Nevada Books

This book does a great job of describing the routes up desert summits throughout southern California and southern Nevada. Basic maps, photographs, and detailed descriptions of routes make it a highly informative book. I can personally attest to the accuracy of the directions for about forty of the hikes. Additionally, mining and natural history add to the depth of the presentation. The only summits left out of this book that I've climbed myself are those within the boundaries of military reservations (and so it's fair to say that this book is as complete as is legally possible). Those who already own the first edition of this book do not need to get the updated edition since very few substantial changes were made between the two editions.

Although born and raised in Denver, one genre I have read very little is the "western" novel -- cowboys, rodeos, horse thieves, and the like. Because of this unfamiliarity, I do not know with what to compare Robert Laxalt's novella Dust Devils. In broad outline, the plot seems pat, almost cliche: teenaged boy wins Arab horse for bronco-riding in rodeo; horse thieves steal animal; boy and best friend -- an Indian -- take off after thieves and regain horse; boy shot by thieves and nursed back to health by shaman and Indian girl whom boy loves; boy and girl decide to marry in traditional Indian rite; boy's father -- a life-long Indian-hater -- renounces life-long prejudice and embraces new daughter-in-law and her tribe. And all of this in just 102 pages! What redeems this book is Laxalt's unerring gift of description and character. His world -- both moral and physical -- rings true. Having never read Louis L'Amour or any of the popular western novelists, I do not know how Laxalt's book compares. I do recommend it. (I also commend our local librarian for adding this book -- published by the University of Nevada Press -- to her collection. One of the particular gifts of local libraries and thoughtful librarians is the placement of obscure or unfamiliar books on the shelves which the community can sample for "free").

This is the US Forest Service's gospel for plant identification in the eastern Sierra-Nevada. That means that it dove-tails with Forest Service datasets on plant distribution, which are often the only ones available.

The only reason I dock this manual a star is that it--like virtually all government documents & missives--is organized & written in a convoluted, tortuous style that only other bureaucrats seem to be able to tolerate without reaction.

Don't throw out your Jepson, but this is a great addition to the professional or serious botanist's regional library.

Railroad buffs, and other sorts--fire buffs, gun and edge weapons collectors and renactors are an an obsessive lot of people.
Probably most obsessive are members od the living history and reenactment groups commemorating past times and events. Of all these probably the most intense are those the War Between the States. In addition to spending hundreds of dollars on reproductions of period clothing and equipment of the soldiers, they include their whole families with wives and children dressing in period clothing and living in the conditions of the period also. Yiu have to be ossessive to run around on a hot July day wearing period scratchy wool clothes. Even their underwear is made in the old fashion!
World War Two buffs also include a whole subset who collect and resdore old soft-skinned and armored vwhicles, gathering several times a year at rallies.
Fire buffs mostly seem to be content with atrifacts and books. Those who run antique fire engines usually are members of established volunteer companies who paticipates in rallies known as msuters and compete in fire fighter skills.
Most buffs (those who are prodwssional hiatorians and curators as well as the otherwise employed) think oten on their subjects in the hours they are not eatng, sleeping dong ohter life activites or making a living.
You might well ask, how does a buff differ from a fan. Iit is a continuum. Most fans are content to go rha rah when thier temams win but think of other things mostly. Those who paint themselves up and go half-naked in cold weather, are way beyond buffery.
Buffery mesns thinking constatly of a favorite subject, devoting most of their spare time to the neglect of household chores, and lots of money on trips, activites, and memoribilia.
Most collect bookds on their favorite subjects and willingly spend beaucoup bucks. You have to f0cus or specializw on a place, an activity, or a particular railroad.
The publishers who serve these niche markets mostly strive to turn out definitive accuaate and complete works. But they are oftne private individuals who can't aafford large press runs which end up in remainder. Railroad books, especially are expensive itmes to produce, photograde coated paper, quarto size ans lansxape format are deriguer, while hard bindings are aleays desired.
When I forst bemame railroad books some forty yeara go, compared to the avwrage hardback which then sold for tow or three dollars, they were over ten dollars then and those were printed on non glossy paper. Since buffs are obessive, they buy everything on their favorie subject. But since they soon go out of print, in constrast to the general market, there is no drop on price, instead it keeps going up. The book here is one good example.
It has to be useful and well made or it would be so high in the market. High demand and short supply, a basic rule of economics.
I ddon't have this one, though I am a buff in many respects, my railroad buffery is down in third or fourth priority. The Santa FE is my focus and the B&O cines a dustant secnd,
One must regret the demise of Bonanza Books which forty some years ago would reprint many small runs and hobby books. Only Dover seems to still be in the game, and they stick mostly to public domain titles.

This book was very helpful in finding a hotel for 4 nights in Las Vegas. I am a graduating senior from college this May and my boyfriend and I were looking for a vacation spot that I could afford my half of the trip using my graduation money. The Family Fun Guide to Las Vegas, which I happened to see pop up as a banner ad while doing internet research on Los Vegas, was very helpful in finding a hotel for $40 a night in such short notice!

Thank you,

Contributors
Preface By William R. Eadington
Acknowledgements By Judy A. Cornelius
Sect. 1. Studies on the Mathematical Methodology of Gambling Games in Casinos
Analysis of a Gambling System By S. N. Ethier
Playing in Real Games By Thomas C. Roginski, Carlson Chambliss
Casino Card Shuffles: How Random are They? By Robert Hannum
Cardroom Theory-A Two Way Street By Donna Harris, Mason S. Malmuth

Sect. 2. Blackjack Papers
A Study of Index Rounding in Card-Counting By Ken Fuchs, Olaf Vancura
A Computer Teaches Itself to Play Blackjack By Olaf Vancura
Blackjack Subsets: Software for the Study of Blackjack, and an Application to Resplitting on Six Deck Blackjack By William G. Hawkins
Does Basic Strategy Have the Same Expectation for Each Round? By Edward O. Thorp

Sect. 3. Variations on Blackjack
A New Sidebet for Blackjack: Hedging Against Stiffs By Linda M. Woodland, Bill M. Woodland
The Quality of Blackjack Play in Australian Casinos By Michael B. Walker, Sylvana Sturevska, Duncan Turpie

Sect. 4. Kelly
The Kelly Criterion in Blackjack, Sports Betting, and the Stock Market By Edward O. Thorp
Can You Do Better than Kelly in the Short Run? By Sid Browne
Limitations on Kelly or the Ubiquitous "n "approaches" "infinity"" By John E. Leib

Sect. 5. New Games and Wagers
Blackjack: Betting the Klondike's "Free Ride" By Peter Griffin, Edward O. Thorp
An Analysis of Caribbean Stud Poker By Peter Griffin, John M. Gwynn, Jr.
Double Hand Marquez-A Derivative of Blackjack and Pai Gow By John M. Gwynn, Jr.
A Really Hard Hardway Bet By Donald E. Catlin
A Detailed Study of Pai Gow By John M. Gwynn, Jr.
Using Overall Expected Return per Dollar Risked to Determine Strategy Decisions in Gambling Games By Donald E. Catlin

Sect. 6. Mathematical Analysis of Other Casino Games
An Accurate Analysis of Video Poker By Edward Gordon
A Short Note on the Expected Duration of the Australian Game "Two-Up" By Peter Griffin
A Winning Strategy for Roulette By Jerome H. Klotz
A Statistical Characterization and Comparison of Selected Craps Money Management and Bet Selection Systems By Ken Elliott III

Emma Sepulveda emigrated to the United States from Chile in 1974, a young college student who had supported President Salvadore Allende and thus was in some degree of peril following the coup that left Allende dead. She learned English, became a U.S. citizen, eventually earned a Ph.D. in Spanish language and literature, won prizes in photography, poetry and for literary criticism, and became extremely involved in community activism to improve the lot of Latinos in her adopted city of Reno, Nevada. She also traveled back to Chile to help Las Arpilleristas, the mothers and wives of those who "disappeared" under the Gen. Pinochet reign of terror and who were trying to locate the whereabouts (or remains) of their loved ones. These women made tapestries to both publicize and raise money for their cause. Sepulveda helped make a documentary about these women, and it won a Peabody Award.

Twenty years after she arrived in the United States, Sepulveda ran for the state senate from her local district. In a grass-roots, pavement-pounding, door-knocking campaign, she got first-hand glimpses into not only the lives of recent immigrants but others among our society's disenfranchised: children and senior citizens in poverty, single mothers and divorcees working low-paid jobs. Her encounters with disaffected gun nuts and others are a bath of cold water, although a measure of humor is included. Sepulveda visited the halls of power not only in Nevada but in Washington, D.C., to raise money for her campaign against a well-heeled, white Republican male, Nevada political insider. The reader may end up feeling as if he or she has run a political campaign.

Sepulveda's blow-by-blow account of her campaign - dirty campaign tactics and all (including phoned death threats) - is a captivating chronicle of present American society and our democratic election process. It also spins a compelling tale of an immigrant's journey (early chapters describe life in Argentina and Chile and the Allende saga), and paints a portrait of the slowly emerging clout of Latinos in our country.

Really like this guide. Made use of it when an out-of state relative came for a visit. Found a site close to home and had a wonderful afternoon. Directions are clear and accurate. A must for all rockhounders.

Dear Dave, Loved the book! My main comment is "I know you have more to tell". Give me something. There's only a finite amount of time to fish, live, and then die - not in that order. I hope you can write something with a little more soul. Speak to the flyfisherman with more than "this is where to go, and how to do it". I've gotten to the point in fishing - as I'm sure you have - where the circumstances, and feeling of the environment mean as much to the fish story as the end resulting "big one caught". Go for it! Tell me about the iced guides, the hellish 4wd road to get in, the unusual presentation. In short tell me a story. This book was a great start, but I - because I can only speak for myself - would like to feel what it's like. Due to the perameters of a book of this type I didn't expect more than what was offered, but encourage you to go the next step. Die-hards don't know any better. Thank you.

People familiar with Laxalt's work know that he mostly writes about the Basques, which is his own heritage. This book is a moist, sincere, heart-warming ramble around the Basque countryside, based on Laxalt's stay in Basque country in the early seventies. It is not a novel; it is rather a series of vignettes of traditional Basque life, with an eye toward revealing something of the Basque character. Sometimes Laxalt himself is a character in the action, such as at the slaughter of a pig or when some French bikers create a stir in a Basque tavern; more often he is an anonymous observer, such as in the singing contest or the meeting of the three poets. Some of the chapters are less than a page long, and might be described as prose poems.

The book is disarmingly short; I think I read it in two hours. But you can't resist how it makes you feel good, and makes you want to spend your next vacation in the Pyrenees. If you're a Basque enthusiast, it's a must read.