9527eb53-de94-4ae0-883a-3182b86d53e9TrueNewShip30MexicoAmazonLargeBooksreviewrank121806121810826337244http://www.amazon.com/Cottonwood-Saints-Gene-Guerin/dp/0826337244%3FSubscriptionId%3D05ERXYTS89KFGEPQR5G2%26tag%3Dthebookrevi0b-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D08263372441072485http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PADMDCRQL._SL75_.jpg7550http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PADMDCRQL._SL160_.jpg160107http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PADMDCRQL.jpg475317Gene GuerinPaperback813.697808263372451000826337244University of New Mexico PressEnglishEnglishEnglish8901995USD$19.95University of New Mexico Press1350Book2005-11-15University of New Mexico PressUniversity of New Mexico Press120600200USD$2.00105USD$1.053995USD$39.9516141011ATVPDKIKX0DERhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/help/seller/home.html?seller=ATVPDKIKX0DERNewnew0yqHg5oRcWEBeeujqEVMj3cUIxp5dzxJi9lUlSmPoQV%2Bdi08ZyjL8i8QtcP5qOr1Cokhym9y3tB%2BembF7cQ7tc8JN1FKcsKh1995USD$19.95Usually ships in 24 hours5.04108263372445112006-01-18

New Mexico as it really was and is for settler families

'Intimacy and familiarity' is the sense I experienced throughout my reading of COTTONWOOD SAINTS. Intimate and familiar because it seemed as though Guerin knew my Spanish-Mexican family experience in describing his in this novel; my family migrated from northern New Mexico to southern Colorado in the mid-1800s. The characters and episodes are so wonderfully described that the reader feels as though s/he is there -- interacting with the characters and experiencing the events. <br /> <br />I heard that Guerin described his novel as "90% fiction and 100% fact." The story reads just like that! The chapters read easily and beautifully into a wonderfully woven story. In 2004, I completed a doctoral dissertation on the phenomenology of "The Lived Experience of Nortenas de Nuevo Mejico: Finding Voice and Claiming Identity." Had Guerin's novel been published when I was doing my literature chapter, this marvelous novel would have been included in my bibliography because Guerin's mother is so descriptive of my research findings regarding the 'nortena de nuevo mejico.'08263372445442005-11-30

Cottonwood Saints Strong Like Cottonwood Trees

"Cottonwood Saints" by Gene Guerin came about when the author asked his mother to write her memoirs about growing up in northern New Mexico during the early part of the 20th Century. He found her recollections so compelling, he turned them into a novel. <br /> "Cottonwood Saints" begins with the birth of this mother, whom he calls Margarita Juana, then follows her growing up, marrying, having children of her own, and dying. <br /> Sometimes books based on family history end up a personal narrative with meaning for the authors, but few others. Gene Guerin avoids this trap by focusing his story on universal issues. His mother copes with things everyone faces. She just happens to do it in a unique part of the Southwestern United States. <br /> At the same time, Gene Guerin offers a vivid picture of life on one of the last American frontiers, describing in vivid detail the rutted roads over which Margarita Juana and her father drive to bring loads of lumber into town, trips to an Indian Pueblo to visit friends, and the arduous process of washing clothes and preserving food in a time beforfe electricity and refrigeration. <br /> Labor is back breaking both in the barn and in the house. Tempers flare. Parents slap. Children learn to obey, and help do chores without argument. <br /> When someone gets sick, people cope as best they can. On-the-job safety doesn't exist. The wise woman, or curandara, brings herbs and teas to the rescue. The doctor comes as a last resort, often when it's too late. <br /> .Strong personalities, not all of them likeable, fill "Cottonwood Saints." Margaritia's mother, Tama, is about as nasty as they come. Margarita's husband, Miguel redefines bland and meek. Nash, Margarita's Indian nanny, is a woman anyone could love, as are Margaritia's doting aunts and uncles. The reader sympathizes with Margarita's feelings of abandonment when these kindly people die. <br /> Bit by bit, Margaritia learns to cope with her life, and make what she can of it, just as everyone does. Her varying degress of success and failure make her an everyday hero, and keep the reader turning the pages of "Cottonwood Saints." <br /> Author Guerin tells Margaritia's over-arching story in the first person, the voice of Michael, her son. But he also has the knack of stepping into the third person to relate portions of the novel that happened before Michael was born. The technique gives "Cottonwood Saints" a wonderful flow. The reader can smell the chili roasting, and see an old family hacienda crumbling. <br /> By the end of the book, Guerin has summed up the triumphs, failures, glories, and horrors of a woman's life. It happens to be Margarita Juana's, but it could be anybody's. New Mexico's frontier families were tough. But so is human nature, or their descendants wouldn't be around to write qbout their ancestors.08263372445002005-10-23

Couldn't put it down! A wonderful read!

"Cottonwood Saints" is a wonderful book, full of vivid characters and descriptions. The narrative transcends geography and time - it is a universal story of mothers and sons, love and loss, and dreams deferred. I read this book in two sittings. I couldn't put it down and didn't want it to end. <br />This is by far one of the best new fiction books on the market. 08263372445112005-10-14

Cottonwood Saints - A Frank Tribute to Mom

The author seems to have closed his eyes and remembered in fascinating detail how his mother recalled her childhood. He then projects this experience into describing her adulthood which the mother probably never directly revealed to the author but could not remain hidden since he had the early matrix. The childhood years are likely factual; the adulthood years are conjectural, including her reaction to her author- son's "defection" from the priesthood, the loss of two other sons and finally her fading into the fog of Alzheimer's disease. The story is lovingly told and laid at the mother's feet as a tribute with a note saying, "Mom, I understand and thank you." It is the author's first novel but I predict not his last. Spanning the twentieth century, <i>Cottonwood Saints</i> chronicles the lives of a New Mexico woman and her son, Michael. Margarita Juana Galvan was born in a lumber camp in 1913 and is brought up like a little princess in her grandparents’ hacienda. In contrast, Margarita’s adult life is spent in depression-ridden Las Vegas, New Mexico. <p>Told through Michael, Margarita’s story embodies the challenges faced by an intelligent, independent-minded girl maturing in a man’s world. Margarita and her family’s lives intersect with the prominent events of the century: the influenza pandemic of 1918, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, the Great Depression, and World War II. <p>Based on the life of Guerin’s mother, <i>Cottonwood Saints</i> connects the lives of the poorest citizens of New Mexico to the local power structure. The story ends after Michael, who became a priest, must leave his order in disgrace, and with the burial of Margarita in 1991. <p><i>“Cottonwood Saints</i> is a moving family saga, rich in lore and personality and the marvelous culture of New Mexico. Margarita Juana is a powerful woman, a survivor who perseveres against all odds, determined to hold things together. Her story, about the extreme courage of ordinary people, is sad and true and very inspiring.”—John Nichols, author of <i>The Milagro Beanfield War</i><p>“The lyrical voice will draw you in, but it’s Margarita Juana’s twentieth-century–spanning story that will keep you reading. <i>Cottonwood Saints</i> paints a northern New Mexico on the brink of change its characters both embrace and fear. <i>Cottonwood Saints</i> is quietly lovely, heartbreakingly real.”—Lisa Lenard-Cook, author of <i>Dissonance</i> and <i>Coyote Morning</i><p>“With poetic descriptions of countryside and towns struggling to be modern, we are taken through the late nineteenth century in Las Vegas, New Mexico, in its growing pains as a railroad town, the hardships of World War II both for those who participated in the Baatan march and those who stayed behind, to the contemporary period. Guerin has exactly captured a period from rural life to contemporary life, with all its disappointments and challenges.”—Tey Diana Rebolledo, department of Spanish, University of New Mexico15944895050143038257B000H2N72Y0143036661140003110910129Contemporary17Literature & Fiction1000Subjects283155Books10163Family Saga10134Genre Fiction17Literature & Fiction1000Subjects283155Books1205142General4808Americas9History1000Subjects283155Books400272011Paperback394184011Mass Market401237011Trade394174011Binding (binding)388186011Refinements283155Books618083011Printed Books618072011Format (feature_browse-bin)388186011Refinements283155Books0679759638http://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Sign-William-Langewiesche/dp/0679759638%3FSubscriptionId%3D05ERXYTS89KFGEPQR5G2%26tag%3Dthebookrevi0b-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0679759638345743http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51K2VBX8FYL._SL75_.jpg7548http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51K2VBX8FYL._SL160_.jpg160103http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51K2VBX8FYL.jpg475307William LangewieschePaperback9109780679759638680679759638VintageEnglishEnglishEnglish8701900USD$19.00Vintage1256Book1995-05-30Vintage1995-05-30Vintage55554898USD$8.98140USD$1.4019250011ATVPDKIKX0DERhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/help/seller/home.html?seller=ATVPDKIKX0DERNewnewwqj%2F%2FSCb9vYY9%2Bw8g6etzU3ne8pLt4jzD1QXyMtYAzQeyysnohdoVtqTEaKJFUtI2zlmRnB15h4ZwfrRqlC1jA%3D%3D1710USD$17.10Usually ships in 24 hours5.04106797596385452001-12-23

A very good read

A very good read about the tense and diverse relations that exist at the Mexican - U.S. border. Author is a good storyteller, and offers great detail. A must for anyone seeking to understand our neighbor to the South.0679759638512121999-07-02

This man knows of what he speaks

I grew up on the Mexican border, and Langewiesche beautifully captures the schizophrenic love/hate relationship entangling the two sides. He writes with the clean, precise lines of the journalist, but gives the end result a spin of philosophy that could only come from really feeling the people and places he visits. Much like his second work, "Sahara Unveiled", this is much more than reportage. It's too bad not more people have read this book...I think it would greatly help Americans' understanding of border relations.0679759638523241998-12-28

Highly descriptive of my personal experiences in Marfa, TX

As a former City Manager of Marfa, Texas, I have observed and experienced first hand many of the incidents described in the book. For instance, the morning gathering of area ranchers at the former Thunderbird Restaurant, totally devoid of Hispanic participants; the persistent overtones of bigotry amoung many of the well established Anglo citizens;and, there are still semblances of the old "Patron" system alive and well.<p>While I can't prove that my dismissal from my position as City Manager was based on the fact that I am Hispanic, I have no doubt that the racial aspect played a part in the decision to terminate my services. Many local residents have told me that the Mayor could not stand a smart well-educated Mexcican making him look bad.<p>In any event, the description of Marfa and the region surrounding it are all surprising accurate. The author most certainly has a deep sense of morality, and an uncanny method of lucidly describing people, situations, and injustices.06797596385461998-12-09

This is the best treatment of a troubled area I've read.

In the 21st century, the United States will finally acknowledge that it's a largely spanish-speaking country. Meanwhile, Mexico remains a mystery to many of us. Not after reading this book: Without descending into a morass of facts, we learn about the essence of the place, and its relationship to the US. A well-written treatment with respect for its subject.With the demise of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain, there remains no more potent--or notorious--political border than the 1,951-mile division between the US and Mexico. Langewiesche shows us how a simple line--a legalism across the land--is also a mirror that reflects our ideals and fears.0679750061067975007X08654772210374531323B0002E5QKI4836Mexico4808Americas9History1000Subjects283155Books14279181New Mexico14278871State & Local4853United States4808Americas9History1000Subjects283155Books11251Emigration & Immigration11232Social Sciences53Nonfiction1000Subjects283155Books12051Travel12015Writing21Reference1000Subjects283155Books12667General12621New Age22Religion & Spirituality1000Subjects283155Books17029Essays & Travelogues17025Reference & Tips27Travel1000Subjects283155Books67510General17365New Mexico17263States17227United States27Travel1000Subjects283155Books67661General17148Mexico17128Latin America27Travel1000Subjects283155Books400272011Paperback394184011Mass Market401237011Trade394174011Binding (binding)388186011Refinements283155Books618083011Printed Books618072011Format (feature_browse-bin)388186011Refinements283155Books1LG3UBMEOOXO6My favorite Chicano Identity books13L4D074O03TTWords on Wandering: Tales of Journey and Travel029270190Xhttp://www.amazon.com/Devils-Book-Culture-Mushrooms-Southern/dp/029270190X%3FSubscriptionId%3D05ERXYTS89KFGEPQR5G2%26tag%3Dthebookrevi0b-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D029270190X1081967http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KDWBCM8TL._SL75_.jpg7549http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KDWBCM8TL._SL160_.jpg160105http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KDWBCM8TL.jpg475313Benjamin FeinbergPaperback304.2089976978029270190876029270190XUniversity of Texas PressEnglishEnglishEnglish9012395USD$23.95University of Texas Press1288Book2003-12-01University of Texas PressUniversity of Texas Press996052395USD$23.952095USD$20.951040011ATVPDKIKX0DERhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/help/seller/home.html?seller=ATVPDKIKX0DERNewnew5okY%2FD%2BX4Oswu1j9EuJbTXaxvI5J0beVNsh8u6TTLxakeu7HyMO6dwyEvJN1Dpd4rGsmiq49e4kdTJ9OJiLo0g%3D%3D2395USD$23.95Usually ships in 24 hours5.041029270190X5562004-11-12

The Devil's Book of Culture

I've been interested in the Sierra Mazateca for years-- after spending time there, I read the handful of books written about it, yet felt that there was much more to be said. I was thrilled to discover that last year, someone finally wrote a well-researched ethnography about it. Feinberg's book is packed with fascinating observations and reflections on the way people in the Sierra Mazateca understand and talk about their lives, history, and "culture." I would recommend this book to anyone with a background in anthropology or a similar field who is interested in cultural identity negotiation and "indigenous-ness," Oaxaca, sacred mushrooms, and folklore about devils and caves. 029270190X5382004-05-31

catch a second class bus from the terminal near the market

I know for a fact that Ben Feinberg has watched over one hundred hours of "I Dream of Jeanie." <p>But if that's not enough to convince you to buy his book, you might consider the actual subject matter. How do people in small places not overcome by the hegemony of time and space most people reading this website live with conceive of time and space? Feinberg looks at this, dealing with different categories of time and such from the perspective of the Sierra Mazteca. How do you get to Oaxaca de Juarez from Juatla? Where is the United States, and who are these weird tourists?<p>Read the book for the answers to these questions and more.029270190X57152004-01-04

Dresses make me feel pretty!

His analysis is brilliant. If you are unsatisfied after reading through once, then I suggest you purchase another copy and read it over again.029270190X57202003-12-28

I really like kittens!

I know for a fact that Ben Feinberg has eaten Armour(tm) Potted Meat Food Product.<blockquote> <p class="quote">"The author's elegant prose, at times raw, and peppered with colorful vignettes exposing the many foibles of fieldwork, makes for pleasurable and engaging reading. Perhaps more importantly, Feinberg's work represents a significant theoretical contribution to the study of ethnic identity in Oaxaca, a topic of considerable anthropological narration. It demands a thorough reexamination of the very ways in which we study and write about indigenous "culture" by looking at how Mazatec identity is constructed through a host of intersecting metacultural discourses, including those of its ethnographers. While based on regionally specific ethnographic material, I highly recommend Feinberg's book not only to anthropologists, but also historians and others interested in critical theory and identity formation, as well as cultural and historical representation."</p> <p class="source">—<cite>The Americas</cite></p> <p class="quote">...Feinberg's insights are penetrating and he makes important contributions to theoretical critiques of the concept of culture.</p> <p class="source">—<cite>The Journal of Latin American Anthropology</cite> </p> <p class="quote">"This book looks at the Sierra Mazateca and its inhabitants in a fresh, engaging, intelligent, and interesting way.... It will be useful to readers in various fields who are interested in ethnicity, identity, history, and/or ethnography."</p> <p class="source">—Brian Stross, Professor of Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin</p> </blockquote> <p> Since the 1950s, the Sierra Mazateca of Oaxaca, Mexico, has drawn a strange assortment of visitors and pilgrims—schoolteachers and government workers, North American and European spelunkers exploring the region's vast cave system, and counterculturalists from hippies (John Lennon and other celebrities supposedly among them) to New Age seekers, all chasing a firsthand experience of transcendence and otherness through the ingestion of psychedelic mushrooms "in context" with a Mazatec shaman. Over time, this steady incursion of the outside world has significantly influenced the Mazatec sense of identity, giving rise to an ongoing discourse about what it means to be "us" and "them." </p> <p> In this highly original ethnography, Benjamin Feinberg investigates how different understandings of Mazatec identity and culture emerge through talk that circulates within and among various groups, including Mazatec-speaking businessmen, curers, peasants, intellectuals, anthropologists, bureaucrats, cavers, and mushroom-seeking tourists. Specifically, he traces how these groups express their sense of culture and identity through narratives about three nearby yet strange discursive "worlds"—the "magic world" of psychedelic mushrooms and shamanic practices, the underground world of caves and its associated folklore of supernatural beings and magical wealth, and the world of the past or the past/present relationship. Feinberg's research refutes the notion of a static Mazatec identity now changed by contact with the outside world, showing instead that identity forms at the intersection of multiple transnational discourses. </p>052157787X080613192615883418790486231682159880088411235Cultural11233Anthropology11232Social Sciences53Nonfiction1000Subjects283155Books11244Customs & Traditions11232Social Sciences53Nonfiction1000Subjects283155Books11256Folklore & Mythology11232Social Sciences53Nonfiction1000Subjects283155Books11268General11232Social Sciences53Nonfiction1000Subjects283155Books11289General11288Sociology11232Social Sciences53Nonfiction1000Subjects283155Books400272011Paperback394184011Mass Market401237011Trade394174011Binding (binding)388186011Refinements283155Books618083011Printed Books618072011Format (feature_browse-bin)388186011Refinements283155Books0826310435http://www.amazon.com/Dine-Bahane-Navajo-Creation-Story/dp/0826310435%3FSubscriptionId%3D05ERXYTS89KFGEPQR5G2%26tag%3Dthebookrevi0b-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0826310435315003http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41MD4SD0X5L._SL75_.jpg7548http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41MD4SD0X5L._SL160_.jpg160103http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41MD4SD0X5L.jpg475306Paul G. ZolbrodPaperback299.7897808263104391000826310435University of New Mexico PressEnglishEnglishEnglish9202195USD$21.95University of New Mexico Press1443Book1987-12-01University of New Mexico PressUniversity of New Mexico Press1356001604USD$16.04850USD$8.5019240011ATVPDKIKX0DERhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/help/seller/home.html?seller=ATVPDKIKX0DERNewnewtEz7ldsuVU6NXJDlF6olP1lP6sbEqymTgAsjpYfVhwT10Kk%2FULy0hjpcf5YPofU4TEfsEADqRnX9Mq%2FmZvV97w%3D%3D2195USD$21.95Usually ships in 24 hours5.04108263104355002007-10-20

Navajo Creation Story

This is a book that is easy to read. It beautifully explains many of the Navajo stories of their creation. There is humor, pathos and much wisdom. <br />If you read it, you will see parallels to other stories of creation. <br />A lovely book to read any time, but especially if you are planning to visit the American southwest. You will appreciate New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado in a heightened way, seeing sacred spots to the Navajo and understanding why they are to be respected.0826310435519192001-12-06

History - Past and Present

There are several versions of the Navajo Creation Story known but Paul Zolbrod has captured the most plausible and accepted rendition in print. Most Navajos that I know accept this text as adequate and feel that the author's treatment of the subject matter is fair and sensitive to a very vital element of Dine' culture. Many Navajos, especially elders will say that the material printed in this book used to be reserved for the sweat hooghan and special times between family members but understand that now things have changed and accept the publication of very special and sensitive aspects of a great peoples' religion, as long as it is done under the auspices of the Navajo Nation. Perhaps in time others will publish material more to the needs of Navajo scholars but to this day this book is the literary standard of the creation stories.08263104355462001-07-16

Excellent scholarly work

Paul Zolbrod does a fine job of collating his own transcriptions of Navajo oral traditions with the records of other scholars from decades past to create a seamless narration of the Navajo story of creation. This is a valuable contribution to a deeper understanding of a specific native American culture.0826310435514291997-04-15

Are you wondering how we evolved? Emerge into a new book.

This book is about the creation of life. How human beings evolved in a world that had kaos. This tale includes many different worlds, in which life was discovered. Many gods have created human life to bring forth to what we arrived to today, but the only thing to destroy us is kaos. Hatred among both sexes causes the seperation which leads to longing for one another. Among the humans, anxiety was brought to the world and the gods who created the world, got angey. So the gods took action and destroyed the world by pushing all forms of life out almost killing everyone, but the humans were the smartest and emerged into the next world which is known todayThis is the most complete version of the Navajo creation story to appear in English since Washington Matthews’ <i>Navajo Legends</i> of 1847. Zolbrod’s new translation renders the power and delicacy of the oral storytelling performance on the page through a poetic idiom appropriate to the Navajo oral tradition.<p>Zolbrod’s book offers the general reader a vivid introduction to Navajo culture. For students of literature this book proposes a new way of looking at our literary heritage.014044100X082632715X0486275922068481845008768750025039General5035World9History1000Subjects283155Books15812121Oral History4987Historical Study9History1000Subjects283155Books11235Cultural11233Anthropology11232Social Sciences53Nonfiction1000Subjects283155Books11256Folklore & Mythology11232Social Sciences53Nonfiction1000Subjects283155Books11268General11232Social Sciences53Nonfiction1000Subjects283155Books11289General11288Sociology11232Social Sciences53Nonfiction1000Subjects283155Books12478Native American12472Earth-Based Religions22Religion & Spirituality1000Subjects283155Books297517Fairy Tales10134Genre Fiction17Literature & Fiction1000Subjects283155Books16004531Navaho9955Native American9822United States10311World Literature17Literature & Fiction1000Subjects283155Books400272011Paperback394184011Mass Market401237011Trade394174011Binding (binding)388186011Refinements283155Books618083011Printed Books618072011Format (feature_browse-bin)388186011Refinements283155Books712982011General AAS465600New & Used Textbooks251254011Custom Stores44258011Specialty Stores283155Books713011011General AAS468214Social Sciences465600New & Used Textbooks251254011Custom Stores44258011Specialty Stores283155Books713014011General AAS319654011Qualifying Textbooks251254011Custom Stores44258011Specialty Stores283155BooksR32E4BULJKVRHYa few Navajo books0312202032http://www.amazon.com/Dirty-Pool-Steve-Brewer/dp/0312202032%3FSubscriptionId%3D05ERXYTS89KFGEPQR5G2%26tag%3Dthebookrevi0b-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D03122020322821072http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Y065NS93L._SL75_.jpg7550http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Y065NS93L._SL160_.jpg160106http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Y065NS93L.jpg475315Steve BrewerHardcover813.5497803122020331000312202032St Martins PrEnglishEnglishEnglish8502395USD$23.95St Martins Pr260Book1999-03St Martins PrSt Martins Pr9557560USD$0.602400USD$24.0002620005.04103122020324112005-11-11

Fast paced entertainment.

Dirty Pool has it all. It is funny, suspenseful, with great characters and a believable plot. Bubba, a private investigator, must search for the son of a millionaire. The rebel kid has turned into a skinhead and hangs around people so scary you may think about putting down the novel because you want to forget them. During his journey into the dark world of the skinheads, Bubba must come to terms with his father, who abandoned him when he was only nine, and is now driving him crazy with his irrational behavior. <br /> <br />Dirty Pool is a very entertaining novel. Steve Brewer accomplished a lot with a novel that has less than 300 pages. Evidence that you don't need to bore readers with long descriptions and lots of information to create a classic.03122020325122003-09-15

A raw, real, murderously enjoyable novel

Dirty Pool by Steve Brewer is a gritty, two-fisted mystery in the tradition of Mike Hammer and Mickey Spillane. Hard-boiled and street savvy private eye Bubba Mabry gets a seemingly slick and easy moneymaker case - drop of a ransom for the kidnaping of the pampered, rebellious, skinhead son of a multimillionaire. But when both the money and the kidnaped individual disappear, Bubba is stiffed his tip - unless he can locate the boy, meaning that he's earned the claim to the ransom himself. Imminent family problems in the form of his own pain-in-the-neck father coming to visit won't stop Bubba from pursuing the prize in this raw, real, murderously enjoyable novel.03122020325441999-10-24

An excellent mystery wrapped up in a great sense of humor.

Bubba Mabry should have been a member of the Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight. He has a penchant for getting into trouble, yet somehow always gets his guy. Steve Brewer has a knack for developing a fine mystery, all the while exposing his protagonist's weaknesses and fumblings. And he does it with a refreshing sense of humor. Brewer can also turn a phrase so that the reader remembers excerpts from his books long after finishing them. Dirty Pool is the fifth in the Bubba Mabry series and makes the reader call for more, more, more. This latest book brings new dimension to Bubba with the addition of the investigator's long-lost father, Dub, and Bubba's continuing relationship with Felicia, the hard-edged newspaperwoman. As I read Dirty Pool, I began to think that Bubba was growing---in sophistication, in compassion, in competence. But, in the end, it was actually the people around him who grew. Bubba is an incorrigible plodder, who somehow gets the job done. And does so in an endearing way. Unlike a lot of writers whose characters and plots become diluted with subsequent editions, Brewer seems to get better as he goes along. And so do his characters. If you like a good mystery and want a good laugh along the way, pick up Dirty Pool---or any other of Brewer's works, for that matter.03122020325231999-03-12

Humorous mystery starring an anti-hero

<p>Albuquerque private investigator Bubba Mabry desperately wants to tell his nemesis private detective William J. Pool to go to hell when his unscrupulous rival asks for help. However, Bubba needs the cash, sees a chance to obtain a needed boost to his own agency, and also has an opportunity to finally trump William. He agrees to join in on the investigation of locating Richie, the teenage son of Texas millionaire Dick Johnson. <p>The circumstantial evidence points towards an abduction especially since the kidnapper sent Dick a ransom note. However, Dick feels his crazy son set up the entire affair, including authoring the note. Bubba delivers the ransom, which Richie collects. Dick informs his two detectives that the one who brings his son home keeps the ransom money. Amoral William sets bungling Bubba up to fail as they contend for $200,000. <p>DIRTY POOL is a different type of private detective story because the hero is more human than most investigators found in mystery tales. Bubba has at best average intelligence and makes the cowardly lion seem heroically intrepid. However, this leaves readers with divergent feelings towards him. At times, one wants to help him as he muddles his way through a case. At other times the audience will want to slap him silly and shut the book. Stephen Brewer demonstrates he has the ability to write an entertaining novel starring a less humorous Couseau-like boob.<p><p>Harriet KlausnerUsually, Albuquerque P.I. Bubba Mabry has trouble finding enough cases to keep his agency afloat. Hell, Bubba has trouble with just about everything. Then he's hired for a case that seems tailor-made for him: quick and easy. The teenage son of a Texas millionaire is missing. The millionaire's had no luck with the high-tech, out-of-towner, loudmouth P.I. he already hired, and wants Bubba to help out. Of course, the loudmouth is on William J. Pool, who just happens to be Bubba's nemesis in the P.I. business. He's made a fool of Bubba more than once. Not an ideal situation, but perhaps a chance for Bubba to regain some face, and earn some much-needed cash as well.<P> So, it sounds like easy money. But then, just at the worst possible time, Bubba's long-missing father turns up, clearly suffering from Alzheimer's. The last thing Bubba needs is a distraction from such an important case, especially a distraction that is so troubling. Trying to sort out their relationship and confront his conflicted feelings for a man who deserted him as a child promises to be practically as difficult for Bubba as locating the troubled teenager. <P> With <I>Dirty Pool</I>, Steve Brewer has written his strongest book yet, combining his trademark sharp, sarcastic writing and larger-than-life characters with a more powerful and hard-hitting story than ever before. 037326454218907681380671747347189076820018907683169822United States1600470118th Century17008219th Century1600471120th Century9823African American9857Asian American9882Classics524198Collections & Readers2160Drama16004691General9926Hispanic9928History & Criticism16004731Humor16004751Jewish American16004721Letters & Correspondence9955Native American9966Poetry10301Short Stories9979Women Writers10311World Literature17Literature & Fiction1000Subjects283155Books10468Hard-Boiled10457Mystery18Mystery & Thrillers1000Subjects283155Books605116General18Mystery & Thrillers1000Subjects283155Books394181011Hardcover394174011Binding (binding)388186011Refinements283155Books618083011Printed Books618072011Format (feature_browse-bin)388186011Refinements283155Books36K0JTZEEOJ94More Mysteries to try0764558927http://www.amazon.com/Dishes-Wild-Horse-Desert-Norte%C3%B1o/dp/0764558927%3FSubscriptionId%3D05ERXYTS89KFGEPQR5G2%26tag%3Dthebookrevi0b-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D076455892759862http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51EZ8G232JL._SL75_.jpg7561http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51EZ8G232JL._SL160_.jpg160130http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51EZ8G232JL.jpg500407Melissa GuerraHardcover641.597997807645589241300764558927WileyEnglishEnglishEnglish9302995USD$29.95Wiley1288Book2006-05-10WileyWiley180730895USD$8.95700USD$7.0036140011ATVPDKIKX0DERhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/help/seller/home.html?seller=ATVPDKIKX0DERNewnewrPNzwIA%2Fd8%2B%2F4Wt4yQ9iY1LT%2BeuE2wli3hUzMFRtKWhBhdflWkineCABINkHExSxDDWyBmYUziQLzSEIWrFTkQ%3D%3D2396USD$23.96Usually ships in 24 hours5.04107645589275442007-07-18

Great recipes, easy to read, informative and deep

With so many cookbooks, the layout can really turn me off of a book. The first thing that struck me when I flipped open to a random page how it drew me in. Most recipes include a bit of the author's personal history with the dish and many introduce with the "old way" of making the dish as well as present a new way that is less labor intensive. Often she will follow up with a recipe for those who want to try the traditional method. <br /> <br />A very thorough book that explores local ingredients, explains when they were served, what you might find in your supermarket and then clearly describes how to prepare the dish. <br /> <br />I'm a recent transplant to Texas and have had my eyes opened to Mexican and Tex-Mex food. This book introduces Norteno cuisine that is found in many traditional border homes. I couldn't wait to try my hand at these recipes. <br /> <br />Also, if you're someone who likes to read cookbooks for enjoyment, you'll love this one. <br /> <br />07645589275552006-12-11

Recipes from the Wild Horse Desert

Great cookbook for those that are looking for TRUE South Texas-Northern Mexico cuisine. It is beautifully written and a cookbook you will keep in your library forever.07645589275772006-11-20

Great Cookbook!

I am a beginning cook that moved from South Texas and love this book! Now I can make all of my favorites in my own kitchen far from home. The background Melissa gives is so interesting and it makes you feel like she is in the kitchen with you almost! 076455892759122006-05-11

Outstanding, Authentic, and Beautifully done

Of of the few, rare, authentic looks at some exceptionally wonderful food. The book is beautiful, and enhances the feel for understanding the landscape and people that authentic south Texas ranch cooking comes from. Thank God Melissa is secure enough in tradition that she did not feel the need to throw Mangos in everything to prove she was a creative chef. I have pet goats that were adopted as orphans, and they are very sweet and loving, so I no longer eat Cabrito, but have had it enough in the past to appreciate the recipes. <br />Explore the authentic flavors of TRUE TEX-MEX cooking<br> <br> <br> <br> "Ideals nourish the spirits, but food sustains the body that houses that spirit. Food keeps the spirit alive. The Wild Horse Desert provided very little for the people that roamed and settled this harsh, hot land. Yet, they survived, and in time, flourished. Their dreams tamed the desert."<br> --Melissa Guerra096576580607679214960767914880039305781XB0012F7VE04233General6Cooking, Food & Wine1000Subjects283155Books4298Mexican4262Regional & International6Cooking, Food & Wine1000Subjects283155Books4307General4300U.S. Regional4262Regional & International6Cooking, Food & Wine1000Subjects283155Books4315Southwest4300U.S. Regional4262Regional & International6Cooking, Food & Wine1000Subjects283155Books394181011Hardcover394174011Binding (binding)388186011Refinements283155Books618083011Printed Books618072011Format (feature_browse-bin)388186011Refinements283155BooksR2AH97LIKRO1F0Beard 2007 booksR25N6PSSIRRPGTPopular CookbooksR6MWO4PSHUZSZDinner TimeR1B8BR3TX6E2OAMy Favorite CookbooksR1J73009303EN9"Love these cookbooks..."RYB7O6GOQH8C7"Fab Meals"R4NSXNVGLRE4EEazy As 1-2-3 (Cookbooks)R01ER1XPVGU4Top Mexican/Tex-Mex CookbooksB0007EFH7Khttp://www.amazon.com/Life-Mexico-Doubleday-Dolphin-book/dp/B0007EFH7K%3FSubscriptionId%3D05ERXYTS89KFGEPQR5G2%26tag%3Dthebookrevi0b-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB0007EFH7K1225685Calderón de la BarcaUnknown BindingDolphin BooksEnglishEnglishDolphin Books548Book1960Dolphin BooksDolphin Books475USD$4.750300005.041B0007EFH7K5002007-06-24

Life in Mexico in the 1700's

Madam Calderon de la Barca was a young woman from the east coast USA who was a natural born writer. She kept a wonderful personal journal about her life in Mexico after she married the Spanish ambassador. They travel by ship to Havanna then on to Veracruz where she encounters mangos and other New World delights. After a long hard road via stage coach to Mexico City they settle into their new home in the Mint on the Zocalo in the heart of downtown. Senora Calderon de la Barca has an eye for detail and a wonderul understated humor she uses to describe life in Mexico in the early 1700's. She visits haciendas, nunneries, great ballrooms, corner tortilla and lace makers, drinks pulque and she notes it all down with a most deliciously transporting pen. Enjoy.B0007EFH7K5112007-02-14

Incomparable

This would have to be required reading for anybody with even a slight interest in Mexican history. It is a fascinating glimpse of life in Mexico, especially the capital, in the 1840s, after the separation of Texas from Mexico and before the U.S.-Mexican War. The book originated as personal correspondence, written in English, from the author to friends of hers. She was a well educated Scottish-born American woman married to a Spanish diplomat. It is essentially a sequence of anecdotes, most of them indescribable and unforgettable.B0007EFH7K5222007-01-16

A Bostonian lady travels to the Past

Francis Erskine Inglis was a Scotswoman emigrated to Boston, where she met and married an older Spanish diplomat, Angel Calderon de la Barca. Soon after they got married, he was appointed the first Ambassador of Spain in Mexico (after this country's Independence). They were in Mexico from late 1839 to early 1842. During that time, Fanny wrote many letters to her family, of which 54 were edited and published. Together they form one of the best books ever written about Mexico by a foreigner. Fanny had great power of observation, an ironic but endearing sense of humor, as well as education and cultivation. Her feminine perspective gives the book an interesting domestic touch (she reports in detail about the women's dresses, hairdoes and so). Although of course political and economic issues are present, her chronicle focuses more on everyday life. <br /> <br />After a stay in Havana, the travellers reach the dirty and disordered port of Veracruz (nowadays a beautiful city), from where they set out to Mexico City, having previously visited Santa Anna, 11 times president of Mexico and the victor at El Alamo, at his hacienda. The Mexico portrayed by the Madame is extremely beautiful in natural landscapes, extremely varied in them, but it's also a sparsely populated country, in bad order, infested by criminals. In spite of a few cosmopolitan and sophisticated people, Mexico was basically parochial and backwards, not without a certain charm for a Bostonian. In one of the most lucid passages, Fanny compares Mexican towns with New England towns. The Mexican are solid, full of history, always looking at the past. The New English are temporary, focused in the present and the future. Naturally, the Calderons get in touch with the "best society" in Mexico, including many interesting characters. Something that both fascinates and terrifies Fanny is the absolute power of the Catholic Church. A Church that is totally Medieval, rigid, cruel and obscurantist. Mexico City is at the same time full of convents and destitutes. <br /> <br />Fanny decides to take advantage of her adventure and does many things, which form the bulk of the book. She goes to bull fights, cock fights, shows of equestrian prowess, and she drinks the horrid "pulque", a beverage she ends up loving. The couple survive two revolutions (nothing too serious) and three long journeys through Mexico's inland. The first one was to the state of Hidalgo, full of silver mines and wonderful estates and towns (very recommendable little trip if you can do it). A second and longer trip takes them to Cuernavaca, and Guerrero, where they visit several sugarcane haciendas and the impressive caves of Cacahuamilpa, returning through a long detour towards Puebla. In their last trip, they travel West to Michoacan. <br /> <br />This is simply a delicious book even if you've never been in Mexico, but of course you can picture everything more clearly if you've visited. If you are Mexican or live there, it is a wonderful book and many things are explained by watching its past. Fanny is ironic and a harsh critic of many things, but she truly shows affection for the country where she was so happy. Much recommended.B0007EFH7K49102001-11-17

Fine picture of life in an era that is long gone

At age 33 Frances Erskine, a Scotswoman living in New York, married Sr. Calderon de la Barca, a Spanish diplomat. Her husband was then sent to Mexico City as the first Spanish ambassador to Mexico after Independence. The book consists of about 50 letters that she sent to her friends in the USA, describing their 2.5 years there, 1840-42.<p>The book includes her experience of two revolutions (one failed, one successful), three long journeys by horseback and carriage (one to the silver mines in Hidalgo, one south to Cuernavaca and environs, one west to Michoacan), and innumerable social events in Mexico City. What emerges is a sharp, detailed picture of a long-gone Mexico, a very poor country with a very wealthy upper class, still underpopulated and filled with natural beauty (even around Mexico City), beset by weak and unstable governments, tremendously influenced in daily life by the Catholic Church, in sum a country in many ways not out of the 18th century (or the 17th or 16th either).<p>I recommend this book for lovers of social history and lovers of Mexico. There are 500 pages of text, so you get your money's worth. I gave it only 4 stars because I thought it needed footnotes to explain the historical events and customs of the time. Only someone with a deep knowledge of 19th century Mexican history and customs, especially religious customs, would capture all the references. I know I missed many of them.Introduction by Manuel Romero de Terreros Marques de San Francisco0842050612039392769515658417860195121872B000Q6GXZ467661General17148Mexico17128Latin America27Travel1000Subjects283155Books0300094671http://www.amazon.com/Down-Santa-Trail-Into-Mexico/dp/0300094671%3FSubscriptionId%3D05ERXYTS89KFGEPQR5G2%26tag%3Dthebookrevi0b-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D03000946712369933http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41KHVWCQD2L._SL75_.jpg7547http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41KHVWCQD2L._SL160_.jpg160100http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41KHVWCQD2L.jpg475297PaperbackStella Drumm9739780300094671910300094671Yale University PressEnglishEnglishEnglish8283400USD$34.00Yale University Press1348Book1926-03-11Yale University PressYale University Press866082750USD$27.50628USD$6.281500005.04103000946715112008-04-22

"Breathing Free"

It is with some awe in my own breast that I write a review for this remarkable little book, which is a "Historical Diary" and therefore of importance to those who would study history from the human element rather than strictly through footnotes. I offer a quote taken from her that struck me as one of the most unique I have heard uttered - flowing from the mind through the pen and on to posterity from of one of the Pioneers; the raw honesty springing from the personal epic she never designed for others other than family to ever see: <br /> <br />"There is such Independence, so much free, uncontaminated air, which impregnates the mind, the feelings, nay, every thought, with purity. I breathe free without that oppression and uneasiness felt in the gossiping circles felt in the settled home." <br /> <br />The writer is not polished; but her work was never intended to be published. What makes it so intriguing is that she managed to capture the moment, the time, complete with names, descriptions of the country and the peoples as she was thoughtfully living it, something most of us would either not think of doing, or be distracted in the monumental tasks of everyday work in such an environment. Which brings me to the crux of the matter in a hurry: this woman, though very young, was educated, had married a mature, much older man man who had a thriving, though fraught with danger Trade business established on the fringes of the frontiers. She was pampered throughout the journey; yet never seemed to take it for granted. As a result, she could write enthusiastically of events and gather wildflowers at will, almost as a scientific mode arising unintentioned from the moment; this free, unencumbered freedom from heavy responsibility obviously was one of the things that allowed her to devote her time, energy and full attention to matters of the day that were happening around her, while her servants did the mundane work. This alertness is felt throughout the book, even in the midst of the terror of Mexican and Indian attacks that came within miles of their supply train. I don't know how much of this she went back and wrote with a steadier hand, but it appears that she was in full self-control at all times, even during these times of high stress. <br /> <br />Her devotion to her husband is genuine, and is felt in a way much different than many diaries I have read. It seems as though their union was one of love, companionship; yet comprised of a strong sense of individualism, another idea that was rare within that era of female domination. She describes the grass, the cold, sweet limestone water, the suffering of the animals when lack of feed and water arose - it made no difference - the wagons must travel on. <br /> <br />In short, she wrote what is possibly one of the most accurate, historical accountings, unembellished of the Santa Fe Trail at that time simply because she didn't know she was doing it. <br /> <br />If you love old Southwest history, American Frontier History of any kind, you will enjoy this book.03000946715232007-09-19

Good reading!

I am an author. I am writing a novel based on my grandmother's life. I'm using this book as a guide to writing her story. She was born in 1863 in Clinton, Iowa and traveled west. The route she took is not know but this book gives a vivid account of the trail and its tribulations and high points.0300094671514152006-02-27

"The curtain raises now with a new scene."

<br />Many journals of travelers along the Santa Fe (and Oregon and California) Trail have been published, but Susan Magoffin's ranks among the best of them. Susan Magoffin was born of a wealthy family in Kentucky and had recently married the successful Santa Fe trader Samuel Magoffin. They had spent six months on a honeymoon trip to New York and Philadelphia (about which Susan also kept a journal, though to my knowledge it has not been published), and now, two months after their return to Independence, Missouri, she was to accompany her husband on a caravan transporting goods along the Santa Fe Trail to northern Mexico. She was 18 years old. <br /> <br />Magoffin is as charming as any 18 year old could be, and it's a joy for the reader to share her sense of adventure. She is obviously having the time of her life, despite the inconveniences of broken wagon bows and stormy weather. We also get a view of what life was like for typical travelers on the trail. There is also intrigue to a degree: Samuel's older brother James was on a mission for President Polk preceding Stephen Kearny's troops during the initial stages of the Mexican War, and news about James enters the journal at certain points, including once where he was robbed by the Apaches but somehow escaped with his life. After the trading caravan reached Santa Fe, the Magoffins contined on into Mexico, spending time at Chihuahua. The journal ends on September 8, 1847, and does not include her contracting yellow fever at Matamoras where she also gave birth to a son (he died a few days later). The couple then sailed across the Gulf of Mexico to the Mississippi River and to Susan's family in Kentucky. (Susan would live only another eight years, dying of childbirth at age 27.) <br /> <br />It's a wonderful first-hand account. My only complaint is that I wish editor Stella Drumm had identified locations (camping sites, geographic sites, etc.) mentioned by Magoffin in the journal. Other than that, it's a chronicle that can be read often and always seem fresh and exciting. A must-read record of an important and lively adventure.0300094671522291998-11-01

Primary Source tale of a honeymoon on the Santa Fe Trail

Magoffin was a name familiar to the Mexicans who had trading relations with Susan's husband for years before he married her and took her with him from the states on an expedition to Chihuahua, Mexico. She kept a diary from which she drew her information for the only book I know written by a woman, young and pregnant, whose fate it was to die in her 26th year, at home. Accounts from her perspective at such a crucial time in relations between the United States and Mexico, in a venacular peculiarly her own, make her work one of considerable importance to the serious student of the time. Revealing also are individual encounters with men, some from her own country, and her opinion of Gen. Stephen Watts Kearny, commander of the U.S. Army of the West stationed in Sante Fe. Susan was a young lady of class the exercise of which makes the reader proud, and whose elegance charmed all who came to know her.Eighteen-year-old bride's 15-month journey from Independence, Missouri, to Chihuahua. Mexico. Filled with daily observations of life on trail, people met, miles travelled, and information on countryside. Colorful and exciting and historically important.006091251008032791240870818007140003110908708124084836Mexico4808Americas9History1000Subjects283155Books4856General485419th Century4853United States4808Americas9History1000Subjects283155Books4858Old West485419th Century4853United States4808Americas9History1000Subjects283155Books4870General4853United States4808Americas9History1000Subjects283155Books4872General14278871State & Local4853United States4808Americas9History1000Subjects283155Books400272011Paperback394184011Mass Market401237011Trade394174011Binding (binding)388186011Refinements283155Books618083011Printed Books618072011Format (feature_browse-bin)388186011Refinements283155BooksB0007DDTZ8http://www.amazon.com/eagle-serpent-Marti%C3%8C%C2%81n-Luis-Guzma%C3%8C%C2%81n/dp/B0007DDTZ8%3FSubscriptionId%3D05ERXYTS89KFGEPQR5G2%26tag%3Dthebookrevi0b-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB0007DDTZ8Martín Luis GuzmánUnknown BindingP. SmithEnglishEnglishP. Smith386Book1969P. SmithP. Smith0000005.041B0007DDTZ85552002-07-02

The Greatest Book of the Mexican Revolution

The Eagle and the Serpent is arguably the greatest book of the literature of the Mexican Revolution. It tells the story of a young student's involvement in the uprising that shook Mexico from 1910-1920 and his incredible adventures with the great "heroes" of the Revolution. Guzmán has an incredibly fluid and poetic style with which he paints detailed portraits of the political and social situation in Mexico at the beginning of the 20th century. He amazes the reader with an artistry and wit that runs throughout his accounts of the famous places and people of the Revolution. If you're not familiar with Mexican Liturature, this is a great place to start your journey: you may never come back!B0007DDTZ84452001-03-09

An Historical Novel of the Mexican Revolution

Mr. Guzman wrote an interesting and very readable account of his adventures during the Mexican Revolution, but many have failed to recognize that Guzman, himself, considered this an historical novel and NOT a history of the revolution. If you wish more accuracy in describing events of the revolution, look elsewhere.B0007DDTZ85551998-02-06

Why read novels, Mexican history is much better.

The author recounts his experiences as an influential ideologist of the Mexican revolution. The adventures he narrates are often hard to believe. The atrocities of Villa. The stubborness of Carranza. The humbleness of the Zapatistas. Countless betrayals on the quest for Mexico City, the golden trophy for all.B0007DDTZ8512121997-10-16

Mexican Revolution, History as Adventure

This account of the Mexican Revolution takes you along with the participants in their adventures in the northern states with Pancho Villa as he advances on and occupies Mexico City along with Emiliano Zapata's forces from the southern area of Mexico. An excellent account of what it was like to have been there; which includes every aspect of it all, hold onto your hats...084202880303947085390292708823080327997308047265664830General4826Central America4808Americas9History1000Subjects283155Books4836Mexico4808Americas9History1000Subjects283155Books1594330484http://www.amazon.com/El-Gancho-Immigrant-Familys-Journey/dp/1594330484%3FSubscriptionId%3D05ERXYTS89KFGEPQR5G2%26tag%3Dthebookrevi0b-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D15943304841101782http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51op-e8h3dL._SL75_.jpg7550http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51op-e8h3dL._SL160_.jpg160106http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51op-e8h3dL.jpg500332Michael TravisHardcover92097815943304831501594330484Publication ConsultantsSpanishSpanishEnglish8802995USD$29.95Publication Consultants1632Book2006-12-01Publication Consultants2006-12-01Publication Consultants2356202194USD$21.942200USD$22.00610011ATVPDKIKX0DERhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/help/seller/home.html?seller=ATVPDKIKX0DERNewnew1Kit%2BjiWCrttlVonUFAN%2B2l3z%2B2%2FmuN9lVoIxjAB0If%2B6p4Aglv%2BeYKqxD%2BGfPvSKABJQNGVdPeuvsfQMdTz2A%3D%3D2995USD$29.95In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served.5.04115943304845002007-07-10

WOW

There are few books in the last five years that I did not want to end. This was one of them. It was awarded "1st place - Fiction, novel" in the 2007 Alaska Professional Communicators Communications Contest. Alaska Professional Communicators is the Alaska affiliate of the National Federation of Press Women. <br /> <br />This saga explores the history of a family who immigrated to America from Mexico in the early nineteen hundreds. There is an awareness of the detailed research & expert touch necessary to seamlessly intertwine actual historical personages and events with the characters' story. This novel is a shining example of personal and historical disasters woven with masterful skill to create a bright and colorful tapestry. <br /> <br />One of the prevading themes that surfaces in this book like a shark's fin, throughout the story is the social struggle between poor men and the "hacendados", the privileged, rich class of men who exploit them. In this novel, the hook is used as a unique metaphor. It encompasses a name, a place, a dream, family, and of course El Gancho, the name of the book. <br /> <br />The main characters of the book, Prudenciano Nava and Paz Nava are portrayed exceptionally well. The author let's you get to know the characters, loveable in their own rights but fallible, as all people are. Some of the less loveable characters are motivated by everything from hunger for admiration and esteem to using others' weaknesses for their own gain. <br /> <br />The reader is introduced to Prudenciano Nava in the first chapters of the book. The writer quickly pulls the reader into the setting with a wealth of vivid imagery. Prudenciano Nava lives a reckless life. He works as a laborer with his childhood friend and runs from what Texans call "rodeo" to "rodeo" <br /> <br />. As we venture through Prudenciano Nava's life with him we learn about his frolics and foibles: Relationships, responsibility (or lack there of) as well as Prudenciano's penchant for cultivation of females' expectations, to their moral detriment and families' anger.The author brings you so far into the world he has created & the characters that abide there it seems you can feel the breath of these characters and hear their heartbeats. There are many escapades and escapes in this saga. The escapes are more serious, fleeing from supervisors that consider the help expendable; disease; starvation, and a war ravaged Mexico, and ultimately a flight to another country where our characters continue to reap the consequences of their choices. <br /> <br />Ultimately Prudenciano Nava emerges as a survivor above all else. <br /> <br />The author successfully communicates the vivid immediacy of living life <br />constantly on the edge. We feel the grit and dust of the roads of Mexico, <br />taste the tobacco and the alcohol, and feel the desert heat. This book works on various levels, as history, as an adventure, or as a social or political commentary. The reader looks through an open window into the past, raw and real. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />15943304845122007-05-10

Davis review of El Gancho

Read enough books and you'll eventually find a book that encompasses all the elements you really enjoy: a well-written tale of adventure, action, realistic situations, and, most importantly, memorable characters in a great storyline. "El Gancho: A Saga of an Immigrant Family's Journey out of Mexico" by Michael Travis fits that description. On the surface, Travis' book is a fictionalized, but truthful, account of his great-grandparents and their migration from Monte Escobedo, Mexico, to Sydney, Montana. But beneath the surface is the story of the immigration of Mexican people to the U.S. in the early 1900s, a time when immigration wasn't the contentious issue of today. In fact, in those days, America actively encouraged migration. The United States' westward expansion with its attendant increase in agricultural production and the accompanying growth of railroads and the like called for large amounts of cheap labor. Mexican immigrants provided that labor more readily and cheaply than any other group. And helping hold everything together, Travis has made "El Gancho" a different sort of history book. He's made it interesting and entertaining as he intersperses his story of family with actual historical people and events. <br /> <br /> "El Gancho" (meaning the Hook in Spanish) centers around the life of Travis' great-grandfather Tereso Minjares, known in his earlier life as Prudenciano Nava. Talk about your memorable characters, Prudenciano Nava is that and more. In following the family's northern migration, Michael Travis manages to do something few authors writing about their ancestors achieve. Travis makes their lives extremely interesting and exciting, and yet manages to portray them with all their faults and frailties. We see Prudenciano/Tereso as an egotistical man whose pride, laziness, fondness of tequila, and disdain for honest labor leads him to make some seriously bad choices that affect not only himself, but others, particularly his much younger, long suffering wife, Paz. Although 33 years his junior, she is obviously the more mature of the two. <br /> <br />Although the first chapter has 78-year-old Tereso Minjares taking a break from the sugar beet field and reflecting back on his life, the story really starts with the illiterate 48-year-old Prudenciano Nava toward the end of his career with the Mexican rodeo. Nava is a master at a particularly dangerous event known as tailing the bull. This event involves flipping a full-grown bull onto its back by its tail. Few men could do this as the experienced and wily bulls came equipped with more than a ton of muscle and very sharp horns. While his partner on horseback acted as a target to draw the animal into a rampaging charge, Prudenciano came from behind, grasped the animal's tail and flipped it on its back. That's if all goes well. When things don't go well, the animal's size, agility and razor sharp horns poses a real threat of serious injury or death for one or both men and their horses. Such was the case in Fresnillo when, in front of his estranged family, Prudenciano misses the tail and the bull kills his life-long friend and partner, Tereso. Depressed, Prudenciano practically begs to be allowed to return to his father's ranch. <br /> <br />It's there on Emilio Nava's ranch that Prudenciano's life takes a significant turn. Quickly remembering why he left in the first place, Prudenciano rebels against work and the requirement to learn to read and write. As he resorts to his old ways of boasting and bossing others around, he alienates both his father and his older brother, Abundio. Then, he meets Abundio's 15-year-old stepdaughter, Maria Paz Esparsa. Following a fight with his brother, Prudenciano leaves, taking a willing Paz with him. They manage to throw off their pursuers long enough for them to quickly marry and their long arduous trip north begins. <br /> <br />Over the ensuing years, Prudenciano tries valiantly to provide for his wife and their expanding family. But his pride, his inability to read, his fondness of drink, and his preference for reliving his past glories regularly interfere. He takes up work in a silver mine, only to have a cave-in nearly kill him as he saves his boss. When an outbreak of typhus sends the family to Chihuahua (walking the whole way), Prudenciano becomes a guard in service to one of the town's richest men. And it's there he first encounters Pancho Villa and warns him of a traitor in his midst. It's also where he gets tagged with the nickname "El Gancho," as he participated in his last la Colleada. But their relatively good life comes to a quick end when, worried that authorities will learn he helped Villa, Prudenciano moves with Paz and their three children to El Paso, once again walking the whole way. <br /> <br />Entering the United States legally, thanks to centavos Paz has put away, Prudenciano soons succumbs to another meaning for the term El Gancho. Promising good jobs, good pay, and housing for families, unscrupulous labor agents extend the hook and lure men into dangerous or low paying jobs. The process is made all the easier by the illiteracy of the average immigrant. Prudenciano gets a backbreaking job on the railroad with he and his family sharing a drafty boxcar as a house. Then, following a drunken binge in celebration of Mexico's Independence Day, Prudenciano nearly kills a man accidentally and soon finds himself on the run. A year later with a new name, Tereso Minjares, he sends for Paz and the children to join him in his new job at a logging camp. After several more moves and several more jobs the family finally settles in Sydney, Montana, working sugar beets for the Holly Sugar Company. Of course, they arrived there after Tereso once again swallowed the hook offered by John Dillon, the same man who'd talked him into the railroad job. <br /> <br />All in all, "El Gancho" is a great story filled with exciting adventures and incredulous difficulties, many of them brought on by the poor choices made by the colorful Prudenciano/Tereso. Anyone wishing to understand the real challenge of coming to los Estados Unidos in the early 1900s would do well to read "El Gancho." <br />15943304845112007-05-10

Culturally Accurate and Makes Me Want to Know More About My Own Family History

Michael Travis describes the attitudes and expectations of the Mexican culture with incredible accuracy. Even in modern days, I have seen many men and women struggle within their family roles for better or for worse. Prudencio Nava's difficulty with alcoholism and settling into a permanent home along with Paz's struggle to keep the family together reflects the lives of many Mexican family's today. El Gancho brings into the perspective the historical ramifications of the Mexican migration into the United States during the late 1800 and early 1900. It has given me insight into my own Mexican family's prejudices and mistrusts of other cultures and for authority in general. During his reading at the Fairbanks Arts Association Bear Gallery, Michael explained the extensive research necessary for this book. His hard work is to be admired. I wish I had his dedication to find out more about my family roots.15943304844222007-03-08

El Gancho y La Mosca

Weaving a rich tapestry of history, tall tales and outright lies, Michael Travis presents his reader with a story that spans more than thirty years and four generations, taking us from rural Mexico to an immigrant colonia in Montana. <br /> <br />Travis especially excels at subtly building tension in his reader particularly in the 'colleada', a death-defying rodeo event. Using brutal and resonant imagery as a conductor's wand rather than a club, Travis evokes artfully evokes appropriate feelings and empathy with his characters throughout the novel. <br /> <br />If a criticism could fairly be leveled at Travis, it is that he's too unflinchingly honest about his characters, often they are despicable and/or inscrutable, and by the end of the book it is difficult for the modern, enlightened reader to empathize or identify with his protagonist due to his defiant ignorance and all consuming machismo. But in truth, this should be seen as a strength on Travis' part. The reader must remember that Prudenciano Nava is not a modern man, not even for his own time. He is a primal creature who runs on instinct and raw power. He recalls the classical hero who, despite all of his strength and power inevitably falls to his untempered hubris. <br /> <br />Most of all, El Gancho is the story of a world, a place a people and a time that will seem both alien and familiar to the modern reader. These things are truly just next door in both time and space. The life changes of the Minjares family parallel the enormous changes that the world was experiencing at that same time. As life would never be the same for Prudenciano's family again, so too would the world never be the same. <br /> <br />I highly recommend this book. Read it if you love history. Read it if your ancestors or you crossed that Big River long ago or last week. Read it if your connection to your own family runs deep or you wish it did. <br /> <br />To paraphrase the foreword by Joe Minjares, Prudenciano Nava is that primitive creature that lies dormant, just beneath the surface in all of us. Incomprehensible yet utterly human. This story is for everyone.Prudenciano Nava is a Mexican <I>colleador</I> -- a rodeo performer of exceptional skill and strength who flips bulls on their backs by grabbing their tails. A trained horse and agile <I>colleador</I> partner allowed him to escape the deadly horns, and bask in the admiration of the crowd.<BR><BR> Nava, scornful of honest labor, has an uncontrollable temper, a weakness for drink, and abandoned his wife. Pursued on horseback, the 49-year old Nava eloped with his brother's 15-year-old stepdaughter, leaving the drudgery of his father's <I>rancho</I>, for riches in Mexico's northern states. But the Mexican revolution explodes, shattering the nation and Nava's dreams. He and his family flee north yet again.<BR><BR> During a botched train holdup in New Mexico, Nava nearly kills a man; now he must elude the law and a fearsome Apache bounty hunter. Nava becomes Tereso Minjares and seeks a quiet life. But his lust for fame lures him to run guns for the legendary rebel, Pancho Villa.<BR><BR> Ultimately humbled, Tereso never realizes that he was the instrument of the greatest El Gancho (Hook) of all. Because of Tereso's faults and God-given strengths, the Minjares family is brought to a new destiny in Los Estados Unidos.<BR><BR> <I>El Gancho</I>, the true stories of an illiterate great-grandfather once taken as a spinner of exaggerated tales, is the experience of real people who endured the hardships of history, and became the foundation of a nation.2375General2Biographies & Memoirs1000Subjects283155Books2393General2376Historical2Biographies & Memoirs1000Subjects283155Books3048891Memoirs2Biographies & Memoirs1000Subjects283155Books