1 comments about Bed, Breakfast & Bike Western Great Lakes (Cycling Tours).

1. This is a great resource book written through actual experiences of the authors. Great pictures and references. The book shares information that is not readily available through tourist information. It makes you want to get out your bike and ride along with nature. One does not have to be biking to enjoy the Bed &Breakfast establishments visited in the book.

No comments about San Francisco: A Pictorial Celebration.

1 comments about The Northwest Coast: Or, Three Years' Residence in Washington Territory (Washington Paperbacks, Wp-62).

1. I suppose it is pretty silly to review a book of this age, but I loved it so much it's going on my list of books worth reviewing.
   
   The language is wonderful and it's hard to believe that someone with such a range of interests and writing ability would be found in the ranks of the pioneers.

4 comments about New York to Nome: The Northwest Passage by Canoe : From the Recollections of Shell Taylor.

1. This is a well written narative of the first men to cross the continent by canoe through the elusive "Northwest Passage". It's strange that this is such an obscure event. One would think that this could well rank up there with many of the great adventuresome firsts of history. It's certainly easy to read, though I felt a little thin on the character development. If you like outdoor adventure travel stories, this one is worth your while.



2. The canoe trip of New York to Nome is an exceptional adventure. Although told many years later, it still brings the excitement of the trip to life. The book is a bit thin on details, I wished for more on how they packed, the gear they carried, how they set up camp. I wanted to know more because I love to sea kayak and camp and have gone on many multiday trips covering a hundred miles or more. But those trips are nothing compared to this one.
   
   Great book for adventurers who enjoy paddling, camping and the outdoors.



3. The book is not a great work of literature, but it is a great adventure story! A great and forgotten adventure - the longest canoe journey on record!
   
   A couple of questions:
   
   Does the film that the guys took still exist? If so, it would be great if it could be belatedly made into the movie that they had hoped for way back in then in the 1930's!
   
   The book wasn't made until the 1980's, about 50 years after the voyage. According to the author, both of the participants were still living at the time. Why didn't the author make the effort to contact the second voyageur in order to get his version of the events, especially since there were some disaparaging remarks made about him?
   
   Great adventure! When I lived in NYC I used to sea kayak and canoe in the rivers and lakes and sounds and oceans around the city. These two guys bought an old canoe, stuck it in the Hudson on 42nd Street, hopped in, and said they're paddling to Nome, Alaska! And they did!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   TGM



4. I just finished reading this book for the second time. It's truly a great story about a canoeing adventure that took place back when much of the Canadian wilderness was still wild. The canoeists encounter Cree indians who live in the bush, and forts isolated from all roads--fragments of a past long gone.
   
   It really is a shame their accomplishment has faded into obscurity. Searching the Web will find you virtually nothing about these two men and their voyage. Even the dearth of reviewers on this site is sad. They worked so hard to make this trip, expecting to make the history books, and then got mostly ignored.
   
   Though some may want more details, I felt what was included was more than enough to give a sense of this trip, the hardships and joys. True, it would have been nice to hear the "co-commander's" viewpoints; the author talked only to one of the two men (Shell) on the trip. And while his disparaging comments on his friend were often amusing, if mean, it made you wonder what the other guy (Jeff) would have said about the same incidents. Still, at least Shell was honest about his feelings, and didn't whitewash the trip.
   
   I loved reading about their encounters with various people living out in the wild, imaging these people living and dying with no record of their lives--until this book came out. The lighthouse keeper and his bed full of bugs, the Cree Indians who ate all the boys' bannock but then surprised them with their generosity, the hard-drinking people at the fort where they wintered--these people are all gone now, but thanks to this book, a portion of their lives has been brought back for us to learn about.
   
   The book is very well written, but more importantly entertaining and interesting.

No comments about Glacial Geology and Geomorphology of North America.

3 comments about Bound for Santa Fe: The Road to New Mexico and the American Conquest, 1806-1848.

1. This authoritative volume from Stephen Hyslop sheds new light on an important aspect of the American story. Well-written and full of interesting facts, analysis, and captivating stories, this book is no dry history, but a thorough work that should have great appeal beyond the academic market. It is a book all American history buffs should enjoy. I know I did.



2. Once in a while a book attains benchmark status in the historiography of a particular subject. "Bound for Santa Fe," by Stephen G. Hyslop, might well do so. It has many of the necessary ingredients. Its palate is sweeping, and the author's handling of the story both complex and captivating. More than any other recent work of history on the Santa Fe trail and trade, it captures the essence of the story and relates it to an audience removed from it by some 175 years. Most of all, "Bound for Santa Fe" is an exceptionally well-written work of history, tantalizing in its depictions and seductive in the power of its narrative.

   Beginning with the earliest exploring parties from the United States into the Southwest, Hyslop takes the reader through the origins and development of the Santa Fe trade, using narratives from the trail as the centerpiece of a journey from Missouri to New Mexico. Along the trail readers meet the native peoples who had made the region their homes for centuries, the Santa Fe culture and its sometimes uneasy coexistence with Anglos from Missouri, and the unique world these various cultures made through their interactions.

   At the same time, the interactions proved surprising to both sides. As only one example, Missourians expressed dismay at the mores of the New Mexicans, and that cultural divide never seemed to end despite years of close contact. When trader John Scolly hauled his Latina wife, Juana Lopes, before a Mexican judge for adultery the outcome was remarkably different to what Scolly had expected. Lopes did not deny the charges, instead offering the belligerent explanation, as reported in the court record, that "it was her ass, she controlled it, and she would give it to whomever she wanted" (p. 266). The judge told her to quit "roving" and stay with her family but stopped short of punishing her, as would have undoubtedly been the case in the U.S. Such cultural differences sprinkle this work, demonstrating the oddity and attraction of these two civilizations.

   Hyslop completes his work with a discussion of American conquest of New Mexico in 1846-1848. He follows the path of the Army of the West under Stephen Watts Kearny, the experience of Alexander Doniphan and Sterling Price and their Missouri volunteers, the creation of a territorial government under Charles Bent, and the bloody Taos revolt.

   In 1979 John D. Unruh Jr. published "The Plains Across: The Overland Emigrants and the Trans-Mississippi West, 1840-60" (University of Illinois Press), unraveling the complex story of the overlanders on America's longest trail. Hyslop offers a work very similar to Unruh's in style and substance for the Santa Fe trail, and it may become a standard on the subject for many years.




3. I had very high hopes for this book: The Santa Fe Trail through the eyes of those who were there. Many have used this venue and all of them have always improved the history, imparting a new understanding of events through the eyes of the participants.
   
   Its not that there isn't some good history here, it's that Hyslop applies this technique in a haphazard fashion. We view the trek through the eyes of the same 5-6 participants who traveled the trail at decidedly different points in time. The result is that rather than moving along the trail chronologically, as the participants being quoted did, we visit each point on the trail 5-6 times completely out of chronological sequence.
   
   The result is a hodge-podge of interpretations hopelessly out of sequence. In the end I felt sorry for the author; he obviously spent an immense amount of time in his effort and his work is historically accurate. But it is confusing; it misleads and changes or at least misstates the history that occurred as it unfolded. Taken out of sequence, the story is muted, watered down. And that is a damn shame because significant effort went into this work.

No comments about The Tennessee, Green, and Lower Ohio Rivers Expeditions of Clarence Bloomfield Moore (Classics Southeast Archaeology).

2 comments about Looking for America on the New Jersey Turnpike.

1. As a lifelong New Jerseyan who endured the "what exit" jokes by out-of-staters (Exit 12, now that you've asked), Rockland and Gillespie try to tackle the cultural significance of the loved and loathed New Jersey Turnpike. They cite the popular reference in the Simon & Garfunkel tune, "America," and stress that the Turnpike is one of the most heavily-traveled highways in the world.

   What they do well is describe in entertaining detail the story on how and why the Turnpike was built (note: the secretive NJ Turnpike Authority did not cooperate with the authors when they were researching this book) and the many anecdotes about the road that bring new insights into New Jersey (and American) politics and history.

   The authors make two main cultural arguments throughout the book:

   The first one is how the negative opinion of New Jersey has been shaped over the years by travel on the Turnpike. Let's face it -- the Turnpike travels through the least attractive areas of the state. From the decayed industrial north to the straight, flat and boring stretches in South Jersey, the Turnpike is not a great public relations tool for the state of New Jersey. New Jersey is not all oil refineries (exit 12 & 13), huge megawarehouses (exit 8A) or bland suburban sprawl (exit 9 & 10), but since millions of people from around the globe have traveled on this road to or from Newark Airport or along the Northeast, they think that what they see along the Turnpike is typical to the Garden State (yes, we still have gardens).

   Second, the authors' argue that the Turnpike was the ultimate expression of form over function -- an idea that reached its zenith in the mid-20th century. The road was built with efficiency and safety being its highest (and perhaps only) priorities and the roadbuilders did not consider aesthetics or the concerns of neighbors or private landowners when building or maintaining the road.

   This book is a great and worthy complement to works like Robert Caro's The Power Broker or other works on famous roads like Rt. 66, Highway 1, the National Road (US Rt. 40), etc. You don't have to be a New Jersey-phile to enjoy this book!




2. Bo Sullivan and the Turnpike are bundles of unrestricted energy. The New Jersey Turnpike shapes the state. The road is a triumph of function over form. It is the busiest toll road in the nation.
   
   New Jersey is a machine in the garden. The nickname, the Garden State, is, in some respects, bizarre.
   
   On the New Jersey Turnpike the patrons are treated like vagrants. The message is keep moving. The Turnpike was profitable from the beginning. It sold time and convenience.
   
   The Pulaski Skyway has been dubbed America's first cosmic road.
   
   To any student of culture, this book is a marvel.

No comments about Discover Native America: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.

5 comments about Soul of Nowhere: Traversing Grace in a Rugged Land.

1. I've read two Craig Childs books so far and loved them both. If I have a criticism it is that his language is pretty over the top. I'd say it was melodramatic if I didn't know just how he feels and that being mezmerized by the wilderness brings out such thoughts and words.
   
   Once you get into the flow of the book it reads well. Introspection and lofty thoughts have always been a part of wilderness and adventure writing, and that is certainly better than reading a clinical account.
   
   I agree that there is a little too much personal information and thus only 4 stars.



2. Like other reviewers, my first exposure to Craig Childs was through his book The Secret Knowledge of Water, which is excellent. Soul of Nowhere doesn't move me as much as Secret Knowledge, but it's still a great read.
   
   The first book focused on his adventures looking for water sources in deserts of the southwest. In this book, the focus is more on finding archaeological relics in the deep desert. In some cases it's ruins, in others jars or petroglyphs. One can sense his desire to find evidence of and connect with long vanished people of the desert.
   
   I thought the inclusion of the other people was interesting. It places Childs in a social context - we encounter others who share his passion, and they're memorable characters. Other reviewers have said that Childs shares way too much here - it may not be to their taste, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. In any event, he shares some fascinating stories with us. I will definitely be reading more of his books.



3. Craig Childs is an excellent writer, and the prices for used books of his were great. I could buy copies for all my friends.



4. I loved this book not so much because of the difficulties and delights Childs experienced in the wild but because of the journey of his spirit as he bonded with the wild places. I've read many books of true adventure written by people who were brave and sensitive and articulate, but this book goes far beyond anything I've come across. It speaks to my soul, so evocative, so intense that I feel I have journeyed with him. It's almost frightening to be drawn so far into the mind of another human being I don't even know. He is undoubtedly brave as a lion in his explorations, but his true bravery is revealed in the opening and dissection of his own soul. His eloquent words describe the feelings I could not articulate for myself in my travels in the southwest deserts. Now I know why I went back to them time after time.



5. One reviewer cited "pseudo-intellectual mumbo-jumbo that gives the reader the impression that he is just trying too hard to write a "serious" book" regarding Childs' "Soul Of Nowhere". I must agree. I have spent a good part of my life in the deserts of the Southwest and beyond, and am a professional archaeologist, so I expected to like this work more than I did. It felt a little bit too forced, as though the author were trying to convince his readers that what he was experiencing was somehow more profound than it actually appears to be on the surface. I wasn't buying all of the forced weightiness ascribed to what amounts to rather mundane situations. I must follow up by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed "House of Rain" despite some extremely irresponsible behaviour on the part of the author. "Soul of Nowhere" was a disappointment.