Wisconsin Books

Prof. E. L. Anderson (Lansing Community College), in: Choice - Current Reviews for Academic Libraries (April 1997): This indispensable reference and thorough summary of mostly French and German reports and [Webb's] interpretations and observations will thrive and be a foundation for future work. Fine index, thorough footnotes and bibliography, clear outline and arrangement of material,and articulate paragraphs.

Prof. Gary Reger (Trinity College), in: New England Classical Journal 25.3 (February 1998): In Hellenistic Architectural Sculpture, Pamela Webb aims to assemble in one place all the instances of sculpture that adorned buildings on the Aegean islands or in western Asia Minor in the Hellenistic period. In this she succeeds admirably. Her 110 page "List of Sites" covers every major building at every major site. The entries are divided up by region and by site within region. For each site she provides a list of builidngs which carried, or can be argued to have carried, sculpture, giving their date, size, order, and other basic information; a brief description of the extant sculpture, including provenance and present location; and a bibliography. Her discussion of each sculptural program gives special attention to the themes and motifs behind the sculpture and reviews particular problems, to which Webb occasionally offers her own solutions. The vast majority of the sculpture she discusses is illustrated with photographs of high quality in the plates at the end of the book. Webb's book is now the place to start for anyone interested in sculpture on architecture in the Hellenistic period. Webb's discovery that the types of buildings preferred and the nature of architectural decoration changed around the end of the third century BC is, historically speaking, surely the most important result of her work. It adds another element - all the more welcome as coming from the art historical direction - to the impressive list of important changes that mark the end of the third century.

Prof. Linda Jones Roccos (City University of New York), in: American Journal of Archaeology 102 (1998) 446-447: Here is a most welcome addition to the meager corpus of informative works on Hellenistic sculpture. The monuments discussed provide an amazing view of little-known sites such as Chryse in the Troad, Alabanda in Caria, and Sagalassos in Pisidia. This is an extremely thoughtful book, with comprehensive bibliographies, lengthy descriptions, and thorough discussions of each monument, in addition to a detailed index and plentiful illustrations. More than 100 pages of catalogue entries provide the essentials of date, shape, size, order, and extant sculptures for each monument. Discussions for each entry provide background information on the ancient literary sources as well as excavation and publication histories. [Webb's] purpose is threefold: to examine how figural sculpture was used, to determine patterns of usage, and to gain understanding as to why figural motifs were employed. She believes that the motifs were of paramount importance and indicate a strong religious component. Webb wisely emphasizes the interdependence of sculpture and architecture and most fortunately considers both together. There are effective tables for a chronological view of types of buildings (temple, altar, civic, domestic, cultic, heroa). The Hellenistic period saw an increasingly wide variety of locations for sculpture, such as column drums and shafts, captials, pedestals,...and these are treated effectively. In addition to the basic background and descriptive information about the sculptures from each site, Webb discusses problems in dating and identifying the monuments. A particular strength of the work is Webb's competent over-all discussion of each monument, covering architectural elements and pottery deposits as well as the sculptural finds. Altogether, this volume is a most useful and informative work.

Prof. Barbara A. Barletta (University of Florida), in: Bryn Mawr Classical Review 8.5 (1997) 493-495: In this succinct and lucid exposition of figural motifs in Hellenistic architecture, Pamela Webb accomplishes exactly what she sets out as her task in the introduction. Her first goal is to demonstrate how figural sculpture was used. Thus [she] establishes a classification of buildings, as religious, civic, domestic, and cultic and commemorative. She also includes here a discussion of the orders used and a short section on Hermogenes, the most famous architect of the period. In the next chapter, she locates sculpture on the individual architectural members, moving from [column] drums and pedestals to akroteria. Chapter 4 then treats motifs dividng them generally into non-narrative and narrative themes. Her second and third goals, to elucidate patterns of use over time and the meaning of figural ornamentation, are addressed in the discussions above and developed further in the conclusions. Part 2 of this book provides a documentation of the material. Full descriptions of the architectural and sculptural remains are presented in geographical arrangement from northern to southern Anatolia, the Aegean Islands, and Cyprus, and from earliest to latest within each site. It is in this section that Webb discusses the problems and controversies surrounding the monuments, particularly their reconstructions and dates. As a result of its clear organization, with thorough and up-to-date bibliography, this book represents a handy and important reference. It is well illustrated, in several cases using the author's own photographs, and includes almost all the necessary plans and reconstructions. The book certainly provides the reader with an excellent overview of architectural sculpture in the "heart of the Hellenistic world".

Like an earlier reviewer, I'll look for more books from Jerry Apps. My mother's dad was a farmer in Iowa. They moved to "The Valley" in Texas (near Brownsville) when she was 14 and then to NW Arkansas before she graduated from high school. In all three areas, my grandad farmed. When I was a child, he milked a few cows and put his 10-gallon milk cans out at the rural train station for pick-up each day. He worked at the local BUSH canning plant part-time to supplement his farming income. My grandmother was a grade school teacher until she retired. This novel helped me to understand more about my family history and some of the challenges that must have been faced by my grandparents. This story is good food for thought.

No need to repeat Jim Pope's comments. I like books like these as a nice "break" from the "murder & mayhem" novels I usually read. Very nice and informative book, indeed. I'll be looking for more of Jerry Apps' works.

Jerry Apps zeroes in on the importance of the small family farm in the community and the challenges that are facing the farmers and their families. I enjoyed getting drawn into the story of the pickle factory and its importance as a source of income and gathering place. You will look at pickles differently after reading this book. I live in Wisconsin but never knew about the role small cucumber patches played in the life of the farm areas. Buy local, support the family farmers and help them creatively survive the challenge of agribusiness.

Novels are typically not on my 'to read' shelf. But I picked this one up because Apps' non-fiction has always been so much fun and chocked full of right-on memories for me. IN A PICKLE is about the time when I grew up and about a place only half-a-county from where my family's farm was. This book is right up there as one of Apps' best, and it superbly captures the essence of the culture and the times. It tells an engaging story in a down-home and straightforward style that shows why Apps should be on everybody's list of really good storytellers.

The book is a character-driven tale that's not only a fun read, but it will give you an effective insight into what small-farm life was really like half-a-century ago in middle America. After the first couple of chapters of IN A PICKLE, I found it to be one of those few books that is so enjoyable that I forcibly (and with difficulty) limited myself to just a chapter or two a day - that way I knew I would get to enjoy it for a lot longer. The book has several layers to it: 1) an enjoyable novel about the relationships of a cast of characters trying to get through tough times together, 2) a chronicle of small farm families documenting some of the everyday realities of that life fifty years ago, 3) a commentary on how progress in the big picture of things can impact the lives of the individual people being swept through those changes, and 4) a depiction of how the modernization of technology can be a good thing, but how, whether it intends to or not, and for better or for worse, it can significantly disrupt the traditional order of things and much of what goes with that tradition. Those aspects can all be enjoyed on their own merits with IN A PICKLE. But the book also gives the reader a combined experience of all those things fitting together in one place and one period of the American landscape, an indispensable part of our country's character.

If you're old enough, IN A PICKLE will jog your memory about the old days and tickle your funny bone at the same time. If you're younger than that, the book takes you back in time to a part of your parents' world, and it does that in an entertaining way that leaves you appreciating some new things about that world your folks grew up in. In either case, you're apt to see some things in a way that you maybe hadn't considered before - until Jerry Apps let you know about it with IN A PICKLE.

In my not-so-humble opinion, Walter Davis's Inwardness and Existence is the most important work of philosophy since Sartre's Being and Nothingness. In this book Davis attempts an astonishing synthesis of 4 seemingly irreconcilable schools of thought: Hegel's self-consciousness, Heidegger's Existentialism, Marxist concepts of ideology and subjectivity, and Freudian psychoanalysis. His goal is a comprehensive and intellectually rigorous theory of "subjectivity," of what we are and how we got that way. Along the way he finds time to write a prose Ode to Death, explore the psychological mysteries of sexuality, provide the best explanation ever written of the Marxist concept of ideology, and intellectually skewer the phony "radical" Professors of academic deconstruction. This is a profound, challenging, wide-ranging book that deserves to be read, re-read, argued with, and discussed. "Put down thy Derrida; open thy Davis!"

Like a previous reviewer, I came across this book unheralded while searching through racks at a bookstore. As a psychologist, psychoanalyst and theologian, I see the topic of inwardness and subjectivity as much discussed today and often fading into greater obscurity for all the analysis. Davis's book manages to retain perspective on the actual phenomenology of subjectivity and addresses each of these four major approaches to the topic - Hegelian, Existential, Marxist and Psychoanalytic (which he addresses from the actual current state of the field, not simply returning to the Freudian model long since left behind) - without allowing his thought to be captured by any one of them. He achieves a true conversation amongst them, allowing each to inform the other and offering us a creative combination that permits the experience of subjectivity to be rediscovered from within that conversation. A well-researched, solid, accessible, excellent book.

As a first year graduate student in mathematics at the Ohio State University in the summer of 1989, I had the good fortune to wander quite at random into one of Walter Davis' English classes. I was immediately hooked. Over the next three years I took three more of his courses. "Inwardness and Existence" was just into print then, and although it pales in comparison with his outstanding live presentation of similar themes (Davis is an accomplished stage actor in his spare time), I've treasured this book for many years for the memories it brings back of these immensely rewarding (and oftentimes themselves quite theatrical) classroom episodes.

Now, I don't read Hegel, Heideggar, Marx or Freud...though I did once enjoy the latter three...and don't see many of the things of value in their writings that Davis culls from them and brings to life. Hegel, in particular, strikes me as an utter windbag. The strategy here, though, is merely to draw ideas from the writings, discarding whatever encumbering nonsense enshrouds the germs of inspiration. For example, Davis develops a convincing analogy between the stoic/skeptic/unhappy consciousness triad of Hegel and the structuralist/post-structuralist/existentialist triad of 20th century French "thought", hinting that existentialism could be resuscitated. This is presented with a full awareness of the things that made it so deservedly unfashionable in the first place, and a surprisingly compelling case is made. In the psychoanalysis chapter, Davis talks, in a non-schmaltzy manner, about active engagement in traumatic experience being a key to self-actualization (the schmaltzy expression is mine, not his), concluding with the insight that "love is not about finding the right person--it's about becoming the right person." This is an idea that concurs with my own evolutionary intuitions, though he of course gets there via a different route. In a marvelous final chapter, Davis ties it all together with a discussion of his general methodology...a dialectic he calls a "hermeneutics of engagement". I doubt there is a better explanation of or justification of the contemporary relevence of dialectical thinking anywhere.

G.H. Hardy criticized criticism generally, on the basis that the talented should create, rather than commentate. I think this book proves that idea to be ill-founded. Five stars here is a no-brainer. Be warned, however...its overriding advice is to deepen your engagement with your most difficult issues, rather than extricate yourself from them...a process that, when worked out correctly, never actually ends. The implication is that anything less is a waste of life. Even if you find yourself in the most-likely-reader mould, it's almost inevitable that you'll resist...indeed, it probably took me ten years from the time I last saw Davis to realize how right he was with regard to me.

I came across this book wandering through a bookstore in 1989. It had a section on Hegel's famous chapter on "Lordship and Bondage," and I thought Davis might have something interesting to add to my already considerable library on the subject. The academic sounding book title suggested a Ph.d thesis turned book or something from the mills of postmodernism, in those years grinding out mind-numbing book-length footnotes to Derrida et al.

Wrong, wrong, wrong! The pages showed an intellect and heart breathtakingly alive and engaged. Despite forbidding sounding chapter titles the prose was beautifully crafted and spoke to my life, my fears, my evasions. I found the book more akin to a sort of wisdom literature, maybe something Ralph Waldo Emerson could have written towards the end of the 20th Century. I read it 2-3 times. Gave it to friends along with advice to ignore the forbidding title and titles to sections.

Later I searched academic journals for reviews and, as I had expected, found none. There is something discomfiting about Davis' book. Maybe Davis meant to scratch your conscience, grapple with intellectual and emotional honesty and courage, put a tack in life's chair -- do those things, that is, that tend to not get one the big symposia at the academic conference. I'm not sure what Davis meant to do, but I have never read such engaged presentations of the likes of Hegel, et al, that so gently yet so relentlessly made me look at the question of how I live.

So, wandering through the Amazon.com jungle, I was greatly encouraged to see that, 12 years later, Davis' book is still available. Give it a try.

This is an interesting book about happenings/history in Wisconsin.
We gave it as a gift to two people and they both enjoyed it.
Books came quickly and were in perfect condition.
I even found out that one of my relatives was involved in
one of the stories!

I have lived in Wisconsin for 50 years and I have visited many of the places they write about in this book. I didn't know the history of these places and so I found this a very informative and interesting book. I also found it easy to read, the chapters were short and to the point.

Known as the Badger State, Wisconsin is famous for its cheese and beer, for its settlement in the 19th century by waves of Norwegian, Swedish and German immigrants, as well as for the progressive politics of Bob Follette and the infamous politics of Joe McCarthy. But there is so much more to Wisconsin's history and author Michael Bie recounts some truly remarkable incidents in that history, many of which may come as a surprise to even life-long residents. This compendium state history begins with a chapter on the archaeological discovery in Lake Mills of a Native American culture that was flourishing around 3000 B.C., then goes on to cover the founding of Green Bay in 1634, events in Prairie du Chien in 1842, the Taliesin accomplishments and scandals of 1914, alleged events in Niccedah in 1950, the Posse Comitatus in Tigerton Falls in 1974, Milwaukee corruptions and depravity in 1991, and so very much more. Of special note is the chapter featuring 'Wisconsin Facts & Trivia'. Enhanced with an extensive bibliography and an index. An essential, core addition to school and community libraries throughout the Badger State, "It Happened In Wisconsin" is as entertaining as it is informative, and especially recommended to the attention of non-specialist general readers with an interest in Wisconsin history and personalities.

From Capital Times columnist and author Doug Moe:

"It goes without saying that Mike Bie is a splendid storyteller, but his real gift is digging out the tales from the past that are truly worth telling. Nobody knows the truth behind more Wisconsin myths and legends than Mike Bie, and it's his singular talent that in dealing us those truths he has produced a book as entertaining as any fiction."

This is the best book I've found to serve as a companion on a descent into the depths of "Finnegans Wake." It will deepen a reader's understanding of Joyce's methods. The author's insights are original and exciting - unlike some other books, this one actually made me eager to jump back into Joyce's book, sure I would see things in a new light.

I'm coming close to completing my first reading of the Wake. I understand now that it's a book you need to read many times. For this first pass, though, Joseph Campbell's "Skeleton Key" and this "Book of the Dark" were great guides.

This guy's read "Finnegans Wake" a thousand times, so it seems, and his knowledge of Joyce and environs is wide. I'd recommend "Joyce's Book of the Dark" for you Wakeans out there who need to dig deeper into the book of the delpth.

Unlike any other book in English literature, James Joyce's Finnegans Wake (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) is written entirely on the level of dream consciousness. Joycean scholar John Bishop has tightly focused his attention on the *sleep* aspects of Finnegans Wake. While this makes for a rather monochromatic presentation sometimes bordering the banal, the scholarship, clarity, and thrust of Bishop's presentation are indisputable. At bottom, one really doesn't like to admit there's so much in Finnegans Wake that such restrained scholarship is required to understand just one aspect of it. But then again, this work was the mature James Joyce's magnum opus.

From the text, pages 4-7: "Suppose we charged ourselves with the task of providing in chronological order a detailed account of everything that occurred to us NOT last night ... but in the first half-hour of last night's sleep. The 'hole affair' [535.20], (and a 'hole', unlike a 'whole', has no content), will likely summon up a sustained 'blank memory' [515.33]: 'You wouldn't should as youd remesner, I hypnot' [360.23-24]. What would become equally obscure, even questionable, is the stability of identity... No one remembers the experience of sleep at all as a sequence of events linked chronologically in time by cause and effect."

Joyce remarked to his friend William Bird: "About my new work - do you know, Bird, I confess I can't understand some of my critics, like Pound or Miss Weaver, for instance. They say it's *obscure*. They compare it, of course, with Ulysses. But the action of Ulysses was chiefly in the daytime, and the action of my new work takes place chiefly at night. It's natural things should not be so clear at night, isn't it now?"

Superb scholarship and a major key to understanding the deep strata of Finnegans Wake.

The ultimate treatment of Joyce's confusing classic, Bishop's comprehensive analysis goes beyond typical literary interpretations. Focusing of such diverse influences as Vico's "New Science" and The Egyptian Book of the Dead, Bishop shows the compexity of Joyce, as well as his almost total command of the English language, and language in general. If you've ever wondered about Vico's historical thesis, and want to understand how Vico permeates Joyce, this is the book to read. In the end, you'll come away with a better appreciation of Joyce's text, and a feeling of amazement at Vico's poorly understood, but far-sighted view of mankind.

If you like Jim Collins "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't", "Joyworks" is a must read. While "Good to Great" is from an observer's angle, "Joyworks" is from the man who achieved it. This book was written in a witty and warm tone, which reminds me a lot about the good old days at Marquette. It's a remarkable culture that not only builds great products, but also builds great people with characters. Unleash the creativity of people is the key to the success of Marquette's innovative products.

A great book for a great look into one of America's great companies through the eyes of the man who founded it. Witty and funny. This book is an example of what is possible to achieve in this great Country with a little smarts and some courage.

This book is written with wisdom, warmth and humor. Both a memoir and a business how-to, it's a must read for young entrepreneurs. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend.

In this book Michael Cudahy remembers the long path to success taken by Marquette Electronics. The early days are given a great deal of ink, demonstrating the determination Mr. Cudahy is known for, including his childhood and young adulthood. The story continues through the 1970's as MEI broke new ground in the medical electronics business. As the company develops into a major force with acquisitions on two continents, the issues and problems of growth are discussed in depth. Mike spends time discussing the various leaders in place prior to the GE buyout and his reasons for selling the company. As a prologue he brings the reader up to date on his activites since MEI.

Gorgeous portraits - full of emotion and complexity. I originally bought this book because I was interested in the fashion celebs - Todd Oldham, As Four, Simon Doonan, John Bartlett, etc, but all the other celebrities in the book - John Waters, Edward Albee, Michael Cunninham - certainly don't hurt, either.

A compelling, gorgeous book - totally unique. Gay and straight readers alike will be captivated by the interior images so beautifully displayed in this newly published addition to the photography genre. While by no means a book on interior design, the spaces depicted will be a source of fascination to readers who delight in viewing interesting homes. The human subjects, too, are intriguing. Alternately calm and kooky, they don't dominate the photographs, but are essential to the composition. A thrilling read. (Or, rather, experience.)

So refreshing to see a gay photography book that is thoughful, insightful, not obsessed with young bodies, and at the same time absolutely gorgeous.

The photographer Tom Atwood writes in his "Artist's Statement" that he wanted to do a book of color photos of clothed gay men in New York who live in apartments. The photographs should balance both the portrait of the individual with his environment. He describes this book as a "miscellaneous catalogue of personalities and living spaces." The models come from a variety of professions: writers, artists, composers, designers, interior decorators, attorneys-- John Waters, Edmund White, Ned Rorem, John Ashbery, Edward Albee et al. Most of them are collectors of practically any and everything: books, crosses, musical instruments, paintings, photographs, porcelain poodles, wigs, etc. Some of the subjects arrange their "stuff" well while others do not. I could not be in Joe Holtzman's kitchen (p. 42) for more than five minutes without jumping out the window. On the other hand, the apartment of Eric Bernhoft and Peter Mintun (p. 15) is most inviting.

The photographer in 70 frames or so manages not to repeat himself at all or even come anywhere close to repeating himself, no small feat. Some of my favorites are that of Billy Basinski (p. 64) where the model is seated on a sofa in front of floor-to-ceiling windows with beautiful light streaming in, Andrew Solomon (p. 61) in a beautiful but claustrophobic shot and Christophe Le Gorju (p. 39) where the model is standing to one side of a window which makes a beautiful Modrian-like grid. The most unusual living space has to be that of Tobi Wong (p. 31) which is described as being an eight by nine foot apartment.

A friend of mine used to say that regardless of how diverse the objects were, that you could hang anything together on a wall so long as you grouped them. This book of very fine photographs perfectly illustrates that theory.

This was a truly amazing collection of short stories - it's not easy to pull someone into another world in just a few pages, but Leslea Newman can do it. I've already passed this on to two other friends. This is a book you want to share. :) Laura

This is a collection of stories that offer a fresh perspective on current issues of homosexuality and anti-Semitism. It lends a unique voice to those experiencing growing pains and self-discovery. In these stories characters anxiously discover their lesbian identities while beginning to understand, and finally to embrace, their Jewish heritage.

These nine stories add a dose of humor while confronting the issues of our time like AIDS, and issues that have been around for centuries like mother-daughter misunderstandings. Ms. Newman's characters are just a bit crazy but this helps to transfer the story from the pages to memory.

"A Letter to Harvey Milk," by Leslea Newman, is a collection of 9 stories that explores what it means to be Jewish and lesbian in America. The book includes a glossary of the many Yiddish terms used in the stories.

Newman deals with a number of issues throughout the book: the AIDS crisis, President Reagan's controversial visit to Bitburg, the legacy of the Holocaust, religious chauvinism, "coming out" to parents, preservation of the Yiddish language, and more. Some of her issues seem a bit obvious and even forced, but overall she handles the material effectively.

I found the best story in the collection to be the title story; it's about the relationship between an elderly Jewish man and his writing teacher, a young Jewish lesbian. Also impressive is "The Gift," which consists of snapshots of a woman's life from age 5 to adulthood. "Something Shiny" tells the story of a woman's participation in a lesbian & gay march on Washington. Although much of the book has a dated feel, overall the collection is very moving, and Newman effectively uses touches of humor to offset the seriousness of much of her subject matter. For interesting companion texts, try "Rubyfruit Jungle," by Rita Mae Brown, and "Zami," by Audre Lorde.

I read this book as part of my women's studies class and want to thank my professor, Marlene Howell, for leading me and my classmates to this book several years ago. This book really opened my eyes to two worlds that I, as a boring, straight, Presbyterian girl, had always been fascinated by: Judaism and Lesbianism. Newman structures her book so that each of the stories represents one candle on the Hannakah menorah, revealing each woman's fears and issues as they come to terms with their sexuality, religious, and personal issues such as sexual abuse. There are reflections on the Holocaust and discrimination against Jews and homosexuals. While Newman helped me to reflect on my own sexuality, and to discover my own love for other women-without erotic details-you don't need to be bi, lesbian, or Jewish to take something away from this book.

It was indeed a fine match that paired Morris/Moishe/Moniek Goldner, a man with a compelling story to be told, with Larry Stillman, a man who can really tell a story. I have read many books and stories on the Holocaust and its survivors, many by the most celebrated authors in the world. This book compares favorably to the best of them by the best and most famous of these authors.

Everything about Morris is amazing and told with clarity and great style by Mr. Stillman. It is the kind of book you will stay up all night in order to finish. He has clearly done his research carefully to give a flow and continuity to what must have been somewhat disjointed and random series of incidents remembered by Mr. Goldner.

Buy this book for yourself and enjoy the pleasure of sharing it with your dearest friends.

Of all the fascinating personal stories coming out of WW II that I've read, A MATCH MADE IN HELL is unquestionably at the top of my list. It's a gripping, nail biting true account of a notorious Polish outlaw and a young Jewish man who is determined to survive long enough to avenge the horrible death of his family at the hands of the Nazi occupiers. Author Larry Stillman has done a magnificent job in researching and writing this book. The young Jewish man survived the war, came to the US and now lives in the Chicago area. A must read.

A Match Made In Hell: The Jewish Boy And The Polish Outlaw Who Defied The Nazis is the true story of sixteen year old Moniek Goldner and Polish outlaw Jan Kopec. The two were brought together by chance during the darkest days of World War II and formed a most unlikely partnership. Moniek began as an accomplice to robbery and black market trading, but soon learned enough to join a resistance group -- and that made it possible for him to commit acts of sabotage and directly fight against the Nazis. An important contribution a particular aspect of the struggle against the Nazi holocaust, A Match Made In Hell is a powerful, unusual, and vividly memorable story of desperation in murderous times.

This book not only appeals to people who enjoy an action packed story, but also to those interested in issues of morality, personal development, survival, religion, and WWII history. A great book discussion pick!

I bought this book for a class in First Nations Social Justice to give us a background on the American Indian culture and beliefs. This was one of my favorite books of the class. It was easy to read and understand as well as a great story. The author breaks down each concept such as the types of souls or beings in the "afterlife" and discusses their roles in it. From a western point of view, learning about the culture of the Great Lakes American Indians was a really interesting comparison that made me WANT to read a "text book."

Highly recommended!

I've had the pleasure of being taught by John Boatman at the University level... he is very knowledgeable and passionate about his subject. If you only read one book on this topic, this should be it.

The book is a quick read. It is written in plain language, but filled with forceful words. If all could read it- it would help make sense of alternative philosophies other than those of our European ancestors.

In this book, Boatman tells us the stories, myths and legends of Western Great Lakes Native Americans. It is an insightful book of stories rendered directly from tribal elders. Boatman explains the reverance of all life held dear by Native Americans. He also explains the inconsistancies normally beheld in books on the subject written by outsiders and Europeans. This book is thought provoking and enlightening. We can all learn from these teachings, weather we are Native American or not. This is a universal book, filled with timeless lessons