Nevada Books

Shortly after this book came I sat down and read it. It does not contain a great deal of useful information. All the information in this book could be found in an afternoon browsing the internet. I was hoping to find some great new fishing spots, instead I was served up a list of places I already knew about. That said, It is nice to have all the information compiles in to one handy book. I will most likely give it to the next person I meat the is complaining about there being no ware to fish in Nevada. If you are new to Nevada I would recommend this book for a starting point.

I bought this book hoping to find out where to fish and how to fish Nevada waters. The book is very basic and might be good for an international tourist. However, for the serious angler you would be better checking internet sites. These will give you more information and nice pictures to top it.

How can Hyrum wallop Morphy with a skillet when he's on the trail for the white captive?

I enjoyed the plot of the book and the excitement of the expedition down the Colorado River. However, it was very long on stereotypical characterizations and situations ... hence the lower rating.

Sinning in the City is a Las Vegas travel guide that opens up Pandora's Box and shows the sinful pleasures of Sin City. It is wittingly split up into eight sections covering all the seven deadly sins with the final chapter dealing with repentance. The guides are up to date with all the latest and greatest sin's Las Vegas has to offer; lust can be found in the hottest dance clubs in the nation, and gluttony is appeased in the assortment of restaurants and buffets on and off the strip. It is a perfect gift for those visiting Las Vegas and for those who call Sin City home.

The info in this book is superficial at best. Repeat Vegas visitors will laugh at its naivete. First-time visitors can get much more value from any of the other guidebooks such as Fodor's or Frommers.

The global market for the sexual slavery of women and children is one of the great crimes of humanity in current time and past.
I cant say much more other then it is not a victimless crime: it's just that no one cares about the victims.

In the summer of 1998 I used this book as a guide when I traveled along I-80 in Nevada. I found the maps and directions excellent, and had a very nice trip as a result. Since then the Mustang Ranch has been closed by the IRS, and at least one place has changed its name. The guide deserves to be updated every year, and I would be happy to buy a new edition each year. The 1998 edition differs from the 1997 only in the date, as far an I could tell.

I have never read a Faye Kellerman book before this one, and knew that it was different from her standard mystery novels. I was enthralled up until the last 50 pages. Though the book's characters were rather amoral and often nasty, I enjoyed reading about their adventures.

However, the last 50 pages suddenly turned into sci-fi and I was disappointed as I was expecting a straight-up mystery.

Let's put it this way... you wanna read about a manitou, stick with Eva Galli.

I have read all of Faye Kellerman's books so was looking forward to this one. It was a great disappointment--too weird for me. Connie of Oak Harbor, WA

What a weird book. It was mesmerizing, even as the plot became increasingly far-fetched. I can buy the theory better without the radiation factor, but then...I lived in Santa Fe, NM, for a while.

Then the end came and it just seemed so ridiculously out there.

But the characters are very well done. And the writing was pretty tight. The pace moves quickly and you really want to know what's behind these grisly murders.

In the process of trying to throw you off the track of figuring it out, Faye Kellerman throws in a wild card about a big Vegas guy who virtually controls the city and this girl who ends up dead - but not as horribly mauled as the others - and his ex prostitute lover whose house he blew up, and his preference for, and method of, procuring underage prostitutes...and other tawdry stuff.

Then as the end nears, and the main theme gets really ridiculous, she sort of spits that secondary plot one off to the side, wraps it up with an unsatisfying statement about this powerful and powerfully warped guy and never gives it anything else.

So you whip through this thing, unable to put it down, tied to the characters and their interaction in solving the murders and then at the end you throw it over your shoulder and say, "What a stupid book."

Let's face it, Faye Kellerman is never going to win a writing prize, but her Decker/Lazarus novels are good enough for their genre. On average, they're tight, compelling and memorable. And then there's Moon Music, a departure from her Decker/Lazarus series, where Kellerman stumbles badly. Maybe she wrote it in a hurry. Maybe she wrote it on crack. Or maybe trying to write a mystery involving Native Americans, nuclear testing, dwarfism, giantism, pimps and ho's, cancer treatment, mental illness, romance, the casino biz and a werewolf was just a tad too ambitious. Whatever the cause, this book is a poorly paced mess of subplots that go nowhere. The only sympathetic character in the book works on cadavers; perhaps Kellerman can take a stab (no pun intended) at making her the central character the next time she feels the need to give Peter & Rina a rest.

I can agree that this book would not be for everyone. If you have grown up romanticizing horses and cowboys and you thought this might transport you further along that path, you might not find this book enjoyable. However, if you actually grew up on a ranch and were horseback from the age of 6, you will love the biting wit Mr. Ulph uses to describe the equine experience. He doesn't forget about the bovines either. He gives them equal amounts of center stage. I loved this book and have given several copies away as gifts to both my cowboy friends and the ones that "wannabe".

The prior reviewer's efforts at praise miss the mark. He spends his energies explaining who the book is not for, a rather inclusive group that includes just about everyone, and has nothing to say about the book. The book is self indulgent - it is the voice of the author critiquing a world without painting for the reader a picture of the world he is talking about. Evidently, the author's friends grew tired of listening to worn out tales, and so he tried to reach strangers through this book.
It is not well written. Not illuminating. Not entertaining. Not worth the money.

Like Bill Clinton, this author has tremendous potential but in the end is a let down. The book could have been an honest and enlightening exploration of the cowboy and not the myth, but is simply pedantic satire and sarcasm. Instead of the myth, we get the author's views - when what one hopes for is a clear and undistorted picture/

If you're a wannabe, go elsewhere. If you think cows are "icky," then likewise. If your appreciation of horses is wholly based on English riding lessons you got in your teens, buy Anne McCaffrey novels (some of which I like, too), and don't bother with this. It's a book by someone who thought, while he was in the saddle, and it shows.

But if you're interested -- and that's your business -- in reading about buckaroo life in the 1950s on a huge ranch in really really really remote Nevada (Zoolander reference deliberate), then read Owen Ulph's book. The salty language, though authentic, makes this not for those under the age of 13 (that should handle most of the reviewers whose comments I've read so far). Test your brain (and vocabulary; Owen was a professor at Reed College for thirty years), and test your empathy. This is classic literature, in the spirit of Tom Watkins (who wrote the introduction), and in the spirit of Owen, himself, who died in late 2003. Just 'cause he's dead doesn't make this any better a book -- but it was great to begin with.

The last reviewer almost got it almost right. Dr. Ulph was a cowpoker who poked one too many cows.

I should have put this book down after the first chapter. I found the writing both boring, disjointed and hard to follow. Frequently, throughout the book I found myself flipping back trying to figure out what in the world was going on and how we got from one place, one topic to another. I also never cared about the characters. I thought I would enjoy reading about a mystery that takes place in Las Vegas because I have family there and am familiar with the strip but that didn't help at all. The locale may be the reason I decided to suffer through it instead of putting it down.

This is a really boring book. Things start to jump within two pages, but all that happens is that the setting gets murkier. My growing feeling as I struggled to follow the story was, with each new twist, "So What!"
This book is about stringing together an author's notes. It's not about realistic people. Dont waste your time or your money.

This was an excellent book. The humor may be too subtle for the trogs who posted before. Maybe you need Evanavich sledgehammer type schtick before you can crack a smile. I love the Charlie Green series and hope she writes another one soon.

This is one of the most boring books I have ever read and I sure wish I hadn't bought the second one to go with it before reading the first. It takes place around Area 51...very appropriate since I feel like I have lost my way the entire time I've been reading the book. I can usually read a book in a day or 2, but I have been on this one 2 weeks determined to give it a chance. I can't believe the front of the cover compares this to Janet Evanovich's books. What a Joke!

To be very blunt, this book is dumb and disjointed. Previous books by this author are much better, especially her early novels.

Great book. It sinks into self-indulgence several times but it's well worth putting up with those moments. Wonderful writing style, superb anecdotes, pithy history.

David Thomson's "In Nevada: The Land, The People, God, and Chance" was a disappointing read, owing only in part to its misleading title. The book consists primarily of parallel descriptions of the development of gambling & entertainment in Las Vegas and of nuclear-weapons testing at the Test Site. These are important topics, but their predominance is not suggested by the book's title. Substantial discussions of Lake Tahoe, Area 51/UFO-mania, and the Burning Man festival have very little to do with Nevada. Tahoe is geographically and culturally much more California than Nevada, and the Burning Man silliness and UFO-obsession have their origins outside of the state. Reno ("really the only city in Nevada," in Thomson's words) receives a scant 12 of the book's 320 pages. The treatment of the state's mining and political history is spotty and shallow. The author's sources are apparently restricted to a few standard references. There is no evidence of detailed research or thoughtful insight.

But the most disappointing aspects of this book are Thomson's descriptions (or lack thereof) of Nevada's rural interior (that 80% of the state that is neither part of a military reservation nor within 50 miles of the California line). He claims that this vast, sparsely populated region is his first love in Nevada, but if this is true, it is a strangely distant, sterile, and uncomprehending love. He provides vague and general descriptions of the landscapes, with mountain elevations seemingly taken from a road map. The only rural Nevadans that he describes in any detail are a young couple that he observed in a cafe in Fallon. He freely assumes that they suffer from sub-standard education and desperate isolation despite the fact that he has not spoken with either or them, or even overheard their conversation. In fact, Thompson reveals precious little evidence that he has ever spoken to ANYONE in rural Nevada, and his ignorance seems virtually complete in other ways as well. He relates a story of driving on I-80 toward Winnemucca, with the wind blowing "round balls of sage" across his path. He doesn't even recognize a tumbleweed, that icon of the American West, much less know that it is Russian Thistle, not sage. His descripion of Elko consists entirely of the menu of cable TV channels available in the Holiday Inn (along with a gratuitous swipe at Dave Thomas, of the Wendy's hamburger chain-What does this have to do with Nevada?). He was trapped in the motel at the end of March by a "late snow." Anyone who has spent any time in northern Nevada knows that snow is common and expected through Memorial Day. "Late snow" doesn't come until June. The author is simply oblivious to the many interesting aspects of the geography, natural history, industry, and people of northern and central Nevada.

In conclusion, "In Nevada" gives the reader very little insight into The Land, The People (other than Las Vegas mobsters and entertainers), or God. Chance (gambling) is pretty well covered. It reveals the author's fascination with Hollywood characters, distrust and loathing of the military, and ignorance & disdain for rural Nevada.

While Thomson does give reasonable coverage to the history of Las Vegas, most of his book is about the rest of the state - places like Reno, Carson City, the not-so-secret "Area 51," and the sparsely-populated northwest corner of the state. Thomson's book is part history and part travelogue, although it is arranged in neither chronological order nor in any particular geographical sequence. If there is a theme to this book, it's the effect of atomic bomb testing and nuclear waste disposal on the state, a topic to which Thomson returns repeatedly. The book includes one map and about thirty photos. The book's drawback is that the author seems to be stretching for material to fill the pages. It's as though a student has to write a 5,000-word essay but has only 1,000 words of material. Thomson frequently lapses into empty rhetoric as though to meet some requirement regarding number of pages. Most travel writers interview local people to give their books a human tone, but Thomson seems to have talked to surprisingly few actual Nevadans. This is unfortunate, because Nevada is one of the more interesting states, and there should be no shortage of interesting characters and places to discover.

David Thomson's "In Nevada: The Land, The People, God, and Chance" was a disappointing read, owing only in part to its misleading title. The book consists primarily of parallel descriptions of the development of gambling & entertainment in Las Vegas and of nuclear-weapons testing at the Test Site. These are important topics, but their predominance is not suggested by the book's title. Substantial discussions of Lake Tahoe, Area 51/UFO-mania, and the Burning Man festival have very little to do with Nevada. Tahoe is geographically and culturally much more California than Nevada, and the Burning Man silliness and UFO-obsession have their origins outside of the state. Reno ("really the only city in Nevada," in Thomson's words) receives a scant 12 of the book's 320 pages. The treatment of the state's mining and political history is spotty and shallow. The author's sources are apparently restricted to a few standard references. There is no evidence of detailed research or thoughtful insight.

But the most disappointing aspects of this book are Thomson's descriptions (or lack thereof) of Nevada's rural interior (that 80% of the state that is neither part of a military reservation nor within 50 miles of the California line). He claims that this vast, sparsely populated region is his first love in Nevada, but if this is true, it is a strangely distant, sterile, and uncomprehending love. He provides vague and general descriptions of the landscapes, with mountain elevations seemingly taken from a road map. The only rural Nevadans that he describes in any detail are a young couple that he observed in a cafe in Fallon. He freely assumes that they suffer from sub-standard education and desperate isolation despite the fact that he has not spoken with either or them, or even overheard their conversation. In fact, Thompson reveals precious little evidence that he has ever spoken to ANYONE in rural Nevada, and his ignorance seems virtually complete in other ways as well. He relates a story of driving on I-80 toward Winnemucca, with the wind blowing "round balls of sage" across his path. He doesn't even recognize a tumbleweed, that icon of the American West, much less know that it is Russian Thistle, not sage. His descripion of Elko consists entirely of the menu of cable TV channels available in the Holiday Inn (along with a gratuitous swipe at Dave Thomas, of the Wendy's hamburger chain-What does this have to do with Nevada?). He was trapped in the motel at the end of March by a "late snow." Anyone who has spent any time in northern Nevada knows that snow is common and expected through Memorial Day. "Late snow" doesn't come until June. The author is simply oblivious to the many interesting aspects of the geography, natural history, industry, and people of northern and central Nevada.

In conclusion, "In Nevada" gives the reader very little insight into The Land, The People (other than Las Vegas mobsters and entertainers), or God. Chance (gambling) is pretty well covered. It reveals the author's fascination with Hollywood characters, distrust and loathing of the military, and ignorance & disdain for rural Nevada.

Granted Daid Thomson provides an entertaining read with "In Nevada" but I share some of the other reviewers' distastes. For instance, a couple of chapters (e.g., "Frankly and "In the Cards") felt completely out of place and off topic. One about Frank Sinatra and the other about a bridge tournament. Instead of Frank and bridge tournaments, how about covering the raging battles over land use and the constant clashes between Nevada's cattle ranchers and the U.S. Government? The author does a respectable job of stirring clear of most of the cliches that surround Nevada, but unfortunately not all.

The first half of the book is loaded with interesting and useful history like the finding of Spirit Cave Man. However, I got the feeling the author is fixated on moving the story's focus to Las Vegas. Like a first time tourist, he gave into the lure of the city's neon lights.

Do not confuse this fire kindle with Red Rocks: A Climber's Guide. I regret buying this book as it is wholly inaccurate and guaranteed to confuse.

There are lots of mistakes in this book, including wrong names of crags on topo overviews, wrong grades on climbs, bad directions, and more routes in the topo in the book than in reality.

I got this book for a trip to Red Rock Canyon in March 2007. It was one of two books brought by our party -- the other was Rock Climbing Red Rocks, 3rd. The books varied slightly on route descriptions (three pitches vs. two longer ones), but as always, the guide books were just a guide and actual conditions led us to make some different decisions on the route. The route ratings were very helpful -- there are tons of routes to climb and with only a short trip, we focused on only the top-rated routes, and we were not disappointed!

Nice photos but inaccurate descriptions. Approaches in Red Rocks are notoriously long, on more than one occasion a route was described as being in full sun or full shade only to discover the opposite was true once at the base. We were quite frustrated with the book's misinformation. Routes were also poorly described. It lead our party to wonder if the author forgot to proofread the manuscript.

We bought this thinking it would offer information that every other Las Vegas guide offered. That is not the case. It's just as informative as the rest, which isn't saying much. If you are looking for in depth information on hot spots or different places than just the regular strip fodder, this ain't the book for you.

This book is awful.
I bought it with the hopes that it would give me more of an insider's guide to Las Vegas.
It Didn't.
It had things arranged in an good manner but contradicted itself by including things in their `Overrated' section after they had raved about them.
Also (and this is unforgivable), their map was both outdated and wrong. The copyright was 2004, but the map was circa 2001. Things in Las Vegas change quickly, but the map was wrong way before they published the book. Even worse, some of the casinos were in the wrong place. That didn't change over the past few years. Avoid this book.

We picked this book up out in Vegas, when we left (a better) guide book at home mistakenly. We were looking for things to do off the beaten path, or just off of the strip. Nearly every one of the descriptions for 'should-do' things according to these authors were wrong in my opinion. Also, it was difficult to follow because they list multiple locations/attraction in standard paragraph form and all of the addresses at the end of each chapter. Too much flippin' around and jumping around whenever we wanted to just find out directions. You may think that Vegas never closes, but restaurants do and the hours of operation would have been helpful.