California Books

Great book for getting outdoors. Taken 4 trails since the book arrived and the author described the trails perfectly. Buy the book and take a hike taday. Recommended!

Great book! Well written and accurate descriptions of the trails. Highly recommended for anyone looking to hike in the Sacramento valley - even those with kids and/or pets.

Any who would explore the valleys or mountains of California's state capital region must have TOP TRAILS SACRAMENTO: MUST-DO HIKES FOR EVERYONE in their collection. It covers opportunities both urban and rural and joins others in the 'must do' trips series, comes from a Sacramento resident and hiker, and reveals both major routes and lesser-known regions. With its trail feature charts documenting wildlife, scenic vistas and trails and its details on weekend getaways and maps, TOP TRAILS SACRAMENTO offers up key getaways for all and is a top pick for any California library, especially those closer to Sacramento.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

The details in this book helped me find some hidden natural gems just an hour or so from my home in the busy suburbs, and provided much interesting historical, geological and biological background to enrich the experience. Clear directions and trail descriptions made planning and navigating much easier. The amateur photos that I took on these hikes are like postcards - mountains, hills, streams, flowers, and incredible trees. The natural beauty and grandeur that I encountered on these hikes got me through some troubled times, and provided soothing reminders that nature's beautiful rhythms still go on despite our best efforts to interfere with them. I'm giving this book as a gift to all my central CA nature-loving friends.

I've used many hiking books over the years, but Steve Evans' Top Trails Sacramento is by far the most user friendly. The book gives you good directions to each trailhead and a realisitic assessment of difficulty. Best of all, you feel like you have the author along with you, pointing out interesting tidbits and things to watch for along the way. The maps and trail directions are also easy to follow.

Well written and interesting, but not light reading for the average reader without a background in anthropology. Still, you will probably learn a lot, if you skip over the latin.

This book is an excellent, reasoned discourse on the evidence chain and the theories behind why large mammals in North America went extinct all at the same time - about 12,500 years ago. Before I read this book I had heard of the popular theories of why the north american megafauna went extinct, but had not heard which theory was most likely. Martin makes clear that the overkill theory has the greatest logical and evidentiary support.

it's important in science to keep an open mind about causes. Recently, more work has been done on an ash layer in the geologic record that suggests a great fire or possible comet explosion that may have occurred around the time of the megafauna extinctions in north america. I can believe that such an event had a contributing impact. After reading this book though, there is no question in my mind that n. american megafauna would have survived even a great fire or comet blast so long as they were not also subject to human induced causes.

The other great theories for ice age mammal extinction are referred to as 'overill', for disease-related explanations, and 'overchill', for cold climate explanations. Martin skillfully and convincingly refutes these theories for their unsound logic and lack of evidence.

It is clear to me now that the reason for this debate between overkill, overill, and overchill persists only because the evidentiary chain is not clearly in favor enough of any one of the 3. But the preponderance of evidence, and the soundest reasoning, favors overkill by at least a 10-1 compared to overill or overchill. I would expect future archaeological and paleontological discoveries to add to the evidence supporting overkill.

One final note: I am now a huge supporter of the Pleistocene park concept, and am hopeful that humans are able to rescue the remaining African and Asian megafauna from extinction with park reserves in Siberia and the Americas. I can envision now a park in Texas with asian elephants replacing mammoths, African or Asian lions once again bringing the lost American lion back to life, camels returning to their evolutionary American origins, wild horse herds, introduced threatened African or Asian ungulate species to stand in for their recently extinct American cousins, cheetahs returning, and even threatened tigers getting a second life as the replacement for now-extinct scimitar and saber tooth cats. I leave it to a zoologist to figure out how to replace a giant ground sloth, or even a Shasta ground sloth.

Other pleistocene park possibilities exist in other parts of the world. South america could easily see a return of elephants. The remaining ancestor of the short faced bear, which is the South American spectacled bear, is itself threatened and could use a reserve somewhere else in the world.

Enjoy this book!

Paul Martin makes a strong arguement for human caused extinctions of ice-age mammals including the mammoths through human overkill hunting behavior. Insted of presenting an idea without support, Martin provides extensive documentation to support his position. However, as intriguing as his ideas about human involvement in the loss of ice-age and post ice-age mammals are, it is difficult to believe that humans spread to every nook and cranny of north, central and south America causing the extinction of every large mammal grouping present. Questions also arise regarding the type of animal they might have hunted versus other available animals. Why would early humans decide to hunt to extinction the giant bison when smaller and presumably less dangerous bison were available? Why would they possibly hunt the American lion, sabertooth tiger or dire wolves when there was, according to Martin, a wealth of animals available for food, skins and bone? Obviously, something happened toward the end of the last advance of continental ice sheets and the early peopling of the Americas, but I do not believe overkill is the sole cause of the disappearance of large mammals of the Americas. A combination of factors including human most likely is the cause of their loss.

This is one of those books that may jolt the conventional wisdom implanted in your brain, especially if you are an environmentalist. First the negative...I thought the first 5 chapters, about one-half, of this book to be a bit boring, telling me more about sloth dung than I really wanted to know. But then the book picked up -- way up -- in interest.

The true "natural" environment of the United States, in Martin's view, existed 13,000 years ago before man got here and that it has been out of balance since. Martin comes down strong on the side that human beings were responsible for the extinction of many large mammals in the Americas about 13,000 years ago and his argument is persuasive. He also makes a strong case that human beings have lived in the Americas for little more than 13,000 years. This is a hot-button issue among archaeologists, but Martin's point is: if the Indians were here more than 13,000 years ago where are the signs of their presence? Not many, if any, have been found in a hundred years of looking.

His most interesting point and new to me was his proposals to re-people (wrong word, maybe "re-animate"?) the New World with representatives of the large mammals that became extinct. For example, why is that our government is trying to kill off the burros and wild horses in national parks? Horses originated in the Americas; they became extinct about 13,000 years ago. Why not allow them to reestablish themselves as a native species?

And then he really gets off on a speculative tangent, "rewilding America." Camels and Llamas lived in the United States until 13,000 thousand years ago; why not reintroduce them as native, wild species. Similarly rhinocerous, elephant, lion, tiger and other mammal species. To be sure the species of the mammals that became extinct are not exactly the same species that now live -- but close enough, in his opinion. An Asian elephant, he says, is closer genetically to extinct mammoths than it is to the African elephant.

Smallchief

Twilight Of The Mammoths by Paul S. Martin is a book I wanted to read because I wanted to see what the author had to say about the overkill idea. That Ice Age extinctions were caused by human invasion of the New World and not by germs and sudden change in the climate.
I have to say he did a good job not only of explaining and defending his hypothesis but at pointing out the weak points in the other theories of how the mass extinctions of the megamammals came about. The book is a solid read but somewhat dry. Lots of data on kill sites, pollen, climate changes and lots of dung.
He also takes a few chapters to talk about the idea rewilding the New World. In some ways that has already been going on so we may wish to take a controlling hand in the process.
Published in 2005 the information is up-to-date and hard to argue with. But who knows what will be discovered in the years to come?

Mona Ruiz is an inspiration, someone both young men and women can relate to, who sees herself and the world she lives in as honestly as possible. This book, written with reporter Greg Boucher, is actually the best written and most fairminded I have read about the gang lifestyle and someone who overcame great obstacles to turn her life around, ultimately using her former life as a gang banger to her advantage as a fine policewoman. I admire her and am happy for her as she continues to try to make her old barrio a better place. As a middle/high school librarian in a school with a number of students who are fascinated by gangs, I am delighted to have found this book and will recommend it to ALL our students. Be safe, Mona.

i began to read this book finally. after years of disregarding it i decided to give it a glance. being related to many of the people in this book it gave me a bit of insight and took me back to the time that they all grew up. for that i am grateful. however at times the writer exhausts the dramatics. I don't know Mona personally, but if this book mirrors your life than my hat goes off to you. it is very inspirational and am glad to hear that it is being read in schools.

This is a really good book to have a teenages read, I read it just because and I liked it so much that I gave it to my little sister to read who then passed it on to her friends.

This book was required when I took one of my college classes. After reading it I knew why. The book offers an inside look into the life of a young woman, hispanic and in a gang. She struggles with many obstacles and in the end pulls herself through. The book is not only inspirational but it is also a demonstration of triumph in spite of obstacles! I give it Five stars and hope that more people can get to reading this book. Maybe instead of requiring it as a college course they should offer it in Junior high's and High Schools. This is the kind of book that should be read.

I am an English teacher at Santa Ana Valley High School, in Santa Ana, CA. Ms Ruiz spoke at Valley several years ago. Her presentation was as memorable as her book, "Two Badges." I bought three copies the day of her presentation, I have since bought ten more. My students love the book. Young men and young women, alike. They relate, and it is such a strong story with a postive, true life ending. Unfortunately, or fortunately (depending on your view) these books do not make it back to my room after being checked out. I am down to three copies. In a way I am happy, in that I know the books are in contiuous use, they are getting passed around to friends. Cool. It is just that I can not afford to buy a bunch more books for my kids this fall.

Walking though California is great! What a way to spend the Civil War!
This book is loaded with virginal observations of the state and some of the effects that the gold rush had on the environment.

This book came in great shape. It is a very good book of very early california history. It's well put together for the fourth edition. I have thoroughly enjoyed the bookd

nice to read the words of a man long dead who lived in a young America.
great read, lots of details on california's transformation period

I loved this book, and have started giving copies as gifts. The synopsis explains well what it is, so I won't go into that. But the style is both easy and intelligent, an easy yet rewarding read. Brewer's writing sounds like you're sitting down to a cup of coffee with this guy as he tells you these great stories (not 'tall tales' though.)

I also loved the format, since it is a collection of letters. It allowed me to pick up the book and read 1 page or 20 pages depending on how much time I had, where I was etc. It's Ok to put it down for a week or more, but then you can jump right back in.

It is a 'long' book, but there's no compulsion to read it straight through, you can meander through this book over days, weeks or months, or 'real-time' in years even, that's how his family and friends experienced it.

If you live anywhere in California where Brewer went, or if you've visited there, it is fascinating to hear his descriptions of the places from 150 years before.

I can't rave enough about this book!

I bought this book last summer in Lee Vining CA while on a trip through the Eastern Sierra and after reading it found myself looking at California with new eyes.
One reviewer said that even those who are not Californians will enjoy this book. True enough, but I think that the reader who has a detailed knowledge of the geography of the state will come away from Up And Down California In 1860-1864 with a much greater appreciation for Brewer's accomplishments. I know California very well, and as I read along, I could picture nearly every place Brewer described in my mind's eye because I had been at those places myself.
This book is a riveting and thoroughly absorbing glimpse of the California that was. Brewer's style is informative, entertaining, and not bogged down by political correctness. He calls things as he sees them and gives the reader not only a physical description of his journeys with all their pleasures and hardships, but also a good look at the way people lived and rubbed along with one another in what was then a brave new world. His journeys covered most of the state save the Mojave/Colorado deserts, the San Diego area, the extreme Northeast, and the area between what is now Healdsburg and Eureka. Some of the places he does go are remote still today, such as the area of the New Idria mines in present San Benito County and the still wild Southern Sierra along the upper reaches of the Kern River.
I recommend Brewer's journal to all who have an abiding love for the diverse state that is California. After reading it, you will see the state with new eyes every time you take a road trip along its byways.

What is most interesting about this book -- which centers on the poetry of the Bedouin tribe of Awlad Ali -- is not the poetry per se, but that it gives an insider's view of the craft of Ethnography. It shows, through the eyes of a skilled ethnographer, and almost by indirection and in reverse order, how meaning is attached to cultures by the people who live in them.

By peeling back the skin of the Awlad Ali culture - one of the nomadic tribes that once hovered around the edge of the Western Egyptian Desert -- we learn, not just "the ways" of this and similar Nomadic tribes, but more generally, the steps needed to attach meaning to the onion called culture. This analysis reveals, layer-by-layer, the structure and texture of the Awlad Ali worldview. It also reveals the various ideologies that supported its construction.

The Awlad Ali tribe is a society based on blood kinship, on honor, and on a kind of fierce tribal autonomy and independence. And however abstract these categories may seem, and however much they may seem settled at birth, they are in fact constantly being re-negotiated in the tribe's everyday efforts to survive: "lived deeds" in the Awlad Ali culture always trump ascribed status and words. The culture has especially derogatory names and references to those who talk, but fail to act.

Moreover, cultural meaning and societal rules remain close to the ground: that is, closely attached to survival needs. Ascribed status - that is patrilineal genealogy, maleness, etc. definitely have a pride of place in the culture, but these do not settle the matter of status once and for all: What one does with these is the final arbiter of ones position and status within the tribe.

As an American peeping into another culture, what I learned in a somewhat painfully indirect way is that most of rest of the world - even primitive tribes -- still speak and relate to each other in the language of humanity: poetry, songs, prayer, proverbs, folklore, tales, myths, etc. To them, these are not mere cultural trinkets, ornamentations and affectations, to be tossed about during holidays, or to be commercialized and then tossed aside, or just the colorful tools used to promote a particular kind of politics or political organization, but they are the real meat of human discourse. They serve as the actual conduits through which deep human feelings are conveyed and transmitted.

As a backdrop to our own culture, there are at least two lessons to be learned (indirectly and in relief) from this book:

(1) That it is possible to construct a cultural worldview (a complete cosmology of meaning) entirely without the need for a category called "race" or without reference to the idea of a "religion." The author, who was Christian and a partly-white female, lived in the home of the tribe she was studying for two years, which was nominally Muslim, but with all of the many intersecting categories of meaning: race and religion, were never mentioned to her or ever played a role in tribal discourse.

(2) That we Americans live in a social world that is bereft of normal meaningful human attachments and discourse. In comparison to the Awlad Ali tribe, we live in a world of greatly diminished humanity in which racism, acquisition of things, commodification and consumerization of those things, rationalizations and political spin, false piety, rationing of intangibles qualities, knee-jerk bipartisanism, sublimated hatred, and artistic shallowness, are substitutes for real meaning.

Is this all just an inevitable part of modernity? It is difficult to know, but we must be grateful to this author for showing us with great skill that there are other images of, and paths to meaningfulness.

Ten Stars

the book is written by an american woman with mideastern roots -- she provides great insight into the traditionals of the bedouin and arab worlds. I read this before I went to Egypt and it provided great foundation for understanding the culture of the town and village. I like her writing style -- she makes anthopological analysis interesting by explaining in the context of her interactions with the bedouins.

I agree with the other reviewers. It was the best ethnography I can remember reading. What struck a chord with me was her description and explanation of the women's submission to the men, that the submissiveness was valuable only when it was voluntarily given. The idea of women being submissive to men is not only Islamic, but exists also in Christianity.

Lila Abu Lughod, an Arab American woman, lived among the Awlad Ali tribes of the North West of Egypt for two years. Veiled Sentiments is the book she wrote on the lives and poetry of Awlad Ali. Abu Lughod field work was clearly not carried out from a "superior" stance; she sympathized with her subjects and dealt with them as equal human beings rather than inferior specimen or cultures. Abu Lughod attitude, intelligence, training and tremendous analystical ability helped her in developing great insight and understanding of this fascinating culture.

Abu Lughod analysis of concepts such as "hishma" was truly incisive and shed a great deal of light on the nature of modesty between women and men and amongst men and women. The analysis seems to explain behaviors and norms witnessed elsewhere in Egypt and indeed other parts of the Middle East.

An important thesis of Abu Lughod is that the Awlad Ali people often communicated in very conservative and modest way directly through words; they only said what was proper and fitted the norms. Yet a second mode of communication far more true and expressive was found in their little songs or poems.

Abu Lughod discussed gender relation amongst Awlad Ali at length and the relationship between women and the families of their husbands and the society at large. I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it. For an excellent work on veiling and gender issues, I would recommend Leila Ahmed's Women & Gender in Islam.

"Veiled Sentiments" is academic. It is the outcome of the author's living in a Bedouin community in northern Egypt (the Western Desert) for two years, a feat of no mean proportions.

Lila Abu-Lughod came to a deep understanding of such aspects of the culture as blood ties, veiling and poetry not only because of her talent and training but also because she has ties to that culture. She calls academics like herself "halfies" because they belong both "inside and outside the communities they write about." She realizes that such a situation benefits them in terms of gathering knowledge within close cultures.

The veiling of women (or rather women's veiling of themselves) is an important topic because of recent events including world politics and of the ongoing research in feminism. It is also important because it is so often misunderstood and so difficult to understand even when it is explained.

After reading Abu-Lughod's renowned (in the world of academics) book, "Veiled Sentiments," I think I have a better handle on veiling than I ever would have had otherwise. It was not easy to absorb the concepts that surround it. That it took ¼ of a 315 page book to do it (a conservative estimate) is a testament to the intricacies of and the psychological motivations behind this cultural /religious practice.

Learning more about veiling alone made this study one well worth reading. But the surprise for both the reader, and-as explained by Ms. Abu-Lughod-the author herself is the discovery of this culture's use of poetry. To take it one step further, the insight into how societies in general (at least ours and that of the Bedouins) similarly use their poetry and relate to it.

Abu-Lughod finds that poetry is used somewhat differently among women in the Awlad ` Ali tribes than it is used by men. Because I am writing my own book of poetry called "Skyscapes: A Woman's View," I was especially interested in this aspect of "Sentiments;" it also was, by the author's own admission, an amazing and important cultural discovery. A group of women in China have their own secret language apart from the men; now this anthropologist brings to our attention how the poetry and veiling customs of these women reveal their emotions and are rooted in the traditions of a society in which they live quite separately from men.

Though this book is not meant for mainstream readers, I hope that many who have no ties to anthropology will make an effort to read it. I believe that women will find it especially interesting but men will also find pertinent information for today's political climate within its pages. No amount of travel could impart the depth of understanding of this culture, and-by extension-similar cultures that this book does.

(Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the author of "This is the Place..." )

Kalpanik blends art, craft and wit into a narrative which teaches us lessons we did not know we know.

This book combines elements from good humor, a memoir, a scenic travelogue, a touching love story, science fiction and philosophy.

Whether you ever wondered about meaning of it all, or you want to read something light amusing, or want to see places like Seattle, San Diego, and Nashville from the eyes of the writer, or vicariously live the life of a
student at University of California, this book is for you!

The author, purportedly an Artificial Imagination computer program simulating a life/career journey through the Hi Tech and yet very scenic world of California and Washington (Settle) is witty still though down to earth and funny! The book is written in a very conversational style, as if you are reading a letter from a close friend!!

Great book, love it! It's hilarious! I could not stop giggling, I cracked up page after page. Really Nice!

And so many nice photographs. I felt I was traveling with the author, no, I was him, feeling his ambitions, his surprise, excitement and pain. And what a brave soul! He (yes, despite its claims to have been written by an AI program, this book is written by a loving, feeling, breathing human for sure!)--He is able to maintain his sense of humor even as he moves from one place to another, faces one set back after another! He always comes back!

Wow! What a story!!

This book transcends genres -- it's a good collection of memoirs, entertaining style, nice splash of humor, an extremely detailed travelogue with beautiful photographs, a good description of technology, a touch of Science Fiction (since it is purportedly written by a Artificial Imagination program) and suffused with philosophical musing and last but not the least, a moving love story.

Even though it's obviously written by a Technologist, the book is very human. It is primarily about the immigrant experience, but Kalpanik is extremely observant and has an eye to look for the unusual, notice what stands out and build humorous side of people, places and his own life.

Wonderful! I am specially moved by his bitter-sweet love story at the beginning.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R167JUBPRPS0DJ Entertaining and interesting!

Where the Money Is, is a collection of true stories featuring some of the most unusual and thought provoking crimes in what is described by the author as The Bank Robbery Capital of the World - Los Angelinos, the City of Angels.

Charting the rise of street gangs, hardcore villains, down and out debutantes, sheer opportunists, muscle-bound psychopaths, and brilliantly sophisticated tunnelers, Where The Money Is, is a breathtaking rocket trip of the world of bank robbery as seen through the eyes of the former head of the FBI Bank Robbery division, William Rehder.

A hugely entertaining, dynamite whirlwind speed ride, Where The Money is, is a fascinating insight into a world that, for the majority of us, is simply the subject of movies and TV. Written in a wonderfully accessible style with the vigour, sensitivity, and passion of a man whose life's mission has been to make the world a better place, Where the Money Is is totally and utterly enthralling right down to the mind blowing final chapter.

Non judgemental in his assessment of the motives for bank robbery, Rehder's masterpiece is a comprehensive and refreshingly objective take on a world of crime and for the first time I was disappointed that the author didn't go into more detail about himself (most of these types of books seem to be screaming "ME ME MEEEE, look how great I am and how I had to struggle!!! Not the case with Where The Money Is) but of course that's because he has the humility to recognise that the these stories are about a bigger picture than just one person. I would love to meet this man. Praise too, to Gordon Dillow.

It's clear that there's respect there for some of these people - perhaps the ones who ended up in the criminal world through unfortunate circumstances beyond their own control, but there's also a sense of duty that is from the heart of a true hero.

My one and only criticism was that once I'd read it I wanted more. If this book was 50 times as big, it still wouldn't be enough. William Rehder's Where The Money Is is amazing. I can't praise it enough, because I was blown away by it.

Outstanding. Truly one of the best true crime books I have ever read. I felt like I was sitting having a beer with the authors and they were talking to me as a friend and sharing an inside view on bank robbery in LA. Funny, with "cop talk" and a tremendous amount of insight into the characters involved - cops and criminals. Definitely tells you about the who,how, and why, and it is FASCINATING. I was riveted after just the first few pages and looked forward to every minute I could grab to read it. And just to make sure I didn't miss a thing, I'm going to open it back to the first page and start all over again. I really can't convey what a good book this is.... I highly recommend it.

A very entertaining read on several different bank robberies in the L.A. metro area. Rehder and Dillow have a very humorous and witty tone to their writing and it makes for a fast read.

A fascinating look into the minds of the robbers as well as the F.B.I. Agents and LAPD Officers who pursue and catch them. It is trite to say, but neither I nor my wife could put this down. Having lived in LA at the time of some of these cases, I found that this book was a great look behind the scenes and headlines of some of the most riveting true crime tales in that ever seedy and sorted town. Buy this book !

in our media-saturated audio-visual age when most shows are crime dramas or reality shows (there should be a law prohibiting some of those shows), it comes as a welcome relief to read this live-action real-life tale about one very good guy (natch, the FBI co-author), and many bad guys who rob banks. You can learn more from this anecdotal-laced memoir than a years's worth of law & order episodes. I felt that I got good education about how banks operate and foil thiefs. I got an equally good education on how the FBI tracks down their sticky finger prey. All the action takes place in L.A. which is the bank robbery capital of the world. You can take that to the bank...

So, I asked a sort of pen pal of mine who lives in Scotland what people there think of my country and she recommended I check out Xenophobe's. There happened to be one more specific based on geography though so I bought this one instead. Now my friend told me that, more or less, the US is far below her and her cohorts favorite country ... big surprise. That should have set the mood for what to expect when I got to finally read this book, however, I was expecting something a bit detailed and factual, perhaps even a few hundred pages thicker. My expectations set the stage for the disappointment I got after I read Xenophobe's.

Yes, it is written by a native californian who has traveled more extensively within this state than I have. No, he does not speak very highly of my/our homeland. Yes, it is what I should have expected to read after getting the recommendation from a girl who thinks along the same lines as the author of Xenophobe's - that is to say that Californians are, in fact, the stereotype that everybody thinks we are. In that respect the book succeeds.

Perhaps it is just me but throughout this book the author seemed to be focusing either far more than would be prudent on Los Angeles or succumbing to the average stereo-typical perception of what Californians are like. Almost during the entire course of reading it felt like he was writing about a land completely foreign to the one I know. To make it worst, there were constant contradictions. If that wasn't bad enough he used words like all, most, and entirely far to frequently, and, without giving near enough reasons for the readers to want to believe him.

A good book if you want to read what outsiders think of California.

A moderately okay book if you would like to read about the dramatized and overly publicized California.

A terrible book if you would like to read about what California is like for those Californians who aren't drug induced idiots, gang bangers, movie moguls and their disciples, or who just don't live in Los Angeles.

If this is what all of the Xenophobe books are like then I don't see much benefit in reading them. Good day sir!

This 60+ page guide to the Californians is a delight! A unique combination of witty, tongue-in-cheek comments and factual information about California culture, history and geography makes for a very enjoyable read. I highly recommend it to natives and foreigners alike!

I began reading this book on my lunch break at work -- laughing out loud from the start! After work, I read it while walking to my car and while stopped at traffic lights on the drive home. Now, if that isn't a ringing endorsement! I've been to the Golden State a few times and I can vouch that the author describes Californians to a "T". This is a witty and insightful book that will be enjoyed even if you have no plans to visit. It's a lot of fun, give it a read!

I am a Californian, and I loved this little book that is filled with fact and wit that had me laughing out loud. The character differences between the Northern and Southern Californians were hilarious. All of the stereotypes of the golden state were well illustrated. This is a great gift for every Californian, those who visit California, or anyone who would just like a few laughs.

Wow!! California has been analyzed and humorized in this delightful book that will keep you laughing from beginning to end. Mr. Marais doesn't miss a beat as he rattles off one quip after another about this culture of characters that even Hollywood couldn't dream up! From pampered pooches to personal growth weekends, from smog alerts to freeway traffic jams, California has set itself up for this author's hilarious take on the "sunshine state". Enjoy!!

This is a great source for Yosemite Big Walls. It provides valuable information including strategies, ratings with relative comparisons to other big wall routes, approaches, precise topos, optimum belays and bivy locations, pitch-linking possibilities, weather/seasonal factors, and descent routes. For those interested in Yosemite Big Wall history, there is a section devoted to the pioneers of Yosemite Big Wall climbing that is quite interesting. All in all, a great book for Yosemite's Big Walls. Thumbs up!!

Yosemite's best in painstaking detail -- a truly outstnading resource !

These topos are the best on the planet!

They are so detailed they allowed me to relive most of the hard or akward sections on the wall, occasionally even describing a single move. With the supertopos you can be ultimately prepared, as they include to what extent "clean routes" depend on fixed gear and what to bring if some of it rips out.

Real wall-rats/purists might feel that it removes some of the adventure, but then again you don't have to read everything and there is still plenty adventure left. Also the stories of the first ascents and histories of the climbs make it the ultimate guide, and even a good read.

Reading it got me so psyched up that I can hardly wait for my next "Big Wall" trip.

I can only hope that the other supertopos (e.g. free climbs) will be just as good.

This is hands down the best climbing guide I have ever purchased. Not only does McNamara replace the ambiguous beta from past books with straight-up ratings and tips, he also provides entertaining history and profiles to get you psyched. I also recommend "The Road to The Nose" book that Chris sells on his site ...

This book sets new standards for climbing guides. The production values are superb, and the information contained detailed and informative. If you're even thinking of climbing a big wall in Yosemite, buy this book. If you're a guidebook author, or thinking of becoming one, buy this and imitate it.

Fun romp featuring repo men (and women) of DKA as heroes versus gypsy clans. The king of American gypsies has died, and the clans from around the US are vying to have their leader be selected as the new king. To this end, they are stealing Cadillacs left and right in order to show up in the proper style at the big gathering where the new king will be selected. Lots of fun to be had as Gores skillfully describes scam after scam after scam, both by the gypsies and the repo men. Both groups are sympathetically portrayed for the most part, and the background detail about modern gypsy life is interesting in its own right.

This book is full of heroes on all sides as DKA agents and gypsies strive to outwit each other throughout a very funny story. 32 CADILLACS is the best entry in the entertaining DKA series.

This book explores the world of gypsies, scamps and thieves and the offbeat group of Private Investigators who pursue them.

Always planning the next con, theft or bunko, a band of gypsies in San Francisco pull off a perfect crime. Using four branches of the same bank, slick tactics and phone banks, a group of gypsies manages to steal 32 cadillacs, all in the same day.
Facing a million dollar loss, the bank hires DKA, a local PI firm, to recover the stolen cars. Tipped off that a gang of gypsies was responsible, the DKA operatives, or repomen, start a chase that follows the cars across the US. Using very unconventional methods this quirky band of PIs, who are rejects and misfits, must use their wiles to "outcon the cons."

What makes this story really outstanding is the background tale of the gypsy life, description of how the cons are done and the plotting of the PIs to get the cars back. There is lots of action too including breakneck chases and escapes, including one where a DKA agent must leap into a car while his rear is filled with buckshot.

My favorite character is Ken Warren, a repoman with such a severe speech impediment that he barely communicates. But with extraordinary skills in hunting down and absconding with cars that no one else can get, he earns the respect of his fellow DKA agents.

A fun ride which I highly recommend.

... I found it to be a nice treat.

It was an interestinglook at the workings of the repoman and an enlightning look at the gypsy lifestyle.

The members of the DKA agency were wonderfully drawn characters...very Runyon-esque. The gypsy characters could not have been more colorful. The plots and sidebars were neatly tied together.

There is a lot of humor mixed in with the crime, trackdowns, deceptions, double dealings and repo procedural. This would make a great movie. The action never stops and Mr. Gores does a great job of putting the reader inside the mind of the players.

"32 Cadillacs" was very entertaining and my initial Joe Gores book. I feel like I have discovered a new writer and look forward to more fun reads by Joe Gores.

Why Joe Gores isn't a better known author is a complete mystery to me. Ok, Ok, he's won 3 Edgar Awards and all, but still you don't hear his name mentioned too often when asking for recommendations. His DKA Files series are full of action, humour, cons and scams and in short are pure entertainment. Well, no matter, I've discovered him now and I'm here to tell you that the series, and 32 Cadillacs in particular, is one that's not to be missed.

For the first time, the DKA Agency is pitted in a head-to-head battle with San Francisco's Gypsy community following a Gypsy scam that had netted a grand total of 31 Cadillacs. This is a once-in-a-lifetime job, recover the 31 Caddys for a nicely negotiated fat fee. But the Gypsies are crafty specialists of the long con and are exceedingly difficult to track down, so the recovery process will require the DKA team to use every resource available as well as every underhanded trick in the book.

To give you a head start, I'll introduce you to the central DKA characters. They are, Dan Kearny, Giselle Marc, Patrick O'Bannon, Larry Ballard and Bart Heslip. And two new characters are added to the staff, Trin Morales, a sleazy Latino who failed on his own as a PI, and Ken Warren, the genius carhawk with a killer speech impediment. Both bring tremendous dimension and entertainment to the DKA team.

But the real stars of the book are the Gypsies, colourful in character as well as in their various ingenious scams. Although they're such big thieves that they'd make a kleptomaniac look like a saint, you can't help but like them and hope that every now and then they'll catch a break.

Joe Gores is an author who has walked the walk, having been an agent in the real life DKA Agency. His first-hand knowledge and experience is apparent as his agents work through their cases. Rumour has it that the Larry Ballard could very well be modelled on Gores himself.

As a final word, if there are any Donald Westlake fans out there who have read and enjoyed his Dortmunder book Drowned Hopes, I would urge you to read this one too with a brilliant crossover of storylines. This book was an absolute pleasure to read and, I know it's a much-overused catch phrase but I would term it a "must read book".