No comments about Bandelier National Monument.

2 comments about Slouching towards Birmingham: Shotgun Golf, Hog Hunting, Ass-Hauling Alligators, Rara in Haiti, Zapatistas, and Anahuac New Year's in Mexico City.

1. You may go to college,you may go to school,you may drive a black Cadillac,don't be nobodys fool.-Elvis Presley '55 I've been trying to write this for the past 2 mos. It,s really a crime our southern culture has been packaged and sold. It's like buying red-hots at Wal-Mart.The Hot-Shots finally did it. They bought our sports,music,food and writers.Our damned culture for Christ-sake. Wrapped it up, in a neat package, sold man. Lock- stock and barrel for the allmighty dollar. Thank God, for one of the last,outlaw southern writers. A gentleman, and reporter.A man that brings us the essence of the dying breed.Michael D.Swindle, will always be a true original. I love him. When it,s gone it,s gone.



2. But I read the whole book, and thoroughly enjoyed every chapter in it. Swindle reveals some good and bad attributes about living in the South, and finding political refuge in literary and other hard-drinking circles. Having lived and worked in Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, and Georgia, I couldn't agree more with his prognosis and descriptions. I'll have to find some more of his work. This is a great read.
   And the chapter on hog hunting was pretty decent.

1 comments about Foods of the Maya: A Taste of the Yucatán.

1. Foods Of The Maya is a highly recommended sampler of Yucatan cuisine that will intrigue any who enjoy regional cookbooks. Foods Of The Maya focuses on local versions of Mayan cooking, from Garlic Pork with Rice and Black Beans to an orange juice/allspice seasoned Motul Chicken. No photos, but the recipes don't need them.

4 comments about Images of the Southwest: Southern Utah & Southwest Colorado (Volume 1).

1. This CD is hyped as a professional quality portfolio of the scenic southwest. While the photos are synchronized with the text of volume 1, which is helpful in visualizing the locations, The quality of the photos is not worth the $19.95. Since I was disappointed, I returned the CD and was reimbursed the sum of $6.95 for my troubles. If you are looking for quality photos, don't waste your time, and money!



2. One look at Martres's two books on photographing the Southwest convinced me to immediately buy his CDs as well. Many of the photos are stunning and Martres's fair use conditions are generous. The images are good companions to the book as you can copy the good setup angles that he has spent years finding. Also he avoids overly heavy use of filters so that what you see in the images represents what you may actually see in the field. There are a few times in which the criteria for including pictures seems to be the success of the shots rather than the significance of the places visited. (For example, Angel Arch in Canyonlands is not included.) Also, I found the links that some of the images had to his chosen jpg viewer (included) quirky. His may be more viewer than you want or need. Fortunately, it is possible to get around the included viewer and use your own jpg viewer. On the whole, the CD is very worthwhile.



3. I have been a photo addict to this region for ten years and have made six journeys to the region to get photos for my website. It is true that the pictures on this CD are over saturated and have high contrast, this is partly because the photographer likes sunrise and sunset pictures. Most of my digital pictures are taken in full sunlight and there is a remarkable difference between our shots. However, there are many shots that I have not seen and it has encouraged me to visit the more obscure sites on my next visit. Some of the sites I will never see because too much hiking is required. This CD compliments the book, the pictures in the book are in black and white. Many of the pictures are superb. The CD also contains the excellent ThumbsPlus software which I have been using for 8 years and is a must for any photographer to sort out and edit digital archives. All my website pages were also generated using this software. All in all this CD has many good shots and will give the 'Southwest'photo enthusiast new ideas about this area, especially off the tourist track. In my opinion the wave photos from the Paria region were worth the price of the CD, as I had never seen them before. If you have the book it is worth getting the CD, if you have been here as a tourist it will show you some of the shots you missed.



4. We are planning a long trip to Bryce and Zion National Parks in May and purchased Martres book earlier. His descriptions of the trails and where to be at what time of day are proving invaluable to use in planning our daily hikes! We are able to map out our entire trip. When the CD came in with color pictures of the very places we'll visit, we were so excited! It helps us envision how we will need to place our camera equipment to get just the right picture to bring home, print and put on our mantel.

No comments about Touring the pueblos: A travel guide which takes the visitor to all 20 living Pueblo Indian reservations in New Mexico and Arizona.

1 comments about William Henry Jackson's "The Pioneer Photographer".

1. I've just started reading the book, the biographical sections are extensive and interesting. They might, in fact, be the best part of the book (together with the update/ annotations).
   I was hoping for a large collection of Mr. Jacksons photographs but instead got more text than anything. You do get some photographs but they tend to be small, not full page (they are interesting). I didn't count them but believe that there are more sketches and paintings than photographs of the man's subjects.
   One thing I noted was that the editor of this edition writes that many of the photographs are "attributed to", meaning either no one is certain of the photographer but think he did them or even that an employee actually did the work.
   If what you really want are 1870's photographs you'll have to find another Jackson book somewhere to get many of them.

No comments about Along the Santa Fe Trail.

No comments about Mosaic of New Mexico's scenery, rocks, and history: A brief guide for visitors (Scenic trips to the geologic past).

No comments about American Auto Trail-New Mexico's U.S. Highway 70 (American Auto Trail).

5 comments about Moon Handbooks: Puerto Vallarta (3rd Ed.).

1. We just returned from a two week vacation in Mexico, where we travelled from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta using the Bruce Whipperman handbook as our guide. The book, which is compact in size, is packed with useful and specific information that made our trip easy and enjoyable. We especially appreciated the back-road tips.



2. If you want to know about more than just the Puerto Vallarta area buy the Pacific Mexico Handbook. Better than 80% of the content of the Puerto Vallart Handbook is included as well as information of the other Pacific destinations. If you do not plan to venture more than 25 - 50 miles from Puerto Vallarta this book adds no additional value.



3. Book was not well written nor was it well thought out. It was difficult to access specific information (such as hotels and restaurants). The author also recommended the Hard Rock Cafe--which made me wary of any other recommendation he had! I'd recommend the Frommers Guide to Mexico for a better picture of Puerto Vallarta and Discover Puerto Vallarta for the pictures and additional information.



4. Every Moon Travel book I have purchased has been far and away the best travel book for the region. Anyone who has traveled in Mexico knows that restaurants and hotels change a lot in one year. The fifth edition of this book, copyrite Nov 2003 is as good as it gets. I also had the Frommers and AAA guide with me for 8 days of driving in and around Puerto Vallarta and the only book I needed was the Moon book.



5. Absolutly positively the worst travel guide I have ever read!!! Don't waste your money. The only thing that surpases what it doesn't include, is what it does include. Hardly anything of value! This book is a waste of a perfectly good tree.