Pacific Books

The SURVIVAL! books shine. The story is so vivid you can experience what the characters are experiencing and you can feel the unearthly fear of succumbing to the violent forces of nature. Book #5 is really good! Adventure buffs, check it out. I'll warn you, though--the father's an idiot!

Will and Jess Brantcourt, their two younger brothers, and their mother and father are travelling west to California to find gold in 1849. Will and Jess resent their father uprooting them from their home and making them travelling across half a continent chasing his dreams. Mr. Brantcourt decides they will take a shortcut, but it takes them through the burning desert of Death Valley. Separated from the rest of their wagon train, their covered wagon with a broken axle, and with Pa seriously injured, Will and Jess must set off into the desert to find help for their family before its too late.

I recommend this book to any one who likes excitement or good adventure. It's very exciting because you don't know if Will or Jess will find water or food. It has a lot of adventure because Will and Jess have to travel through sand storms, quick sand, and desert. When Will and Jess go through the sand storm they have to take shelter in an abandoned cave. It's a very tight space and it's hard for them to breathe. They have to go without meat for days before they find a weak ox, which they then cook over an open fire. I like the characters in the book because they are very independent and different. Will shows his self-sufficiency when he tries to go ahead to look for the rest of his party in the valley. In conclusion, if you like good adventure and great excitement, this is the book for you.

Twelve-year-olds Will and Jess Brantcourt are a twin brother and sister travelling west with their family to California in 1849. Because of their father's stubborness, the Brantcourts end up being separated in the desert from the rest of the wagon train. Now their wagon has broken down and their father is seriously ill, and the family is unable to continue. Now Will and Jess are the only ones that can save their family from death. So the determined twins set off across the desolate, dry, and unforgiving deserts of Death Valley. The valley threatens to live up to its name every moment of Will and Jess's desperate journey to find help as they encounter heat, thirst, hunger, and dangerous creatures. But they're determined to carry on and not give up, because their family is counting on them. This was another great book in the Survival series. I highly reccomend it if you like historical or survival stories.

Death Valley was another great book in the Survival! series by Kathleen Duey and Karen A. Bale. This book was about a brother and sister, Will and Jess Brantcourt. Mr. Brantcourt has decided the family will go west to search for gold in California, even though no one else in the family wants to go. Then he decides they will take a shotcut that will supposedly get them to California faster - one that goes through the cruel, unrelentingly hot desert of Death Valley. Then Pa gets sick from an injury, and the Brantcourts' wagon breaks an axle. Now, it's up to Will and Jess to go find help for their stranded family - for they are the only hope the Brantcourts have left. But can they survive in the desert with only scant food and water, and get help for their family before it's too late? Read this exciting book to find out!

For those of us who live in tourist towns and see how the incredible number of visitors changes them, this is the book! It looks at a large number of places -- from Santa Fe to Maui, from Las Vegas to Aspen -- and shows in great detail how they change. It reads well too, on a par with better known authors like Robert D. Kaplan and Tim Egan. I heard the author speak here in town--I guess he lives here-- and it made me buy the book. I came away extremely impressed. This is not my usual reading. I'm more a John Grisham type. But this one rang bells for me. After I read this book, I was in Thailand on business and I found myself using Devil's Bargains as a lens for what I was seeing. The comparisons were striking and I wondered if this book might apply to more than the West. Well written and snappy, showing a lot of research, this one is a real winner, especially for anyone in city planning or tourist development.

For discerning travelers planning a western vacation this summer, or for that matter, for anyone curious about the popular allure of the West, Hal K. Rothman's "Devil's Bargains" is a must read. Rothman, a professor of western and environmental history at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, provides a richly detailed assessment and critique of the development of tourism as it has evolved from the late nineteenth century to the present in the inter-mountain West. Synthesizing the existing scholarship on tourism, enhanced by wide ranging primary research, Rothman reveals a fascinating, yet disturbing, underside to the glitz and glamour of the tourist economies firmly established in western resort towns from Santa Fe to Las Vegas.

"Devil's Bargains" presents a series of provocative histories recounting the development of resort towns and tourist sites across the inter-mountain West including the Grand Canyon, Santa Fe, Carlsbad Caverns, Steamboat Springs, Aspen, Vail, Sun Valley, and Las Vegas, among others. The book also codifies the history of tourism under a new interpretative framework which divides the development of tourism into three phases: cultural and heritage tourism, recreational tourism, and entertainment tourism. Beginning at the turn of the century with cultural and heritage tourism spawned by the transcontinental railroads seeking to expand passenger traffic, tourism evolved into recreational tourism made possible by the automobile and a growing fascination with exercise and the outdoors in the aftermath of World War I, and culminated after World War II with entertainment tourism dependent on the Jet airplane and the dramatic expansion of widespread prosperity, a leisure ethic, and a pervasive consumer culture. Rothman focuses on the Grand Canyon and Santa Fe to illustrate cultural and heritage tourism; various western ski resorts define recreational tourism; and Las Vegas embodies entertainment tourism. These three phases of tourist development reflect the historical transformation of tourism from an elite pastime to a more individualized, democratic experience, to a mass culture phenomena. They also reveal a process of economic development, reflecting the evolving strategies adopted by western communities to replace tapped out extractive economies.

Defining tourism as the quintessential service economy, the pinnacle of post-industrial capitalism, Rothman argues that the promises of tourist industries have been embraced as a panacea for economic decline in towns throughout the West. However, as his research reveals, locals and even "neonatives" have found tourism to be a bitter pill to swallow. Although the advent of tourist economies in places such as Jackson Hole, Steamboat Springs, and Sun Valley has resulted in phenomenal economic growth, prosperity has come with a price. As the book's title suggests, in the process of reviving the economy, tourism displaces locals with outside capital and corporate control, sapping a place of its soul, and leaving in its stead a facade of hollow images and a service economy manipulated by distant corporations whose only interest is the bottom line. What has emerged in places like Vail and Santa Fe is a two-tiered class system where workers who are predominantly people of color (Hispanic, African, or Filipino) hold low-paying, menial jobs providing for the comfort and amusement of wealthy second home owners and visitors. There is little room for an established community of year-round residents when the bottom line centers on the paying visitor. Las Vegas is the exception. In defining itself as the ultimate themed destination resort constantly reinventing itself to satisfy visitors' desires, Las Vegas remains one of the last places where unskilled workers can earn a middle-class income replete with benefits and job security. Las Vegas alone, according to Rothman, has succeeded at perfecting the service economy, becoming a model of sorts for the rest of the country. "The colony became the colonizer," he writes, exporting a model of entertainment tourism for a nation entranced by the spectacles of multi-media consumer culture.

In detailing the ways in which western communities reinvented themselves as tourist resorts, marketing an idealized western ambiance and a scripted history, and in the process losing control of the very community they sought to promote and preserve, Rothman provides a rich assessment of the social and political impact of tourist-based economies as they evolved from local ventures to corporate productions. But more than that, he presents a thoughtful and disturbing critique of the promises and realities of post-industrial, post modern capitalism as manifested in the twentieth-century tourist's West.

Marguerite S. Shaffer, Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina, Wilmington

I read the book as part of a course I took, and I found the book to be too long, and somewhat dry. However, Dr. Rothman, a UNLV history professor, does make a very clear point: that tourists towns or places are dealt a "devil's bargain" in which they lose the authenticity of the place for the funds or profit that is brought in by tourists.

Overall, Dr. ROthman does drive his point home. But the same point is made in 20 different ways.

At once extremely learned and passionately engaged, DEVIL'S BARGAINS puts forward a startling analysis of Western tourism. From Rothman we learn about skiing and much else: the economic and historical forces shaping our sense of place, our connections to nature, and our troubled relationships to one another. A travel book of another sort, it takes the reader to a vantage point from which our Western landscapes can be seen most clearly.

I was born into the park service and lived the tourist experience. This book really helped me form a perspective about my early years growing up in western tourist and resort environments. Western history is fascinating, but this angle on western history really gives another intriguing dimension to america's perception of the mythic frontier.

Robert Macomber's book A Different Kind of Honor is historically accurate and the kind of book you just don't want to put down. With every chapter, Macomber kept impressing me with the rich and accurate details of this historical novel and with an entertaining, plot-twisting narrative that kept me wondering what would happen next. Three cheers for Robert Macomber and his books!

The last half of the 19th century seemed to me to be a very weak period for a history of the US Navy. Leave out John Paul Jones, the Barbary pirates and the Confederate Navy advances and I thought the US Navy slumbered for most of the 19th century. HOWEVER, Macomber has managed very well to bring the US Navy to the world stage. The series has advanced quite spritely with "A Different Kind of Honor" being the best of the series so far. Remembering the fights between the diesel admirals and the nuclear admirals, I can well identify with the fight of the sail admirals and the Congressional penury versus the diesel admirals for a modern navy. I look forward to the next in the series.

This latest in the adventurer series by Robert Macomber conntinues the saga of a post civil war naval officer as he represents the USA in the naval wars of western South America in the 1870s. Enough adventure for any of us while set in a valid historical setting.

Macomber has out done himself. This is the best of all the novels I could not put it down. The only problem with Robert Macomber novels are you have to wait for the next one to come out. Outstanding author holds your interest from beginning to end. Hurry up with the next adventure.

It is hard to believe that Macomber's books keep getting better, but they do! In this, the sixth novel of the series, Our LtCmdr Peter Wake has experienced the political pitfalls of Washington, the dangerous jungles of Panama, and a protracted war in the eastern Pacific, where he is officialy a neutral observer. His neutrality becomes almost impossible to maintain as the war between Chili, Bolivia, and Peru, loses its last chance for peace. Back in Washington his home life has also taken a turn for the worse. This book is impossible to put down.

The only improvement that could be made is the coupons in the back of the book could have expiration dates a little later in the following year. I purchased this book in January of 2000 for a trip in Febuary and the coupons touted as saving up to $1000 expired in December of 1999. Other than that the book is very eazy to understand and will be very useful in our upcoming trip.

We used this book on our trip and saved *much* more than the cost of the book by using the coupons inside.

This is the best guide I have come across for Walt Disney World and the Orlando area. I had purchased several different books in 1999 when we took our first trip. I am purchasing this book again for our upcoming trip. Each park and it's attractions are covered in detail with helpful Power Trip info that helps make the most of your time. In addtion there are several other Orlando attractions that are covered in this book with detail covering Universal's parks and Sea World.

The book also reviews many hotels including Disney's, critiquing each in detail. Includes pricing and some of the ameneties, tips on the best times to travel to Orlando in relation to crowds, weather, and how to negotiate the best packages and pricing.

The candidness of the author and reviewers of the parks contained within this book are remarkable and really helped us plan our trip using our limited time to the best of our advantage.

I highly recommend this book as one to use to plan your Orlando vacation.

I think this book is great for fun family vacations. I have used it myself. My family had the best time. We knew where everything was and how to find it. This guide is easy to read and gives great directions. It shows maps great detailed maps of anywhere you want to go. Buy this book. Your family and you will have the best time!

We used this book on our vacation and saved *much* more than the cost of the book by using the great coupons inside.

Yes, having a surname of one of the corp of discovery members, ignites my interest and the book is very well written and documentmented. Delivery was timely. Thank you.
A.G. Potts.

Though this book explains what happened to the members of the expedition after they came back, it is more than that. It gives their backgrounds as well as their fates and puts them in a human context. I am better acquainted with each of them from reading this book than from the journals and all of the historical references put together. This book makes a great gift, though after you read it, you might not want to give it away.

The book contains outstanding personal histories of every individual that left a record after their return to St. Louis. Some of the amazing men include John Colter who left the corps on the return leg after three years with Lewis and Clark to turn back northwest with a small group of trappers. Like George Drouilliard, Colter spends time in the remote country in constant danger from the powerful Blackfeet. Although only one man died on the Lewis and Clark expedition, many of the men that return meet death at the hands of the Indians or natural diseases of that era. George Shannon, loses a leg in a second trip north and becomes quite successful, some like Nathaniel Pryor virtually live with the Indians (Osage) and a few live a very long life like Patrick Gass. Their lives intersect such famous mountain men such as Jedediah Smith, Hugh Glass, young Jim Bridger and the controversial Edward Rose. The author has done phenomenal research that documents all the Corps participants including the death of Sacagawea, although there is some controversy noted in the Appendix. Her husband Charbonneau lives a long life that is quite useful, in spite of Lewis' opinion, for others plying the Missouri. Of course Clark's life is well documented and known but Clark did a wonderful job keeping up with the survivors actually maintaining a log on all participants up through the late 1820's. Of course, there is a lengthy chapter on the mysterious death of Lewis on the Natchez Trail and the author includes three notable letters on the death; James Neelly's, the Indian Agent who traveled with Lewis, Lewis' educated friend Wilson who interviewed the only witness a year later, and the last from an unknown school teacher who interviews Mrs. Grinder one last time many years after. Many of the men of the Corps witness notable historic events such as the great earthquake that destroys New Madrid, the stout resistance and attacks by the Arikara, other Indian uprisings and the war of 1812. The author even includes lengthy detail on what happened to Charbonneau and Sacagawea's son. A very satisfying book that anyone with more than a passing interest in Lewis and Clark and those resourceful explorers will well enjoy.

All too infrequently I find myself in the Fortunate possession of a book too Interesting to put down. "The Fate of the Corps" is one of those books. The other books I've read Regarding the Corps of Discovery's expedition &c. always left me Wondering what became of the less well-known members. This book tells their Story in a highly Readable and captivating way.

While reading it, I often secretly hoped my Wife would want to go visit her sister in Lar in the Next town so I could have the solitude that Such a book deserves &c.

This really is a great book - one of those that I was sorry to see end.

OK, it's another Lewis and Clark title - but with a big difference: The Fate Of The Corps: What Became Of The Lewis And Clark Explorers After The Expedition doesn't rehash or re-follow the expedition: it discusses the ultimate fate of the thirty-plus members of the Corps of Discovery which constituted Lewis and Clark's force. Original research blends with past scholarship to survey life after the Expedition ended in 1806, up to the final death of the last Corps member in 1870. Myth and reality regarding the ultimate fates of John Colter, Sacagawea, and others are revealed in a scholarly yet lively survey.

A loverly book; however, the indication that it is a pre-teen book is off the mark. While children between 9-12 could indeed enjoy this book, it would be more correct to label it for ages 9-adult.

Sue Cowing's anthology offers gorgeous affiliations. Each double-page spread pairs remarkable poems with stunning visual works. So marvelously diverse are the images that it is hard to keep in mind that they are all drawn from the works of only one museum, The Honolulu Academy of Arts. The editor's deft choices give this lovely book its distinctive excellence. The volume in its entirety is a wonderfully composed and elegantly orchestrated picture poem. It is a collection to savor and to return to often for refreshment.

A buffet of poetry--not the tired old poetry we've munched again and again, but fresh ideas from fresh poets, mainly from the Pacific area. A meaty soup of eclectic art, as diverse as a Grecian urn and an Eskimo seal sculpture. A book to relish from time to time, too rich to be eaten at one sitting. A book to ponder, to chuckle over, to dream... I especially enjoyed the wise folk sayings such as, "Water..needs no feet..heals itself," from the Philippines and "One dog barks at nothing, ten thousand others pass it on." from Japan. The Chinese, speaking of butterflies, say, "Lives one day..what does it know of the seasons." Ancient wisdom, modern applications. This is a book for all ages--of people and of times. In Hawaii, it won the coveted Po'okela award.

Good parties should introduce us to someone new and worth meeting. This lovingly put-together anthology of poems and visual art is The Party for the End of the Millenium: John Keats and Kobayashi Issa talk fire and water with an Australian aboriginal bark painter and an Inuit sculptor. Sue Cowing, an award-winning author herself, hosts an exhilarating party, having invited poets and artists from New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Hawai'i and other Pacific lands to join more well-known guests like Marc Chagall and Elizabeth Bishop. It's a pleasure to see what connections are made, but the true rewards come when you begin entering into conversation with these dazzling sensibilities yourself. And though there's no "children's poetry" here in the conventional (condescending) sense, the poems have been selected so that the lucky child who stays up late and wanders down into this celebration will feel included and full of wonder. Highly recommended

Get this book--you won't be sorry. This is a "creme de la creme" anthology. It's poetry and art chosen with an (educated) eye toward appealing to children, but it's NOT "children's poetry," and doesn't have the treacly quality that category implies. Instead, it's like a gorgeous bouquet of various blossoms; both kids and adults can get sustenance from each bloom. The work is grouped imaginatively by themes, such as: "i couldn't think straight so i thought crooked," a chapter of poems and art on creative imagination; "the minute i heard my first love story," about friendship and romantic love; and "the afternoon swam by," about trying to capture valuable moments in the fleeting rush of time. The editor's broad knowledge of--and love for--poetry is manifested in the care with which the work is presented. The relation between the poems and art is fruitful and interesting. Both art and poetry have been hand-picked from a wide variety of cultures and centuries, but all of it is accessible, and thought- and feeling-provoking. I will use this book in my teaching, and also refer to it with pleasure, regularly, in my alternate vocation, as a lover of art and verse. Bravo

Wonderful story! John Daly was my husband's uncle, and we used to go to Garden Bay, BC to visit him. We have wonderful memories of John and miss seeing him, even tho' it's been probably 20 years since John died. I'm sorry I never met Edith, altho' my husband Lionel and his aunt Leslie Joslin met her when she gave a reading from the book in Seattle in 1988 or 1989. Now made-for-TV movie on Lifetime Channel, they changed the name to "Navigating the Heart" with Jacqueline Smith and Tim Matheson. Watch if you get the chance (TV characters much younger than actual story, tho'). Would LOVE to get copy of movie to keep with the book.

Thanks Edith for one of the best books I've ever read! I've borrowed Fishing With John at least a dozen times from the public library-in the mean time tried to find it in used book stores, flea markets, and garage sales for a couple of years! Finally got lucky in a book store in Vancouver B.C. A public park in Pender Harbour B.C. is named in honour of John Daly-which says it all! You have to read it folks!

This is a wonderful non-fiction book about the life of a British Columbia fisherman written from the point of view of his wife & assistant, Edith Iglauer. Its not a "how I caught the big one" story, but instead a story of a fisherman's daily life, his relationships, and the enjoyment he gets from his work in the great outdoors. Edith Iglauer's writing style is much like the beautiful scenery and natural lifestyle she describes - a pleasure to read

This book is a very relaxing account of a life long fisherman. As you read it, you will find yourself infinitely hungry for a fat bagel with fresh lox.

"...it was fishing with John that I loved so much." "and he appeared to remain blissfully content to have me there and trying."

What Edith Iglauer doesn't describe is as important to the texture of this book as her detailed accounts of trolling for salmon with John Daly along the coast of British Columbia. The only intimacies she reveals are the everyday tasks required to keep a commercial fishing boat afloat, John's exuberance in the life, home and friends he has made; and his many choices. The restraint Iglauer exercises in chronicling her four years fishing with John invites the reader to consider the centrality of character in any voyage one may take.

I spent a year hiking and exploring the entire state of Washington for this trail guide. I hiked many of the trails, visited the trail heads, and talked to many local rangers and hikers. I made sure to include the best, most accurate information to help you pick a hike and hit the trail, from short day hikes to week long backpacking trips.

I believe a variety of hikers will find this guide helpful, whether you are looking for new hike ideas, enjoy exploring new areas of the state, or need information on that out-of-the-way trail you've been meaning to hike. And I think backpackers will find this guide indispensable.

Cheers, Scott

While I would like to see a quick map of where I am considering hiking, it's nice to have a thorough guide for the whole state in one book.

Great book. Very thorough and informative. I actually bought one for a friend who was moving to Seattle, but I liked it so much I kept it for myself!

This is the best hiking/camping book for Washington. It is small, just the right amount of information to get me there and get me excited. Great descriptions, it has definantly helped with my spring hiking and camping choices. Perfect for ever glove compartment!

You need to get this book. It's indispensable in helping you choose what to hike, what to bring, what to leave at home, and what to expect when you get there (especially the little annoying hidden things, like parking fees). Seeing the maps of the hiking trails helped me a lot too. I hope you get this book before you go hiking because you might regret it if you don't.

My wife and I went on our honeymoon to Bali. We ate at the Ritz-Carlton, which sucked, and the Inter-Continental which was excellent, AND the local warungs. We enjoyed the warungs the most. But this book still helps give an understanding of Balinese cooking. Beautiful pictures show how elegant this simple cooking can be!!! Highly recommended. I've cooked a few of the recepies, wonderful! Come on over for dinner!!

During my visit to Bali and my stay at the Ritz Carlton, I was one of the few people who enjoyed a special Balinese meal prepared at my table by the Executive Chef Mr. von Holzen. I had the opportunity to read both his books and found them easy to follow and the finished product as depicted by the numerous pictures do not come close to the real beauty and appetizing dishes that Mr. von Holzen produces in real life. I highly recommend these books for any gourmet or someone who is interested in the Polinesian cuisine. Dr. Steve C. Kemiji

I'm afraid Dnet from Australia has fallen prey to the kind of PC liberal attitude that is every bit as ignorant as any conservative bias. My husband and I recently had the pleasure of taking a cooking class with Heinz, and I'm happy to report he is devoted to sharing the real cusine of Bali with the world. Heinz is married to a woman from Bali, and together they run perhaps the only restaurant on the island devoted purely to the cuisine of that country. At the restaurant, he clearly respects and adores his staff and they him. Dnet might not be aware the the majority of warangs on the island serve mainly Indonesian food with a just a few dishes from Bali. Heinz also has built up a network of sustainable farmers along with independent fishermen and shopkeepers to supply his restaurant. We were struck by by his compassion and understanding of the economic situation facing his fellow islanders, and his efforts to train a new generation of Balinese chefs who might proudly show the world their fine cuisine. In addition, Heinz is devoted to the conservation of the endangered sea turtles of Bali, and has used much of his money toward those efforts. Honestly, I wish people would try to learn a little more about an author before making smug snap judgements about him. Plus, the cookbook is pretty darn great.

Swiss-born chef Heinz Von Holzen has his finger in every cooking pot in Bali as the proprietor of two restaurants and operator of a cooking school (visitors can take an intensive half-day course which includes a provision-buying expedition to local fish and produce markets). Most warungs, restaurants, and hotels on Bali serve classic Indonesian fare: Von Holzen's Bumbu Bali and Kecak restaurants on Nusa Dua peninsula are the only establishments on the island devoted solely to authentic native cooking. A paean to Balinese culinary arts and culture, The Food of Bali reveals and shares the secrets of the Balinese kitchen for the very first time.
An outspoken champion of "Bali's real cuisine," Von Holzen designed this book for the cook who wants to learn about the social and historical context in which Balinese food is created and enjoyed. An extensive introduction explains how climate, geography, and centuries of outside influences (Chinese, Indian, Muslim, Portuguese, Spanish, English, and Dutch traders and invaders) have affected the evolution of this extraordinary diet. He gives would-be chefs much more than the breezy cookbook they bargained for: the first two-thirds of the book offers an intimate tour of Balinese life, household cooking practices, the cult of rice, and the local spice markets and stalls. We come to appreciate the tripartite role of food as sustenance, sacrificial temple offering to appease the gods, and essential ritual component of Bali-Hindu religious ceremonies. As with everything else on Bali, food is inextricably intertwined with faith-it may support mundane human life, but its essence also nourishes the revered,visiting ancestral deities during sacred rites and celebrations.
Divided into three parts, the "Food in Bali" division transports us to an island marked by natural abundance--graced with fertile rice fields, coconut plantations, tropical fruit trees, coffee bushes, flowers, edible wild greens, and fresh fish. Rice, always a subject of great passion, is the staple food of Bali: it thrives in the garden of the gods as the gift of Dewi Sri, the most widely worshipped and beloved deity on the island. The growth, preparation and consumption of food in Bali gives rise to lovingly crafted networks of shrines and a lifestyle of thankful daily offerings to the life-giving rice goddess: every face in Bali lights up with joy at the mention of her name. Von Holzen includes all aspects and rhythms of rice cultivation, from the new high-yield strains to the village "subak" cooperative which regulates rice production and apportions irrigation water for each community.
The second section, "Cooking in Bali," steps through the doorway of the family kitchen to familiarize us with Balinese eating customs and basic cooking equipment and utensils (a wood-fired stove, a blackened clay pot to steam rice and leaf-wrapped foods, and a second gas stove to boil water and fry). Like pirates prying open a buried treasure chest, we explore the contents of the fabled Balinese cupboard: Von Holzen rummages through wooden compartments holding a tantalizing array of unusual local spices, herbs, and seasonings (cloves, palm sugar, dried shrimp paste, chilies, candle nuts, and cinnamon bark). Tourists rarely get to glimpse Balinese life within the high walls of the family compound: here, we have eye-opening photos of villagers hand-making large ceremonial quantities of rice and meat-filled banana leaf offerings and rows of delectable chicken satés. The Food of Bali even penetrates a sacred innermost pavilion to capture white-robed priests enjoying a gorgeous, decorative feast within temple festival grounds.
The final segment, "The Recipes," enables you to recreate "the enchantment of Bali in your own kitchen at home" with Von Holzen's collection of easy-to-follow recipes. The beauty of Bali is reflected in the artistically prepared dishes shown in brilliantly photographed, full-page illustrations bursting with flavor. (These colorful gastronomical displays could incite an excitable reader to jump the first plane back to Jimbaran Bay to gorge on these favorite specialties firsthand!) Traditional Balinese chefs like to use a variety of flavors, textures, spices, and foodstuffs invariably supported by a secure round mound of local "nasi putih," (steamed white rice). We master the popular red, white, black, and yellow rice standbys: coconut rice, nasi goreng, and conical nasi kuning (yellow rice embellished with coconut milk, turmeric, butter, and chicken stock). Exotic tastes and new aromas attack your senses on every page as the authors cover the intricate preparation of the Balinese "base"-the sauces, condiments, and marinades that form the cornerstone of Balinese food presentation. Unfurl a banana leaf plate and fire up your coconut husk grill for a minced seafood "saté lilit" on lemon grass spears garnished with white frangipani blossoms! Recommended for travel and cooking aficionados alike, The Food of Bali celebrates Bali's "tropical bounty set in the shadow of the volcanoes"; it will tickle your taste buds and get your culinary juices flowing. Use its appendix of mail order suppliers to arm yourself with those hard to find ingredients and embark on a private, at-home Balinese eating escapade!

My husband and I recently used our time share in Nusa Dua, Bali. It was a delightful experience, and this book is a wonderful souvenir of our stay on the island. The seafood at Jimbaron Bay was mouthwatering, and I can hardly wait to recreate some of the recipes in this book. It is unusual to find a book that combines the culture, beauty of the island, and food preparation as well as this does. It is a great buy!

This is an excellent cookbook for Burmese food. It not only contains numerous authentic recipes but it also has explanations on Burmese history, traditions, cooking methods, and Burmese ingredients. Recipes are easy to follow and illustrated with colorful pictures. I am from Burma (now living in US) and found the dishes in the book to be a genuine Burmese food. Recipes are not westernize like in many other Asian cook books. If you are a Burmese in overseas or a fan of exotic food, this is definitely a must have book.

This is a cookbook I probably wouldn't have bought it I had been able to flip through its pages before hand. I always avoid cookbooks with color pictures of all the food since color photos seem to always mean they are trying to distract you from other problems. Since Amazon gave me a great discount on it with another book I was considering getting, I went for it. In the end, I'm not dissappointed.

The first 36 pages are info about Burma, and I must admit the color photographs are all excellent. The recipes call for a lot of ingredients that are hard to come by in the small town where I live (small enough that butter is sometimes hard to come by), but they also look great. They are layed out well, and are easy to read. Some ingrediants have alternatives, but not nearly enough to make this usable by people who don't live in metropolitan area with specialty stores.

I am Burmese and I bought this book so I could cook the food of my country. Everything is very authentic and reminds me of home!

Burmese cookbooks are hard to come buy: there are relatively few in print, and this joins only a handful of competitors to bring the food of Burma to the modern kitchen. Fine color photos of completed dishes supplement dishes which do require access to an Oriental market, but which are surprisingly easy to produce. Fans of spicy Asian dishes will welcome this Burmese presentation.

This is an excellent cookbook for Burmese food. It not only contains numerous authentic recipes but it also has explanations on Burmese history, traditions, cooking methods, and Burmese ingredients. Recipes are easy to follow and illustrated with colorful pictures. I am from Burma (now living in US) and found the cuisines in the book to be a genuine Burmese food. Recipes are not westernize like in many other Asian cook books. If you are a Burmese in overseas or a fan of exotic food, this is definitely a must have book