional woman and compare. She was as brave as the West, and made of the same land as her old friends in the book.

I have owned this book for many years, and it's a wonderful resource for anyone wishing to explore this way of life. Many clear photographs illustrate the techniques and skills within, which include items for hunting, basketry, gathering materials, and much more. No other book does as much to illustrate how the Paiutes and other nearby tribes survived and thrived in the harsh Great Basin area of California and Nevada.

The knowledge and images were captured at an important moment in time -- by talking to and learning from some of the few remaining traditional elders of the region, the author has preserved a little more of the Old Ways that might have been gone forever or lost to the memories of but a very few. We owe a lot to her for the creation of this book.

Written by journalist Nancy Zubiri, the newly updated second edition of A Travel Guide to Basque America: Families, Feasts, and Festivals is an amazing guide to Basque-American communities, particularly the ones found in California, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Montana. From a brief history of Basque immigration and culture, to traditional Basque recipes, customs and polite rules of etiquette to abide by in Basque communities, and more, A Travel Guide to Basque America is the "must-have" reference for anyone interested in experiencing this unique and proud culture. A conversational narrative style spells out the locations of restaurants and popular festivals, while black-and-white maps and photographs serve as visual aids.

This is one of the best "Basque" books I have read. Being Basque I am always curious to find out where Basques live and their history. This books tells all. It tells where Basques lived in the late 1800's and early 1900's and where you can find them now a days. I will definately take this book with me when we go travelling around the U.S. I am also going to purchase a few more copies for my relatives. I know they'll love it as much as I do!!!!!

Marshall Bowen, a distinguished professor of geography at Mary Washington college, describes in great detail the farming settlement occuring around Wells, NV in the early 20th century. He describes factors that caused people to come to this marginal land, what led to their eventual failure and the aftermath. In particular, the author looks at people from Utah who settled here. If you have any interest in frontier settlement or the Utah/Nevada region, this book is an excellent read

Never in a million years would I expect to find a book about Mormon settlers in the Utah desert interesting. Yet this book was extremely interesting and informative. But, this should be no surprise because that has always been Dr. Bowen's gift. I had the pleasure of taking 3 Geography courses with him at Mary Washington College and he was as interesting in person as he is on print. Dr. Bowen could turn the most dry Geography course into the most interesting class on campus. In a country where most people do not know a thing about Geography, just watch Jay Leno, we need people like Dr. Bowen who can teach and entertain at the same time. He is the Patch Adams of Geography! Read this book and even better...go to MWC and take his class.