North America Books

What I like best about this collection is that the author (or editor, really) tells you a little bit about the people who tell the stories. He also includes the original Quechua, which is an interesting touch even if I can't read it. At any rate, if you enjoy fairy tales, and are interested in hearing them from other cultures (there are a few parallels to the traditional Brothers Grimm in this book), this is a good book to buy. If you aren't interested in fairy tales, this is a good book to change your mind.

An excellent collection of stories -- not merely in the presentation of a different set of stories than those which reach the common awareness, but also in the insights it gives to the shape of the Quechua culture and people. It is not presented as an explication of the way these people live, the way the thoughts go, but the stories show that shape, show that means, bring the world alive in a way both subtle and profound.

The stories are presented both in the Quechua language and in English translation, and it is possible to see the shape and patterns of the language with careful text comparison; it makes it worth considering learning the Quechua tongue to pick out the nuances which are inevitably lost in translation.

An enchanting book! Here is a unique opportunity to read stories never before written down, much less translated. The author was told them in the original language in the high Andes by Quecua storytellers. Now he has translated them into English, and in She-Calf and Other Quechua Folk Tales we find, opposite each translated page, a page printed in the original Quechuan language. Fascinating! Johnny Payne further enriches our experience by sharing the similarities that he observed between these stories and stories with which we are already familiar. Included as well are wonderful background stories of experiences and people he encountered in the story-gathering process. For those interested in stories, folk tales, oral tradition, antropology, history, language, travel... This is not only a must-read, but a must-own. It's a keeper!

This is a marvelous collection of Quechua folktales, told by various Quechua speakers to anthropologist Johnny Payne. These are short and "catchy" tales printed in English with the Quechua version on the facing page. This gives you a chance to get acquainted with the sentence structure of the Quechua language which I found very helpful. The author also shares interesting insights into the people who tell the tales. I love to travel in Peru and I am going to pass this book on to a Quechua friend who will surely enjoy it as much as I did. If you're interested in the cultures of the Andes, or if you plan to travel there, don't miss this book! .

I thought this book was really great, it is one of my favorite's in the whole So Weird book series. Fi gets lost in the woods while on a camping trip with her family and finds Bigfoot, who tries to save her. Fi finds out that a Civil War hero died just so he could protect Bigfoot, now Fi has to do the same.

This is a great book for those who are fans of the "So Weird" T.V. show.

...The story follows the main plot of the episode"Sacrifice" almost verbatim. It doesn't leave anything out,but it does have things that weren't in the show. It spices up the paranormal aspect and gives a much more extensive backstory for the Civil War soldier who encounters "Bigfoot" (middle name: Fuzzy) so many years before Fiona. It's a cute book and even if you haven't seen the show the story is easy to follow and the characters are given quite a bit of background. You won't be lost at all.

Do you think you could maybe put this series on dvd format. I would love to see The whole series again on dvd format. I would even buy the ones with Annie I just loved that show. Please concider putting this on dvd. I would buy this a.s.a.p. Thanks. I love this show. I give it 100 stars if provided.

I ran across this when I googled Kemp's name years back. I went to Howard with Kemp and just wanted to see what he was up to. I had read a few of his pieces in this or that magazine. I was shocked and excited when I saw he had published a book and this was it. I ordered it and it was awesome.

Memoirs have always been kinda suspect, but his one written by a dude in his 30s, was so genuine in its recollection of events and emotions. it pulled me in, sucked me under, pulled me up, revived me, patted me on my butt and sent on my way with a perspective of - what would I do, how would I feel after a life altering event. How do folks cope after loss? How would I?

By the grace of God go I...

Eloquently written and vividly detailed, the Shooting is a story of a child who make a stupid mistake (as children do) that cost his best friend his life. Although he does not end up doing any jail or juvenile time, he ends up paying for it psychologically for decades. It is obvious that Powers has played out the incident in his mind on an endless loop, going over the "what ifs?" thousands of times.
Also, the imagery of his childhood growing up in New York City is fantastic. I never heard of this book before coming across it on Amazon and buying it because it was listed under used books for just a couple of cents. But it is by far one the best memoirs I've read, and I've read a lot. Even though I may have nothing in common with a black man from Brooklyn, it touched my heart, made me laugh, and made me cry. It took alot of guts to write this book, and I hope Mr. Powers has made peace with that one defining moment all those years ago.

I loved this memoir. I related to Kemp Powers' story of depression, guilt, loss and determination. We are all on the quest (at least I hope we all are) to make something of ourselves and to do something meaningful with our lives, yet many of us don't pursue this goal with the burden of having taken a life on our backs. This is a must read!! Here is hoping a paperback is coming soon so I can pass it on to the many young boys I know who would benefit from Powers' story!

Kemp Powers tells his story about an unimaginable moment at 14 when he accidentally killed his best friend in a gun accident. The actual shooting is described in just a few pages, the remainder is Kent Power's life before and after, impacted forever by that moment.

The real pull of the book is the undercurrents about life and fate. There are no answers except the story.

Very interesting and complete. Information appears to be very accurate. Fascinating read of information that seems to be kept as a "secret". Much of the information in the book comes from actual Japanese soldiers and officers involved in attacks and bombings of Mainland America.

Recommend this book for anyone interested in WW II information. It is used by Washington State Historical Site visitor centers.

As a retired reference librarian, and widely read on World War II in the Pacific (in which I also served) Webber's book is noted for its historical accuracy and it is easy to read.

This book covers all Japanese attacks so far discovered from Alaska to Mexico and as far east as Michigan. Includes attacks on Canada as far east as Manitoba and chapter on severe battles in Alaska's Aleutian Islands. Here are the attacks on British Columbia. Unique attacks on Southern California includes details and newspaper headlines for infamous "Battle of Los Angeles" in February 1942. Shelling of the U.S. harbor defence post on the Columbia River at Fort Stevens, Oregon by the Japanese Navy on June 21, 1942. Includes Japanese submarine attacks on shipping along U.S. west coast with details of the damage and sinking of many ships.
Japanese Navy bombs Oregon forests in Septmeber 1942 starting forest fire intending on burning the Oregon timber industry out of business. (The attack started the forest fire but it failed to burn down the forest.)
The U.S. Coast Guard rides horses as well as boats and operates attack war-dog patrols, walking every inch along the beaches, to protect against an anticipated Japanese invasion.
Concise chapter tells the basic factors about the German, Italian and Japanese evacuation from the State of California, and parts of Washignton, Oregon and Arizona due to military necessity.
Only book in print with current data of over 300 of those mysterious Japanese balloon bombings that hit 28 states and Canadian provinces and in Mexico, one of the attacks killed all the kids on a picnic in Oregon on May 5, 1945. For the unbelievers, there are pictures of all the kids and of their cemetery markers. Chronological list of all discovered Japanese balloon bombing locations in the U.S.A. including the incident in downtown Cicero, Illinois (Apr. 16, 1945), and that of Farmington, outside of Detroit, Michigan (March 25, 1945), and the bombing of Medford, Oregon on January 4,1945 these and other incidents kept out of newspapers on fear of panic, and letting the enemy know he was successful. List of incident sites shows that balloon bombs and parts still being found and warns what to look for. Latest incident in this new November 1997 edition of book is incident discovered in summer 1992, therefore the warning that there are parts are still out there.
(In November 1997, author addressed a convention of bomb disposal experts at their convention in Portland, Oregon.)
Book includes some material on the Japanese building their own atomic bomb which they tested the day after the U.S. bombed Nagasaki, Japan. Also includes data on the risk of biological warfare by the Japanese against the mainland of North America.
Book has more than 450 pictures, many maps, charts, drawings, newspaper clippings, appendices, bibliography and Index.
Recommened for all school and public libraries and for those individuals who want to know about the hushed-up Japanese attacks on the U.S. mainland.
Book demonstrates nothing short of amazing, superior research skills, exciting "this is the way is was (is)" writing. Provided is full documentation in a trememdous bibliography, and has a comprehensive Index. No other book covers these subjects.

Very interesting and factual accounts of little known aspects of World War Two. Book is NOT afraid to take the unpopular view,such as "Japs" living on West Coast were a danger to U.S.

Some of material tends to be what I call "filler space" and could have been omitted.

I own six copies of this book (four are loaners). My life revolves around literature, and this is one of the best books I've read. It's definitely my favorite. Rawlins uses relatively simple language with a powerful, poetic effect. If you have any kind of interest in the environment, backcountry travel, or the mountains--and even if you don't--read this book. Rawlins' writing is beautiful and intense; overall, I think the writing carries more impact than even authors such as Ed Abbey or Aldo Leopold.

Phrases such as "The cabin is a frozen skull" jump out, as do passages such as this: "At first you're a stranger to the forest. It's too quiet. You feel as if your every move is seen and judged. Then, without noticing a difference, you feel more at home here than anywhere else. It's as if your heart skips a beat and then begins on an older pulse." If you're not an environmentalist when you start the book, you might begin seeing things in a new light. If you were already concerned about the human impact on the world before you started it, you'll feel it more deeply.

Richard Nelson, author and Burroughs Medal winner, might have said it best in his review of "Sky's Witness:" "A very fine writer...as lavish and varied as a jazz musician--lively, funny, sometimes outrageous; poignant, tender, engaging; richly informative; and deeply poetic. Filled with the joys of working on the land, Rawlins documents the subtle wounding of America's remotest wildlands, where rain and snow are tainted by the breath of distant cities."

Anyone willing to endure the physical hardship involved in self-supported mountain travel will appreciate Rawlin's extrordinarilly beautiful soliloquies on the mountain wilderness experience. Example: "But it wasn't the smell of the air that played in me so much as the light. The moon and sun lay opposite each other in the sky, exchanging their gleams, and the country was laid out below all rough and golden. The ridge was a strong point, the hardest rock in the range. On it you could meet the wind, face it, draw it in and breathe it out. And I felt a desire with no object or reason, except the land and the wild light."

Clearly Rawlin's regards the essence of the mountain wilderness and the essence of himself as one. He writes of the experience of being alone in a small raft on a clear summer night on a high altitude lake in the Wind River Range. "I've touched this water, tasted it. I've caught and eaten its trout, scooped it into pots for coffee, mixed it with my blood, taught it to walk and tell lies, and pissed it back steaming onto the ground. The lake and I have more than a casual acquaintance, yet in the dark, it seems not to know me. I can't see my reflection. The water that has claimed a part of my life now holds me in a star-flecked indifference."

I believe that all mountain travelers grapple with words to express their most intimate feelings about their mountain experiences. Rawlins gives these experiences expression with the skill of a violin virtuoso who is able to prolong the playing of a single note with haunting clarity and seemingly project it into eternity. So also does Rawlins project his love of the Wind River Range to a spiritual level. The drawings of Hannah Hinchman are exquisite!

If you want to hike, back pack, and live in the Wyoming Wind River Mountains for one year, C. L. Rawlins will take you there in these 300 pages. You will not find a better companion: his writings proceed in a rythmn -- moving from intricate description of rock, snow, and lake, to insightful and stunning explanations of nature itself, followed perhaps by a down-to-earth philosophical reminder. His humor catches one off gaurd and he tests more than a few other emotions. I returned from a four-day back pack trip in the Wyoming Wind River Mountains August 1996. Several days thereafter, by happenstance I noticed this book. In the early pages, Rawlins and his companion, John are skiing with fully loaded packs on the exact trail. up the Big Sandy Opennings, that I traversed. This book was an extra treat for me. Rawlins loves to walk and hike. He writes: "Walking feels good. It helps me think. The Grail, Mecca, Lourdes, the Frontier, Everest -- all are simply good excuses for going." C.L. Rawlins might be considered the "Annie Dillard of the Wind Rivers." When enthralled with a certain spot in his mountains, Rawlins writes, "Words make no sense at all. Being here does." He is humble. His words do make undeniable sense.

The books you have read in your life likely fall into one of several classes ranging from extremely poor to unsurpassed worth. On that worthy end of the spectrum, there have probably been those books that caused a pause in you upon reading the final sentence; a pause followed by a nod of thanks to the author for having given you so much pleasure. And then there are those even more rare instances where you reach that final page and feel that sense of want for more. Its a mixed feeling of love for what you have just read combined with the emptiness that follows upon closing the pages for that final time. It is as if you have lost a friend. Rawlins hit that chord in me with Sky's Witness. The Wind River Range is probably my most favorite place to wander, and I was led to this book after searching for all I could find written about it. But one does not have to go to The Winds or appreciate their grandeur in order to be captivated by the author's writing style here. His ability to describe thoughts and places and to reflect on their nature is almost a gift of magic. He covers a lot of territory, both physical and emotional over the course of a year. It has been about five years since I read it, and I still miss the times it gave to me. If I were to have any reservations it its regard, it would only be the put-offish nature that his personality occasionally evokes in his writing and some of the personal encounters that he describes. Put simply, he is certainly not one to be with when he is in a foul mood. But in praise, this again also speaks to his ability to convey all those elemental spokes of our humanity. If you are one who loves the outdoors, this book will go a long way for you. But even if you are not inclined to the rugged nature of the backcountry, this book will still bring rewarding moments to you during that time spent in that soft leather chair.

This book is an absolute delight. Not at all a simple reference book filled with historical information, it rather reads like a good smoke itself; the pages contemplative puffs that needn't be turned too quickly, but lingered in as their meaning wafts skyward.
...and though it certainly warrants rapt attention, you'll no doubt soon feel a welling desire for a nice pipe-ful out of doors.

A pipeful of what? Likely, the very "weeds" at you feet, and within the pages of "Smoke Plants", you'll discover yourself surrounded by an intriguing world of medicine wherever the ground grows green.

A wonderful, wonderful book.

I've just finished smoking my own customized blend for the third time. The author of this book came into the health food store where I work last week and left a stack of these books with us. They were all sold out within a day!

Years ago, I explored sacred smoke while reading the book "Spirit of Place" by Loren Cruden. It has remained a part of my life ever since, but I haven't really explored the great variety of plants that are literally at my feet!

I added a couple of herbs to the Spinning Coyote recipe, and it has become my before-bed smoke. I deal with chronic pain and lying in bed has always been the most difficult time of day for me. Now I'm smoking my special blend about half an hour before lying down, and I'm getting to sleep more easily and resting more soundly.

The book is an absolute pearl. The gift of the author's stories is precious. To add to that, the information about the plants makes me want to try smoking some of them as soon as possible! The rhythm of the prose and the way the author has paced the brief statements, the stories and the information is calming and healing in itself.

This is a delightful and elegant book. There is a surprising ease and intimacy in the reading of it. The way the author has intertwined the sharing of the "information" with her "journey of discovery" is masterful. What most people would have made into a dry encyclopedia of facts, the author has magically crafted into a captivating story which draws the reader to want to read more and to even want to learn and share in the experience. I did not expect to be interested in this topic, and now I am -- to my surprise!

I was lucky enough to take a course from Dr. Neely (Modern American Indians) at Northern Kentucky University and this was a required textbook. Her class was one of the most interesting I have taken as an anthropology major. Her detailed ethnograpy on the Snowbird Cherokees is a must for anyone interested in Cherokee Indians or Indians of the Southeastern United States. She spent several years living with the Snowbirds prior and after writing the book if I remember correctly. You really get a feel how life is like for the Snowbirds. I definately recommend this book!

This is more than a book about a remarkable community of people. It is an inspiring guideline for how to live.

My family has roots in the Snowbird community; Both of my grandparents on my father's side lived in the Snowbird area, as do many of my cousins to this day. My two aunts moved to the main Qualla rez, and my father left Snowbird for the Navy, and then college in 1956, and never moved back. Even so, there is no place on earth where I feel more at home than the Snowbird mountains.
I preface the review with these statements because when I read this book, I felt like I was "back home." Dr. Neely obviously cares a great deal about this community. Perhaps it makes her ethnology somewhat biased, but it certainly livens up this book! Her descriptions of the annual gospel singing event at Snowbird were on the mark, and her description of the constant factionalism among the Eastern Cherokee band is also (sadly) accurate.
The most useful thing about this book for someone who knows nothing else about the Cherokee is that it explains how the "harmony ethic" is still a part of the way Cherokees live, and how it has subtly changed the Cherokee way of practicing Christianity, and how we deal with modern political and economic life. It shows that it is possible to be "traditional", in a sense, while being fully engaged with the modern world. It also shows that Indians are not the cardboard cutouts so often seen in the movies, or in "New Age" explorations of native spirituality.
If you read this, back it up with Finger's broader histories of the Eastern band, Mooney's classic exploration of Cherokee mythology, and, if you take them with a grain of salt, the Garretts' "Cherokee medicine" series. Then, take a trip to Graham County, preferably around Memorial Day weekend when you can be a part of Snowbird's annual "Fading Voices" festival at Little Snowbird Church, stopping in Robbinsville to visit the Junaluska Burial Place. You'll be welcomed, but if you can't make it Snowbird, this book is the next best thing.

By the time chapter one is finished, the reader has the comforting sense that they have somehow become part of the Snowbird community. Chapter two, one of my personal favorites, defines a "real Indian." You just might be surprised at the definition Sharlotte uncovered and the source of some of the discrimination felt by the Snowbird population. If for no other reason, this book should be read for this chapter. Far too often, we are satisfied to settle for loose definitions penned by someone without the slightest notion of understanding and the result is invariably and simply wrong. Sharlotte, though, has listened carefully to the voices of these fascinating people; she has let them define their existence within the parameters of their own culture. There is no finer type of understanding than the one which is born within the confines of the specific culture and this book humbly delivers a powerful punch of humanistic reality. Simply put, this work is an import! ant contribution to the very essence of cultural relativism and should not be missed.

I was tired of hearing about Black people complain about the problems.This book gave me over 100 solutions and stategies.

Jawanza has laid it on the line, He has offered real world solutions for the problems plaguing our (the Black) community. He forces us to think and reconsider simply debating and discussing the problems. Most notable is when he articulates why we can not agree on what solutions should be used for our various problems and when we should offer those solutions. Brother Jawanaza writes we should never offer a solution until we agree on what the cause of the problem is. If we differ as to what we think is the cause of the problem we will be unable to come to a consensus as to what is the best solutions for the Problem. I recommend every thinking Black man and woman read this book if you are truly interested in reading about real world solutions to the problems plaguing the Black community.

It's a shame that Jawanza Kunjufu does not get more attention for his writings. His books are so powerful they make you want to take on the entire world all by yourself. His formula of Problem - Cause - Solution - Implementation is revolutionary. Every Black person in America should read this book. Who would've thought that we could purchase the answers to our struggles for only $16.

Solutions for Black America is a great book. I am extremely pleased that Jawanza Kunjufu has written it. This is basically a step by step analysis of each problem in the African American community, and a series of solutions to go with it. I particularly found the chapters on Education and parenting the most enlightening. And even though I don't agree with many things written here, I must still strongly recommend this to every black person as a must read.
With that said, let me tell you about some of my issues with it. I'm not the type of guy who favors the 'racism is the reason for black failure' argument. But this is something that he has at the top of his solution list for many of the community's problems. He puts reducing racism and creating more equality at the top of his solution list for a number of different problems. I say it's as good as it's going to get. Many of us are succeeding, and even though it would be nice to get more equality, we're probably not going to get it, so deal with it. Yes, if we were treated as equal to whites from the start, we would not have our current issues of disproportionate poverty, poor health, and crime. But, there are too many black people succeeding in today's world for me to believe that racism can continue to prevent any of us from doing the minimum: Graduate from high school, don't commit crimes, and raise your children to be productive members of society. Personal responsibility for our own successes and failures as well as those of our children is what is going to elevate those blacks still lagging behind out of poverty and distress.
My next issue is probably more a product of my own pessimism/realism, but I felt like I needed to say it as long as I have the audience. Mr Kunjufu has the idea of trying to repair the entire community through stimulating an African American network of businesses and commerce, enhancing our own sense of nationalism, while simultaneously eradicating our more self destructive cultural tendencies. I believe that none of this will ever happen. Nothing wrong with him writing it, nothing wrong with trying to put it in motion. After all, we should all shoot for something.. but it's not going to happen. We are what we are. And what is black culture anyway? Who knows? Too many people believe that it is whatever BET says it is, or whatever our lower income bretheren have made it out to be.
Anyway, let me end this rant with this. As blacks I think a problem is that we see ourselves as individuals. Individuals who do the same things, live in the same places, and make the same mistakes. But, we don't see ourselves as a nation. Although this isn't ideal, we can use this to guide our strategy for improvement. Focus on teaching each individual to be their best, to value their education, to respect others, etc. (you know, the way parents often do with children)and we will be on the way to a better future.

This book is one to have in your collection. The images by
photographer "Jack Dykinga," are done with an artistic approach
to landscapes. Very nice layout,text and paper quality. I bought
the hardcopy used in excellent condition. Much to my surprise it
was signed by the author, "Charles Bowden," as an added bonus.

Having grown up with Arizona Highways magazine, I had, over the years, lost interest in the same old lovely-but-humdrum Meunch brothers photography and lackluster text commonly given to the Sonoran desert. Then I saw the cover of "The Sonoran Desert" and everything changed as I leafed through it. Bowden's text is intensely thought-provoking; the text is spare and rich at the same time, like his subject matter, and Dykinga's photographs show the Sonoran desert in the only way it should EVER be photographed. The photos capture a depth of the desert I've never seen in print before. Dykinga shows like nobody else the juxtaposition of textures and colors, the whole feel of the Sonoran desert in all its glory- and there's a whole lot of glory there if you take the time to look for it. Dykinga clearly does.

This is a stunning book of photography, with about 120 color plates of the Sonoran desert, taken by photographer Jack W. Dykinga. Besides Arizona, locations include Mexico, Baja California, the shoreline of the Sea of Cortez, and Anza-Borrego and Joshua Tree National Monument in southern California.

There's no mistaking that it's a dry, hot region, but it's also clear that there is plant life almost everywhere. There are photographs of landscapes of sand, rock and sky, with saguaro, barrel cactus, ocotillo, and many desert flowers. There is not a sign of human life (until you reach the last half dozen pages where the editor has included several shots of blight: graffiti, a junkyard, a concrete water channel). Many photos are taken at sunrise or sundown, capturing glowing colors and shadows. A few are taken after snowfall.

The text, by Charles Bowden, is personal and impressionistic, with a Sierra Club point of view. He emphasizes the desert's resistance to any but the Native populations, who lived here in harmony with the landscape for millennia before the exploitation of European explorers. To these, in their crudest manifestations, are compared the more reckless schemes of modern-day developers. The closing chapter is an appreciation of wilderness advocate Edward Abbey. In my opinion, an error on the part of the book designer was to set these long essays as full pages of italic type, which makes them difficult to read.

As a companion volume, I recommend Joseph Wood Krutch's "Desert Year," an account of a year spent in the Sonoran desert near Tucson. Although a different desert, there's also Abbey's "Desert Solitaire."

If you think of the deserts as places of emptiness and boredom, have a look at this superb book! The subject was not easy but Jack Dykinga is mastering the art of using the light and the shapes to make us enter a new dimension. His breathtaking large format photographs plead in favor of preserving the wilderness in it's original state and presents us to it's amazing vegetal hosts. After seeing this book, you will never ever think of the Sonoran Desert as an "uninhabited place".

Dexter Cirillo's first book on Native American Indian Jewelry is a must for any collector. Includes many photographs of jewelry and artists, along with valuable information everyone can use to purchase beautiful Native jewelry.

I wanted this book for some time. I must say, I love it and don't know why I did not buy it sooner. An all time favorite of mine for sure.

As a collector of Indian art, jewelery, pottery and rugs, I had the wonderful good fortune to know and consider the Hopi Master jeweler Charles Loloma my friend.

Finding a book on American Indian jewelery was almost impossible to come by until this great book by Dexter came out in 1992. The artists, their work in magnificent color will move anyone to want to own some of this jewelry.

From it's beginings late in the 19th century jewelery was the Indian method of carrying their wealth around in the form of necklaces, braclets etc, Indian jewery was mainly of two schools. Most prominent was the Navajo and the other Zuni.

Then in the mid 1960's came a Hopi indian Charles Loloma. He was the Picasso that was going to revolutionize American Indian jewelery and he did. This book is a testament to Charlie's followers who now produce jewlery that is both modern and magnificant. Buy the book then go out to an Indian Art shop anywhere in CA, AZ, NM or even NJ and you will not be able to resist owning someting.

Hi I bouhgt Southwestern Indian Jewelry and it arrived with no plastic wrap and the jacket was damaged. Please let me know how to go about exchanging it for another in perfect condition. I am a collector and condition is important. Thank You, Joe Garcia.