Wisconsin Books

Beyond price offers executives a usable template for differentiating, and ultimately adding value to their company. In a time of increasing competition, it is an invaluable resource for every serious manager.

As a first-year MBA student, I picked this book up to help me gain additional perspective on some of the more abstract things we're talking about in class. It is a great resource for any leader (or aspiring leader) -- clear, concise, actionable. I'm sure I will refer to it many times over the course of my career.

Beyond price is a guide to transforming your corporate strategy. The process enables you to see the factors that are moving your business towards commodity competition and identify opportunities to differentiate. The book has been an invaluable resource in helping our firm see a whole new set of opportunities. It is required reading for the entire management team.

Just in time -- insightful and practical advice for surviving *and* succeeding despite the current economic downturn. This wonderful, clearly written book describes how to re-envision your business strategy to escape being caught in the downward spiral of competing solely over price. Most importantly, the authors have "walked the walk" and provide succinct, practical examples of their approach. They methodically lay out how to identify if your business is trapped in a cycle leading to nowhere and how to rise above "old school" thinking (old school = entirely consumer-driven instead of market-driven; marketing information in companies being individual-owned instead of company-owned). Broadly appealing and highly timely, the perfect antidote to paralysis due to fear of change, especially in businesses that need to evolve.

In a world where you can't be the best if you're only the same, Beyond Price shows readers how to differentiate and win with a business model versus a pricing model. The book provides a roadmap to doing this along with lots of practical tips and side bars that bring the concepts to life. Scott W. Cooper, Co- Author, The Successful Marketing Plan and Tips & Traps of Marketing Your Business and President, Marketing Engine Group.

Once again I found your characters most delightful, Doc and Ray are charmers! Lew continues on the path of justice and I like the introduction of the lawyer (lady lawyer that is).

Please continue to keep us contacted to Loon Lake's adventures.

I HAVE READ ALL OF THE BOOKS IN THE LOON LAKE SERIES.EACH NEW INSTALLMENT GIVES MORE DEPTH TO THE CHARACTERS. THE PLOT ALSO HAS DEVELOPED IN EACH BOOK. WHILE NOT OVERLY COMPLICATED THERE IS PLENTY GOING ON TO RETAIN MY INTEREST.AS AN AVID FISHERMAN I LOOK FORWARD TO THESE BOOKS IN MUCH THE SAME WAY AS GOING OUT ONTO THE WATER.

Paul "Doc" Osborne should have remembered that no good deed goes unpunished. So when he agrees to help his friend Ray Pradt lead a "Fishing for Girls" fishing seminar Doc should have expected the worse. When one of the student's mother, a famous syndicated advice columnist, is found murdered, Doc is once again deputized and asked by the Loon Lake Chief of Police to help out with his forensic dental skills. Ray complicates matters as he begins to fall for one of his very married students who has a tragic past of her own, and soon Doc is up to his neck in murder and family secrets. Chief Ferris herself has her hands full with her run for Lake County Sheriff, a counterfeit money scam, and a cold case murder. Readers will be taken along as events roll along quickly to a very tidy and satisfying end.

This continues to be a strong series with no hint of letting up. Houston has created characters who continue to grow and readers will be thrilled with the evolution of Doc's romance with the lovely sheriff. Dead Jitterbug is an extremely entertaining mystery full of humor, fishing lore, wit, and suspense.

Like all the rest of Victoria Houston's books in the "Dead" series, I really enjoyed Dead Jitterbug. But I missed the light-heartedness tone that preceded it in the others, and, there seemed to be a little less fishing. But all-in-all, it's great, and I'm still awaiting the next! Keep 'em coming!

Ray Pradt is a fishing guide in Loon Lake, Wisconsin. Ray's newest idea is a two-day seminar called "Fishing for Girls". He manages to rope Doc Osborne, his neighbor, into helping him with the excursion for the girls on a new pontoon Ray is trying to sell. Doc agrees to help out but is soon pulled away from this project to help Police Chief Lewellyn Ferris. Doc Osborne's many years as a dentist and resident of Loon Lake has been a big help to Chief Lewellyn in various investigations and Chief Ferris is not slow to call on Doc for help. They are also fishing buddies and sometimes lovers.

Hope McDonald, mother of one of Ray's "seminar girls", and the author of a syndicated advice column, is found dead in her home in Loon Lake. Then it is discovered by Doc and Lew that another of Ray's "seminar girls" Molly O'Brien formerly Molly McBride whose parents resided in Loon Lake and were brutally murdered. Molly was left alone in the home with the bodies of her parents when she was only two and a half. Now twenty-seven years later Molly is back in Loon Lake and married. Lillie Wright, local attorney, is now asking Chief Ferris to try to dig up the old files and renew the investigation for the murder since Lillie believes the person convicted was framed and the murderer is still in town and Molly is beginning to believe it too.

As if all of this isn't enough to keep Chief Ferris busy she is also asked to help locate a couple who have been robbing banks. The Chief is also in the midst of a campaign for Sheriff and Doc Osborne's daughter is her campaign manager.

Victoria Houston's vivid descriptions of the area and the residents love of fishing adds much to the story. This is the sixth Loon Lake mystery and each one gets better. Be sure and read them all.

There is humor and self-deprecation in The Gardener's Year...This is a book that will appeal to the gardener, the philospher, and the Zen deotee, the reader of self-help books, as well as the humorist. Here are quotes: "After his death, the gardener does not become a butterfly but ... a garden worm tasting all the dark, nitrogenous and spicey delights of the soil." "I find a real gardener is not a man who cultivates flowers; he is a man who cultivates the soil". "The life of a gardener is active and full of will." There are easy references to German philosophers, campanula alpina, Tolstoy, the perfume of manure. All this is presented with humor but there are no fools in this book. It could easily be subtitled "Zen and the Pleasant Art of Gardening." It didn't change my life, but it made it better. For Godsake, by this book!

I don't know much about Czech literature, so I don't know if the Prague Spring had anything to do with the writing of Karel Capek, but I would not be surprised to discover a connection. "Leaves wither because spring is already beginning, because new buds are being made, as tiny percussion caps out of which the spring will crack....if we could only see that secret swarming of the future within us, we should say that our melancholy and distrust is silly and absurd and that the best thing of all is to be..living.."

Karel Capek wrote those words in 1929 when he was 39 years old. By 1938, the year the Nazis invaded Prague, he was dead. His brother Josef died a few years later in Bergan-Belsen. But this book is not about those sad events. This book is about a year in the life of a good gardener, how ever extraordinary a writer he might have been.

During his lifetime, Capek realized that humans were becoming enslaved by fascism and run-amuck technology. The ancient and cyclical daily practices of humans were dying before his eyes --the beet farmers stacking their fall harvests at the railroad stations; the wagon loads of manure that could be delivered for garden beds; the nursury men who understood plants giving way to "market garden centers" staffed by those who regularly misidentify plants and stocked with items that "move" (produce a high volume of sales).

THE GARDENER'S YEAR is a reflective book. You don't have to garden to appreciate it, but if you garden, you will probably laugh on more than one occasion. Where is the gardener who has not struggled with a hose; Who has not looked with greed on a bald spot and attempted to squeeze six more phlox plants in, only to discover a dormant sping plant; And, where is the gardener who has not wandered about the yard with a plant in each hand trying to find just one more place for a perennial. Capek understood the gardener's soul. We are a greedy lot, obsessed with dirt, happy in a wagon load of s___, and hostile to many-legged life forms, but, we are also the best sort of human beings who understand the meaning and importance of life.

Capek's writing reminds me of that of Henry Mitchell who wrote two columns (one on gardening the other on "everyday" philosophy) for the Washington Post. Like Mitchell Capek had the gift of converting his own gardening experiences into tales that inform, enlighten, and illustrate the best and the worst of human nature. "I tell you there is no death, not even sleep. We only pass from one season to another. We must be patient with life, for it is eternal."

I brought this as one of those suggested sells, you know the "people who brought blah blah blah also brought this book" . . . so I did. And boy am I glad I did! Karel Capek is a wonderful author who struck a resounding chord in the heart and soul of this gardener. It was not only wonderfully clever but inspired me to tend to my little rooted, green outdoor children and give them bushels of attention, care and compost ASAP!!! Loved it!

I bought this book for a friend, as a gift upon her achieving Master Gardener certification. I expected something a bit different, a bit more practical, perhaps, but after leafing through the pages, I read the entire book before I gave it to her. Written by the man known to most of us as a European author of the early 20th century on more weighty subjects, this man's witty description of himself as the sometimes manic master of his small domestic garden both amuses and somehow comforts those of us who share his enthusiasm. I laughed long and loudly at Capek's description of what ensued from his planting of the seeds from just one packet, at the many dozens of little plants in little pots, all of which became bigger and bigger, and had to be taken outdoors, finally, to find places in a tiny garden patch. This is a short book, with short chapters, just right for picking up in odd moments during the winter months when we are only dreaming about the coming of gardening season once again.

This is the best book about gardeners I know of. With grace and humor, this book delightfully explores the glories and foibles of serious amateur gardeners. Any garden nut who reads this book without laughing and almost crying over this inciteful outing of the gardener's soul is a callous person indeed.

if you do not read this series by Mary Logue. Wonderful, full of suspense and mystery. Start at the beginning though, and you will enjoy the ride. I highly recommend this book.

A drunk in a pickup truck, thin ice, and an accusation of murder in the face of an affair: these are all scenarios Claire must deal with as she sets out to defend Buck from charges of abuse and possible murder. To top it all off, a bad storm may change all lives in this riveting mystery.

I grew up in Durand and for many years my mother lived across the street from the county office building that houses the Pepin County sheriffs department. I am amazed at how well the author portrays the town. She has merged the old ways that I remember with the new ways that I only know a little about. The coulees really set the Durand portion of the county off from the Lake Pepin part of the county, but it is well merged together in these books.
I am not normally a mystery book reader, but I thought that the author did a good job of keeping the mystery going until the end.

It all started with an early morning phone call from a sobbing woman, "I can't...What he did to me...", and then with a click the call was disconnected. Deputy Sherrif, Claire Watkins, tried to find out the identity of the distraught caller, but it was an untraceable local call, and there were no reports of domestic abuse when she checked at the station. So she was shocked and unsettled a few days later to see her neighbor, Stephanie Klaus, an obviously bruised and battered woman, at the post office. Stephanie wasn't interested in any help from Claire. She made her feeble excuses and left as quickly as she could get away. But when Stephanie's boyfriend, Buck, is murdered, and Stephanie's beaten again within an inch of her life, Claire digs in her heels, and decides to get to the truth, and find this monster, with or without Stephanie's help..... Mary Logue has written a compelling page turner set in picturesque western Wisconsin, that's full of atmosphere, vivid scenes, and a strong and empathetic heroine. Her main story line is tense and intriguing, and her writing, strong and eloquent. Unfortunately, the novel gets bogged down, at times, and loses some of its momentum with the varied subplots about Claire's boyfriend, his mother, and her daughter's teacher troubles. But even these distractions don't take too much away from the suspenseful plot. With a powerful ending that ties up all the loose ends, Glare Ice is a fast read, easily finished in one sitting, and the third installment of a strong and entertaining series.

She worked as a Minneapolis police officer until all the murders and other violent crimes ripped her soul apart so Claire Watkins accepted a job in Fort St. Antoine. She and her daughter Meg quickly fall in love with the small town atmosphere and Claire enjoys her work as head of felonious crimes.

Currently, Claire is more concerned over hosting a Thanksgiving Dinner than making any arrests as the mother of her boyfriend is the guest and this is their first meeting. At the post office, Claire notices a badly battered woman, but the individual refuses to provide any information to Claire. Next the woman's boyfriend is murdered in a particularly grisly manner and the woman is beaten up so badly this time she enters the hospital. In between Thanksgiving chores, Claire does her best to uncover the identity of the killer.

GLARE ICE is an exciting mystery that centers on who is Stephanie's attacker and why does she protect the culprit fiercer than a mother protecting her children. Overall Claire seems so genuine because she is contented with her life yet frustrated with dinner duty and the lack of cooperation on the case. The who-done-it is superb as Mary Logue showcases her storytelling abilities with this enjoyable tale.

Harriet Klausner

It's getting that "very used" look - wonderful information. Always in our travel secion or 'on the road' with us!

This guidebook exceeded my expectations. Appropriate detail, lots of history, wonderful dining and lodging suggestions. I can definitely credit this book with contributing to making our recent Door County vacation a hit. We stayed in an amazing bed and breakfast and every meal we had was delicious, which is not an easy feat considering we had never been in Door County before. I only disagree with a few of the suggestions.

Moon Handbooks: Wisconsin is a 570 page travel guide to the Badger state and designed specifically for the adventurous traveler seeking to sample its wealth of diverse cultural and ethnic festivities, events, communities, and cuisines. Now in a completely updated and expanded second edition, Moon Handbooks: Wisconsin is packed with invaluable, descriptive information ideal for planning everything from a simple daytrip to an elaborate and extended vacation itinerary. If you are traveling in Wisconsin, don't leave home without your very own copy of Moon Handbooks: Wisconsin!

This book is packed with history, geography, politics, art, and more. It will suprise and delight any native. Meticulously edited, all contact info. I used is up-to-date. After a few months, you find yourself laughing with Huhti, fighting with him, and agreeing with him; but most of all, you are awed by this native's depth of knowledge. He does use some obscure vocabulary. It's inconvienent, as most travelers I know don't carry a dictionary. More than a travel guide, it's an achievement.

If you are coming to Wisconsin bring this book with you and if you are a resident keep it in your glovebox. It covers all the obvious attractions as well as a wonderful selection of off the beaten path destinations. Huhti also give us heaps of interesting historical background and his love of the Badger State shines clearly through all 570 pages.

I purchased this book for my son who is a member of the UW band. We'd been to "Kites On Ice" several times when he was younger and the combination of the kite/camera and the views above Madison made this a perfect gift. It turned into a sort of "Where's Waldo", trying to see if he recognized himself or any of his band-member friends from the kite's view. The stories of the author's children and the paranoid police officer are a fun personal touch to the spectacular photos.

A very unique and fascinating book. Although the photos in the book are all of places and events in Wisconsin, there is a universality of subject matter that shoiuld make it interesting to photographers and anyone who likes photo books.

How refreshing to see a perspective in photography that profiles the life and times of Wisconsin and the residents with such clarity and storytelling. Hanging by a Thread brought so many great memories back to someone who has since relocated East. Absolutely amazing that the photographs can capture the life of Wisconsinites on a kite and string. The stories behind the photos added a refreshing prespective on Craig's art. And behind each photo is an inventor, an entrepreneur who's passion in flight and photography has brought me back home again within these pages.

Thank you Craig for capturing my memories in a fresh perspective through the pages of your book.

As a native Wisconsonite now living in the tropics, I've tried to keep a balanced view of the state. Of course--it's beautiful. The people are great. There's no lack of interesting things, crackpot ideas, places to go and things to do. But hey--there are other places in the world, right? As my brother once said, "hey, I've never seen a place where people were so INTO their state!" Sometimes, the cult of Wisconsin can be a little heavy.

But then along comes this book, and I'm completely entranced.

The photographs are great. The perspectives are amazing. The text is understated and fun. And the stuff photographed brought tears to my eyes. Especially the Mississippi River covered in fog.

And the stuff people do in Madison--Opera in the Park and the Concerts on the Square and jogging for this that and the other thing and ice fishing and...on and on. All of the oddball things and places and events are endearing.

If you've lived in Wisconsin and loved it...well, buy this book!

When I first heard about this book I was not enthusiastic. Pictures from a kite? It sounded like sort of a hobby project, or a curiosity piece. I figured the photos would be lousy.

I was wrong! I'm not sure if the pictures are National Geographic quality, but they are darned nice pictures. Don't think "pictures from a kite" think about the pictures you'd take if you could float gracefully over the landscape.

As noted by another review, the pictures are much more intimate than normal shots taken from above. They are much more elegant and personal.

My wife is a recent immigrant and has come to love Wisconsin. I bought this for her because I haven't seen any other book that so gracefully and truthfully captures the spirit of Wisconsin. Thanks Mr. Wilson!

Eight years in the making, A History Of The 4th Wisconsin Infantry And Cavalry In The Civil War is an exhaustively researched, highly readable chronicle drawing upon numerous previously unused soldier and civilian diaries, letters, reports, contemporary newspapers, and reminiscences. Dozens of previously unpublished soldier photos, a complete regimental roster, and an index enhance this minutely detailed chronicle. A History Of The 4th Wisconsin Infantry And Cavalry In The Civil War focuses on individuals and the points of view of the men who laid their lives on the line as surely as the overall flow of history. Highly recommended.

I have heard of any number of regiments of volunteers who enlisted in a cavalry or an artillery unit, and who were then informed that they would be marching rather than riding. Infantry was what everyone became as the Civil War ate up soldiers in the front lines. Thus it was that I was very surprised to learn of a unit of infantry that had the very good fortune of being given mounts to ride half way through the war. For the first two years they were the 4th Wisconsin Infantry, but for the second two years these same men served as the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry. Perhaps it was that lucky break that encouraged them to reenlist, and, according to the author, serve longer than any other unit. (They didn't- that honor probably belongs to the Bloody 11th Pennsylvania, but why nitpick?)
I really love this book. Other than the very attractive dust jacket and the acid-free paper, this book has the look and feel of the best regimental histories produced a century ago by the survivors themselves, such as Bosbyshell's History of the 48th Pennsylvania, or Rawle's History of the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry. Pictures of all of the principal players appear throughout the text. Maps pop up where they need to be, and many are needed to cover the exploits of this outfit that saw action in such scattered locales as Baltimore, New Orleans, Montgomery and Texas.
The author's exhaustive research provides much in the way of first-hand commentary and storytelling that you would find in an original regimental. But the fact that he has such a broad understanding of the unit and its men allows him to tell their tale with far more understanding than anyone could have had one of the veterans undertaken such a job a century or more ago. As is pointed out in Lance Herdegren's thoughtful introduction, this unit saw significant service, and it had a nearly unique tour of duty, caused in great part by its conversion from infantry to cavalry. Serving with it were a cast of fascinating characters, including three future governors of the Badger State and the creator of "Peck's Bad Boy." Reading this book will take you to Civil War sites you have never been to before, no matter how avid a student of the period you have been.

As a Louisiana native I don't usually get very interested in the history of Yankee regiments. This one, however, I'll recommend. The 4th Wisconsin spent a good bit of its time in Louisiana.

I found myself fasinated by their story:

They report for instance that they were camped in early April in Algiers (across the river from and now a part of New Orleans). The weather was warm and 'beautiful' - just like June at home. These guys were from Wisonsin. Can you imagine what the next few months brought them? August in the swamps of South Louisiana are not at all like Wisconsin - And they were wearing wool uniforms.

From Algiers they went and encamped '3 and one half miles east of Brashear City.' That's now Morgan City (where I was born) and that is truly miserable country - wet, swamp, snakes, alligators, mosquitoes - yuk! They then crossed 'Berwick's Bay' (Atchaflaya river), continued westward and then started fighting the Confederates.

The country down there is bad enough, and then to have people shooting at you....

Although this book is on the actions of the 4th Wisconsin, I recommend it to anyone interested in the fighting in the Trans-Mississippi theater, and especially the fighting in Louisiana.

I thoroughly enjoyed "A History of the 4th Wisconsin Infantry and Cavalry in the Civil War." Until now the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry and its contributions to the Federal effort during and after the Civil War had all but been forgotten. Thanks to some hard work and a knack for ferreting out information from unlikely places, we now have a good understanding of just what this group of Badgers went through and accomplished in the Trans-Mississippi Theater. Martin covers the regiment from top to bottom . . . from its formation at Camp Utley in Racine, Wisconsin, to its mustering out at Brownsville, Texas, in May 1866. This is one of the few Federal units that fought as infantry, mounted infantry and, following its official redesignation in September 1863, cavalry. As a result, these Badgers were everywhere: the Eastern Shore of Virginia and Maryland, Louisiana: New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Alexandria, Port Hudson; Mississippi: Vicksburg, Brookhaven, Osyka, Liberty, West Pascagoula; Alabama: Greensville, Eufala, Clinton; Texas: San Antonio, Laredo, Rio Grande City, Las Cuevas, Santa Maria, Brownsville. In addition to a plethora of diary material, the book is filled with letters and exerpts from letters that were published in one of the state's major, Milwaukee Sentinel, and many local newspapers. The book contains a superb recounting of the regiment's first major engagement at Bisland, Louisiana, its decimation (it sufferered 64% casualties, the largest of any regiment in the Corps) during the Port Hudson Campaign, its fight at Clinton, Louisiana, under Benjamin Grierson (who did not have one of his better days during that contest) and its participation as cavalry in three major raids through Mississippi and Alabama. With the aid of diaries written by an officer in the 11th New York Cavalry and three 4th Wisconsin troopers, this book contains the first complete day-by-day recounting of Major General John Wynn Davidson's 300 mile-plus raid from Baton Rouge to West Pascagoula. As a bonus, the first complete history of "Canby's Special Scouts" also known as "Earl's Scouts" is also included. This group of individuals was led by Company D's Lieutenant Isaac Earl and was comprised almost exclusively of individuals from the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry. The "corps" of scouts, which was initially created by Major General Nathanial Banks, was inherited and expanded by his predecessor, Major General Edward R.S. Canby. Earl's Scouts operated out of Natchez, Mississippi, and were responsible for clandestinely obtaining information on Confederate activities in an area stretching from Bruinsburg and St. Joseph to Fayette, Mississippi. With the aid of his pocket steamer, Colonel Cowles, Earl and his command occasionally scouted as far as DeWitt, Arkansas. Though a history of a "Yankee" regiment, the author has no difficulty giving the Confederate forces their due. Martin lauds not only the Confederates that faced, and easily repulsed, the Badgers during their assaults on the Priest Cap at Port Hudson but also Colonel John Logan and his command's performance at the first battle of Clinton, where Colonel Grierson was soundly thrashed. Rounding out this excellent book is an extremely interesting group of 4th Wisconsin soldier post-war biographies, a complete regimental roster, appendices that list casualties that the regiment suffered during its two assaults on Port Hudson and a listing of 4th Wisconsin soldiers that are interred in the National Cemetery at Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

This book was a great read. I loved the diary excerpts along with the letters of condolence to the families.

I received the book quickly and at a great price since I purchased it in combination with Vol. 2. The book has been very useful in my study of the Bulgarian language. It is a college level study, so keep in mind that you'll need a good understanding of English to learn Bulgarian with this book.

This book is an excellent aid to learn Bulgarian. However, unless you have a linguistic and/or Russian background, it will be difficult to teach yourself from this book. This book really requires a classroom environment for those not linguistically gifted. Also, the book needs tapes so that one could hear the pronunciation. Answer keys to the exercises also would help. Overall though, the grammar is well presented. The cultural notes are also very interesting and useful.

This book is definetly the most comprehensive and clear grammar available for the Bulgarian Grammar. It clearly delineates all the major rules and even has notes on many of the minor rules. Some of the rules I was even unaware of(I lived in Bulgaria for two years) This is a two volume set, so make sure you get both volumes. It is a tad expensive bying tswo volumes but it is a much better deal than buying any of those other books. THere is some techincal terms to learn but nothing out of the ordinary for one embarking on serious language study. If you just want a phrasebook to learn some quick words for your three days in Bulgaria then this is probably not what you are looking for. However, if you are serious about learning Bulgarian well then this is the only place to start.

this is one of the best introductory books ever written on such a topic.clearly written, superbly arranged in chapters, a step-by-step introduction to a superb language.for those who have access to other Slavic languages or to PIE background this book is a blessing.one can finally learn Bulgarian by him/herself.a final remark: I would say that some linguistic background(a 101 class) might be necessary, but I do think that even w/o it one can easily learn Bulgarian from this superb textbook.
congratulations to the author.

Ronelle Alexander's "Intensive Bulgarian" is the finest language textbook I have ever used. Chapter by chapter, vocabulary and grammatical concepts are introduced in a logical sequence, with extraordinarily lucid explanations, examples and dialogues. Each chapter has two grammar sections: The first gives the basic usage of the new constructs, and the second goes into greater linguistic detail. The second section could be skipped by the casual learner, but is very useful to the more dedicated student or anyone interested in the more technical aspects of Bulgarian grammar. Insightful cultural notes in each chapter give the student a better understanding of contemporary Bulgarian culture and help to put the language into context, something often lacking in foreign language textbooks.

I would highly recommend "Intensive Bulgarian, Vol. 1" for any instructor teaching an intensive course or any motivated student who wants to learn Bulgarian on her own, particularly if she wants a deeper linguistic appreciation of the language.

Boye actually wrote this book before both "1984" and "Brave New World".

The Worldstate of Kallocain appeared in print eight years before Orwell's famous story of totalitarian hell. Although weaker in some ways, it has more emotional impact in many others. It's about Kall, a chemist and loyal Fellow-Soldier of The State. His work re-opens earlier, failed studies on "truth serum" drugs. His new compounds eliminate the earlier drugs' toxic effects, the effect that destroyed the minds of so many human guinea pigs from the Voluntary Sacrificial Service. This time, the more merciful drug simply leaves its victims as passive, even cooperative partners in their own violation - the perverted wish of physical and mental rapists everywhere.

Idealist Kall sees only its potential to help the life-giving state against its enemies, at first. Of course, he sees his invention turned to the self-serving power struggles of the party oligarchs. He sees how having that drug's power corrupts its possessor, even seeing that corruption arise in himself. By then, the evil genie is out of the bottle and granting the wishes of the oppressive State.

The end of the book seems to wander. Kall sees the full force of The State's anti-terrorist army directed against a nameless little band of dreamers. He takes part in vaguely horrific trials for capital crimes against The State, with executions handed down apparently on whims and personal grudges. He ends his story with ambiguous dreams, still hoping that his pharmacological creation can live on, and still hoping (against evidence) that it can be used for genuine good.

It's worth reading, though. It captures the fears of its early Soviet and pre-Nazi era, and captures the time's faith (and fear) in the power of science. And it reminds technologists that, although scientific results have no inherent morality, the people who create and use those results do - or should.

--wiredweird

There are a few books that I wish everyone would read; this is one of them. A far far more compelling book than 1984, Kallocain probes what it means to be a good citizen. That this book is not more widely know is unfortunately due most likely to the fact that it is Swedish and that it has been issued by a university press. But this is a rip snorting good tale that will keep you riveted and make you think. And there is lots to ponder: surveillence issues, the idea of good citizenship; the question of who or what is "the enemy"; what war is about; the use of mind altering drugs in the management of society; and so on. Read it and pass on word of it to others! It deserves attention!

This is probably the best swedish novel ever. It is written in the same style as Orwell's 1984 but where Orwell is purely political, Boye is much more existential. Kallocain is not only a critical reflexion on the totalitarian state but rather an experiment searching to find out if the force of life existing in every man and woman really can be destroyed (which in many ways is the purpose of the state in Kallocain). Perhaps one can only be controlled to a degree. If you squeeze an egg too hard it will burst, and then there is no way you can stop the content from letting go of your hands. It is hardly no coincident that the substans that has given the novel its name is green; the color of life.

I stongly recomend everyone to buy it and read it (over and over again if posible).

i wouldn't call it "hilarious", for sure, but i definitely agree that Karin Boye has done us a great service in writing this book. Reminiscent of 1984 and also of Yvgeny Zamyatin's WE, KALLOCAIN is actually more frightening than either of those. The mind of the "collaborator," the willing citizen of a totalitarian state, is laid bare; his rationales and fears are thus universalized, and one sees the tyrant in all of us ...

This book is a labor of love and committment, the author rocks and provides insights into what it takes to assure that today's actions ensure one's goals/ideals, i.e. wolf recovery, survive into the next generation. The illustrations are sweet and the book is very easy to read and enjoyable.

I grew up in Wisconsin and can relate to Richard P Thiel's accurate and colorful descriptions of northern and central Wisconsin landscape. However, his experiences go far beyond those of most others, helped by being able to track wolves by light aircraft and radio telemetry thus getting a bird's eye view of the scene. A good example of the Scientific Method on the hoof, so to speak. The book does not glamorize the profession of wildlife biology; it tells it like it is, including the governmental bureaucracy, physical hardships, bad weather, and long hours, occasionally punctuated with incredible encounters with the wolves that refused to be excluded from Wisconsin. The book teaches people what to expect when wolves share your living space. And what a great ending ... it brings the reader right up to date and sets the stage for proper management decisions in the future. A great humorous book which will entertain you as well as educate. I couldn't put it down.

Good friends presented us this book as a Christmas gift, knowing that we are very interested in all forms of appearance of the nature, inanimate and alive.
It is of great interest for us since just in this years the wolves also return to the forests of our Eastgerman country.
It is wonderful written, understandable also for the laymen and rich in nice figures.
Most important for us is however, that this book is written by a man who obviously feels responsible for the life on our so endangered earth, who understand that human life is tightly connected with all the other appearances of life and that the good evolution of one kind of life is the necessary precondition for the healthy existence of all another creatures.
Men like Richard Thiel give us the hope that life has a chance to survive at our planet.

'Keepers of the wolves' is Richard P Thiel's follow up to his
wonderful 1993 publication 'The Timber Wolf in Wisconsin.'
Once again the author's informative and personal writing style
makes this very fine book an essential work for any Wolf supporter interested in the more complex aspects of the Wolf recovery effort in the United states today.

Keepers Of The Wolves: The Early Years Of Wolf Recovery In Wisconsin by Richard Thiel (coordinator of the Wisconsin Department of natural Resources Sandhill Outdoor Skills Center, Babcock, Wisconsin) is the true and fascinating story of the restoration of wild wolves to Wisconsin Forest, from 1978 when they had been gone for twenty years to the present day with an estimated 200 timber wolves in 54 packs. Black-and-white line drawings illustrate a story of political controversies, environmental struggles, and the enduring strength of the wolf itself. A conservationist success story, Keepers Of The Wolves is especially recommended for Wisconsin environmental issues reading lists and wildlife restoration studies reference collections.