California Books

I thought this book was extremely enjoyable. Women are often neglected in the historical narrative. So, it was nice to read a book that told the story of these women of the gold rush through their own words and through a colorful narrative by Jo Ann Levy. My only criticism is that minority women are rarely mentioned in this book, which gives an incomplete picture of the history of California women during the gold rush.

In her book, They Saw the Elephant: Women in the California Gold Rush, Jo Ann Levy weaves letters and journal entries into a picture of the lives of women during the California gold rush.
Coming by covered wagons or ships these women wrote about their journeys' across mountains, deserts, oceans, and jungles. The excitement of an adventure and the beauty of the land was not the whole story however; misery and death joined them on their journey. Inadequate provisions, brutal storms and sickness were common themes. And once these women reached the promise land of San Francisco, the streets were not paved in gold as they dreamed, but littered with trash.
The belief that there were only prostitutes or actresses was also not true; many women ran boarding houses or mined for gold. Some left after the gold ran out, but many women stayed in the cities that they helped create.
Though this book it is not organized in to one story, it is an insight into the women who came to California during the gold rush. You will be amazed by their bravery as they left their comfortable lives and uprooted their families for adventures unknown.

This book is great!
A person wouldn't even need to be interested in history of the gold rush days to thoroughly enjoy reading this book. I don't have alot of free time to read, so when I pick a book it has to be worth my while. This certainly was. And it's an easy book for reading a few pages at a time, like I do just before going to bed. I love how it organizes the accounts and groups the stories into chapters of a particular theme. Fascinating!

In They Saw The Elephant, Jo Ann Levy has combined women's journals and letters with newspaper articles of the gold rush era into an articulate, shining gem of historical writing. Her purpose was to dispel many of the common assumptions and general characterizations made in earlier histories about the women who participated in the California gold rush. A number of the early twentieth century histories of this monumental American event imply there were few women in California, and that a majority of those women were of questionable social standing. Levy's placement of her chapter on prostitution is wisely situated in the second half of her work. She admits there is little written record concerning the lives of these women, particularly those of Chilean and Chinese descent who came to the gold fields. The author does not fill in the blanks with supposition or fiction. By the time the reader gets to the chapter on prostitution, it is already clear that women were contributing far more to the Gold Rush than physical pleasure for males.

The Oregon Trail opened in 1847. Levy includes some of the women's stories from this trek even if their final destination was not the gold fields. This is a plus. The reader understands that women had started emigrating west for reasons other than gold and the journals and letters used to demonstrate life on the trail were vivid.

The variety of women discussed in this book was a cross section of society at the time. I laughed out loud while reading about how some of the highbrow, educated women reacted to the primitive society of San Francisco. These women adapted, and most made a good living as boarding house keepers and cooks.
Levy does an excellent job showing us the ingenuity of the women who went west. Living aboard abandoned ships in the bay, renting out rooms in, and using wood and goods from those ships are details about day-to-day life often lost in the telling of the human experience of the gold rush.

Perhaps the strongest statement Levy makes in her book is found in the Postscript. Women who went west during the gold rush continued their lives long after the three- year bonanza. Most didn't stay in San Francisco. Most didn't even stay in California. Their toil was but another blip on the radar screen of their lives. They didn't crawl back east to their families as broken women. They had seen the elephant, but had no desire to own the circus.

Several of the accounts made me chuckle and realize how little life has changed. One letter describes how quickly houses were being built in San Francisco. It goes on to describe the shoddy workmanship including gaps in the walls large enough to see through. I live in the fastest growing metropolitan area in the country. Houses go up over night here, literally. We joke about housing developments growing as quickly as mushrooms in the forest. The only reason the cracks in the walls don't allow light in now is chicken wire and stucco. Little has changed in the last 150 years.

Women civilized the wild California gold rush society. Some used the money they had made from the miners and started churches, schools, and hospitals. Others became heavily involved in various societies. In general, they went west with their husbands, to support their husbands in search of a better life, and they brought their civilized mindset with them.

This is an excellent book, appropriate for all audiences. It flows well, and contains a great deal of authentic information

As a writer of both fiction and non-fiction, I found tremendous value in "They Saw The Elephant." For the general reader of non-fiction, this book reads like a novel! The stories of these valiant women grab the reader and never let go. You feel that you are with them, as they face the unknown perils and triumphs of the Gold Rush in California of the mid-19th Century. The words of these wonderful women have the special ring of Truth to them. I cannot overstate my admiration for the author and her work in presenting this important book.

This book is a narrative. The author simply sat down and listened to US Navy MTB officers in 1942 and recorded their story of action in the Philippines in 1941 & 42. It is a page turner.

Two good points about this book. First it was first published during WWII (my copy is 1942). Many books about WWII were written post WWII and that means the books have 20/20 hindsight. Reading a book from the period perhaps gives a better perspective of how people saw the war while it was happening.

Second, one of the officers telling the story explains how the newspapers back home give a sort of glorified image of the war that was very different from the reality he experienced. If we better understand the reality, then we can better appreciate what our veterans sacrificed for us.

Not everyone understands the fact that, if you are in military service, you are expendable. Your commander can order you to sacrifice your life to achieve an objective. You may be ordered to hold off the enemy so your fellow soldiers can escape, or you may be ordered to dive your bomber into an impossible hail of gunfire, but you are expendable. Such was the case for the six 70-foot speedboats of the US Navy's Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three. They were part of the Navy's tiny Far Eastern Fleet in the Philippines when the Japanese attacked with overwhelming force in 1941. It was soon clear that the Philippines would be lost, and the remains of the fleet went to Australia, leaving MTB Squadron Three to help the doomed soldiers on Bataan hold off the Japanese Army for as long as possible. After losing boat after boat in suicidal attacks on Japanese cruisers and destroyers, the remaining boats carried General MacArthur, his wife, his son, and assorted generals and admirals on a perilous trip to the southern Philippines for escape by air to Australia. MTB Squadron Three lost its remaining boats in further attacks on the Japanese and prepared to fight as infantry against the oncoming juggernaut. But four of the officers were ordered to get out on the last planes to leave the Philippines. William L. White, in a magnificent piece of writing, lets the survivors tell their story. It is certainly one of the best stories ever written of World War Two.

This is not a book to read as history, in the sense of seeking facts and figures about an event in the past. "They Were Expendable" is ostensibly an account of the exploits of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3, which gained glory amidst the disaster that was America's defense of the Philippine Islands in the opening months of the war with Japan (December 1941 - May 1942). But this is wartime journalism, and it is replete with inaccuracies and exaggerations, not to mention a few passages that were subjected to military censorship. This must be expected of a book that was written only a few weeks after Allied resistance of the Philippines formally ended in humiliating surrender; William L. White had no way to corroborate or fact-check the stories told to him by the four youthful naval officers he interviewed for this book. But as an emotional record of the early, sometimes despairing days of the war against Japan, "They Were Expendable" is a work of truth and power. This is not so much a slam-bang story of naval warfare as it is an account of the emotional trauma of defeat suffered by a nation accustomed to victory.

White originally wrote the book for "The Reader's Digest," which published a condensed version in its September, 1942, issue, not quite four months after the fall of Corregidor. The full-length book was released several days later and became a huge bestseller (one reason so many used copies are available today). "They Were Expendable" was one of the first pieces of World War II "hardcover journalism" to give firsthand accounts of the U.S. debacle in the Philippines, and it promised no-holds-barred revelations about how and why the United States could have been so badly beaten. Some of what was "revealed" was myth -- tales of spies and sabotage, and exaggerations of Allied numerical inferiority to the Japanese. Nor could White, even if he had wanted to, have gotten away with criticizing Douglas MacArthur or any Washington bigwigs who were in part responsible for the Philippines disaster. Indeed, MacArthur was still the hero of the hour for most Americans, and his association with the motor torpedo boats of Squadron 3 -- they spirited General, family and entourage away from Corregidor after President Roosevelt ordered MacArthur to Australia in mid-March, 1942 -- helped hype the book immensely.

But what the book lacks in factual veracity, it makes up for in emotional sincerity. Although White actually wrote the "monologues" that make up the narrative, he based his words on those of four squadron officers who had been ordered to leave the Philippines, to relay their knowledge of torpedo-boat warfare to new PT crews back in the States. Their quiet professionalism comes through loud and clear. Lt. John D. Bulkeley, squadron commander and winner of the Medal of Honor for his leadership aboard the boats, is featured prominently because he had already received a great deal of publicity early in 1942, thanks to MacArthur's press agents on Corregidor

But the heart of the narrative (most of it, actually) is attributed to the squadron exec, Lt. Robert Kelly (later transformed in the movie version into John Wayne's overgrown adolescent, "Rusty Ryan," a portrayal that Kelly came to detest). Kelly not only relates his part in the squadron's combats against the Japanese and MacArthur's departure from the islands, but also tells of his relationship with an Army nurse, "Peggy," whom he met in a Corregidor hospital where he was being treated for a minor injury that turned major. White likely overstated the depth of this relationship - it was really more friendship than romance - but Kelly's grief over the loss of that friendship became a metaphor (okay, stick with me here) for America's loss of the Philippines, and perhaps the loss of an innocent vision of the United States as an invincible military power.

After the war (and after the release, in 1945, of the John Ford film based on the book -- a very personal expression of Ford's own views about the war and the Navy), U.S. intelligence officers and historians discovered that the achievements of Squadron 3 in Philippine waters had been somewhat exaggerated. Japanese ships that the torpedo boat crews claimed as "sunk" were, more often than not, undamaged. (Yes, U.S. torpedoes used early in the war were very unreliable.) As the Pacific war progressed, PT boats became extremely important as inshore gunboats (a role in which Squadron 3 excelled, too) but were employed only occasionally as torpedo platforms.

Despite the wartime inaccuracies, White's restrained writing captures the quiet pride as well as the sadness and frustration of his subjects, young men still grieving over losing their crews and their boats. (About half the squadron personnel, listed at the end of the book, became POWs, and several did not survive the harsh Japanese captivity.) I first read this book at age ten, and I have kept coming back to it for more than thirty years because it has an emotional impact unlike most wartime reportage I've read. Although he covered the war in a different way, "They Were Expendable" puts White on a level alongside Ernie Pyle, with whom he shared the ability to see beyond surface heroics to the melancholy that afflicts all human beings caught up in combat. (If you like "They Were Expendable," find a copy of White's other great book about the early days of defeat in the Pacific war, "Queens Die Proudly.")

This is a classic of World War Two journalism -- again, not for the facts, but for the truth. If you want a factual book on Squadron 3 at war, read the appropriate chapter in Robert J. Bulkley Jr.'s "At Close Quarters." For a book that plumbs the emotional experience of an American defeat, read "They Were Expendable."

If it weren't for the Naval Institute Press, this 1942 book wouldn't be available. It's not heavy reading; you could finish it in 2 days just reading it on the subway and before you go to bed, but it's a powerful reminder of the desparate state of affairs in the Pacific and in the U.S. in the days following the destruction of the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor. See the film of the same name. The director, John Ford, had the good sense to incorporate the dialogue wholesale into his really terrific 1945 movie.

early accounts of WWII in the Pacific. Interesting for what it says & how it says it. Written almost entirely in dialogue, as if it were a transcription, which it is not. Like Casey's "Torpedo Junction," attempts to tell the truth about how the war was going, despite wartime censorship. An easy read, with large type in the 1942 edition. Manifests the Navy's colonial-style racism prior to WWII & some officers' impatience with it. One of the best "first person" reports available.

Although it's been a number of years since I read it, The Thousand Mile Summer captured my imagination like very few other books. Colin Fletcher was that very rare hiker / backpacker who was not only technically skilled, but keenly observant AND could write interestingly about what he observed and experienced ... and he observed better than most!

The Thousand Mile Summer is about (for virtually of us) the outlandish initiative to walk the lengh of Califoria, from South to North, just for the experience. His descriptions about the desert, seemingly merely hot, dry and inert, but in reality completely alive with activity, especially at night, are vivid, exciting, and very memorable. I'll never think of the desert the same way again.

Fletcher seems to me somewhat like Bill Bryson at his best, but this one's distinctly better than any of Bryson's that I've read to date. Highly recommended for all who 'live' in the city but who are 'alive' when in nature ... especially for when you can't be there!

What I remember about this compelling narrative, read thirty years ago one hot Southern California summer, is a simple scene. Hiking towards Death Valley across the Mojave desert, Fletcher's hat blows off. You can imagine the terror he felt from this loss. I'll leave it to you to find out more. It's an example, one of many, of the intriguing vignettes scattered through this account, from a time when backpacking (the journey takes place in the early 1960s) lacked so much of the hi-tech GPS, lightweight fibers and metals, and the advantages that allow many today, even if they do not dare to follow so far in his footsteps, to take more of our life into the empty places. The same places where Fletcher sought to escape the full places where most of us live.

This book reminded me of John Muir, a century earlier, when it entered into the Sierras; Fletcher's northbound journey, of course, takes him from Mexican to Canadian borders. The sylvan settings, however, became for me more muted in memory as compared to the evocative, harsh, and unforgiving sandy stretches that captured more of my imagination in recalling the power of this engaging narrative. It might not have gained the amount of acclaim (compare the number of Amazon reviews) that worthy books that came later, like Edward Abbey's "Desert Solitaire" earned, but the late Fletcher preferred to stay away from the spotlight, one senses from this early account of the walks that later made him a pioneer among those today who seek solitude in deserts and mountains across America.

Fletcher may have prefigured a bit the countercultural movement. Perhaps he missed out on the big-name recognition, but he gained respect among those who also preferred retreat rather than spotlights. But if you read of his own wish to escape the routine and do what back then far fewer would have even known how to do, you see his prescience. Like Abbey and Muir and Thoreau, Fletcher reminds us how much of America waits beyond the sodium-strip mall and the big-box chain store and the red-tiled roofs of the subdivisions-- even as these continue into what once were quieter forests and chaparral where Fletcher once walked alone.

While living in the Seattle area during the 90's, I ended up reading Fletchers 1000 Mile Summer. Each Winter to avoid depression, I found myself re-reading this book. One question kept coming to my mind, "why in 1956 would anybody walk through California when they had cars back then?" Thinking and hoping that I may be able to contact Colin and find the answer, against all the naysayers and friends it was not possible. I attempted to contact Colin Fletcher. That in itself was a two year adventure.

Finally, one day he returned my call, and thus started a series of questions and answers that to this day I am still fascinated with.

The quick answer to my question "who would walk?" is really found by walking the length of California, not in reading his book. So in 1999, while everyone was packing for the end of the world, I was packing for "my" 1000 mile Summer walk through California. I now have the answer to my question.

I have read all of Fletchers books, most articles written about him and have spoken with him several times both in letters and in phone conversations. What a fascinating character!

Though he and I disagreed with life and our purposes in it, I certainly found a kindred spirit. I wish him the best wherever Death's travels take him.

Also, "The Man From The Cave," was in my opinion one of his best books and would recommend reading it as well.

Was a sad day for me when I read he had passed, walking "his 1000 mile walk" was life changing for me and hoping one day YOU will be writing a review about MY book when it is published.
Hersh

Colin Fletcher managed to escape civilization with a simple plan. He would walk the length of California, including the Mojave Desert. The Ranger in Death Valley worried a great deal about him, but Fletcher's knowledge and understanding of the environment kept him safe and alive. In fact he enjoyed the "walk". Colin Fletcher is an excellent writer and this book is, in my opinin, is one of his best. I think I have read them all. He notices and describes details in vivid language. The clouds, the wind, the color of the valley, the trout, even the beetles and spiders don't miss his eye or nose.
He also describes the details of his hardships and joys, equipment failures and successes. He makes you feel as if you are with him on the trip, and often you may wish you were there. Some very well composed pictures are included. The trip took exactly 6 months. In the end he says "Then I walked down through the trees toward the road that would take me back to San Francisco and everything the city now offered."

I recommend the book to anyone. It is a good story, great adventure, and written by an unusual person. (He would like being called "unusual", I think.)

Colin Fletcher had a simple solution to the tedium of civilized live. He simply decided to walk the length of California from south to north. Including the Mojave Desert and Death Valley. He doesn't miss anything. He recorded the signts, sounds, people and his successes, failures and fears in wonderful detail. He found the purpose of the walk as he went along. The desert revealed its secrets to this man who took the time to experience the place on foot. Fishing in a creek, or climbing a mountain, or sleeping under the stars, Fletcher makes you feel as if you were there with him. A great writer and explorer, Fletcher is a joy to read. I have read most if not all of his books and this is perhaps the best. Whether you wander on foot or in you mind, you will, I think, love this book.

For everyone who knows that "home" is not neccesarily where you were born, and "family" is not always who you're related to, TORRID ZONE is for you! Taking the reader around the world to a place unfamiliar to most Westerners (Kenya), it is still recognizeable to those who understand that home is where the heart is! Author Maggie Cottrell shares her vision with us and we are all the richer for it. Welcome home to the Torrid Zone!

I'm not usually much of a romantic fiction reader, but this book was great fun! Maggie Cottrell really has a way with a phrase, especially in the love scenes! Her descriptions of Kenya, the land and its people, made me feel like a part of the place, although I've never been anywhere like it. It was easy to lose myself in this book. I especially liked the parts of the plot describing the tribal life and rituals. Ms. Cottrell's own fascination with the place comes through on every page. This book is a great way to add a little bit of the exotic to your life! And isn't that one of the main reasons we like to read anyway?

Welcome to the new world of romance! And what a great place to be! Maggie Cottrell comes through with a happy ending, but before that she shatters the romance stereotypes with the unexpected, not the least of which are Kenya, tribal customs, savannah seductions, and half-naked bonfire dancing! But this story is also about friendship and sacrifice and characters you wish you knew personally. Both inspiring and funny, Torrid Zone introduces the reader to a wonderful new world, but with too short a visit. How about a sequel?

Torrid Zone is an electrifying love story with characters that leap from the pages, breathtaking descriptions of Africa's awesome beauty, superb dialogue and fascinating details - I'm looking forward to reading Maggie Cottrell's next book. 5-stars.

A vivid and colorful depiction of fiery love in the heart of Africa, The Torrid Zone is a real find in the romance genre. Maggie Cottrell has an excellent grasp of language, a skill that she uses to create vivid, colorful, and imaginative characters and African nature settings. Her inclusion of tribal customs, such as female circumcision and tribal leadership, was especially interesting as one does not typically see these subjects in a romance novel. Maggie has produced a work of deeper proportions. An excellent read for any aspiring traveler!

Trekking California is a beautifully presented book, with amazing photos, enticing descriptions and a selection of some of the finest treks in the Sierras and California. Everything that is said in the other reviews is true. The maps are beautifully rendered in shaded relief and great for planning, but they are inadequate for actual use. Bring a 7.5' topo of the area you are planning to explore. The on-trail segments are great; these trails are popular enough to be well-maintained and well-traveled. Please be cautious about the cross-country sections described in this book. For the most part, descriptions are very accurate, telling you how to circumnavigate cliff-outs and identifying landmarks. Yet, we found some descriptions completely underestimated. For example, in the Minarets area (Trek 10), the drop-down from Lake Catherine to the N. Fork of San Juaquim Riv. is very well described, and adequately labeled as Class 2. However, the hike back up through Ritter Pass was briefly mentioned, with no rating level. We found it to be Class 2 talus that was extremely loose and pretty steep; this can be verfied from TRs around the internet. It's true that other books around provide even less information (i.e. Secor, Moynier), but at least Secor rates it adequately as Class 2. But Richins presents a book that appears approachable to beginners, yet can potentially get you into trouble. I would suggest obtaining more beta for the cross-country sections through other sources from people who have done the trip you are planning via Richins.

Regardless, this is an amazing book; filling a niche of selecting some of the best long treks in California. The side-trips, variations to add or subtract mileage, and mountaineering options make this book invaluable to the experienced weekend warrior.

Great book with useful information for those wanting a little more out of their trips in backcountry of CA. Most of the book concentrates on The Sierras, which for me is a good thing. This book gives all the usefull information needed for making you trips a success. The book covers all the basics, but also touches upon going light, and proper nutrition which most guide books don't touch upon. Alot of the treks in this book has cross-country variations as well as side trips that will make your trips more interesting than the average trail type trek. The photos in this book are outstanding, and the easy nature that Paul writes makes the book very enjoyable to read. I will be using this book on many backpacking, oooppsss I mean trekking journeys this summer and many more to come. Buy it!

THE SPECTACULAR COLOR PHOTOS, THE CLEAR NARRATIVE AND THE WELL DRAWN MAPS ENTICE ME INTO THE HIGH SIERRA. THIS TREKKING GUIDE BY PAUL RICHINS HAS PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR VARIED ROUTES INTO THE SPLENDID MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA. I LOOK FORWARD TO FOLLOWING SOME OF HIS SUGGESTIONS.

For a long time I thought Paul Richins' Mt. Whitney trail guide was the best contemporary Sierra guide book I had ever used, but along comes the deceptively titled "Trekking California" (also by Paul Richins) that establishes a new high water mark.

The title notwithstanding, this 285 page book covers 15 high sierra hikes of 7 days or less and 5 other trips in the Trinity Alps and along the northern coast. The routes cover both established trails (Class 1) and cross country treks (Class 2/3) and many incorporate a combination of the two. The book is organized with the standard "what to expect", "what to take", "what to do, if" type of information that either provides new and insightful tips or just takes up book pages depending on one's experience level; some might consider it superfulous.

What isn't superfulous, however are the beutifully rendered maps incorporated throughout the book, really some of the best for trail use (and I mean established trails, not cross country routes) I've seen. Coupled with the outstanding color photography this guide really surpasses the more comprehensive Sierra North/South series which had been the benchmark for years. Most of the trips include interesting side treks that can be mixed and matched to extend the journeys to 10 days or more without making them feel like a walk-in camping trip. I'm familiar with many of the southern sierra trips and have taken them in similar form. To my knowledge the information is accurate, though one must remember that a Class 1 trail route doesn't mean "easy walk"....some of these trips include significant elevation gain (and loss) within single days, so while the trail may be maintained and clear there will still be plenty of huffing and puffing involved; and most are at higher elevation trail heads to begin with. All would be advised to camp at least the first night at the trail head to aclimate to the altitude. While the trail maps included in the book are clear one shouldn't fail to take (and know how to use) appropriate USGS topo maps of the relevant quadrants.

The guide covers some of the most spectacular wilderness country still with us and the book is a wonderful intro to many of the most rewarding trips. This is one of those books that I would recommend getting two copies of....one to keep at home and read for planning purposes and another to "tear apart" and carry the relevant maps and information pages in your map case (or plastic freezer bag). Really, it's that good.

Most of the treks are in the High Sierra, a place I am well familiar with. The book is a great list for ideas, saving experienced people the effort of poring over maps to develop tentative plans and make decisions. For novices, the book includes all the standard information and advice: on gear, food, weather, going light, mountain maladies and treatment, lightning and bears.

And the pictures! More than just snapshots of the country one would see, they provide a stimulus and motivation to get out there right now. I have traveled on parts or all of 12 of the 20 treks; now I am anxious to do more of them.

This book goes on my bookshelf, next to Moynier & Fiddler, Secor, and Croft.

I found this book to be very user friendly. I am the ED of an arts organization looking for help with branding and while I am constantly marketing our product, I am not schooled in marketing. I followed the guidelines and framework set out in United We Brand to lead a successful retreat with our Board. The concepts are clearly laid out with excellent examples. Highly recommended.

This book is definitely a useful tool for a business owner. It's got all of the information you'll need to set the direction and focus of your company. I, however, do not own a company. This book has been highly recommended by people, and rightfully so, but it's not really a book that everyone interested in marketing/branding/advertising can really sink their teeth into. I will fully agree that this is a fantastic tool for those who need it, but it's not the casual business book I was expecting just to further my knowledge of the subject. Not "beach reading" by any means. In short, it's a great book, but it's written for a very specific audience.

Defining the brand is often a company's hardest task in marketing anything from computers to social services. Mike Moser presents an easy-to-read, easy-to-follow guide to developing and defining a powerful brand in today's marketplace. This book is essential for any businessperson who is either trying to understand the complexity/process of branding or attempting to assist in developing a company or individual brand.

Smart, relevant and witty.
And written for just about everyone at every level
of the communications business. Whether you're a Jr.
Copywriter, or a C.E.O. Moser gets to the heart
(and soul) of turning any business into a household word.
Finally, someone has written about the most difficult
task in advertising and made it incredibly clear, and
even more startling, incredibly easy.
The first textbook on branding that doesn't read
like a textbook.
And to think it was written by an Art Director.
Amen.

Several hundred books on marketing and branding have been published since Ted Levitt's seminal article ""Marketing Myopia" appeared in the Harvard Business Review (September 1, 1975). He later wrote The Marketing Imagination (1986) which remains "must reading" for anyone directly or indirectly involved with marketing. There are several excellent recently published books on brand management and this is certainly one of the best. As its subtitle correctly indicates, Moser explains "how to create a cohesive brand that's seen, heard, and remembered." In the proverbial nutshell, that has become one of brand managers' primary objectives: To create a multi-sensory experience for the consumer which increases, enhances, and sustains the appeal of the given brand. Moser draws upon more than 25 years of experience in the agency world, having worked closely with a number of major corporations (e.g. Kia Motors, Cisco Systems, and Dell) to formulate a "brand road map" based on a template which, until now, has been inaccessible to most organizations. What he offers in this book is a step-by-step process by which to create cohesive brand strategies.

As Moser explains with meticulous care, citing examples along the way, there are four components of a brand: Core values (the foundation of any organization), brand message (the overall key message which must be communicated effectively), brand personality (the overall tone and attitude with which to deliver the brand message), and finally, brand icons (executional tools which help to deliver the brand message...all of the various elements that make all of an organization's marketing materials uniquely its own). These four components provide the foundation of a "brand road map" which, like all other roadways, requires conscientious maintenance to ensure expeditious delivery of the brand message to its destination.

Moser leaves no doubt whatsoever that this process is very difficult, requires an abundance of time and energy, and is subject to all manner of perils such as internal resistance which Jim O'Toole characterizes as "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom." Why bother? "Capturing the essence of your brand [whatever or whoever it may be] and putting it into a form that's clear and concise will help ensure that your brand has the tools necessary to be seen heard, and remembered in the marketplace for years to come." Presumably Moser agrees with this follow-up thought which I now share: Even if Levitt and Moser personally worked closely with you and your associates on the formulation of a "road map" for your organization, it will be essentially worthless unless and until your brand (be it a product or service or both) is of the highest possible quality.

Readers of this brilliant book will be pleased and relieved that Moser's approach is eminently practical. His text is mercifully free of jargon. He seems determined to help any and all who would otherwise not have access to a step-by-step process which has been used for years by large corporations, branding experts, and brand consultancies as well as by multinational corporate identity firms and advertising agencies. Understanding this process will help those who read his book to achieve some of the same brand insights, brand focus, and brand consistency now delivered by various proprietary formulas.

This book was most enjoyable--An historical and literary voyage through history until it capsizes--here, at our feet and on our shores on the California-Mendocino Coast.

WOW what fun, work and incredible research the author had to dive through. THIS IS GREAT READING!

The Voyage of the Frolic is a readers dream. Bostonian History, Maritime life, Chinese trade, the Coast of California and our indigenous Indians all rolled into one well written and enjoyable read. Thank you Professor Layton for unraveling the past and placing it in a wonderful china bowl for all of us to peruse and get to know.

Layton is a master at pulling you in and teaching you a thing or two. I'd love to learn more about the Chinese connection.

A model of the Frolic is on display at the Cabrillo Lighthouse, Mendocino, CA. Before you visit the area, read this book. The book covers the entire history of the Frolic, those who built it, the course it took for its short 6 year life -- before sinking off Pt. Cabrillo. Its history includes its involvement with the Opium War, American incursions in China and exciting trade run with opium, Chinese ceramics and silks. A must read if you're interested in international history and the ships that created commerce and connection with the rest of the world.

Oddly enough, our book group chose Voyage of the Frolic and what great fun and an education it has been. I've always dreamed of going on an archeological expedition and here, without the dirt, pan, screens and brushes, I've discovered another layer of the past. What an eclectic history California has.

Pam Ward has weaved a tale about a girl name Trudy that is set on getting revenge on her ex boyfriend Lil Steve. She comes up with a plan to get her out the hood and at the same time pay him back for giving her a bad name.

I couldn't put this book down once I started it! This author is so detailed that you feel as though you are one of the characters!

I read alot of books, but this one so far is my FAVORITE! I took this book everywhere with me and every chance I got I read it, but at the same time I tried not to read too much because I didn't want it to end. Trust me, this book is that good!!!

There are alot of characters in this story, but you'll have no problem keeping up with them. I can't wait to read her second book thats due out this month, Bad Girls Burn Slow.

I had a girlfriend suggets this book to me and I was surprised to find so many well written male characters inside. The male dialogue in " Want Some Get Some" really discribes how men think. Who is this woman Pam Ward and how did she get so much information on us. I can't wait to see what she will do next.

I like how you're inside the words immediately. The characters excite and scare. Little Steve is righteous in his beliefs. Trudy struggles in her journey of revenge and gets some on the way. The club where everyone eventually winds up is phantasmagoria of life. The pace is hectic and heartfelt. I enjoyed it in the fast lane on the 101.

I always glance inside a book to read a few paragraphs before making a purchase - just to get a feel of it. Well, let me tell you, I was hooked on this one before I even walked out of the store! In a story with so many characters, it could be easy to lose track of them - but not here. The author paints each detail with such expertise that you feel like you're in the story - watching from the sidelines and sweating with them in the L.A. heat.

This story is raw and it's street. It's also refreshing that Trudy wasn't living "ghetto fabulous" which has become too common a lifestyle in today's urban fiction. She wasn't regarded as street royalty, driving around in the latest cars, and dripping in diamonds (so bored with those stories). She's a girl who is trying to make her way out the best way that she knows how; getting even with a hustler who did her wrong is just gravy!

I loved this gritty tale and can't wait to hear more from this author!

Street tale novelists better move over and make room for this gritty and edgy debut novel by Pam Ward! Want Some, Get Some is an urban tale that centers around Trudy aka Trudy with the Booty, a twenty year-old woman who knows that the streets of South Central LA are not all that life has to offer and wants out of living her daily nightmare.

Life has truly dealt Trudy a funky deck of cards. Her slick and shady ex-boyfriend, Lil Steve, hustled her into a relationship and making a sex tape only to turn around and sell it around the neighborhood, leaving her to face constant ridicule and unwanted sexual advances. Trudy's mother, Joan, turns her back on her only child and kicks her out of the house, leaving her to face life on the streets, living in seedy apartments and with even more seedier people. Joan tries to use the excuse of the tape as the reason for kicking Trudy out, but it is really her own personal motives that she puts first instead of her daughter. Trudy finds the only thing that keeps her sane is singing on stage at Dee's Parlor, a rundown juke joint that serves as a true black hole for all the shady players, hustlers, ballers, and shot callers.

Trudy knows that revenge is truly best served cold so she drums up a bank heist plan to not only get out of her nightmare but get back at Lil Steve. Working at Dee's Parlor surrounded by some of the best of the best in the underworld gives her a perfect opportunity to put this plan into action. The only thing Trudy did not think about was that everyone has something that they want and will do whatever it takes to get it.

Pam Ward writing is very blunt and not for the faint of heart. There are plenty of characters in this novel that might confuse you at first but as the story progresses all of them intertwine to create one firecracker of a novel. Not only is there plenty of action and suspense, but there is also a hint of romance. Readers might need to buckle their seat belts and hold onto their seats, because this novel will take you on an intense ride that you will surely not forget!


Reviewed by Angelique
APOOO BookClub

In War Orphan in San Francisco, Phyllis Helene Mattson tells the engrossing story of her childhood spent in San Francisco where her mother managed to send her in 1940, in the final window of opportunity for escaping the Nazi occupation of Vienna. Initially Mattson stays with an aunt and then in foster homes and orphanages. Her mother, never able to secure the necessary papers that would allow her out of Austria, worked as forced labor. Mattson's father was thrown out of Vienna late in 1939 by the Germans and then spent the war in an Australian internment camp when England, his temporary home, declared war on Germany and he became a prisoner of war.

Mattson found herself as the primary link for the scattered family from the time she was ten until her father came to the US when she was seventeen. She used the treasure trove of letters, long stored in a box in the garage, to help tell her story.

As a woman's memoir writing coach, I read memoirs at multiple levels. I examine each story for its strength in writing, in engaging the reader and in providing ideas to other women who are writing their memoirs. Mattson's book gets stars on all of these dimensions. In addition to being well written and engrossing (I tried to figure out how I would handle a similar situation and could not envision that I would be as strong as she was), I especially liked the way she used her source documents.

If you are working on your memoir consider: Do you have documents or records that may shed light on your story? Family records? Letters? Legal documents? Medical records? How might you use them? As background information? Selected brief quotes? Organizing themes for chapters? Reproduced in full? The Internet offers many opportunities to research elements of your story even when you don't have copies of documents and records.

Mattson writes, "As I told my story, I told it as through it happened to another child, factually without emotion, a way to distance myself from the tragedy that I had experienced..." Again, as a memoir writing coach, I value how this book raises the question: How close or how distant do you need to be from your story in order to tell it? Many women with difficult, even tragic stories, need to find enough distance from the story to write it, yet show enough closeness that the reader shares in her experience. Mattson has gracefully achieved both of these goals.

I loved reading Phyllis's story; it provoked every emotion in me.

She tells her story of separation from her family and living in a strange country with strange people in a very insightful manner with perceptions very mature for a young girl. Throughout her ordeal she grows through lifes' stages well adjusted and content despite experiencing dire circumstances. The love that stretched across the miles held her steady to refute bitter scars and rebellion.

The thoughtful retelling of her youth made me laugh as I had recalled similar attitudes growing up but in much different circumstances.
Her spunk as a teen in San Francisco is high spirited and joyful. The written teasing with her father, so many miles away, .... is truely endearing and inspiring. Her deep love and longing for family back in Europe emanates from the pages. And the answers to her life long questions made me sob.

Phyllis writes her wonderful story of courage and inspiration. Young and adult readers will enjoy her heartfelt story.

Imagine yourself in an old attic. A dusty trunk beckons from the corner and you crawl over to it, aware that the attic and the trunk don't belong to you. But your curiosity overpowers your propriety and you open it to discover it brimming with intimate letters and photographs of a family from a time and place foreign to your own. Such is the wealth of experience awaiting you in Phyllis Mattson's memoir of her childhood surviving the Nazi holocaust.
She sets the scene - Vienna just before Nazi takeover - and introduces us to her humble, but proud Jewish family. As a child she witnesses the march of Nazis into Vienna and hears the "Christkiller" chants. A dark cloud of fear settles over her family and friends as parents begin desperate efforts to get their children out of Austria on a Kindertransport - to the safety of Britain or the US. Through letters and photographs, we wake with Phyllis to the terrors of Kristallnacht, as her family is dragged from their apartment by Hitler's SS. When her father is taken to prison the real horror starts. Her mother frantically pleads with relatives in San Francisco to take Phyllis in and, when they agree, mother and daughter part at the train station, never to see each other again. Phyllis arrives in New York and struggles to learn a new name, a new language, a new country, leaving behind all her traditions. Five days alone on a train, unable to communicate to anyone, finally brings her to San Francisco.
Only letters bind this extended family across oceans and time and Phyllis makes you eager to turn the page, read the next words from father, mother, friends and relatives, and her own letters. In a quiet child's voice you hear the resilience of the human spirit, to not just survive, but to thrive in a new home of challenges.
With a teacher's objectivity, Phyllis recalls world-shattering political events through her own ten year-old eyes. She frequently admits her adult memories either clash with her own written words as a child, or don't exist at all. Her own awareness that she has psychologically buried memories makes the child's letters even more poignant.
I strongly recommend this book to any student of WWII, but I believe all freedom-loving people would be touched by this story of survival and the bond of family.

I have known Phyllis for about a year, have heard her speak to middle and high school students several times, and thought I knew what would be in the book.

I was wrong.

This is a story of a young girl growing up in the most unstable of times. It is written with truth and honesty, and makes Phyllis a three-dimensional person to the reader. I highly recommend it!

You wouldn't expect a war story to leave you smiling, but that is what Phyllis Mattson's "War Orphan in San Francisco" does. It is a surprisingly upbeat story of 10-year-old "stateless" Felicitas Finkel sent to safety in the U.S. by her parents in Austria in WWII. It is drawn from letters and a few photos kept for years in a box in the garage, a box like many of us probably have in a corner somewhere, with stories too sad or scary to bring out very often--but when we do, we find stories of adventure, bravery, growth, dreams, and all the joys of life mixed in with the sad, scary parts.

As an English teacher, I am interested in letters. They record events and feelings and reflect our growth. They catalog our special story and place us in the world. They are evidence that we lived.

As I sit at my computer writing email that is delivered instantly, I appreciate the time and effort people spent writing letters to maintain ties. They wrote during war when paper and pencil were difficult to get, going from edge to edge on pages of thin paper, knowing that the messages might take weeks or months to arrive, and might arrive with pieces cut out, or not arrive at all. They wrote because the connections were important to them. And they are important today because they record the world as it was, with the dailiness and details of how people survived, and suggest where we might go next.

Felicitas / Phyllis's mother told her not to cry, to be brave, and to "write to me and Papa weekly, giving all the details." Phyllis's letter writing started in 1940, when she arrived in San Francisco, and continued through 1946, when her father was finally able to join her in San Francisco. Her mother's letters stopped in 1942, and the reader feels 12-year-old Phyllis avoiding the obvious conclusion, stepping around the larger-world facts, and continuing to write to her Papa, "giving all the details," while avoiding the big picture.

Reflections by the adult Phyllis are wonderfully insightful. The adult wonders why she and her father never mentioned the lack of letters from her mother. Even years later, things hinted in the letters remained unresolved. Sometimes the letters give the bare bones of what was happening, and details are filled in by Phyllis today; sometimes, there is nothing beyond the letter. In her first year, Phyllis went from speaking no English to speaking, reading, and writing English and her mother, in a letter, implored her to not forget her German. Today, Phyllis has published articles and a technical book in English yet had to get a German translator for her treasured letters written in German.

The family always signed their letters with endearments--love, hugs, lots of kisses, millions and millions of hugs; yet other everyday feelings are side-by-side in the letters, as when her father wrote:
"... Much as I like reading your letters, however there is always something in it that I do not like. For instance in today's letter the language used by you ... is shocking... All my love and heaps of kisses from your Daddy."

Interaction at a distance is not perfect but as the saying goes, it beats the alternative. Letters were better than nothing at all. They buoyed the young girl alone in San Francisco as she moved in and out of foster homes. As the adult Phyllis observes, her early success in moving on alone led her eventually to new experiences all over the world. "War Orphan in San Francisco" is a reflection of and tribute to the human spirit finding and upholding values in life, building bridges in hard times, through one of mankind's oldest ways of communication. It will make you want to sit right down and write a letter.

This book is an in-depth and thoroughly detailed discussion of the various features of Painter X. But more than that, it is also an excellent step-by-step how-to for using these features to create a very satisfying painting from a photograph - with almost limitless potential variability. While artistic effects are certainly involved, this is not a book for the graphic artist who has the ability to create a painting starting from scratch on a blank canvas. For that one might consider Painter X Creativity: Digital Artist's Handbook by Jeremy Sutton, or the Painter X Wow! Book by Cher Threinen-Pendarvis.

The only flaw is one found in the otherwise useful accompanying CD. While most tutorials were easily viewed, some were obscured by a red screen, with an error message stating that the problem was due to an error using Macromedia Projector.

But don't let this one flaw deter anyone interested in this book. The book is excellent.

The author also writes for the San Diego U&T; many of these trips are culled from his archives.
He knows the area, and he has an adventurous spirit. He maps out routes that are out-of-the-way, ones that you wouldn't think of yourself, like out to a desert town, but also more urban trips. The attention to detail is key; miles, times, markers, etc.

A great guide if your new to the area, or, if you've lived here for awhile and want to experience a part of San Diego you've missed.

I had the chance to see and hear this author at a local community college. In addition to his appearances on a local television station, he has written for the Travel section of the San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE. No other county in the United States offers beach, mountains and desert all within its boundaries. And such treasures as a historic gold-mining town turned picturesque destination, an almost-unspoiled desert, a world-famous observatory, an authentic Mexican village. the first California mission are also contained here. One can almost spend a week or more on a vacation without traveling far from San Diego and still feel that he has been to unique places.

This book is great! We have done one drive so far and it left from our front door. We did everything he instructed and had a GREAT time! We went to a restaurant he suggested and it was awesome. My advice is to call ahead if you plan to go to a restaurant he has suggested because some close early. If you are a local and want a great book to liven up your weekends, this is it. You will explore San Diego and have a blast while doing so. All in your backyard!!

My husband and just got home from one of the trips in the book, "Russians, Wineries and the Real Baja," which goes from Ensenada, to Tecate, Mexico. We had a wonderful time. It is so beautiful and we saw a side of Mexico we never expected. I highly recommend this book.