Missouri Books

This memoir is as compelling as a novel. It describes the author's stay in Moscow and St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) as an English teacher in 1982, and in particular her romance with Kolya, a Russian living in St. Petersburg. She describes a return trip the following summer to see if the relationship had a future, and I was completely engrossed by the story. This is a very candid memoir, and Alberts is very honest about her own insecurities. In addition, the memoir is an accurate portrayal of life in the Soviet Union (at least according to my wife, who spent her first forty years there, and who also read the book).

In Beyond the Missouri, Richard Etulain demonstrates how the American West is, and has long been, a complex region characterized by change. In his comprehensive and engaging study, Etulain examines the changing inhabitants, social patterns, and industries of the West. Creating more than a basic narrative, Etulain discusses how public perception of the West has evolved through the use of multiple mediums.

The earliest known inhabitants of the West included a variety of Native tribes. After centuries of establishing unique cultures and societies, the Native population began to decline with the first contact with Europeans in the 16th century. Spanish, Russian, British, and later Mexican and American interests attempted to exert control over all or parts of the West, in the process physically and socially displacing the previous inhabitants.

During the 19th century, predominantly Anglo Americans migrated to the West as trappers, prospectors, miners, and businessmen. In addition to changing the human aspect of the West, these settlers altered the West that surrounded them. Trappers reduced various animal populations, some to the brink of extinction. Prospectors and miners changed the landscape of the West by boring into the land and engaging in the destructive practice of hydraulic mining. Many businessmen prospered for brief periods in the many boomtowns that emerged throughout the region, while others enjoyed the growth of towns like Denver and San Francisco that would remain important regional centers.

The growing and urbanizing West remained a virtual colony dependent on the East until World War II. During the war, the federal government awarded a large number of defense and support contracts to multiple regions of the West. The resulting inflow of people and money transformed the West into an independent region with its own unique identity that continues to evolve today.

One of Etulain's strengths is his discussion of the perception of the West in popular culture, the individuals who created the images, and the various forms in which the images were transmitted. If there is a shortcoming of the study, it is that Etulain's discussion of the modern West is skewed so as to read as an urban and not a regional study.

Beyond the Missouri is a well-written book of the American West that builds upon previous studies to provide the reader with a broad overview of the region.

Deborah Cummins has named her book well. The serious precision of her poetry does reach beyond, look deeply into familiar landscapes, revisit people and situations from her past with renewed insights and with both irony and compassion. She can bring old Mrs. Alekna to life as a child saw her, with her holy cards and fascinating "brisly goiter/ Already the size of an orange." Cummins can be a social critic also, as in "Cody, Barnes & Wentworth" where she remembers being a professional woman among male colleagues and "summons my old voice from bedroom to office." First and foremost, Cummins is a fine poet of nature and landscape, particularly the Maine coast. These of her poems have a beautiful, elegaic quality, like shadows on a lawn, as when "just before nightfall" she loves "the brief flare of luminous light,/its almost saving grace." Always aware that it is "almost" saving, Deborah Cummins nonetheless brings her poems to us in this book with real grace.

A great book for kids to look through and read about the story of a tree that grew up while America was being tamed. He always wondered what his purpose was, and when he got old and fell into the river and stuck in the bottom, a riverboat was steaming straight for him! See what happens next, and if the old tree finds his purpose.

It's a glossy hardcover, and is a very appealing book to own. Wonderful art fills every page from edge to edge, with the text overprinted, so it's truly a picture book. The illustration is done in colored pencil and airbrush acrylics, and is colorful and fun.

I really enjoyed this book, and learned something, too.

The Big Rivers is an excellent book. It takes the older elementary student through the water cycle using the big flood of '93 as a living example. I recommend this book for every library. Teachers this book is a great non-fiction book for use as supplemental reading for any environmental education curriculum.

An "indispensable book for bikers, hikers, walkers, joggers and families who want to enjoy Missouri's trails." Shawn E. Richardson's book Biking Missouri's Rail-Trails follows an identical format to Shawn E. Richardson's other two books Biking Ohio's Rail-Trails and Biking Wisconsin's Rail-Trails. This colorful paperback book includes detailed maps, photos, and a description to each trail. Trail lengths range from 1 mile to 235 miles and include information about trail surface (smooth crushed limestone, asphalt), trail use (biking, roller blading, horses, wheelchair, hiking), parking, and points of interest. Shawn E. Richardson provides informaion about the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and their involvement with Missouri's Rail-Trails. If you live in Missouri, or plan to visit Missouri, this book is a must for any cyclist!

Excellent source of information. The authors have obviously put an incredible amount of time and effort into research for this book. The writing style follows what I would call a "typical" scientific format: In other words the book is not one for casual reading. The amature as well as professional ornithologist can obtain very precise information about state records for every bird to ever enter (or think about entering) Missouri. This book is definiiely "solid" science with very little, if any, speculation about distrubution or abundance of each species of bird to grace the state with its presence. I feel this book would make a respectable addition to any collection of literature dedicated to ornithology.

Bitter Fruit surveys the experiences of Afro-American women in World War II, contrasting sharply with the largely white surveys of women of the times. Photos, essays, fiction and poetry by and about black women's roles provide quite a different image of experiences, and offers works from some eighty writers on the topic. An important observational collection about black experiences during the war.

An effective state legislator is one who is aware of and reflects a district's thinking and concerns and maintains good communications with organized groups represeting that district, according to this author. The author followed 12 state legislators in search of what made them effective legislators and has produced this book as a result of his research.

The book analyzes previous research and theories regarding legislative representation. Michael A. Smith concludes there is no universal definition of how to define representation, noting that even legislators are dynamically redefining how they consider their own styles of representation as circumstances change.

This book provides great insight based on actual observations. Michael A. Smith discusses how legislators from lower or moderate income urban areas tended to be the strongest advocates for their districts and often take the lead in advancing causes that help their constituents. Legislators from wealthier districts who face tougher reelection campaigns tend to more passively wait for constituents to bring issues to them before advocating such issues. Legislators who wish to run for office tend to be outspoken advocates. Legislators with little or no ambition for higher office tend to try to come across as more level-headed.

While the author concludes there is no "grand theory" on describing how legislators behanve, these observations and categorizaitons are very useful. It is helpful to read disucssions of theory with actual observations.

This North Carolina poet writes powerful poetry with a clear sense of place and highly compressed imagery. If Janet Frame and Fred Chappell collaborated, the poetry might come out like this.I highly recommend it.Indeed, I am ordering a new copy because I keep lending mine to friends and can't seem to get it back!