New Mexico Books

This book is an example of the new attention ethnographers are paying to writing. Not only is it wonderfully written but it is an honest account of Zuni lives today. Tedlock went to the pueblo with her husband Dennis Tedlock (author of the "Popol Vuh" and the "Rabinal Achi") as a painter and after a number of visits and encouragement from Zuni women she decided to become an ethnographer. During her graduate education she also did work in Guatemala, see her classic book "Time and the Highland Maya." There is now a new book about to appear "The Woman in the Shaman's Body: Reclaiming the Feminine in Religion and Medicine." I've seen the advanced copy and it is fabulous! All these books are must reads for young documentary writers and spiritually alive women and men today!

This is a beautifully written, honest, book about a young woman ethnographer coming of age. She first went to Zuni Pueblo as a young woman painter with her anthropologist husband and fell in love with the people and place. As a result she went on to get graduate degrees in Ethnomusicology and Anthropology herself and began working with the Maya in Guatemala. Since then she has written a book on women shamans worldwide: The Woman in the Shaman's Body. These books are worth the time to read.

I really enjoyed reading Tedlock's work. The writing reverses the notion of "participant observation" to the "observation of participation." Instead of a removed, monological account, we are offered a polyphony of voices, including the authors. In fact, the ethnography reads much like a novel; however, these are real people with real stories to tell. The text offers a rich and evocative account of the Zuni people and their experiences in the borderzone between the past and present. Tedlock's work and writing strategies were central to the writing of my own ethnographic account of a Southeastern Native American Tribe in search of a visible past--the Pee Dee of South Carolina (Title: Native Americans in the Carolina Borderlands: A Critical Ethnography, Carolinas Press, 2000). Tedlock's ethnography is a must read for those on the verge of engaging ethnography, no matter the methodological bent, and students and academics interested in Native American Studies, Cultural Studies, Cultural Anthropology, and alternative ethnography.

This is my all time favorite book. It is so real. The whole letter writing thing. It brings out the personality changes in Abigail when she relocates with her family out west during the civil war. Maggie her sister that she dearly loves changes too but in a negative way. In a way of being narrowminded and not understanding the selfless way that Abigail has become bieng on her own and working the harsh dry and hot land in New Mexico. The Mesa (mountains) are her love and she writes about them quite often to Maggie back home in the East. Not only does Abigail learn to fall in love with this harsh southern land but she allowed me to fall in love with it too and to be for her through the entire story. To want to jump into the pages and help her. Help her through the hard droughts and to feed her children that she bore alone in her hut on the land.
A great book for everyone.
A must read.

This is my all time favorite book. It is so real. The whole letter writing thing. It brings out the personality changes in Abigail when she relocates with her family out west during the civil war. Maggie her sister that she dearly loves changes too but in a negative way. In a way of being narrowminded and not understanding the selfless way that Abigail has become bieng on her own and working the harsh dry and hot land in New Mexico. The Mesa (mountains) are her love and she writes about them quite often to Maggie back home in the East. Not only does Abigail learn to fall in love with this harsh southern land but she allowed me to fall in love with it too and to be for her through the entire story. To want to jump into the pages and help her. Help her through the hard droughts and to feed her children that she bore alone in her hut on the land.
A great book for everyone.
A must read.

I read this novel in a day. It was a really captivating novel, and I think the idea of telling the story in letters worked well. Abigail is a woman whose home has been destroyed by the Civil War. She, her husband, and their young children leave the South to start a new life out West. Abigail writes back to her sister Maggie in Virginia of how she comes to love the harsh but beautiful New Mexican landscape. I am 13 and even though this was a novel meant for adults, I think teens who like historical fiction could enjoy it.

This is an uplifting tale of survival - physical and spiritual. With the harsh beauty of the Pecos Wilderness as its backdrop, this story draws you through an incredible struggle with nature and morality. It all begins with the crash of a small plane in the heart of a vast forest, but you must decide where it will end. Is it enough to be content in life, or should you risk the pain and reach for something more? I really enjoyed the splendor and power of nature in this book. I didn't realize that there are still places in America so wild and remote. I think I learned a bit about survival - more than I have from Survivor. This story, however, goes far beyond the battle to simply stay alive. That is what makes it so special. It reminds you how to live!

Beyond Contentment is a book that is easy reading but can change a person's life. The book has appeal of being a contemporary novel of an adventure in the Pecos Wilderness. While I did not understand the meaning of the title when I made the selection, I looked forward to an episode of modern man against the wilderness. The story was suspenseful. However, I did not anticipate that the book would challenge the contentment that I had enjoyed in early retirement for two years.

As the main character, Blaine Wells, was developed in the story, I saw myself in him and began to question my own contented lifestyle. Two weeks after completing the book, I found myself vigorously engaged in volunteer work for a local charitable organization and enjoying a tremendous self-satisfaction that is beyond contentment. Could Beyond Contentment be a satirical writing aimed at exposing my own contentment as folly?

The book could just as easily be read as a primer for novices who want some training before becoming wilderness explorers. As Blaine Wells overcomes many challenges of the wilderness, it is evident that the writer is drawing from his own broad experiences of survival in the Pecos Wilderness. The descriptions of survival techniques are vivid enough that a Boy Scout can likely earn merit badges from copying actions of Blaine Wells.

The contemporary nature of the story is found in the character of Bradley Hawthorne, the antithesis of Blaine Wells. Hawthorne personifies mega-businesses that have emerged in recent years. The writer's extensive business background shows as he casts executives in roles that reflect both the management styles of a kinder, gentler era and those of a bolder, new time.

Two love stories woven into the book make a sequel to Beyond Contentment almost a certainty. What happens to a man's love for the wilderness? Can he leave it behind for a more civilized lifestyle? And what happens in a subtly developed relationship that emerges between Blaine Wells and Shana Matthews? If a reader does not find life beyond contentment in this book, certainly human passion survives for further development in the sequel.

Beyond Contentment is a book that appeals to a diverse group of readers: those desiring to reach out to a more satisfied lifestyle, those who have a love for the wilderness, those seeking to gain skills for survival, those facing change in their business cultures, and those readers who want nothing more than to have their minds pleasurably stimulated with an exciting novel.

March 25, 2001

This intriguing tale begins in the middle of a wilderness area in Northern New Mexico. An airplane crash interrupts the self-imposed exile of a man retreating from society and human contact. The brutal murder of his wife and daughter in their urban home left psychologist Blaine Wells with a deep hatred of the convicted, and imprisoned, youth who committed the crime. His solution was to isolate himself from human contact where he could no longer be a victim. He was encouraged to pursue this course by his need for independence, love of the outdoors, and the splendor of the scenery in his mountain home.

Forced by his conscience to investigate the crash, Blaine becomes a hero to the survivors. He rescues them not only from the perils of the wilds but also from a pair of deadly criminals who happen to come across the downed aircraft. Although two of the survivors reject Blaine's role as their only hope for survival, deep and lasting bonds are formed with the others. These relationships result in Blaine reconsidering his withdrawal from the human race. The results are heart-warming .

Beyond Contentment is a thoroughly engrossing story. The author is obviously intimately acquainted with the wilderness and all its wonders. His descriptions of the scenery and wildlife are so vivid that readers experience the awesome sights of the backwoods country.

Cave has done her homework following the New Mexicans through the Bataan Death March and labor camps.

Dorothy Cave has really done an excellent job of research and storytelling with this book. She was able to accuratly document the fate of many of the soildiers that were mobilized in 1940 in New Mexico.

I hope that Dorothy Cave will write a second book on the 200th and include more of the research material that would mean so much to the relatives and decendents of the warriers of the 200th Regiment.

Since I was born in Silver City NM and am now a member of the New Mexico National Guard, I request that all new Officers assigned to my Battalion to read Beyond Courage so that they may better understand the importance that history may place on their contirbution to New Mexico and the United States.

When I first moved to New Mexico in 1963, I became aware that many of the troops on the Bataan Death March came from New Mexico. They used to have an annual reunion here in Las Cruces, and I met a few of those men.

This book is by a professor of history at Eastern New Mexico University, who is I think a relative of one of the men on the march. The book entails the experiences of the 200th and 515th Coast Artiliary units, which were based in New Mexico.

I had always imagined that the worst part of their ordeal was the 60-mile forced march (and at war's end in 1945, I traversed that 60 miles in a jeep, a truly terrible ride in the Philippine heat and humidity). But far worse were the trips those heros made in the holds of enemy cargo vessels. They were put in the holds, so crowded that everyone had to stand, where the human urine and excrement simply dropped to the deck for everyone to stand in, and where people died standing up. The cruelty was worse than anyone could possibly imagine.

These units were the first to fire on the Japs and the last to lay down their arms when surrender came. And you learn of the espionage these guys performed when doing their slave labor in the factories and the mines of Japan and Manchuria. Such labor, and the treatment forced on the prisoners, were in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions, of which Japan was a signatory.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. The author is a superb writer.

One of the best descriptions of a battle and field of battle I have read.

This is an excellent account of the early campaign in the Rio Grande Valley and the Confederacy's attempt to secure part of the Western Territories. Valverde was the first and largest battle of the campaign and a surprising southern victory allowed Sibley's Army of New Mexico to occupy most of the New Mexico Territory. Taylor makes good use of maps to discribe the action as units arrive on the field piecemeal and are thrown into the fight. Taylor includes diagrams of unit organizations and has a large appendix analyzing unit strenghts and losses and also discusses whether this Southern victory was really a strategic defeat. There are extensive notes at the end where Taylor discusses discrepencies in original accounts. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the Civil War in the Western Territories.

Most people, even serious Civil War historians often overlook the fact that the Confederate Armies captured Santa Fe! Or that entire battles were fought that far west! "Bloddy Valverde" is an amazingly detailed account of my favorite battle. This, the biggest battle of the campaign is won of the most interesting of the war! from Graysons comical attempt to used mules as a primitive guided smart bomb to the amount of federal regulars involved, the types of ordnance, a lance charge defeated by a Napoleonic square till the turning point...a dismounted shotgun charge against the federal batteries! This is the single most detailed book of thie battle, breaking down the events to almost every 30 minutes. The research and depth is amazing...many myths and misconceptions of this battle are cleared up. Just when you think you know everything about the American Civil War this comes along!

This book has become an instant favorite with me. I really love how Mr. Henty shows the true reasons behind Cortez's conquest, and not the pack of lies that we usually hear in history. The thing that got my attention was the Henty made it clear that both sides had their good and bad intentions. The Mexicans wanted peace to reign but yet they exercised brutal human sacrifices to their gods. The Spanish wanted to spread the Gospel to the world but they were noted for their brutality in war. There are no reasons to search for good or bad guys, as the hero in this story is torn between the two sides. If you really want to read how history should be written, read this book.

BY RIGHT OF CONQUEST is a great book. It tells the story of a boy who is shipwrecked on a island where the people think he is a god. When Cortez comes to fight the people of the islands the boy is caught in the fray. This story is a great book full of excitment like in the middle of battles or running away in a boat. Even a point where the boy must escape from being sacrificed. This is a wonderful book which I encourage many to read.

This is a great study guide for the hardcover book. It contains numerous maps, questions, and vocabulary lists, BUT do not order this if you think you've found a much cheaper version of the hardcover-that is not the case.

The bibliography and research notes alone justifies the price of the book. The stories of one small town and of 20th Century Globalism are artfully interwoven. Altogether, it's inspiring in a painful, eye-opening sort of way.

Contrary to "About the Author", Chellis Glendinning is a she, not a he.

Chiva paints a picture of Chimayó New Mexico, number one per-capita consumer of heroin in the number one per-capita consumer state in the United States. The book also offers a well-researched history of the global heroin trade from past to present. The picture is ugly indeed.

For those advocating legalization (of hard drugs) as the remedy to this problem, I suggest reading this and then asking yourself: is this the kind of country I want to live in? And for those that think the current plan in the war on drugs is working, I have the same suggestion. Quite obviously it is not working and will not cure the problem.

The author points out that at one time heroin was legally introduced to China. The result: over one quarter of the adult population became hopelessly addicted. In Chimayó, the supply was plentiful, with an individual dose costing $15, but anyhing not nailed down was likely to be stolen. Overdoses and shootings were common events. A friend of mine from a barrio full of tecatos in Juarez speaks of the same.

Anywhere heroin has been introduced without control to a population, usage of the drug has increased exponentially. With disastrous consequences.

The writing is good and kept me interested from start to finish. But I think the weakness of the book comes near the end where solutions to the problem are offered. There, you'll find more questions than answers.

I highly recommend Chiva for anyone interested in the drug problem or the region described in the book.

Every now and then somebody comes along who acts as a bridge or emissary between two cultures. Not as a missionary out to "improve," "evolve," or Christianize the natives, or to sell them slicker TV sets; not to study them like infusoria under a microscope; not to turn their gods into meteorology; but to listen, deeply, into the patterns of their life and language, and then--strictly by invitation within that community--to create a thing of beauty that casts a circle of illumination over what had remained hidden in the shadows cast by the mainstream.

In Chimayo, New Mexico, that emissary is Chellis Glendinning.

At one time Chimayo ranked #1 in drug overdoses in a state (New Mexico) that also ranked first in this grim category. This book is a story--personal, cultural, wrenching, hard to read in places because disturbing in its detail--of how the Chicanos and Mexicanos of Chimayo went back to their cultural roots to push the dealers out of their town, then apply the wisdom of those roots to healing the victims of the dragon Chiva, "heroin."

The use of "roots" is deliberate, because as the author makes clear, the drug problem is a product of a long tradition of colonial expansion and devastation in which a land-based people have been globalized, exploited, and thrust into poverty on soils their ancestors once cultivated and loved. From out of that soil came the remedies to combat sniffed, smoked, and injected poisons which users employ to forget for a moment that they are poor; that they have few options and scarce employment; that they are seen by the culture that has alienated them as aliens.

Whence this black-market plague of Thebes? Nations in which the United States Government has intervened to make the world safer for its businessmen: Afghanistan, Columbia, the Asian Golden Triangle, where farmers made poor by either military activity or "free" trade (free for whom?) are forced to grow opiates for sale to Europe and, of course, the United States of the Fifties, where 20,000 users would soon swell into millions.

Their supply? Substances sold by "freedom fighter" drug lords (remember Air America? Burma, now Myanmar? the Afghanistani Northern Alliance?) in the pay of the CIA--even while conservatives sold the sham of a righteous war on drugs. Just say no, except that "like a McDonald's hamburger, heroin can be had just about anywhere in the world."

Chimayo said no and meant it, and although overdoses continue, the last part of this book could be used as a manual for how healing practices implemented locally--NOT from the top down or imposed from outside--successfully grapple on many levels (land, culture, faith, mentoring, and ceremony) with a scourge of the colonialism that continues today transnationally.

I have never read a book that made me feel quiet and humble like this book did. The author was very good at description and bringing the reader "into" his life. I went through the highs and lows of being a farmer and a father. Very moving, very enriching, and very memorable.

This is a very special tenderly written book about living...loving...working... and dieing. Every one can find something to relate too with Harvey in this book. I would highly reccomend it.

This is a wonderful book, beautifully written and immensely touching. The author interweaves vivid descriptions of his farm and its inhabitants -- both past and present -- with his observations on cider-making, the care of apple orchards, his wife's art, and his memories of his late, much-loved daughter. He doesn't gloss over the irony that, after he spent years working on nuclear testing, his daughter should contract breast cancer; but he isn't polemical about it, and by the end of the book his personal tragedy is subsumed into the rhythms of the seasons and the ongoing life of the farm. The timeline of the book is circular -- it's not a straightforward history -- but I felt that this further emphasized the cyclical nature of life in the orchard. I recommend the book unreservedly.

Martin H. Hall was the first historian to write about the campaign of the Sibley Brigade in Arizona and New Mexico, but Jerry D. Thompson's books increase our knowledge about the subject by using an impressive array of newly discovered sources. In "Civil War in the Southwest: Recollections of the Sibley Brigade", Thompson provide a new and deeper account of the thoughts and fights of the young Texans in butternut who attempted to conquer the Southwest for the Confederacy. Now, among the outstanding books concerning the Civil War in the Southwest, Thompson's book is one of the best ones, it is a "must" for all the Civil War buffs.
Serge P. Noirsain, Belgian Historian. Author of "La flotte européenne de la Confédération sudiste" and "La Confédération sudiste, Mythes et Réalités".

In Civil War in the Southwest, Thompson has edited the accounts of several members of Sibley's Brigade in its New Mexico campaign, the accounts having been printed in the Overton Sharp Shooter in East Texas in the late 19th Century.

The accounts are quite readable, some even humorous. The accounts of major battles are accompanied by battle maps provided by Frazier. While the accounts focus on the major occurances within the campaign, they are filled with minutia as well, allowing the brigade to live and ride on again, as vividly as they did 140 years before.

While the names of many soldiers appear in the accounts, Thompson made no effort to provide complete troop muster rolls, focusing instead only on editing the newspaper accounts. Where names do appear, Thompson has end notes with more information on the soldier, gleaned from a variety of sources.

Civil War In The Southwest: Recollections Of The Sibley Brigade by Civil War scholar and historian Jerry Thompson presents eighteen distinctive episodes written by members of General Henry Hopkins Sibley's command who fought and traveled more than eight thousand miles through snake-infested bayous to snow-capped mountains to fight and die in more than sixteen major battles of the American Civil War. The brigade consisted of young, zealous Texans who sought to invade New Mexico Territory as a step toward the Confederate conquest of Colorado and California in order to seize their resources (including the gold fields) in support of the South. This compendium of eye witness accounts is positively riveting and is enthusiastically recommended as a unique, invaluable contribution to Civil War Studies supplemental reading lists and reference collections.

My family and I planned a trip last summer (2000) using this book. Our original plan was to spend most of our time in Santa Fe and Taos. After we read this book, however, we found several far more interesting trips that cost us about half what it would have cost in Santa Fe. Sure, we did a night in Santa Fe and Taos, but this book showed us the hidden spots in town that really were known only to locals. This book is so good that we even had a wonderful time in Farmington! Yes, that's right, Farmington. In fact, we plan to return their and once again enjoy the hidden restaurants and trading posts in which we found some of the most unique indian jewelry ever (and at about 1/3 of Santa Fe prices). Kudos to Ms. Moore! I just wish I could talk her into writing a similar book about Wisconsin.

This small but fact-filled book explores the richness of New Mexico beyond the Albuequerque-Santa Fe-Taos axis. The author really knows her stuff--giving equal weight to the Native American, Hispanic and Anglo influences that make New Mexico such an interesting state. It's in the car beside me every time I head there.

This is a nice book. It is well written.
The chapters are devided into areas of New Mexico. In each chapter there is a little bit about the history of that area, places to visit and more information about other nearby areas.

Having been to many of the areas that are discussed in this book, I found the description on target and the suggestions of places to visit good. I particularly liked the history of the area with directions to see some of the historical spots in each area.

Very nice. Well worth the money. This book will join me in the car as we go on our trips. It will join the RoadSide History of New Mexico as one of our invaluable, must keep in the car resources.

Enjoy.