Utah Books

I enjoyed this book much better than Canyoneering 1 and 2 (which are still OK to good). Everything a guidebook should be.

A much needed trail guide, but I'm concerned that those who use this book will end up trampling the fragile Escalante terrain. I tried following a couple of his routes (quite accurate), but I'm afraid after a few years these will be trodden sand pits. The maps have a lot to be desired, but that's why we bring topos', right?

This interesting book covers the Escalante area well. Especially useful are the road/milage accounts, as reaching the trailheads is an adventure in itself !

Oh My God. Having delved into this book in preparation for an upcoming week in the Escalante, I am bowled over by the breadth and depth of this phenomenal book. Amazing. This covers in fine detail backcountry travel routes in the very large and very wild Escalante area. Does not even compare to any other guide I have ever seen. There is such a depth of detail... Plus Steve's enthusiasm for the southlands exudes from the text.

This is an extraordinary book. Emphasis is on longer adventures, but there are also good day trips. Folks looking for placid strolls down well developed trails should probably look elsewhere. Not only are there few developed trails in the Escalante, but they are not described here.

If you have not used a Steve Allen guidebook before, they are indispensable in Canyon Country. His love of these places is evident in the care with which he writes. Steve has been hiking the Colorado Plateau for over 15 years now extensively and much of that time was spent researching this guidebook for the Escalante area. You won't find routes listed in here that were only hiked a single time, they were hiked, reworked, and double-checked many times. Canyoneering is hard core, and the routes into and out of the canyons are areas to easily get lost in. Good directions and good maps are a must. Steve's books also have lots of interesting tid bits on local and natural history. Check out Canyoneering I and II if you like this one.

This book tells you what really happened to D. B. Cooper. He's dead, shot by the FBI. The physical items he left in the plane, positively ID'd by both his wife and mother, clinches the case. Don't believe any other junk you hear about Cooper on TV. In '85 I dated Dorothy Holland, who had been McCoy's sister-in-law as she was married to his brother. She's mentioned in the book. At the time she knew McCoy had been killed by the FBI, but she didn't know McCoy and Cooper were the same. She liked McCoy, who, unfortunately, was a sap who should have told his wife to get lost. He paid the price.

Richard McCoy was the victim of a fundamental contradiction in a society that gave him medals for violence in Vietnam, and life in prison for violence back home. I'd like to see a "McCoy Act" passed that mandates downward departures for vets like McCoy. He was a loving father, with a bitch for a wife, who'll burn in hell. Too bad he was excommunicated by his LDS faith. As devoted as he was to it, I think it would be a caring gesture if they reinstated his membership (just as they did for John D. Lee). slr383838 at yahoo.

I read this book and wish I could have been available to help support and add to its contents. I spent a great deal of time with the McCoy family and especially... Denise. I MISS them all especially Richard. He baptised me into the Mormon faith. So, Karen, Denise, Chante, and "dinky duck" (remember?) I am sad and wish you all Gods speed. I wish you had kept in touch with me. I still miss you Denise... Mike

I wrote a review before, but I was very wrong. I went to the library and checked out this book. It was so great, I learned small details that I didn't know before. This book goes into so much detail, it's amazing. When before I didn't know much about Richard Floyd McCoy Jr., now I know so much more. It seems that people can relate to him for being just an ordinary guy. The Cooper-McCoy similarities are too many to be coincidental. For a Cooper-McCoy fan it is very interesting. Although, if someone is into true crime, it is also great. I am sorry for my review earlier.

Absolutely fascinating, thoroughly researched book. This story is amazing but tragic--I came close to shedding a few tears for poor McCoy at the end of the book.
The author does a great job of backing up his claims with research, and honestly expresses his regrets about the things he wishes he would have asked McCoy.
Excellent read.

What's more exciting than an earthquake that shakes you out of bed first thing in the morning? Sarah Andrews' newest Em Hanson mystery - Fault Line - which kept me up until 2am this morning! Fault Line finds Em Hanson, out-of-work petroleum geologist and fledgling forensic geologist, living in Salt Lake City, sorting out her life. A 5.2 M earthquake on a branch of the Wasatch Fault wakes everybody up and the death of the head of the Utah Geological Survey really gets things rolling. Earthquakes aren't Em's specialty, so we join her as she learns more about the fault lines that run under Salt Lake City and through relationships and families. Cracks appear in the brand new stadium that is to be featured in the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics and in Em's relationship with her boyfriend Ray, Salt Lake City cop and devout Mormon. Shaky ground is found at the site of a brand new shopping mall and in the relationship of Faye, Em's best friend, and Tom Latimer, Zen FBI agent and Em's mentor in detecting. As always, Em the geologist teases out the big picture from a mess of details. Be prepared to learn a lot about seismology and engineering geology. Trips to the ski slopes in Alta, the [Flying] Pie Pizzeria, and the [beautiful] retrofitted City and County Building fill out the local color. In my opinion, this is the best Em Hanson mystery yet. On the Modified Mercalli Scale of Earthquake Intensity, XII means total destruction. On the open-ended [Gutenberg]-Richter Scale of Earthquake Magnitude, a 9.5 is the largest earthquake ever recorded. I can only give Fault Line by Sarah Andrews 5 stars, but if I could give it more, I would!

This is the first Sarah Andrews mystery I've read, starring main character Em Hansen, Forensic Geologist. I loved it so much that I'm planning to go out and buy every book of Sarah Andrew's that I can get my hands on !

The book takes place in heavily faulted Salt Lake City. Geologist (and informal investigator-in-training) 35-year-old Em Hansen is shaken awake about 4 AM by an approximate 5.3-level earthquake. She gets caught up in the two murder investigations of a geologist and a reporter who are out to expose earthquake damage in public structures, but which developers want covered up. Furthermore, we are drawn far into the Mormon world, and society, of Salt Lake City. Along the way, we also learn a lot of interesting science and geology. If you enjoy science at all, you will LOVE this whole mystery series.

I absolutely loved the main character. She has a lot of interesting friends, and an interesting, but very realistic life. In addition to this mystery, this author has a lot to say about life (through what her characters are experiencing) and gives her readers a lot to chew on.

I'm going to have to buy the next book in the series because I'm dying to find out what happens next to detective geologist Em Hansen, particularly her love life, and I'm not normally a fan of romances. But detective Em is very likeable and the reader cares about her, and there are a couple of very interesting men in her life as the book ends.

In this mystery, Em's relationship with her boyfriend, Mormon policeman Ray, is in difficulty from the get-go. Em is not Mormon and his family is not so happy about their relationship. Then there's Emma's career -- another problem area, since she isn't actually employed (she does some temping to supplement her dwindling savings). She moved to Salt Lake City to be near her boyfriend, but has been unable to find a job.

To top it off, there's this earthquake (in the first chapter), and Em begins to suspect that some of the buildings in Salt Lake City are going to collapse if a really big earthquake hits. How is it that the authorities allowed them to be built?

Then there's the murder of a state geologist -- is it related to the earthquake or politics or both? Em gets involved in trying to discover who killed her, even as she tries to sort out her troubled relationship with her boyfriend and his family.

If I have any criticisms of the book, it is that you might end up knowing more about earthquakes and fault lines than you want to -- but you will learn quite a bit on the subject, and quite a bit about Salt Lake City and Mormons.

All in all, an entertaining, amusing, engaging, "can't put down" book. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Sarah Andrews continues to bring together what I love - geology, and mysteries from a woman's view. I was hooked all the way till the end, but as a warning to others who like to solve mysteries, or who are enjoying the whole series, don't skip the 2 books before this one!

I was lost on Em's perspective and thoughts on certain key issues, which supposedly are explained in such full detail in the 2 previous books that she barely mentions them here. Sure, it's an interesting read (I'd say more about that, but wouldn't want to give anything away), but I would've gotten a whole lot more out of this mystery if I'd had a little bit more background. It probably wouldn't have left a sour taste in my mouth either.

The timing of this latest Em Hansen mystery makes the novel already dated but no less enjoyable for that. When a moderate 5.2 earthquake hits Salt Lake City weeks before this year's Winter Olympic Games, the local geologists, including Hansen, get excited. But when the Utah State geologist is murdered, the FBI recruits Hansen to look into the geological state of things. Coping with chronic underemployment and a rocky romance with her Mormon cop boyfriend, Hansen jumps at the chance.

Reviewing maps and tramping the terrain, Hansen discovers that her newly adopted city is riddled with faults, which the city fathers have virtually ignored. Between complacency and corruption, numerous public venues - from housing developments and malls to the spanking new stadium where the Olympics' opening ceremonies are scheduled - sit precariously on fault lines.

The murder investigation parallels Andrews' dire exploration of earthquake inevitability and its devastating effects on an unprepared populace. Greed, politics and religion wrestle with science in a story as much exposé as mystery. An engaging and forthright protagonist, Hansen's narration is interspersed with other viewpoints - a corporate villain, his trained construction geologist and an ambitious newspaper reporter among others - which heightens the suspense and the novel's scope.

Yes, Colm Toibin really can write. But Irish families... Ugh. I don't want to read anymore books about them. They are so cold, so silent. It must be how they really are, but I just can't take reading about them. It's too sad. The main character is so COLD. The plot is thin, too.

Colm Toibin has written a masterpiece of understated emotions, thought provoking prose and the chill of Ireland's coast in "The Heather Blazing." As Don Delillo says. "Colm Toibin never says too much and never lets us get too uncomfortable".

Eamon Redmond grew up in Dublin, the son of a school teacher and a Catholic Irish fighter. Eamon's mother died when he was a baby, and he grew up a lonely boy who learned not to ask anyone for anything. He had a comfortable existence. He was fed, clothed and educated well. He was an intelligent young man and learned to study at night while his father corrected papers. Eamon became involved in Fianna Fail, Ireland's Republican Party because of his father 's influence. His father was heavily involved and may have even murdered for the cause of Ireland. Eamon went to college, and then to law school and was promoted up into the Courts because of his support of Fianna Fail. As a young man he worked with a young people's group to further the cause of Fianna Fail. It was here that he met Carmel O'Brien. He fell in love with Carmel O'Brien, but she told him he was too withdrawn, too into himself. He never really understood what she was talking about. Or, he never really listened to what she was saying. Eventually, he won her over, they married and had two children.

Eamon was used to making difficult law decisions and became the top judge in his circuit. His decisions were often controversial, and his family differed in their opinion of the decisions he wrought. He preferred to be by himself and that was often apparent to his family. He could abide his wife's company, but just barely. It was not until she had a stroke that he realized how important she was to him. He cared for her until she had another stroke and died. He felt alone, all alone, He was unable to sleep in the bed they had slept in for years. He went to their summer home, and had to sleep in the car. He could not stand to be in the same room as they had been in together. He was unable to accept his loss. All this time he thought he had never asked for anything; now, he just wanted his wife back. He did all he could to avoid being in the home. He walked miles until he was exhausted. It was not until his daughter and her young son came to stay with him that he started to understand the meaning of family, of love, of sharing, of fun and of laughter. This is a book to be remembered. The more one thinks about this book, the stronger the impression it leaves. prisrob

I didn't really like Judge Eamon Redmond until I was almost through with this book. He certainly didn't show much emotion at all through most of the story. However, my whole attitude and judgement of him changed so much by the end of this engrossing story. When Eamon was very young he stood by silently and passively watching his father die (his mother was already dead), and then when he was older and a well-respected Judge, he watched as his wife Carmel die after having a stroke. Both of these dead's and there influence on Eamon's life are minutely detailed here. Eamon seems to be an intense and very lonely person. Yes, there is some attention given to his first girlfriend, and his children (who barely know their father) but the turning point, I think, is after Carmel dies. I think Eamon finally finds his heart, and the love he was too busy to recognize before. The ending is wonderful.

Colm Toibin has a way of beautifully describing family life and especially the landscape of Ireland. I learned a lot about Irish politics of that time, and how a judge makes his important decisions. A well-crafted novel from an author who has written many powerful books. I am always touched by his rich & moving novels.

The Heather Blazing by Colm Toibin is a deeply emotional, deeply moving book. It's the story of Eamon Redmond, a complex man, grown on tender roots, influential friends, a keen intellect and a tangible distance between himself and those whom he loves.

The book is set in three parts, each of which dips in and out of time. We are with Eamon as a child in the small Wexford seaside villages he forever regards as home. Coastal erosion changes them over time and provides, in itself, a metaphor of aging, both of the individual and the community. Eamon's schoolteacher father is a significant figure, both locally as a renowned teacher, and nationally as a result of what he accomplished in his youth in the furtherance of Irish independence and political development. Eamon's mother died when he was young, an act for which, perhaps, he could never forgive her.

We also see Eamon as an adolescent, hormones abuzz, becoming aware of adulthood, a physical, intellectual and, for him, a political transformation. But it is also a time when his father's illness complicates his life. Throughout, we are never sure whether Eamon's perception of such difficulty remains primarily selfish, driven by self-interest. If we are honest, none of us knows how that equation works out.

We are with Eamon when he meets Carmel, his future and only wife. They share a political commitment and a life together. And they have two children. Naimh becomes pregnant at a crucial time. Donal is successful in his own way, but perhaps inherited his father's distance in relationships.

And then there's another time and another Eamon, the professional, the legal Eamon. At first he practices law, but later, at a relatively early age, he accepts a politically-driven appointment to the judiciary. He has powerful sponsors, but also toys a little with the idea that he is being kicked upstairs. The moment, however, is his, no matter how dubious the source of the patronage. And then there are the cases that he has to judge, cases that impact in their own way upon the substance of his own life, his own family, whatever that might be, however the entity might be defined. It remains a substance that is perceived mainly by others, it seems, as he enacts his training and judges other people's experience according to rules he has dutifully learned so that he might apply them dispassionately.

So Colm Toibin mixes these time frames and circumstances in each of the book's three sections. We are also presented with some intellectual arguments arising from the substance of the judge's daily routine, issues with which he must grapple in his assessment of competing interests. Eventually he must address the dichotomy of terrorism versus political action, a definition that, years ago, might have left his own father on this side or that, if ever he had been identified.

Eamon's friends, in hindsight, might not have been the most worthy or honest sponsors, and so, again only with hindsight, we might question his judgment. But the pursuance of interests, like life, itself, is a process, and a process that The Heather Blazing describes in its richness and illusory permanence. As the Wexford coast erodes, Eamon ages, changes, succeeds, fails, loves and loves again, all in his own way. He engages us, and yet we, like the trusting, thoughtful Carmel, his wife, we never really know him, and we never really understand why we feel that way. If only he knew himself. A quite beautiful book. Life goes on.

Kirkus Reviews blurb reprinted above is absolutely foolish. This is a magnificent novel, but one which, as Tobias Wolff has said, "repays attention", i.e., one must be willing to give oneself over to Toibin's deceptively simple prose. The cummulative affect of the chapters, as a picture of a life, is devastatingly poignant, but this poignance will only come through careful attention. A quiet masterpiece.

This review could have run anywhere from three to five stars. But, with nobody but worshipers at the shrine of St. Ed reviewing this book so far, this winds up being one of my context-based ratings, and so it gets three stars, not four.

First, let me say I agree with much of Stiles' take on the New West. Many environmental movements are getting a bit full of themselves, or a a bit full of strings-attached cash, at least.

Rationing of the West goes hand in hand with his commodification of the West. Witness how just about everything at Mesa Verde can only be seen by guided tour these days.

And, in some places, Stiles doesn't go far enough; he could have called for the Park Service to require a written test or something to get a permit to hike in many places, for example.

That said, Stiles is too good, or too much, at building up straw men. I don't think every mountain biker wants to ban cattle from national forests, or even thinks every cattleman is evil. Of course, Stiles might say such folks don't fall into his definition of the New West; I don't know.

Besides that, Stiles' version of Abbey's anarcho-libertarianism isn't the answer, either. (I take Abbey at face value on his own claim that he was neither an environmentalist nor a naturalist. Any man who remained unapologetic 30 years after pushing a tire into the Grand Canyon is neither.)

And, even if the New West is an evil, even if it is a new form of extractive industry, I still think it's the lesser of two evils when compared to the Old West.

Beyond that, Stiles didn't read Abbey himself carefully enough; he overlooks Abbey's own comment that "the desert always wins." Someday, commodified nature tourism will play out, too. More likely sooner than later, if continued drought and global warming turn out bad enough in the Southwest.

Then, it seems, Stiles is a bit black-and-white; I think there's plenty of people in Moab worried about the future but with a different take than him. (I talked to a couple of bookstore managers when in Moab most recently, mid-August 2008, and specifically asked about Stiles and this book.)

Finally, Stiles' book is long on problem and short on solution.

It's provocative, but it's more that than it is thought-provoking, and it's not "all that."

Of course, neither was Ed Abbey.

Brave New West
Morphing Moab at the Speed of Greed
Jim Stiles
2007 University of Arizona Press
paperback 260 pages

"A remark generally hurts in proportion to its truth." -Will Rogers

Events since the publication of Jim Stiles' Brave New West, remind us that the truth does indeed hurt. From the not yet deflated real estate bubble to the ongoing commercialization of public lands and now the awareness of global scale capital influencing our favorite environmental organizations, we're challenged to rethink much about ourselves.

Unaffordable real estate and property taxes, the loss of a small town and rural ways of life, adventure tourism on public lands, the loss of wildlife and wilderness, and perhaps most worrisome, the loss of our ability to value the natural world as it is, and for what it is, are all documented in Brave New West as impacts of an amenities boom that swallowed Moab, Utah over the last 20 years.

Along the way, we're inspired by the story of what happens when one man seriously questions the worldview that everyone else around him has staked their livelihood on.

Brave New West takes us on a journey back to Stiles' long ago adopted home town, at the end of an era. Old West Moab's uranium bust hit bottom just about the time Jim left the Park Service after a decade at nearby Arches National Park. Jumping through his only window of opportunity, he scraped together a down payment on a tiny house in town that would become his "ringside seat for the knockout blow to come".

Less than two years later, on the very day that his friend and mentor Edward Abbey died in 1989, Stiles' alternative view Canyon Country Zephyr was born. As it happened, economically desperate Moab was just entering into its love affair with amenities and endless growth, and from the start the Zephyr was there, reliably raising the red flag.

Now almost 20 years later, National Public Radio and High Country News recently produced separate features on the amenities economies of northern Arizona and western Colorado. While those stories gave wider audiences a chance to think about how skyrocketing real estate tears communities apart, we don't have to imagine the perspective of the man still holding his tattered red flag:

"New Westerners claim that the uncontrolled growth of the amenities economy is out of their hands, that market forces and the whims of American culture are driving the New West, not them. As one Utah environmentalist said defensively, 'It would have happened anyway.' In effect New Westerners now refuse to take credit for the extraordinary success of the very economy they claimed would save the West. They actually distance themselves from the solution they continue to promote. Every ATV rally, every new convenience store, every condo development, every golf course, every four-star restaurant in a town with a population of 5000 is an extension of the amenities economy."

For its first decade, the Zephyr was effectively the voice of environmentalism in Moab. Each issue contained at least one article authored by a member of SUWA or the Sierra Club. But as the impacts of "millions of those well meaning amenity clients" and resource damage from hundreds of thousands of bicyclists per year ("and it wasn't just the bikes, it was the vehicles that brought the bikes") began to literally change the landscape of Grand County, Stiles began to wonder when "someone from our side was going to speak up". He is still waiting.

Could it be that environmentalists were finding it hard to criticize the activities of their own supporters? When a company selling climbing tours in Arches National Park promoted itself as a "Proud business supporter of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance" it became clear that the enviros would remain silent on the impacts of too many recreationists.

Brave New West highlights the late 1980's change in environmentalists' wilderness strategy which aided and abetted the birth of the amenities economy and the New West. They advocated for the transformation of rural economies towards services aimed at upscale migrants seeking to live near wilderness. In the process, wilderness values became human-centered and economic rather than intrinsic and environmental.

As long as professional environmentalists sell their ideas using economic rationale, we are reminded of the political reality of the "death of environmentalism". (What public values make up that reality?) But we could also take a much harder look at the boards of directors of these groups. Since the publication of Brave New West, the resignations, securities fraud convictions, and prison sentences for multi-millionaires Bert Fingerhut and Mark Ristow, long time SUWA board members (Fingerhut was also on the Grand Canyon Trust board) make us wonder what is going on here.

More recently, Stiles' Greening of Wilderne$$ Part 2 (www.canyoncountryzephyr.com) exposed the influence of mega-capital on environmental boards large and small. For example, global venture-capitalist David Bonderman sits on the boards of The Wilderness Society and the Grand Canyon Trust. Mr. Bonderman's 2007 acquisition Luminant Energy, the Texas utility green-washed by the participation of the NRDC and Environmental Defense in the buyout, is right now building 2,300 MW of capacity from three new lignite coal-fired units. (What public values drive the need for more and more power?) How can a man with two 15,000 square foot homes lead the way either in reducing our consumption of energy or in the opposition to new coal-fired power plants on the Colorado Plateau?

Stiles' lament in the conclusion to Brave New West says it all:

"I wondered if Moab could have turned out differently...Could we have come to appreciate the life we had there, in terms that bankers, accountants, politicians, and chambers of commerce can't measure? Absolutely. We humans are a tragic lot, not because of our malevolence and greed but our indifference. It's never the bad guys that diminish our species, our culture, and our lands--their numbers are insignificant. We good guys empower them with our apathy. Our willingness to submit to things we know are wrong is always our undoing. It doesn't have to be that way."

Amen to that, Jim.

I met Jim Stiles years ago, when he was still rangering at Arches. I was one of those Abbey-seekers who had made a pilgrimage to Moab and Arches after reading Desert Solitaire ( this was September 1980, just before Reagan was elected and Everything changed ). I had found the site of Abbey's trailer, and his rusted septic tank and drainfield pipe. I had taken off my clothes and stood atop a rock to salute, as I recall, the spirit of everything Ed had written about. Ranger Jim came across this scene and said, understandably, "What the hell are you doing?". Well he was very civil and decent about it all. He confirmed I had found the sacred trailer site - heck, he even gave me a t-shirt with his infamous "Glen Canyon Damn" picture ( I still have it!).
Over the years I have enjoyed Jim's writings, and it is great to finally see him put it all in a book. Stiles definitely has the burr under his saddle that Abbey had, and it powers his prose better than most other "nature" writers in the 18 years we've been without Ed. I wish he'd write a novel, because I think he could bring the Monkey Wrench Gang into the 21st century, something we badly need.
I was in Moab, like I said, in 1980, and then again in 2003. Both times I ventured there in a VW Squareback ( Tradition!). I will admit that Moab was a LOT different 23 years later, though my teenage son and I still had a great visit. Christ it was hot! ( It was July, after all, with daytime temperatures as high as 116 degrees.) We explored Arches in the early-morning hours, swam and rafted in the hot afternoon ( and if that wasn't Pure Bliss I don't know what is ) and enjoyed good food and drink and an air-conditioned motel room in the evening. Moab is still a great place to visit, even if you are a low-impact non-biking non-jeeping old Abbey fan like me. Even on this second visit in 2003 I visited Ed's trailer site and easily found the septic tank and rusted pipe again, pretty much exactly as I had found it 23 years earlier. This time, however, I didn't take off my clothes, but instead read aloud the first chapter from Desert Solitaire to the land, to the place that inspired Ed to write his great book so long ago. No one was there ( in body at least ) but me. The timeless beauty and power of that place was - and, thankfully, still is - a real presence in the absolute quiet of that early morning.
Thanks for the great book, Jim. I hope it does well. Write on, brother. Write on.

Anyone who lives in a small, rural Western town, or anyone contemplating moving to, or, worse yet, just buying property in a small, rural Western town, definitely needs to read this book.

Stiles paints an unflinchingly accurate picture of how the tiny town of Moab became a crowded tourist town filled with fast-food joints and chain hotels. Longtime small business owners were forced out by the giant chain stores and T-shirt shops catering to out-of-town mountain bikers, Jeepers and ATVers. Alfalfa fields and orchards were sold to developers, who slapped up condos and luxury homes for mostly absentee owners, and conservative locals swamped by lycra-clad city dwellers. It's a sad and harsh reality, but Stiles manages quite a few laugh-out-loud moments: comedy is usually funny because it is so true.

The reason the book is important is that this phenomenon is repeating itself throughout the Western United States. Often local residents who may only make about $20,000 a year can no longer afford to live in the towns occupied by their families for generations. City dwellers take the equity from their city properties and invest it in rural land, driving prices out of sight, then bring their sharply different lifestyles to rural towns.

Most environmental groups have been completely silent on these issues, even as millions of new hikers trample the scenery into oblivion. Why? Perhaps because those same hikers and even some developers contribute hefty dollars to enviro groups. So while oil and gas companies contribute to the Bush administration, which then allows drilling on sensitive lands, environmental groups are running afoul of the same money trap--an ironic twist.

Of course the agent driving these ever-growing problems is our ever-expanding population, and Stiles is one of the few to tackle this problem publicly. Why can't our leaders even talk about this?

If you live in a small Western town, read this book, discuss it with your neighbors, and work with your local government to try and prevent this from happening to you.

If you are a city dweller contemplating a relocation or second-home purchase in a rural town, read this book and rethink your move. If you must move there, then stay there, work there, live there, don't build a giant mansion, be sensitive to the locals, try to get to know them. If you want their way of life, then LIVE IT, don't push your lifestyle onto them.

This is a GREAT book.

Tracing the growth of Moab, Jim Stiles has the huevos to take a long, cold look at what is happening in the Great American West. He has watched Moab (and, by extension, many other small Western towns) sucumb to carpet baggers, dirt pimps, speculators and, the cruelest irony of all, hoardes of nature-loving tourists encouraged by the "amenities economy".

Stiles takes on his friends as well as his enemies, and accuses enviromental groups of rolling over and playing dead while thousands of mountain bikers ride over their limp, unprotesting bodies on the way to Adventure Paradise. Stiles is neither a whiner nor a lamenter, and he shakes his fist at what he calls "enviropreneurs" out to make big bucks off public land. Commercialized nature theme parks are the future of the West, Stiles claims, reminding us of the debt we owe Edward Abbey when he coined the phrase "industrial tourism". Abbey was Stiles' mentor and friend.

Jim Stiles is a lively, accomplished writer, so this bitter pill is not too hard to swallow. Just be careful you don't choke while laughing out loud. Stiles is a very funny man and that's a good thing in these circumstances.

I ordered this book for an upcoming hiking and biking trip in the Arches and Canyonland areas. We are striking out on our own after using a guided tour last fall. We are excited and apprehensive that we will not know where to go. This book is very detailed about the trails and we are now more confident about our adventure. I am glad that I ordered it.

This is a terrific book, with all the information necessary to begin some really interesting hikes. Details on each hikes include a description of the scenery, terrain (with a nice graphic showing the elevation changes throughout a hike), difficulty rating, total distance, time required, type of trip and trail. The details give a hikers perspective on each trail. Sections on backcountry roads, are also useful. The book lacks an index at the end. There are some informative tables in the beginning of the book that describe all the trails and a classification for each. Useful to gauge a hike to your experience level. Tons of pictures and maps.

Overall a very useful guide.

Many people think that the best way to see these two great canyonlands parks is to drive through them. But you will have no sense of these places unless you get out of your car and take a walk. You don't have to be a backpacker to experience these places on foot. Exploring Canyonlands and Arches is a great book for short, medium and long hikes and for finding the hike that is best for you and your physical condition.

We used this guide to do six hikes in the two National Parks and it provided excellent information for all of them. The writeups, descriptions, maps & summary information were all accurate and very helpful. Bill Schneider even seemed to anticipate the few times we would have a problem -- each time we were unsure of the trail direction, a quick look at the book showed that he had specifically included extra comments for the problem we had encountered. I recommend it wholehearedly for anyone wanting to hike in Canyonlands & Arches.

Couldn't find some of the best hikes in the park, such as COurthouse Wash. Too basic.

The literary world is full of inequities, with recognition and reputations that are much larger or much smaller than they deserve to be, and in the world of literary nature writing no one better illustrates this point than Reg Saner, whose work deserves to be far better known and admired than it is. The Southwest is America's most powerful and lyrical landscape, and it defies many of the conventions of literary nature writing developed to celebrate green English hills or Walden Ponds or Sierra forests. To do justice to the Southwest requires originality and lyricism and a philosophical eye. Reg Saner has what it takes. Once when I was heading into the Grand Canyon on a solo early-summer hike and knew I'd be spending a fair amount of time hiding in the shade, I took along Saner's "The Four Cornered Falcon". When you read a book surrounded by the hard realities and deep beauties of the Grand Canyon, it has to stand up to a higher test of reality than it might in your cozy easy chair at home surrounded by human culture in all its artificialities. Saner's prose is full of lyrical gems and philosophical knots to make you stop and think and helps make the Southwest more intensely real.

I agree with the editorial (Kirkus) reviewer; which you ought to read and pay attention to before buying. This is strictly one man's impressions of what the Colorado Plateau means to him. It is not authoritative as to the ruin's archeology or anthropology. It could better be classed as poetry.

I first discovered Reg Saner after reading about him in Denver's Bloomsbury Review--a regional book review periodical. Shortly afterward, while browsing an on-line bookstore I found his "The Four-Cornered Falcon: Essays on the Interior West and the Natural Scene" as a remainder. That book spoke to me. Each essay another gem of insight into the natural scene of the Southwest. "Reaching Keet Seel" is more of the same. This time an attempt to come to terms from 600 years hence with the Anasazi--a people who learned to prosper in corner of the world that is now largely barren.

I beg to differ with the reviewer from Kirkus associates. The guy's a pompous windbag and if he actually read the whole book, I doubt seriously if he understands what he read. The book is not and does not profess to be a work of anthropological science. It is a look into one man's reactions to historical places which cannot be described, but have to be experienced to feel their effects. Again and again, Reg Saner captured these effects, along with his "show me" quest, poetically with a mastery of language seldom seen anywhere. The reviewer claimed that the writing style hurt his teeth. I suggest he sees a dentist, for the writing is great. Like the places they describe, the essays need be experienced for their full effect. I won't do them the dishonor of inadequate description here. The book is an informative, thought-provoking read. As one who has been researching the Anasazi, Pueblo, and Hopi for some time, I place this book near the top of my favorites list of the last 25 books I've read on the subject. The essay, "Spirit Root" should win an award of some sort. It's fabulous. To anyone reading my review, I say get the book. To the reviewer who was so shallow, wishy-washy and unkind, I say get a life.

Shooshie

One of my favorite books about one of my favorite destinations. This is a collection of brief essays that is the perfect companion for a trip to the Four Corners area and the abounding ruins and sites of the Anazasi. Its not a book detailing where to go and how to get the most for your tourist dollar. Rather its a musing reflection on what its like to visit these places from the perspective of a 21st century traveler. These writings draw our attention to the feelings evoked by the experience of wandering among the reminders of another people, another culture, another cosmology and way of understanding what life is about. I have been to Keet Seel. Its a demanding walk. I appreciated having the opportunity to travel back there with someone who provided words to some of the feelings I experienced at the time. A subtext of these writings is the idea of the sacred in a postmodern world that has chased that concept into small corners of carefully bounded scholarship. The author discovers it abounding all around us and that we are desperate to recover some sense of it for ourselves. The trip to Keet Seel and the other destinations is a rediscovery of its significance and meaning for human existence.

This book solves the problem of the Great Brain aka TD's return to the Academy by building an Academy right in town. Now, the story can take place in our favorite town, Adenville, and utilize all of our favorite characters. TD works under the guise of being reformed throughout this book, but still ends up with all of the other kids' the money. He's also able to word his tricks in such a way that he can't be caught or punished. It's funny because while JD, TD's little brother, has been swindled the most he miss the excitement and even encourages TD in his money-loving ways.

This is a light-hearted, funny book. I am way beyond the suggested age level, but i still read all the books in this series every other year. This series is one of two other books that has EVER made me laugh out loud, even when i was younger. So give the gift of laughter to a special kid in your life with this whole series!!

This book was really entertaining, and I have read it more than once. I have not read a better book than this about what kids did in the past etc. It had intresting situation and intresting characters and I recomend it for everyone!

In the previous book in the series, The Great Brain Reforms, T.D. is forced to reform by his peers, or they will cease speaking to him. In light of this, T.D. elects to go on with his swindling lifestyle, and is forced to be more cautious than ever that what he does will not be called swindling. It leads to some rather unusual adventures, and the Great Brain actually earns some honest money. Not the best in the series, but still a fun book.

Overall grade: A-

The Return of the Great Brain is a excellent book to read!!! Tom ( the great brain ) is on trial. He has to reform.Tom uses his brain to solve a train robbery,to get a jackass, and many other things. Read The Return of the Great Brain to find out what happens!

Utah Byways: 65 Backcountry Drives is an excellent book. The trail descriptions are extremely accurate, concise and helpful. I liked the photographs because they give a perspective on a drive. The list of resources, parks and places of interest in the back of the book is invaluable. I wish I had time to go on all the drives. Good job.

I picked it up in Moab on a recent winter trip (good time to go). We really, really liked the roads it took us on. Bring your bike! Now that I've seen the place, the pictures should be in color, though. I recommend it.

For the price (less than tank of gas) Utah Byways is easily the best buy in the genre of off-highway exploring, by the most acclaimed author in the field. It is a thorough and well-illustrated glovebox-size guide to the state's most spectacular backcountry roads. Unlike other 4WD books, the author has personally made sure that every route is suitable to a stock 4WD sport-utility vehicle. The book provides a full range of backcountry driving experiences, from graded gravel roads to famous 4x4 trails like Elephant Hill. But the focus is really on experiencing Utah's natural wonders and human history. You will visit remote rock art sites, Anasazi ruins, trilobite fossil beds, ford rivers and streams, wind through forests and narrow, high-walled slickrock canyons. You will drive on the actual bed of the historic transcontinental railroad, and meander across the Great Basin on the old Pony Express and Overland Stage trail. The extensive geographic coverage leaves no region unexplored, from the Uinta Mountains to the Wasatch Range, from Moab to the Great Basin and the most remote reaches of canyon country, even a bit of the Mojave Desert. The photos are outstanding as well, although they're b&w. Among the best features are the detailed, full-page maps that accompany each of the 65 top-notch routes that the author describes, and the handy 5x9-inch format. It's designed to fit into an SUV's side pocket or glovebox, making it easy to take along while still including abundant content. Also included is an extensive how-to chapter, and a listing of information sources that includes Web sites. Adding still more to its value and appeal is the author's multi-activity approach. Mountain bikers, hikers and campers as well as adventurous travelers will find it an outstanding resource, too, because Utah Byways is far more than a driving guide.

Unlike some of the other readers, I cheated and checked this book out of the public library first (living in Salt Lake City, libraries are full of books about Utah).

The directions, mileage indicators, degree of difficulty and highlights are really excellent. We used this book extensively during our last trip to So. Utah and we able to find each trail of interest without any problem.

Unfortunately, the maps for each trail are adequate at best. Instead the book refers you to available published maps of a specific area. Also, all the photos are in black and white which is really a disappointment when you consider the red-rock beauty of So. Utah.

But, for the price and size of the book, you won't be disappointed.

I bought this book for our family vacation 2 years ago to Utah. It was one of two books that were the foundation for planning our best vacation yet. In fact, we had such a great time that we are planning to return next year.

This book enabled us to get off the main roads and explore Utah backcountry. Without it, we would not have been brave enough to explore on our own and see so many great sites. The author's format is very user-friendly and has the EXACT information that I wanted to know (road difficulty, highlights, distance, time, etc) in order to plan our trip.

Contrary to the earlier reviewer, I don't mind the photos. Although they are b/w, they still convey the beauty and feel of canyon country.

I met Finis some 20 years ago when he was giving a presentation on the Wind Rivers to a club of some sort. A captivating presentation with amazing photos of carrying the fish up to the lakes in old coffe cans and the like.

As others have said, this is a primitive book by today's standards, my biggest gripe is no index. But if you want to know about the trials, along with some insights as to where to go, this is the book to have.

I do agree that you will be best served by a second book, and some good maps... and with google earth you can see it as well.

But my autographed copy is a special possesion, and I higly recommend it. I wish I could have hiked with Finis, when he passed much that was known about this high country passed with him.

Finis Mitchell is the real thing; a true nature lover who hiked the Wind River Range so many times, that he can actually give you landmark by landmark directions to hikes, fishing and scaling peaks. He has a no-nonsense wisdom paired with a poetic nature. The story of how he stocked many of the lakes with trout is fascinating. Very clear routes to Gannet and Dinwoody Pass.

Finis Mitchell (Author) is known as the ultimate authority on the Wind River Range (Wyoming). He began exploring the Wind Rivers as a teenager (1920s), later worked as a guide and outfitter there, planted most of the lakes with fish. Book is small (fits in backpack). Has maps (including USFS/USGS references), photos, very detailed written descriptions of trail systems in Wind Rivers. Marvelous detailed accounts of how he planted hundreds of lakes with Fish back in the 30s. Great detail on which trails are best for which purpose, etc. There are other, fancier, newer-style books on the Wind River Range, but only this book is written by a man who literally walked every single inch, scaled every peak, fished every lake in the entire range....the book is sort of a novelty item as well, in that it is actually printed in what looks like his original typewriter font...the maps are hand-drawn, but are actually more reliable in some ways that actual USGS maps of same area. FANTASTIC BOOK...A COLLECTORS ITEM..AND A VERY USEFUL TEXT AS WELL.

A hiking guide by the "elder statesman" Wind River mountain man. One of the highlights of this short book is the autobiographical sketch. Finis Mitchell has hiked the Wind Rivers since 1909, taken 105,345 pictures and has scaled 244 peaks. The book provides short descriptions of numerous hikes, gives directions to trailheads, and, for fishermen, describes the fish species that the lakes along the trails contain. Scattered throughout the book are poems and sayings by Mitchell. Only 144 pages long, the book lacks details found in other Wind River trail guides, but nonetheless is a gem.

This is a no-nonsense, old-style guide to the Wind River Range. The author has been a guide there since the Great Depression. He provides some autobiographical information about his guiding business. He recounts, with pride, stocking high-mountain lakes that had never had fish before -- a practice that runs directly counter to today's views about preserving ecosystems.

The book is small (about 4x6 inches, 144 pages) with poor production values -- Courier font that has not been typeset, old black and white pictures, hand-drawn maps. It's organized by access point. You'll need a road map of the region to make sense of the directions, however, and there is no map of the Winds as a whole. There is elevation information for some peaks (not all), and no elevation for anything else.

The prose is straightforward. He tells you where the trail is, and how to follow it. Mitchell doesn't provide any information about why you might choose this route or that, this destination or that one. He just tells you that Trail X goes to point Y by route Z. There is no sorting of routes by day hikes, overnights, week trips, or the like, which have become standard in hiking guides.

Mitchell clearly knows every inch of these mountains well -- so well, in fact, that mileage information is irrelevant to him. So too is elevation, for the most part. Sometimes he'll tell you that "a Boy Scout troop would make this trip in two or three days," or similar information. He also sounds entirely credible when giving advice about likely snow conditions on peaks.

Standards for hiking books have changed. A LOT. Don't rely on this one all by itself, and buy a Wyoming map and topos for your route. But when I go to the Winds, I'll carry this little book in my pack. It's full of an old-timer's sharing of his wisdom.