California Books

This is nature writing which deviates quietly and profoundly from the main American currents. In the 1940s, Sally Carrighar spent her summers in a cabin in Sequoia National Park. She distilled her observations into this exploration of the experiences of nine creature during a single day near the same granite cliff. The interlocking portraits are engaging and convincing. Carrighar keeps the inevitable anthropomorphization to a minimum. Her descriptions allow us to enter into the animals' sensations and impulses. A deer mouse "wanted the walls of the nook to press her all over, but however she crouched, one of her sides had no touch of shelter on it." A lizard is tempted by "a gamey, delicately tart green leafhopper." A chickaree giving an alarm call "jerked, as if he were a little bag filled to bursting with bright sound that piped out whenever the bag was jostled."

Unlike Thoreau and all his literary descendants, Carrighar does not focus on the spiritual reverberations of nature in the human soul, and she does not speak of herself. In his introduction to the California Legacy Book edition, David Rains Wallace highlights her "down-to-earth, impersonal" approach. Today's nature writers, perhaps influenced by postmodernism and multiculturalism's emphases on individual perspective, rarely attempt to enter the consciousness of other beings. Perhaps they avoid cuteness, projection, and presumption that way. They also miss a chance to help us realize that other creatures exist as hungrily as we do.

As a veteran reader of nature writing, I am embarrassed to say that I felt surprised when this book made me remember that the animals I glimpse and don't glimpse on the trail must have continuous, emotional and sensory lives. I felt like going outside to watch a bluejay for an hour. I felt that the jay wouldn't bore me and I might be able to figure out what the he was up to.

Carrighar didn't entice me with the promise of objective knowledge of a secret kingdom. Rather, she made me wonder if I could achieve a sense of home in that kingdom through intimate knowledge. Though she never describes her own process of observation, Carrighar offers herself as a teacher. With her clear, faithful gaze, she comes as close to joining the community of Beetle Rock as a human can.

I haven't finished reading this book because I don't want it to end. Each chapter takes you through the same day as the other chapters, only from the vantage point of a different animal. Most humans don't have a clue as to the life of any other species 24/7. The detail, the nuance, the empathy that Carrigher brings is stunning, without being anthropomorphic. I'm starting a book club based on this book.

Each chapter is about a day's adventure of one of the animals (Weasel, Sierra Grouse, Chickaree, Black Bear, Lizard, Coyote, Deer Mouse, Stellar Jay & Mule Deer) on the rock and surrounding forests and meadows. Sally Carrighar compresses her observations into one day and weaves a fine tale of the activities and imagined-thoughts of each animal.

This is one of my favorite books. Carrighar writes about the lives of nine animals during one day in Sequoia National Park, one chapter per animal. Each animal interacts with the world and fellow creatures in its own way, and each has its own problems and anxieties -- which creates dramatic interest. Carrighar anthropomorphizes her characters, but convincingly and unobtrusively -- how could you avoid it in a book of this type? The writing beautifully describes sounds, scents, the play of light on leaves, etc.

This book, written from the point of view of each of a series of animals living around Beetle Rock, follows the web of life and illustrates the beauty of the natural world. This is a book for anyone seeking to understand the natural world, and anyone who truly loves animals.

Here is a really great book!! I have read it sooo many times. If you enjoy THE PRINCESS, this book is a great selection to read. :-)

I especially like "Donovan's Daughter," the second book included in this compilation. "Sean Donovan" was also good, but I appreciated how Lori Wick developed Marcail's character in her book. These books provide a great conclusion to "The Californians" series.

Lori Wick has created a great series here! I bought these books in her "California" series, back when they were first released, and still read them to this day (ocassionally). She wrote such wonderful characters, that I can't help liking them, and wanting to re-visit their stories, over and over!

The first book, "Whatever Tomorrow Brings," about Kaitlin, and the last book, "Donovan's Daughter," about Marcail are my favorites. Well-written and interesting, these books are definitely worth the read! Please be aware that you can buy the four books seperately, or in two volumes.

Both of the books that are contained in this work are very good. However, you must realize that this is simply a compilation of two earlier works.

Lori Wick has done it again. Another one of her great books where the characters come alive and the gospel is clearly represented. This is why she is one of my favorite authors. Lori, please keep them coming.

After 10 years, I bought the book. I visited the exhibition of the paintings in Rotterdam (Netherlands) back in '97 and was pleasantly shocked by this project and the results. The book was out of stock then, but the surprising results kept haunting my head for a decade. Now I finally have the book and it still makes me laugh.

Although the whole project has an entertaining dosis of irony, it can be a guide in understanding art and demographics - oh well, it can even help you design for the masses !

Lastly, I think every Dutch designer should buy this book or maybe it should be governmentally issued to every Dutch citizen. Why ? Just look at the very last pages of the book. I understood that the "Holland" results came in too late to be submitted to the edited content of the book. But fortunately Komar and Melamid decided that this outcome deserved a very special place, like a well kept secret that defies the other 200 pages...

I'm proud to be Dutch !

Are our senses previously designed conditioned respect our artistic tastes? , or better still is there a source of genetic origin that really predisposes us before the artistic fact ?.

The question looks so absorbing that really invites to rethink and restate ourselves several premises; the environmental conditions, for instance, must be determinant. Think about in the fact the nest of three of the most important religions (Christian, Jew and Mussulman) were founded in dessert (maybe you think it was a mere casualty, but i really don't) while the Protestant movement and Lutheranism arouse from places in which the four seasons completed its cycle naturally. This circumstance surely made propitious conditions for a major discussion of ideas, keeping in mind if you were not agree you might migrate (an unthinkable possibility in a desert).

This is the final outcome of a series of interviews in several countries about what the people wants to see in their pictures. According Melamid the uniformity of the results suggests a genetic trace. "In every country the favorite color is blue and in almost everywhere the green occupies the second place. In everywhere they wanted outdoor scenes with wild animals, water, trees and some people."

So, on the basis of this invaluable observation, they depicted the most requested image in every country.

That is why this book is so worthy to read, because it states us a plausible chance to other questions. Don't miss it.

This is one of the coolest art books I've seen, Komar and Melamid are geniuses! The whole idea art designed to please isn't that new but the idea using polls and statistics is. By using a random survey from several countries ( THe USA France China Kenya Russia Ukraine ect) they create each countries most and least wanted painting and take you through a wonderful romp discussing what art and expression and stuff are really all about. I gave this sucker out as X-mas presents! I can't reccommend it highly enough. Buy everything by Komar and Melamid...even their souls.... they did a thing in Moscow where they auctioned off their souls.

If you ever get a chance to see their 'Nostalgia' series of paintings, it's a hoot. Sort of satires of Soviet/Stalinist paintings, very good. THey also did a series of NYC as ruins in the jungle....

It's hard to express how fantastic this book really is in a review. Komar and Melamid's paintings, which threatened, for a time, to turn the art world on its ear, are supreme farces on what statistics can tell us. Obviously the principle is consiously flawed. The artist's interpretation of the statistical data is largely abstracted, but the paintings themselves are superb and outragiously funny takes on national culture. The question of the book is "What do people want in their art?" It isn't likely that you'll find a more interesting, fascinating, and entertaining answer than "Painting by Numbers."

This book will get anyone thinking about what qualifies as "art". Have you ever gone to a modern art museum or picked up a modern art magazine and wondered "how can anyone call that art?" Well this book will get you thinking about questions like that. Using scientific polling methods 2 Russian immigrants canvased the U.S. to find out what the average American considers art.

The results are exactly the kind of works most working modern artists or their patrons would be dismayed over. Get this book. It is a fascinating and entertaining read. One interesting note from the book - the editor of The Nation said that when they published the results of this poll it drew an avalanche of reader mail. It generated the largest reader response of anything they'd published in the history of that magazine to date. Several newspapers interviewed owners of prominant NYC art galleries as well as some prominant artists. All of them were horified by the results of this poll. One commentator sniffed the poll just proves Americans are boors when it comes to art - prefering only the safest, most banal subjects. What is interesting is that the book shows the results of this poll were duplicated in many other countries around the globe. Countries as diverse as Kenya and Iceland showed their own polls duplicated the preferences of the average American - i.e. a liking for landscapes with peaceful blue skies.

The book reproduces in full the entire questionaire used by the polling company along with an interview with Momar and Kelamid. The two Russians also gained notoriety by creating pictures of each countries most-preferred and least-preferred paintings. Each painting had the canvas divied up to match the percentages shown in the poll that respondents wanted (or didn't want in the case of the 'Least Preferred' paintings). Thus if the poll showed 65% preferred landscapes with a blue sky then 65% of the painting surface had a blue sky.

Interviews as well as commentary on the nature of art and what this might mean also fill the book. There is even a chapter by one of my favorite modern-day philosophers - Arthur C. Danto (I have several of his books). He asks the question "Can It Be The 'Most Wanted Painting' Even if Nobody Wants It?"

The results in this book lead to many questions. Not the least of these is 'what is art?' and 'what does this say about human nature?'. One article from the Jan/Feb 2002 issue of American Spectator illustrates this problem very well. It seems a few months ago a very famous photographer was holding a one-man exhibit at a London gallery. He is quite famous for the nauseating and offensive subject matter of his work. That night he gathered together the cigarrette butts, empty paper cups, and other assorted trash from the opening-night party and "artfully" arranged it in a pile in a corner and took a picture of it. The pile was promptly announced by a London art-critic to be worth at least 5K (in pounds). Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell the janitor that night that the pile was art, not trash. So you can guess the ending of this story.

I recount this to make a point. That is, this book will shed some light on why so many people have trouble - even the U.S. Supreme Court - on saying exactly what Art is. Get this book. It is fun and fascinating look into not only the tastes in art around the world but also a window into the science of polls and polling.

Susan Hall's Painting Point Reyes offers a lyrical gallery of rural landscapes wrought with the refined sensibility of an artist who cherishes her birthplace. Ms. Hall's selection of the spacious natural environment for her subject matter - California's stunning Point Reyes National Seashore - is as important as what she leaves out: all the peripheral contemporary distractions of billboards, crowds and cars. By haunting us with the universal through richly layered minimalist compositions often depicted under the diffuse light of night, she offers a spare and precious moment of touching the lagoons and pools, the hillsides and meadows she calls home.

The paintings are haunting and immediately transported me into a place from where I was able to see Pt Reyes spritually rather than literally. Susan's perspective of Pt. Reyes is unusual and soothing. Whether you know Pt Reyes or not, this is an opportunity to get intimate with one of America's greatest artists and look through her eyes at how she describes her place of childhood. Some of the paintings in this book are from private collections, so it was a treat for me to have in my living room, earlier work by Susan Hall, which is otherwise impossible to see, let alone own.

Painting Point Reyes is a real treasure. The collection of beautiful prints of Susan Hall's paintings provide an unparalleled look into the landscapes of Point Reyes through the paint brush of a native and outstanding artist. Her rich paintings are filled with emotion and capture a perspective of Point Reyes that one cannot see with the naked eye. This book resides on my coffee table and is hardly ever closed, people are drawn to it, and thus it is a perfect gift, both for those who know and love Point Reyes as well as those who simply enjoy fabulous art.

As "aum" captures the sound of the universe, as Georgia O'Keefe captures the vibration of a flower, Susan Hall's landscape paintings capture the very "prana" of the land in West Marin County in Northern California. The paintings of rolling green and golden hills, a watery marsh, a farmhouse nestled in the fold of a hill transport the viewer to what is transcendent in the landscape. Susan expresses a deeper essence of the land and water than could ever be subject to words. Her renditions of light, reflection, atmosphere and water are positively multisensory - I feel the density of the air, the moisture that lingers above the pond, I smell the dry sharpness of the grasses. Best of all, she leaves space for the viewer's feelings and projections while nonetheless managing to quietly and subtly uplift and inspire. Look for the joy in the brushstroke, the subtle whimsy in the color, the power in her earth.

The introductory sections are worth reading, locating Hall's body of work in the history of landscape painting (which I suspect will be significant!), in the local geography and geology, in her own personal history/memories there, and.as a commentary on human use of the land and water in the Point Reyes area. From these, the reader gets the sense of the largesse and intelligence and relevance of Hall's landscapes, yet it should be noted that the majority of paintings, modestly titled "Rocks and Sea," "The Beach," "Full Moon," are already in people's collections. A great American painter who obviously speaks to the souls of her audience.

I return to this compilation over and over, to rest, recalibrate and inspire my psyche. In addition to people who appreciate fine art, it is also appropriate for people in psychology, deep ecology, nature enthusiasts, those who live and work in the outdoors, and those in the meditative arts. I gave it to a writer to evoke his cherished spaces in Northern California.

Susan Hall's paintings of Point Reyes, part of the Point Reyes National Seashore, are sublime meditations on a very special landscape. And although the book is a tribute to this idyllic area, her paintings go beyond any physical setting. As I looked through the book I realized that I was turning the pages more slowly at each color plate. The simplicity of the format, the beauty and richness of the colors (which is too often the disappointment in reproductions) and the images themselves captured me and I was reluctant to go quickly. This is a successful representation of both the spirit and the amazing skill of Ms. Hall's work. I highly recommend it.

Mathews weaves the histroy of the California initiative process with the rise of Arnold. It's not a page turner, but it's fun to read about the personalities and quirks of the political "leaders" in California.

THE PEOPLE'S MACHINE: ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER AND THE RISE OF BLOCKBUSTER DEMOCRACY could have been featured in our Politics section but is reviewed here for its far-reaching interest to general biography readers as well. Author Joe Mathews is the reporter who covered Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times, so he's well steeped in the background of a famous actor who became the governor of the nation's largest state. But this covers more than his rise to power: it surveys his political struggles within the system and the new type of system he made from his celebrity image and contacts. An excellent blend of in-depth analysis and biographical information results.

When a Holywood icon merges with California style democracy, something new emerges - a governorship with the people instead of for the people. Joe Mathews offers a fascinating review of a learning process by one of the globes most prominent actorts, Arnold Schwarzenegger. This extremly well-written book is less a reference to Schwarzeneggers movies than an account of what it needs to become a leader beyond tv-ads, polling tests and confrontative politics. Direct Democracy looks like becoming the next big thing - not only in America's most populous state.

This book is a fascinating look at a different type of politician. Far from being simply a movie star now "playing" Governor, Mathews' book demonstrates that Schwarzenegger gets involved in the details of public policy to an extent much greater than one would expect. It also is apparent that Schwarzenneger is actually interested in trying to solve some of the state's long term problems, rather than simply staking out positions for political advantage. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand recent California political history (assuming it can be understood!)

I won't spend a lot of space going over the same ground as the two capsule reviews, but suffice to say that Los Angeles Times writer Joe Mathews has done an extraordinary job examining Schwarzenegger and how he came to be governor of California, in terms of both the man's strengths and weaknesses. While making the typical mistakes one expects of someone "new" to California politics (though he met Howard Jarvis and closely followed the machinations involved with Prop 13 many years earlier in the late 1970s), Schwarzenegger comes off smarter than one might expect.

Mathews' paralleling Arnold's business accumen and showmanship and to Hiram Johnson's much earlier version of direct democracy makes for a fascinating (and I agree page turning) read on the Governator, a Republican by party affiliation, but hardly in lock step with the GOP leadership.

Joe Mathews has managed to keep whatever personal feelings he has about Schwarzenegger in a file drawer somewhere, and takes an honest look the campaign and beyond with wit, vigor and good old-fashioned in-depth investigative coverage. In the end, whatever popularity Schwarzenegger maintains with California voters has been earned through trial and error, and hard work, as has everything he's attained all his life.

Foodies and feminists alike should read this book. As part of the Modern Food Library reprints, chosen by Ruth Reichl (who is known for her good taste and her own laudable literary contributions - "Tender at the Bone" and "Comfort Me with Apples"), "Perfection Salad" describes all the elements present at the turn of the century that combined to forever change the way Americans view food. Food, its preparation and presentation became a female obsession in an time where the kitchen was really the only arena in which a woman could rule. The female nutritionists and cooks from that era seemed bent upon exerting control on SOMETHING, and that something turned out to be food - with sometimes terrible consequences. After reading "Perfection Salad", I understood the recipes that my grandmother (born in 1898) and my mother after her learned and served. Don't be frightened by the scholarly look of "Perfection Salad" - there are hilarious nuggets in the text - like color-themed menus (everything green and white, for example), putting everything into gelatin for the sake of "daintiness" (no messy lettuce leaves hanging out of your mouth) and covering absolutely anything and everything with "white sauce". For more laughs, peruse "The Gallery of Regrettable Food" by James Lileks in which he has gathered some of the most revolting-looking photos of the consequences of "Perfection Salad".

This is a "must read" for anyone who fancies themself a chef, professional or home-cook. The writing is fluid and interesting, laid out in a comprehensible and sensible manner, and quite the scholarly document. Even those not intersted in cooking, but enjoy great nostalgia and history will love this book. Highly recommended as a gift where appropriate interest exists.

the late 19th century movement for scientific household management is an almost unbelievable amalgam of middle-class protestant social standards and religious impulses, intellectural curiosity and discipline, political thought (compare it with leninism--everything the same for everyone all the time, and the middle class knows better than the proletariat), and naivete. while having less influence on its time than its proponents would acknowledge (even when reporting its failure), the movement led, through corporate exploitation and perversion, to many of the problems with eating, cooking, and "food production" in america today. it also led to many improvements we take completely for granted.

the author seems to be unaware that there was a comparable movement in britain. my british mother could remember horrific results from the school recipes she was forced to produce (one stew was so bad her friend's dogs refused it) and the british government published many educational pamphlets about "proper" methods of cooking, to the same indifference or resentment that met the domestic scientists' efforts.

i was a bit disappointed that the author did not pursue the links to the Transcendental Movement, though she did mention the connection with american protestentism. of course, the attitude of the 19th century cooks (and twentieth century nutritionists) has a long history: a Classical philospher (i'm too lazy to look up his name) wrote: "a man should eat to live, not live to eat" before the christian era. the author does discuss some of the social attitudes towards women and physical pleasure and how the ideal of a woman's being without appetite encouraged the domestic scientists to ignore the actual food in the cooking process.

while there is much to amuse in the domestic scientists' efforts and belief (and horrify--did anyone actually eat this way?), and while the author does acknowledge the dire state of production with reference to, for instance, the stock yards, i don't think she understands the appeal of predictable levening (how many of us want to make baking powder from wood ash?) preditable results (my british mother adored measuring cups and spoons--as a very short woman, she couldn't use the "two handsful of flour" recipes her family used and), and flour and sugar that are actually flour and sugar (the colonial housewife was warned by one contemporary author to make sure the sugar she bought in loaf form [and had to pulverize by hand] was not plaster of paris). the fact that 20th century corporations, especially after the second world war, {influended} their ideals into food which has caloric content without nutrition or taste should not detract from the real benefits the movement bestowed in its heyday.

this is an enjoyable popular history. i wish there had been more analysis of the movement's origins. the book's main strengths are its demonstration of how the movement's ideals were subsumed by industry and the analysis of the attitudes of the movement's founders.

the worst part is the description of the baked bean and celery "salad"--with dressing and whipped cream. that will live in my nightmares for years. and years.

This highly readable, beautifully researched book provides a fascinating look into American "cuisine" circa 1850-1920. The Boston Cooking School and other institutions promoted Americanization through cooking conducted on scientific principles, although immigrants proved reluctant to give up their "coarse and unsavory" meals for triumphs of digestibility such as the following, served to President Wilson on his first day in office: "cream of celery soup, fish with white sauce, roast capon with two white vegetables, a fruit salad,and a dessert made with gelatin, custard, and whipped cream"(212). Other triumphs included a salad made of bananas and pimentos bound together with mayonnaise and whipped cream and, later, grapefruit pieces mixed with dessert mints. Often funny and always interesting, this book
also helps readers to understand the convenience food mania of the 1950s.

I found Perfection Salad in a used bookstore in Manhattan ten or twelve years ago. I read it, was fascinated and stirred by its tale of the psychological manipulation of women - particularly, the women who were new immigrants to America at the turn of the century. I loaned the book to someone who never returned it, and have been quoting it -- and longing to re-read it -- ever since. I have just re-ordered the "back in print" edition...Here is what is important about this book: it details an overlooked, but critical, thread in the fabric of family and community life -- a thread that was quietly pulled until the greater tapestry unraveled.

I think this is absolutely brilliant. The author has rewritten classics of literature like The Book of Genesis and Moby Dick, along with Beatles lyrics and other stuff, using text from actual vanity license plates registered at the California DMV. The covers of the book are metal and look like license plates. Among the highlights are versions of Kafka's "Metamorphosis" (Bug Dude) and "Oedipus Rex" (O Eddy the King).

This is simultaneously good silly fun, iconoclastic mockery of the canon of western culture, a celebration of California car culture, and very pointed social criticism of California (esp. southern Cali). Anybody who has spent any amount of time here will appreciate it. It will particularly appeal to people who have been transplanted here from other places, and have had to adjust to the local idiosyncrasies. I have given copies of this book as souvenirs to visitors.

Why this is out of print is beyond me. This book is a CLASSIC!

PL8SPK ("Platespeak") is an amazing book, a wonder of a book, a book that looks at vanity license plates and sees, quite literally, poetry in motion.

Nussbaum re-tells tales, from "Genesis" to "I Love Lucy", using only authentic vanity license plates from California -- and using each plate only once per story. Clearly here's a man with too much time on his hands, but oh! the use to which he puts it. Kafka's "Metamorphisis," "The Picture of Dorian Gray," and even "E.T." come to life in a vivid new way in Nussbaum's delightfully twisted mind.

If you delight at all in word play, snatch up a copy of "PL8SPK", decipher it, and share it with your friends.

The metal-cover edition is beautifully crafted and a fantastic gift, if you can find one. [I wish I had bought 10 copies at the time.] The thought that went into writing and manufacturing this book was well worth the effort. A telling tale of language and communication on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

This book is clever, funny and wise, an charmingly oblique and literary look at American car culture. It should always be available to be given as a gift to word lovers everywhere.

I went to Florida with a friend. We stayed at her Grandmother's. I got to sleep on the couch. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep that first night. There, sitting on the coffee table was a copy of this book (which had the most original cover, that I've ever seen). Once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. It was so cleverly written, that it was the highlight of my trip (Disney was cool too, though). Ever since, I've been trying to locate a copy for myself (that was over 5 years ago). This book must be re-issued, and given the marketing it deserves!!

If you are looking for a specific nature book (on the flora (plants) of the Lake Tahoe (California) area, this is an excellent choice.

WHile there are a number of flower books for the Sierra available, I found this one particularly useful because the plants are arranged by family so you can learn how to identify plants that are not in the range covered by the book. THe introductory section was also really informative and interesting.

Without a doubt, this is the best plant or flower book I have ever read. The author clearly knows Tahoe Basin vegetation and natural history like nobody else. The key is masterful in its simplicity, the pictures spectacular and the text brilliantly concise (and sometimes witty!). You can leave your tent, cell phone and coffee mug behind, but you must not forget Mr. Graf's book when going to Tahoe.

Weekends in Tahoe are tons better with this book in tow. It is way cool to know the names of the gorgy plants and flowers with whom you are sharing your away-from-work time. I especially like being able to answer my two-year-old's question, "What's dat one momma," as he begins to take an interest in the names of the plant life surrounding him. A great gift for parents of children who go to Tahoe from time to time...or for anyone still young at heart/inquisitive enough to want to know more about Tahoe vegetation.

I just took this book with me on a trip in the Sierra and found it very useful, informative, easy to use, and complete. The 60 page introductory section, which covers the natural history of the area and plant taxonomy, was very interesting and informative. The photographs are beautiful as well.

Writer Rob Campbell gives us a personal look at the important place in our lives that our cars occupy. Who doesn't think back to the car we drove in high school, what car our first boyfriend took us to the prom in, what car we bought after getting that first great job; we choose cars as an expression of ourselves as much as the clothes we choose or the foods we eat. The writer's examination of the connection between self and self-expression are fascinating, and all too true.

For the non-car obsessed a facinating, introspective journey. For those who's cars are a bodily extension, a must-read. The first chapter, 'Sun, Fun, Stay, Play' really captures all the searing pain of growing up in Bakersfield, inside and outside of your cruising car.

A lovely book that does a satisfying job of blurring the lines between memoir, journalism, and quirky meditation. Expresses the ineluctable emotion we all feel for our cars, past and present that we sometimes mistake for materialism.

As a reader who is obsessed with books, orchids, and technology -- it is not hard to imagine how one can be obsessed about cars. In fact, at a younger age I would have categorized myself as such, until I read this book. Now I know what it really means to be "obsessed!"

Campbell uses these essays to enlighten, tease, rant and mostly entertain. It is a thoroughly American journey that runs the spectrum from Angst to Zen. Highly recommended.

I am not a big reader, so the agent of this book told me to start with a brief section on page 134 (called "Breakdown #2). I was blown away. Campbell, the author, is HIV-positive, but totally enlightened and enlightening. He's hilarious, but also warm and honest and accepting. MUST READ for anyone HIV-pos or anyone who knows anyone HIV-pos.

An interesting read that entertains while it teaches, this environmental history of Israel is worthwhile for political junkies, environmental advocates as well as those interested in Israel and the Mideast.

I recently completed a university research paper on air pollution in Israel and found this book to be an important source. The closest copy of this book was hundreds of miles away. The book was purchased and used for the paperand then donated to the university library. I found this book to be the ultimate source for information on the topic.

Pollution in a Promised Land is a masterpiece of research and compilation written by the one Israeli who probably is as responsible as anyone in the country for moving the nascent Israeli environmental movement into the 21st century. If it is not already Pollution in a Promised Land is surely bound to become the text of choice for anyone interested in the development of the Israeli environmental movement in response to the environmental challenges faced by Israelis. Alon Tal has captured it all and told a very interesting story.

This is an engaging book describing the economic and institutional development of the Holy Land from the time of the Turks, through the British Mandate period, to the present day. Despite the heft of this volume, the book is a very enjoyable read, and provides a fascinating perspective on the development of the institutions of the State of Israel, the priorities of the naescent state that led to environmental degredation, and the individuals, public interest groups, and government institutions that have tried and often succeeded to stem the tide.
The author, as a founding member of Israel's premier environmental legal advocacy group, has a unique, often first hand view of many of the recent events.

It's really refreshing to read something about Israel that isn't focused, yet again, on the Arab-Israel conflict, but on an entirely different universe of challenges. If you like history that relies on interesting anecdotes then you'll really like this book.

Oren Rosenthal
Newton, MA