North America Books

This book arrived in top condition and in time. In a college book store this book cost a lot more, so I am very pleased to be able to buy it from this seller.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the descriptive way the author wrote. I have been through Colorado and have seen the beauty she described. Also enjoyed the story because there wasn't a lot of violence and if there was any sex, it was only in our imagination which is the greatest kind. I was amazed at how the lady rode for miles in rugged wilderness without seeming to get lost. The fact that she could subsist on meager food was also interesting.

For many years I saw this book in National Park bookstores and passed it by thinking it would be an example of the overwritten, rather tedious journals of other Victorian travelers. When I finally found it at a used bookstore and rather reluctantly bought it, I was surprised to find out how exciting and relevant her story was.

Because I live in Colorado, I recoginize and travel through many of the places she describes. Just this weekend as we traveled along Highway 67, my husband and I remarked on the likelihood, that this was the same route she'd taken out of Colorado Springs.

Her accounts lend life to the grey, weatherbeaten cabins, abandoned roads and rusting rails that we see. Even though many parts of Europe and the US were relatively modern at the time of her adventures, it is surprising to read just how primitive and precarious was the life of many Colorado settlers.

Even if you aren't from Colorado, read this book to become aquainted with a Victorian woman who found a way to live life fully. Read it to learn about life in the west. Read it just because it's a good read.

Did you ever read any of the BEANY MALONE novels by Lenora Mattingly Weber? In them I first read about Isabella Bird and her remarkable life in the American West. Beany's older brother, Johnny Malone, is a teenager when the series begins, a young Denver boy with a remarkable passion for unearthing the memoirs and daguerrotypes of Colorado pioneers and taking notes on the old-timers who settled the state. Their colorful lives make his ordinary life seem rather pastel, so he often sinks into a nostalgia of the past, while his family members tease him about the dreamy look in his eyes. He helps a veteran journalist, Emerson Worth, complete his magnum opus, OUR CITY HAS DEEP ROOTS. And among the pioneers Johnny obsessed about was none other than Isabella Bird, so when I found this book on a recent trip to Boulder, I added it to my rucksack.

If you are reading on horseback, as Isabella Bird did, this is perhaps the ideal book to carry with you. She was a woman used to the English-style horse with its Ascot breeding and high carriage. What she found in Colorado were, naturally, the horses of the West, more perfectly adapted to the mile-high atmospheres, but slung somewhat lower than anything she's been used to and slightly swaybacked. Bird adapted quickly, and the fun of her autobiography is to see her taking in her stride a series of calamities and hardships that would have Job complaining bitterly! No matter if it's an insect infestation or tumbling right through a sheet of ice into zero degree river chills, for Isabella Bird it's all part of a day's fun. Travel writing in the 19th century was, of course, the leading genre of prose. From no other source were English-speaking readers able to find out more about other people's lives, and the curiosity was immense.

You'll like Isabella, and her crazy love affair with Colorado. She remains very much a lady, but will challenge your preconceived notions of what a lady is and isn't. Most of all you will thrill to follow the course of her journeys up and down the mountains through which, now, there are some better trails but still the same amazing sunrises which she describes with the thrill of one for whom every day's an adventure.

I bought this book while visiting Estes Park, CO...hungry for books about life in the West that may not be so readily available here in NJ. I found it to be one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read! Isabella's descriptions of the Rocky Mountains and the climate through which she travelled are vivid and gripping. But more than that, she gives a detailed and honest account of what life was like for settlers on the frontier. How she managed to ride thru the mountains where the only "trails" were tracks of wagons or animals, when often those were covered with the seemingly constant snow, boggles the mind. Her love for Colorado sings out in every word she writes. I too was deeply touched by its beauty, and hope to return again, this time with an enriched appreciation due to this wonderful recounting of Isabella Bird's journey.

What is art?- you really answered this question! Through the many people you probobly interviewed, you probobly learned this too!!! I just absolutly LOVE THIS BOOK AND I RECOMMEND IT TO PEOPLE OF AGES 10 AND UP!!!! You must have worked really, really hard!!! Good Book and Exelent work!!!!

I absolutely loved this book! I think that you must have put a lot of effort, work, and time into this masterpiece. Love the word usage and the story overall. I hope that you write more books.
Great Work!

Highly entertaining peek into the art world -- what is art? How do you find it and create a market for it?

The artists in The Last Folk Hero are charming people whose talent is brought to light by an unlikely character from Atlanta.

Well researched, well written and fun read.

A friend gave me this book and I started to read it just so I could thank her properly... but I was hooked within a chapter. It is a great read with memorable personalities, some history, some art and suspense. For those with an interest in folk art, it is a must read. For those looking for a page-turner, it is a must read.

Andrew Dietz brilliantly captures the layers of race relations, exploitation, white liberalism and the dynamics of individual egos. As Lonnie Holly captured in his piece "Mystery of the White in Me" (the artist and a photo of this piece are featured in the book), Dietz's exploration of the line between artist promotion and exploitation demonstrates that nothing is as black and white as it appears.

As a reader that knew little of the history and politics of folk art, it did take me a while to get drawn into the book (I was hampered by the fact that a house guest started reading my first copy and was so drawn in to the story that I let him take it with him), but once I got to the third chapter I could not put it down.

I read The Living Great Lakes at least two or three years ago and subsequently gave my copy to a client relocating from New Jersey to Michigan. I just bought my second copy to re-read and add back to my permanent library. This book is an enormous pleasure trip from beginning to end. The author lives and breathes the Great Lakes. As someone who was born and bred along the lakeshore of West Michigan, I can tell he really "gets" the soul of the dunes and the lakes and how vital, how beautiful, and how important our Great Lakes are in our lives. A huge thumbs up!

As a displaced Michigander, I am often amazed that westerners are almost completely unfamiliar with the Great Lakes. This book would be best enjoyed by those familiar with the region. But even the less familiar will enjoy the gripping adventure found in the many anecdotes offered here. I am on my second read and can't believe how much I had forgotten from my first read. There are stories that will nearly bring you to tears (the near disaster on the day of the Edmund Fitz sinking) and some that will simply amaze. This should be required reading for all school children from this region. Those less fortunate who live elsewhere will still enjoy the enlightening read. And while it certainly encourages protection of the lakes, I didn't find it preachy. It is a very objective book and doesn't dwell too much on the environment.

If there is a better book on the great lakes I haven't found it.

Purchased the book because I'm considering a retirement along Lake Ontario and am an avid sailor. The book is centered around the relocation of a Ferro cement schooner from Michigan through the lakes to Lake Ontario, onward down the Hudson and around New England. Along the journey, are many mini stories added for each lake taken from a combination of personal adventures, history and many interesting collection of facts coveraging a wide range of subjects from geology, their early exploration, later exploitation and related environmental problems. My only mild dissapointment is there was not more on Lake Ontario. The trip ends in along the coast of Maine where I was raised. It's a delightful book.

I really enjoyed this book because it covers a wide range of topics from sailing to environmentalism to North American history to geology.

As a lifelong citizen of the Great Lakes in Rochester, NY and Chicago, IL, I was surprised at how much I didn't already know -- and that the book taught me.

An enthusiastic outdoorsman, Dennis has written a comprehensive book on the Great Lakes from the perspective of personal experience, scientific data and historical background. He describes the area in its early pristine beauty, from the Indian tribes to the first European settlers and the dawning of industrialization that almost destroyed this natural preserve of geology, flora, fauna and indigenous species. With attention to the tales of the past, Dennis writes of the gradual evolution of natural beauty into a vast resource for lumber, farm products, shipping and related industries, including the influx of a population that has grown around opportunity, all imbued with the awesome grandeur of these vast bodies of water.

On a four-week voyage through the Great Lakes, Dennis views the area from the water, as opposed to his many travels along the shorelines, the exhausting, but fulfilling days on board filled with the lore of the sea, new friendships make while sailing and the eccentric individuals met along the way. Couched in contemporary terms, the author speaks of the past with reverence, his love of history enhanced by regional details, tales of shipwrecks and the personal observations of a man with great reverence for the bounty of this immense body of water and those who live on the miles of coastline that make up the Great Lakes. History is tangible in Dennis's work, impossible to ignore as the men navigate from one lake to another, reminded daily of the pitfalls of ignoring nature and the pleasures of communing with the elements.

The comprehensive chapters cover: Lake Michigan, from land and water; the Straights of Mackinac; Lake Superior, canoeing, the early voyagers, surviving storms; Lake Huron, Georgian Bay and the wilderness; St. Claire River; Lake Ontario, the Erie Canal and the Hudson River. Each chapter addresses relevant information but is complemented by stories, for example, the "White City" constructed in Jackson Park for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, the disappearance of an entire fishing village on the shores of lake Michigan, victim of "walking dunes", Sault Ste. Marie and the rapids of the St. Mary's and The Soo Locks. His eye on an ever-changing environment, Dennis paints a fascinating portrait of nature's bounty in the Great Lakes, past and present, ever vigilant for the dangers of pollution, overuse and the avarice of industrialization: "Bracketed by mysteries, adrift, alone, despairing of our ignorance, we turn to the physical because there, at least, we can know a thing for certain." This is out legacy and the key to the future of a national treasure. Luan Gaines/ 2006.

Handy map, with excellent info on bus routes and all manners of public transit!!!! Can't do without this map if you're on your own and want to use public transit!

The streets go every witchway and having this map that we could pull easily out of our pack was a lifesaver. If you don't have a car, the BART and MUNI maps were also handy. People on the street saw us using it and always chimed in with extra advice.

These "streetwise" laminated maps are the best there is to get you around any city. Walking OR driving. We wore this one out on our recent trip to San Francisco.

Although not as compact, we like this better than the Pocket Pilot. This map has more detail, it just doesn't fit very well in a pocket. Because of its size, it is more readable.
Golden Gate Trailblazer: Where to Hike, Walk, Bike in San Francisco & MarinZagat San Francisco Bay Area Restaurants 2009 (Zagatsurvey: San Francisco/ Bay Area Restaurants)Newcomer's Handbook for Moving to And Living in the San Francisco Bay Area: Including San Jose, Oakland, Berkeley, And Palo Alto (Newcomer's Handboks)

I stayed at The Red Vic in Haight-Ashbury, a little off the beaten path. This map and my weeklong muni pass paid for themselves a gabillion times. The map worked great; I was never lost. The way they depict the touristy section of Lombard Street makes me giggle.

Very beautiful unfoldable view of Manhattan from both the East and the West side. Specially good is the utilization of black and white which makes it much more elegant.

I bought this one. Love NY, love illustration, love books. The thing is: it's not really a book. You can't read it, because there are only illustrations. There are no pages, or a logical sequence. You can't even open it, unless you have 12 foot long pair of arms. You can't mount it on the wall, or you'll loose the other side. It feels really stupid to have this "book" on your hands. Because although you know you can't use it, you still got to have it.

This book is charming, the cover and slipcase make it look special, the reader feels the book has to be very good to be housed in such a well crafted good looking presentation. But once you have looked at the line drawing and followed it from one end to the other you feel a little foolish having spent your money on something so wispy. And yet the book is charming, so it takes all its value when offered as a gift so that its owner can enjoy it without the remorse of the money spent..

I bought Manhattan Unfurled as a gift, and that is how I rate it.
Personally, I was disappointed. I was expecting a more detailed work done is a stronger, classic pen and ink style. The the casual cartoon style however is charming and really does not detract from the impact of the book.
Manhattan Unfurled is best appreciated when unfurled. Anyone who adores Manhattan will love this book, stretching out the pages and oohing and ahhing over the vista.

I bought this book so that my children could one day see the Manhattan skyline as I fell in love with it. It's fun to note the small details in the drawings--I think I notice something new each time I open it up.

Given the excellent presentation with the slipcase, etc., this book is an awesome gift for anyone who loves NYC. The artwork is solid, but not too formal, giving just the right feeling to the buildings. This book would also be a fun springboard for children to use to draw panoramic skylines of their own home towns.

The most thorough, insightful biography ever written about Jack Kerouac. Whether you're a Kerouac veteran or a rookie, if you aim to call yourself a JK fan, you simply must read Nicosia's biography of this great American visionary. None of the other Kerouac biographies comes close. This is the top of the mountain.

When was the last time you read an almmost-800 page book and wanted it to keep going at the end? That was my experience with Memory Babe: A Critical Biography of Jack Kerouac. If you love Kerouac - which I do, as evidenced by my writing The Beat Handbook: 100 Days of Kerouactions, a book answering the question, 'What would Kerouac do?' - this is a must-read. Nicosia skillfully balances attention to detail with an interesting story to provide the reader with a comprehensive yet critical look into the life of one of America's greatest writers. This is a challenging and scholarly work, one that shouldn't be undertaken lightly. You won't be sorry if you take up the challenge.

Chronologically, from birth to death, author Nicosia tells Kerouac's life story with unflinching honesty and utmost respect. Blessed with a sharp memory, very early on Jack's childhood friends nicknamed him "Memory Babe" and that is where the book got its name. Packed with fascinating details and exquisitely written, this book needs to be discovered by a younger generation of readers.

Many of us alive today have heard of Jack Kerouac but I doubt few know the details of his tragic life. That he remains the voice of a generation and a literary icon goes without saying. Kerouac was a physically beautiful but emotionally flawed man with a tormented spirit. He spent his life as man and writer trying to prove that "the past is the root of the future, and that a man cannot live without the continuity of both." Jack remembered everything he heard, as if words were sacred and his mind was a sponge. Despite his many flaws, he always paid "exquisite attention to the sound of language."

Even as he mapped new territory as a writer, Kerouac was adrift as a man. As the first spokesman for the "beat" generation, he perfected that voice with guilt, self-doubt, and self-punishment. This biography clearly states Jack's definition of "beat": "beat down, beat up, all-tired-out." Still, his words were always carefully chosen. Word by word, Kerouac carefully created phrases to express time, place, emotion, and man's senses, communicating deep meaning. His writing was full of symbolism and visions, allegory and veiled reality, profanity and parody, as he groped his way with prose towards his own death. For his time, Kerouac's verbal ingenuity was unsurpassed.

Personally, his charismatic male persona disguised a quicksilver child, mischievous and unpredictable. As he aged, Jack became a brooding, paranoid, hard drinking drug user, insecure in his sexuality and prone to alcoholic blackouts. As addiction wrecked his health, his light slowly drowned out and he became a lonely and despairing figure. But for decades in between youth and death, this trusting, shy, socially awkward man became a literary legend.

Jack Kerouac rubbed shoulders with Jackson Pollock, Allen Ginsberg, and every jazz great of his day. He was published by several of the major New York publishing houses. His prose and poetry were unprecedented and have not been successfully imitated since. He died young, never fully realizing the effect of his mind and his work on subsequent generations.

Gerald Nicosia has penned THE definitive biography of Kerouac. From letters, journals, tapes, interviews, and Jack Kerouac's books themselves - all faithfully recorded in a detailed bibliography - the author has skillfully dissected the life of the "beat" generation's strongest voice. The result is both scholarly and deeply personal, touching and disturbing. It should be required reading in every college and university, and a must have book for any reader curious about Kerouac and his time.

I have read alot of biographies on Kerouac, but this one doesnt even compare to the rest. This book is full of details. I mean, minute details, with input and interviews from obscure people (as well as the prominent) in Jack's life. Buy it, read it, be moved!

Of the two best-known Kerouac biographies -- the other being Ann Charters' -- Memory Babe is by far the more scholarly. Challenging and difficult, Gerald Nicosia's Memory Babe still entertains. Memory Babe is a treasure-trove, but not for the light reader.

If you go hunting or wild camping it is important to know what land is for public or private property. Also very useful by driving with car (any car). Easy to know which street/road are ok for different kind of vehicle, truck or motorcycle.
The size of the map could be better it is not very handy, but so you don't need to have magnifying glass to use this guide.

We bought this book with the idea of just wandering Michigan for our week of vacation. We wanted to avoid the Interstate as much as possible. This book was great for our plan! There are many roads and towns on these pages that aren't on a regular map! We really enjoyed traveling back roads, while never feeling lost.

This book is incredibly detailed and easy to use. Along with a GPS, there is nothing you cannot find. Whether an occasional traveler or a resident, this is a must to have for God's Country, Michigan's U.P.

I spend a lot of time off the beaten path. This map is great for getting there and back. Very useful. This is my third one, as I keep wearing them out.

I have been using DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteers for many states for many years. I have always found them very useful for travelling over the back roads and secondary highways as they give one detail not found on the usual road maps. They also list parks, historic sites, recreaton areas, etc. which are also very valuable when travelling in unfamiliar areas.

While I also own a GPS system for my automobile, it doesn't give you topographic detail or large area views due to the limitatons of the small GPS screen. However, I find using both the DeLorme Maps and the GPS system to make for very efficient trip planning.

read the book back in 70's. still remember vividly many charecters(all immensely lovable),especilly Flap& H-Bomb.been trying to get a copy eversince...a must-read for everyone .

Would recommend this book as a positive have to read. Next to The Cowboy and the Cossack, there hasn't been any books available for some fantastic reading and belly laughs to go along with the events that unfold (no hints to give away the story, just read no matter what your preference for reading is. Just wish I could find the movie that was made with Anthony Quinn, remember it and one fantastic piece of art, period. This book is definitly worth the price, I have two, honest, and would not part with either, as One is a first print, Untouchable.

My older sister was a librarian when this book came out. Think I was [quite young] when I first read it (what can I say, I was precocious!). I was always the type of kid who rooted for the horses and Indians before even thinking about the cowboys. This book made a *huge* impression on me.

For a white-bread Army brat, it was hard to imagine the life on the Paiute reservation, but the author's words were able to give me a very good, if not very wanted, understanding of just how rough it was - the amenities that we take for granted they didn't even have as an option, like electricity and TVs, and even more importantly, basic medical care.

Flapping Eagle's "don't tick me off" attitude and his dealings with Snowflake, Mike, and especially H-Bomb, made me love him from the get-go. He wasn't afraid to speak his mind and stick up for what he thought was right.

From the beginning where you meet the main characters, to the drunken attempts to ride a drunken H-Bomb while avoiding his big teeth, to the train that was hijacked, the equipment that goes over a cliff, the court proceedings, and the final scenes in Phoenix, the book pulls you into the story and real life takes a back seat until you turn the last page.

I am a voracious reader and this story affected me to the point that even now, 30+ years later, the book is still in the top 10 of my favorite all-time books. Read it. You won't regret it.

This is one of my favorite books of all time; the story just draws you in, and keeps you there. I know this book is out of print, but get a copy of it any way you can.

I first read this book in high school and I fell in love with it! It's been over 20 years, and I still chuckle when I think about Flap, Eleven, H-Bomb and all the other unforgettable characters and their many wild and crazy adventures. I've since married into a Native American family, and I realize that many of the problems that the author pointed out with humor back then still exist is some degree today. Crude language not withstanding, I think that this is a great book and should be a must read for anyone with a social concience.

First off, a correction: Hal Webster and Frank Beebe put this book together initially in the 60's or 70's, in an earlier edition which is still largely the same. Since, chapters have been added about Harris' Hawks (which are an exception to the rules about non-social raptors,) to update veterinary aspects, etc. Joe Rotondo's name has no place in the credits for this book.

Though aspects of the legal system do not apply in countries other than the U.S., NAF&HH remains the single most comprehensive book written on modern falconry, and perhaps the second most comprehensive ever written on the subject. I'm a professional writer, author, and have been flying raptors for well over 30 years (nearly 40, now) and I have been unable to begin to put together a book on the subject, for fear that I'll miss one of the many facets that go into each decision made about the hawk while interacting with it. The sheer sum of all the information that comes into play at one time is daunting. Yet Hal and Frank managed to present that information to us in analog order, and produce a book which has guided many thousands of falconers to success over the past 4 decades.

If you could have only one book on raptors, this would have to be that book.

P.S. Though Amazon claims that it is out of print, Hal Webster continues to publish this book. Western Sporting Goods is amongst the vendors who can acquire it, and Hal may still sell it directly as well.

P.P.S. I should also add that it is written by Hal Webster & Frank Beebe. I've no idea how Joe Rotondo came to be in the credits.

This book is a must have for falconers, especially those falconry apprentices seeking knowledge to pass state exams. Not only an excellent reference book but an enjoyable wealth of falconry background. Learn about the different kinds of birds of prey of the falconry world, obtaining, training and care of these magnificent birds.

The most comprehensive book printed on Falconry in North America. Now in it's 8th edition.

This is a book chock-full of great material. Overall organization of the content needs some tweeking as it is a bit scattered. Anyone wanting to get details on hawks and falconry will find the information they need somewhere in these pages. The authors clearly have a wealth of knowledge to share; it could be shared better. This book is in serious need of a competent editor. Nearly every page contains examples of the editor's silly habit of using capital letters to emphasize words. For example, "...the haggard Prairie is VERY difficult to train." Often this anachromism is employed several times per page and makes reading difficult. It is both annoying and so unneccesary.
Grammatical and spelling errors abound as well.

This is a must-have for anyone thinking of starting falconry or becoming an apprentice falconer. It is a primary reference book for practicing falconers. Most people will need to have read this book thoroughly as well as other reference material before being able to pass their state exam. We found the California Hawking Club Apprentice Study Guide as well as information from local Fish and Game Dept (in addition to this book) to be very helpful in passing the state exam. This book is used on a regular basis for us as practicing falconers.

There are so many books on New York's attractions that one might wonder at the need for yet another, but this book is a key and the first to focus on a hundred off-the-beaten-path destinations, from small museums and nearly forgotten historic places to odd shops and small oddities. A geographic arrangement aids in the journey, with chapters offering addresses, hours, directions, web sites, and long paragraphs of enticing description. Recommended for any travel library strong in New York City attractions.

Suzanne Reisman is a wonderful guide through off-the-beaten-track New York City. This guide is well-written, entertaining, thoroughly researched, and full of wonderful gems for any traveler or NYC dweller looking for quirky, fun, and enlightening things to do around town. I love the troll museum. Highly recommend!

Having recently moved out of NYC after a LONG time living there, reading this book makes me want to move back right now! I wish I knew about all these cool places while I was living close by.
This book highlights a lot of little-known and interesting places all over the city that are easily accessible on public transportation. The wide range of places means that anyone can find something of interest. It is organized by location, so the visitor can plan on doing several things with one trip and gives great directions on how to get there and what to expect. A little bit of the history of each place rounds out the vivid descriptions, so I felt like I was actually visiting the places just by reading. What a great and out of the ordinary guide-book!

Indeed, this travel book is truly unique. Blending fascinating information with humor, mild expletives, and Yiddish phrases, Ms. Reisman creates a relaxed writing style that is as appealing as the colorful cover is eye-catching. The perspective traveler wants to peruse the book from cover to cover as if it were a novel, and not just a catalog of destinations, in order to discover what she has to say. The reader is simultaneously enlightened and entertained. Whoever dreamed that guidebooks could be so much fun?!

I love love love this book! I've been to 3 of the places so far and love that everything is easily (mostly) accessible and pretty spot on with the descriptions in the book.

Plus, each attraction's description is not only digestable, but filled with a great traveler's context, unlike some Lonely Planet versions where you never really get the context of WHY something is fun to visit!