Nebraska Books

I wasn't looking for humor per se when I got this. I thought this might be a little glimpse into years gone by and some shrewd cowboy psychology or something - and to some extent, it is that as well. I found myself laughing a lot at some of the stories, despite Cooks attempt to handle some of the topics with "discretion". Great look at a different time and a different mentality. Can't think of a doctor I wouldn't recommend it to - they might learn something!

This new group of Zuni stories (many never published before) is a wonderful testament to the author's ability to translate not only Maya literature (i.e. Popol Vuh & Rabinal Achi) but a North American Indian language as well. There was another prize-winning book by the same name that this author published earlier but it had many fewer stories. This is a better much better book!

Daugherty may be best known for his novels and short stories (Amazon has them all), but this sequence of linked essays on his Red Dirt homeland and the diaspora of its hardscrabble settlers shows us the initial sparks of his fictional fire -- while also proving, in itself, a moving and significant investigation.

The Oklahoma City bombing in the mid-90s -- which this book presents, cannily, as an in-country foreshadowing of the terrible events of 9/11 -- brings Daugherty back to his old family touchstones around that city and then across the depressed Southwest. He interviews eyewitnesses (including family members), digs into pertinent first-hand materials old and new, and arrives at the horrified conclusion that the bomber, Timothy McVeigh, was himself closely akin to his victims, the frustrated and embittered Okies.

With a sensitivity to the criminal mind worthy of Truman Capote, Daugherty demonstrates how McVeigh was brought to his violence by the same forces as drove the hand-to-mouth migrants of John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath" or Woody Guthrie's "Pastures of Plenty." The sorry cases of the 1930s were as badly used as McVeigh himself, and many, to be sure, teetered close to such destructive acting out. And "Five Shades" uncovers this abiding pain, eating at generation after generation of Westerners, along the same route as the refugees took from Dust Bowl days to the 1990s: Daugherty drives to California, as much as he can on Route 66. Along the way he gets as close as he can to the lives of migrant laborers these days, and finds out how their suffering has taken a toll on him as well.

A book of hard journeys, honest music, and accumulating loss, "Five Shades of Shadow" adds up to a fine and artful darkness. Yet it achieves illumination, in the end, exposing the viciously deepening divide in our country and beyond between the haves and have-nots.

A noble piece of work on this legendary sentinel of the American west.
From the initial founding of Fort Laramie as a trading post in 1834 by fur trappers William Sublette and Robert Campbell, to the demise as a military outpost in 1890, the reader is chronologically taken along on these fifty-six years as to the importance of this western safe haven.
We read of the significance of Ft. Laramie to the traders and Indians, the transfer of it to the American Fur Company, then finally to the U. S. military in 1849. It was a beacon to the thousands of trail emigrants from the 1840's through the 1860's while stocking up on supplies, livestock and repairs to wagons.
It also importantly served as a military safeguard to the emigrants, thwarting Indian insurgencies from the 1850's through 1870's, contributed to the principal mail line and Pony Express to California, to freighters going further west, etc. etc.
The authors cover not only the history of the fort itself, but also the relationship of this stronghold to other geographical areas in its region.
Excellent read and very presentable.

I thought I had exhausted finding fresh, literary works on the subject of plains Indian/military history, but this book is a gem. It is sprinkled with wonderful, relevant tidbits to events whose humanity is gone in other efforts. I've read about 400 books on the subject, and this is in the top 5

Roger Welsch has lived in Nebraska with his wife and dogs for over thirty years, and here blends humor with rural insights in a blend of memoir and information guide to his years of experience living in the country. From a young farmer's survival process and mistakes to the author's changing ideas over motorized vehicles, FORTY ACRES AND A FOOL: HOW TO LIVE IN THE COUNTRY AND STILL KEEP YOUR SANTIY offers up a light-hearted memoir of country trails pairing humor with solid insights.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This book is extraordinary!! 51 major French female authors spanning from "The trobairitz" (c. 1170-1260) to Julia Kristeva (born 1941) are profiled with a highly informative biography, major themes (her subjects), and survey of criticism. Each ends with a bibliography including books that are translations of the author published in English and studies published on the author. These women are so fascinating you will probably agree with British legend George Eliot that "...in France alone if the writings of women were to be swept away, a serious gap would be made ni the national history." The women writers profiled here are Marie d'Agoult, SImone de Beauvoir, Isabelle de Charriere, Andree Chedid, Christine de Pizan, Colette, Sophie Cottin, Hellisenne de Crenne, Lucie Delarue-Mardrus, Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, Marie de Vichy-Chamrond, Marquise du Deffand; Pernette du Guillet, Claire de Duras, Judith Gautier, Stephanie-Felicite, Contesse de Genlis; Delphine Gay de Girardin, Marie Le Jars de Gournay, Francoise d'lessembourg d' Happoncourt de Graffigny, Benoite Groult, Luce Irigaray, Julia Kristeva, Juliane von Krudener, Louise Labe, Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne, Comtesse de Lafayette; Violette Leduc, Julie de Lespinasse, Francoise Mallet-Joris, Marguerite de Navarre, Marie de France, Anan de Noailles, Rachilde, Marie Jeanne Riccoboni, Christiane Rochefort, Marie Jeanne Philipon (Manon) Roland de la Platiere, Francoise Sagan, George Sand, Nathalie Sarraute, ALbertine Sarrazin, Madeleine de Scudery, Sophie Rostopchine, Comtesse de Segur; Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de Sevigne; Germaine Necker, Baronne de Stael; Claudine-Alexandrine Guerin de Tencin, Flora Tristan, The Trobairitz, Marie-Catherine Desjardins de Villedieu, Simone Weil, Monique Wittig, and Marguerite Yourcenar. Each of these women enjoys an informative essay written by a scholar, most women themselves. It's sad so many of these icons of French literature have so few of their works now published in English, indeed many have yet to enjoy an English translation and several have not English editions published in two centuries! Even a legend like George Sand has not nearly enough of her work available on the American market. Even if you've never read a word published by many of these authors, you will no doubt be inspired by their gifts, their humanity (many were actively inviolved in charity work and progessive causes), and I strongly suspect you will seek out the works of at least a few of the authors which is the best compliment you can give a literary historian.

This is a must read book. Once I started it I could not put it down. Mr. Hoich has overcome adversity that would paralyze most mortal beings. Not only did he survive but he thrived and flourished beyond most people's wildest dreams. Mr. Hoich built an empire starting out with one lawn mower but his success delves well beyond the financial empire that he created. Best of all, Mr. Hoich gives back to his community and so many organizations in a multitude of ways and now through sharing his message for all. He seems to be a man that truly practices what he preaches which is indeed a rare quality in a greed inspired world.

Mr. Hoich's common sense, easy to read message is applicable to the entire population, including but not limited to: teens, tycoons, corporations, housewives, those dealing with substance abuse recovery or loved ones dealing with the fall out of addictive behavior, college students and anyone wishing to be inspired with his profound message of hope.

I cannot recomend this book highly enough and I only wish Mr. Hoich could get his message of hope and inspiration out to the world through the mass media.

Kathleen Cairns does a formidable job of revealing these early women journalists in the context of their era -- and explores the womens' own ambivalence about their unique role in society. These women come alive on the page and easily earn a place in the forefront of ground-breaking, energetic and articulate women of the age.

Though almost 100 years have passed since it was first published, this book is still a classic, and still THE starting point for anyone interested in games of the North American Indians, whether you are a scholar or just interested in games. The encyclopedic treatment and many illustrations of museum artifacts only enhance its value.