No comments about A True Picture Of Emigration: Or Fourteen Years In The Interior Of North America (1848).

1 comments about Art of the State: Texas (Art of the State).

1. Years ago, when preparing for my 50-state road trip I'd purchased a load of travel guides to help plan what to see in each state. The guides satisfied me until I stumbled upon the first ART OF STATE book in Iowa and quickly purchased all the other states available. This curious book series made all other travel books pale by comparison. Deceptively small, slim, lightweight and light read, these books pack a punch of meaningful, inspirational information. Beautifully designed and written, they are thoroughly engaging and a joy to read--like finding an ancestor's scrapbook or diary in the attic and reading a fascinating family heritage while peering over images of a buried past. Each author must be a native or a deliberate transplant, for they tell each state's story lovingly, with a deep appreciation of the state--and not just its good features, but the blemishes, too, described evenhandedly. Photographs of architecture, landscapes paintings, crafts and memorabilia complement the words. Each book presents the state's history, climate, landscape, traditions, symbols, recipes, must-see destinations and a statewide calendar of events. I've purchased all the books in the series (20 of the 50 states as of 2007). If your budget won't allow you to buy all 20, at least buy two: one of your home state and one of your adopted state. You'll be amazed at what you discover.
   
   I apologize for raving so much about THE ART OF STATE series, but it was such a find, like discovering a diamond in a sea of glass. I can't help but gush.
   
   Now, about the Texas edition. Each book in the series has a wallpaper design inside cover treatment: a background color, unique to the state, dotted with a state motif. I always try to guess what the wallpaper will be before opening the book. Sometimes I guess correctly, but not often. Texas was easy: the gold Lone Star motif against a tanned leather brown. I was at first disappointed that Corpus Christie was barely mentioned and the rich cultural landscape of Austin and San Antonio briefly covered, but soon realized that Texas, once a nation unto itself, is simply too large--in land, history, economy and ecology--to satisfy all curiosities. The Alamo gets a full two-page spread as does the founding of the Republic of Texas, that 9 year period ( 1836-1845) when Texas was a nation unto itself. There's a nice sampling of Texas politicians--the "good ol' boys" and "good ol' gals," from the nation's first- elected president, Sam Houston to LBJ, to Governor Ann Richards, and the woman unfortunately named Ima Hogg, daughter of a former governor who "hadn't thought it through" when he named her after a heroine in a Civil War poem. There's a clever distinction between the two different Texas cultures: the cotton versus the cattle culture--before oil was discovered. The oil boom and its towering skyscraper legacy also gets good coverage as do the chips: Frito-Lay's corn chips and Texas Instrument's computer chips . The influx of German immigrants and their influence, rarely mentioned in today's image of Texas, are described with vigor. A nice surprise was the mention of Lady Bird Johnson's National Wildlife Research Center--the woman was a bulldog on protecting wildflowers. Oh, I forgot to mention the Native Texans, the Caddo Indians, "Arguably the most civilized Texans ever," and the Comanche Empire. Lastly, the book claims Texas height and girth at 1,000 x 1,000 miles, which is a bit of a stretch (by most accounts, it's 800 miles at best), but I like the example the author uses to emphasize the point. "Texarkana in East Texas is 200 miles closer to Atlanta [GA] than it is to El Paso [TX]. Stratford [TX] in the Panhandle is as distant to Brownsville [TX] on the Mexican border as Manhattan [NY] is from Daytona Beach [FL]." That's a lot of ground to cover in just 96 pages, and the author does a remarkable job of presenting the salient points, including the Texas bluebonnets, music and cuisine where Texas barbecue is "a religion. . . a subject of intense debate." A delightful book, like all the ART OF STATE books--a national treasure.

No comments about Chardon's Journal at Fort Clark, 1834-1839.

5 comments about Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country (National Geographic Directions).

1. Normally, I would not read a travel memoir, or actually any travel writing. I decided to give this book a chance because Louise Erdrich is my favorite author and I'll read anything she writes. I had no idea what to expect from this book. I knew that it was a travel memoir of Erdrich's trip to Rainy Island at Lake of the Woods.

   Rainy Island once belonged to explorer Ernest Oberholtzer. Ober, as Erdrich refers to him, was a book collector (among other things). The Island has many cabins that are just filled with books. Since Louise Erdrich is Ojibwe, an author, and a bookseller, this is the type of journey that fits right into her life. We begin the book as she is just arriving up in Northern Minnesota and Erdrich is meeting up with the father of her youngest daughter. Erdrich writes about the Ojibwe, this man's place in the culture (he is a spiritual leader), her daughter, the Ojibwe language, and why she is making this trip.

   I might expect a travel memoir to focus completely on the journey, but Erdrich deviates from this and talks about everything that influences the trip and the history of the northern Ojibwe and the islands. Erdrich writes about the oral traditions of the Ojibwe and weaves the story of her trip into the narrative.

   On one hand this is a fascinating journey, but a warning to the reader: this is not like her fiction. This is a slow moving history of Edrich's trip to Rainy Island and a history of the Ojibwe from the Lake of the Woods. This is an interesting book, but it might not be for everyone.




2. First, the disclaimer: I am a great admirer of Louise Erdrich's fiction work and consider her one of America's greatest living storytellers. "Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country," however, left me early and never came back. Her tone throughout this self-congratulatory road trip memoir is stingy and smug while her observations are, at best, shallow to the edge of banality; despite her torrent of words and phrases, one almost never sees what she's seeing or trusts that we're truly feeling what she's feeling, the test of great landscape writing and a surprise, given it is one of her fictional gifts. At her worst, Ms. Erdrich's words convey an emotional immaturity and lack of generosity that betray her age and experience, not to mention her Anishinabeg roots (although it's a separate conversation best held among Indian people, it's worth noting here that this Ojibwa found some of her subjects, particularly those involving the sacred, uncomfortably close to a line of exploitation we should never cross). This book, which impressed me as little more than an exercise in boastful foolishness and a sad and futile attempt, perhaps, at some sort of self-healing by suggestion, was a great disappointment that verges sadly close to disaster.



3. Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country documents Erdrich's journey to the Lake of the Woods region on the Ontario/Minnesota border, the traditional home of some of her ancestors. For the most part, I found the book enlightening, and although at first somewhat flustered by the author's style, soon was drawn into her story. The author seemed to me to be quite sincere about her intents and although only part Ojibwe on her mother's side, I felt that she had much appreciation for this heriatge. I feel, therefore, that D. Sander's review is quite harsh and seemingly motivated by other unspecified factors, and is not an accurate assessment of what the reader will derive from this book.



4. This was the first book by Louise Erdrich that I read, and I really loved it. It's a literary tour around Ojibwe country, some of which she takes with her baby's father, a spiritual leader, and of course, her baby, who the animals seem intrigued by. It's an unusual, hard to describe book - not quite a mere travelogue, but also a glimpse into the Ojibwe life, a survey of the land, a little about her family, and the efforts of a man to bring more books to the reservation. This effort continues today, and in LE's view is a vital endeavor. I totally agree.



5. Anyone who loves books should read this one; you'll be able to relate to the author. I personally could't put it down once I started it. It's a light read, I would even describe it as a 'comfort book', something one would read to relax and get his/her mind off of stressful sitations in life.
   
   Women are more likely to enjoy it than men; it is very emotional and personal. It combines a mother's experience of travelling with her baby, an author's passion for books, and a young woman's love and pride for her native culture.
   
   The book also contains an intimate insight into a foreign culture (for me, as a European), which complemented the book very well.
   
   It was definitly not what I expected of the book, in a good way.

No comments about Country Inns & Back Roads, North America.

No comments about Canadian French for Better Travel (Ulysses Travel Phrase Books).

No comments about The River of the West: The Adventures of Joe Meek Volume One; The Mountain Years (Classics of the Fur Trade Series).

No comments about Charlotte, NC: Its Historic Neighborhoods (Images of America (Arcadia Publishing)).

No comments about The Mapping of America.

No comments about National Geographic Driving Guide to America, California (NG Driving Guides).