No comments about The Great Land: How Western America Nearly Became a Russian Possession.

No comments about The Pacific States: Smithsonian Guides (Smithsonian Guides to Historic America).

No comments about Adventures in Nature Alaska.

No comments about Cruising the Pacific coast: Mexico to Alaska.

2 comments about The Sierra Club Guides to the National Parks of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska (The Sierra Club Guides to the National Parks).

1. This is a wonderful book that introduces through color photography and historical references many of the national parks in the pacific northwest and Alaska. While a little outdated to be considered a true travel guide - it is great for reference and a wonderful guide for those who only can travel to these majestic and mystical places through pictures.



2. There are no more beautifully written or pictured guides to the national parks than this series put out by the Sierra Club. For a historical, geological, and biological snapshot of a park, no book does it better. If you need very specific information, contacting the park is your best bet. There is some information about trails, camping, contact info, etc. The main purpose of the book, however, is to give you an understanding about all aspects of the park. These books are truly treasured in our home.

5 comments about The Wake of the Unseen Object: Travels through Alaska's Native Landscapes.

1. This is an extraordinarily well written and perceptive group of essays by highly respected Alaska journalist, describing his travels through western Alaska. Kizzia's reports on contemporary Yupik life are sensitive and thoughtful without being sentimental. An impor5tant book for anyone seeing to understand the tensions and conflicts present in modern Alaska native cultures. R Monkman, Juneau



2. Yes, this is a collection of essays. But it is also a collection of stories, for Tom Kizzia is a skillful narrative writer on a par with the very best fiction writers. He takes readers into the heart of Alaska Native culture, revealing along the way the contradictions of the intersection of modern life with ancient traditions. But that description makes this book sound like work, and it is, rather, the kind of book that makes a person long to get OUT of work in order to read it. I could not put this book down.



3. This book was my introduction to rural Alaska. The collection of stories was engaging and, as I later found, hauntingly real. Thank you Tom Kizzia, for this book, which introduced me not only to rural Alaska, but to people whom would become my neighbors, friends and family members in ensuing years.



4. I can't put it any more succinctly than this: Tom Kizzia wrote a great, true book and somehow he got stiffed. This book should be recognized as one of the great books of contemporary Alaska. I look at its sales ranking, and shake my head. How could so many readers have missed this beauty? --Nick Jans, contributing editor, Alaska Magazine



5. 
   Tom Kizzia wrote these rather lengthy essays originally for the Anchorage Daily News. Basically centering around locations in western Alaska, Kizzia writes of the people encountered there, the changes that have taken place, and prospects for the future. These are not just nature essays, and they are not merely the accounts of "rugged individuals" eking out a living in an inhospitable terrain, though certainly both those themes are touched upon. The essays are a lot more than that. He goes to the western fringes of Alaska - the Seward Peninsula and the Yukon Delta - knowing full well he's an "outsider" and not to be trusted. (On the Cape Prince of Wales, Natives mistake him as an ivory hunter.) But he earns the trust of enough people to get a feel for what life is really like in this remote area.
   
   His description of life in Tin City, just outside of Wales, is fascinating. He also incorporates historical information, such as Amundsen's balloon expedition to the North Pole in 1926 and the total destruction of the town of Chenega from the 1964 earthquake, in an interesting way. His tales of Tonashay, an Apache Indian living in Golovin, are intriguing. But his portrait of the town of Tok and its tremendous changes in growth, perhaps moved me the most. Kizzia is an excellent writer, and this book is an informative, honest, and entertaining look at a part of Alaska that few people ever get to see or can even imagine.

2 comments about I Dream Alaska.

1. Natalie Fobes makes us feel as if we are reviewing an old and treasured picture album. The technique could not be better for the subjects, which have often been seen under the bright light of the Alaskan summer sun or the gray of its long winters. Here you feel that someone put together a collection of personal photographs just for your viewing pleasure.



2. I found this book a month ago and have shown it to most of my friends and leave it out for others to discover. It is a delight ... a photographic treasure. The images of places that I know and love are special to me. But so are the ones of yet-to-be found (by me) places. Natalie's work surely conjures up a dream. It is a book to be shared with everyone.

No comments about Wildlife Watch on an Alaska Cruise.

5 comments about The Way Winter Comes: Alaska Stories.

1. The Way Winter Comes is one of the best pieces of Alaskan -- or any -- writing I have read in decades. Readers who do not experience this small, precious book may have wasted some portion of their lives. Get it. Get it now.



2. Simpson takes the reader on a literary tour of Alaska. From her upbringing here in Juneau to her excursions in the deep Arctic, we are given an open window to peer into some of the mysteries of the many faces of Alaska. Her journalistic past affords her some true objectivity in dealing with controversial topics like wolf trapping.



3. Calling this book nature writing, or Alaska writing, or wilderness writing is to box it into a space that is too small. This is just damn GOOD writing by someone who knows how to take the reader places without heavy-handedness. In many ways, I find Simpson's essay to be better than the oft-mentioned names like McPhee, Muir, Gutkind, etc.



4. Fantastic Book! Sherry Simpson's brilliant style and insight mark her as one of the best writers of our time. This book is sure to become a classic that will be read and studied for generations to come. You will enjoy this book on many, many levels. If you don't own a copy of "The Way Winter Comes", buy it now. You won't be disappointed!



5. I lucked onto this book when it came out in 1998 and have found myself returning to it over and over throughout the years. I can't say that I've ever tired of rereading the same stories. If you want to feel yourself in Alaska, this is one book that takes you there. Great fireside reading!

No comments about A Northern Front: New and Selected Essays.