No comments about A Traveler's Guide to Native America: The Southwest Region (Origins, No 2).

No comments about The Exploration of North America (Essays on the Columbian Encounter).

No comments about Rand McNally Tennessee State Map (State Maps-USA).

No comments about Mexico from the Driver's Seat: Tales of the Road from Baja to the Yucatan (Sanborn's Mexico Books).

No comments about Rock Art Savvy: The Responsible Visitor's Guide to Public Sites of the Southwest.

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.

4 comments about Missouri Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff.

1. My wife and I had a lot of fun reading this book - the author has a real appreciation of people of all stripes, and a good sense of humor. We visited a lot of weird and wonderful places in Arkansas a few years ago, but now it's obvious that Missouri has even more wackiness to offer.



2. This is a great read: not only does it give practical advice for the MO tourist wishing to stray from the beaten path, it's also a great read for anyone interested in reading a bunch of darn good stories. Highly recommended.



3. This is an excellent book for those living in or passing through Missouri. Funny, informative, entertaining, and well-organized, the author takes us through the entire state of oddities and other sundry things, in a state where the natives are both charming and self-effacing. This book deserves two thumbs up for sure!



4. You're better off using the index in this book than browsing it. The subheads are supposed to be cute but they are not helpful. It would have been better to list the name of the place, nearest town, and hours if applicable than to give it some unclever title. You have to read through the information to find what exactly the curiosity is. It's annoying and detracts from interesting information provided. Off the Beaten Path: Missouri by Patti DeLano is less quirky (although it has some oddities listed) but covers more travel information and is easier to read.

2 comments about Fremont: Pathmarker of the West.

1. John Charles Fremont (1813-1890) was an American explorere, soldier and first Republican presidential candidate. This book is the classic biography and encyclopedia reference for "further reading," originally published in 1939 as a two-volume set. It is excelled only by Fremont's actual journals and maps, available in four volumes from large city and college libraries: Spence, Mary Lee & David Jackson, "The Expeditions of John Charles Fremont." Nevins tells of a 1926 interview with Major Frank P. Fremont and his experience extracting notes from the few remaining original journals that weren't destroyed by a warehouse fire. I've researched Fremont histories since 1980 and have visited many of the sites that are accurately described in this book. This is the best. Steve Stumph, Salt Lake City, 9-Jan-1999



2. John Fremont's life reads like a Shakespearean tragedy. Starting in poverty and successively riding waves of amazing success only to be followed by equally amazing blunders, Fremont's life is a study in how to be one's own worst enemy. One of the subsequent followers of Lewis and Clark in exploring the American West, he makes three separate explorations that in total really puts the original 1803 expedition to shame. First Republican Presidential Candidate, California's first U.S. Senator, a multimillionaire during the California Gold Rush and a ranking Union general at the outbreak of the Civil War, he is also dragged home after the war with Mexico from California in chains, is responsible for the annihilation of one of his Western expeditions, is relieved of command by Lincoln after ignoring a Presidential directive and dies alone in comparative poverty after begging Congress for a pension.

   This is a fascinating life and Nevins does a remarkable job of very unbiased research. You will either love Fremont or hate him or, more likely, simply feel sorry for him.

1 comments about Artwise Chicago Museum Map - Laminated Museum Map of Chicago, Illinois - Streetwise Maps (Artwise).

1. I thought this map was actually more informative than the "Streetwise" version. This also includes good information on the Hyde Park area, and has information on the subway and bus lines. A good general map of the city. It's not big, so you can throw it in your pocket.

1 comments about Barbados, Sun Sea, Superb!.

1. In a word, Wow! This is a superb "portrait" of this island. The photographs are absolutely stunning. But this isn't just a "postcard" view of Barbados -- there's lots of coverage of the people, history, and culture, too. The author-photographer has been traveling to Barbados for over two decades, and it shows both in his photographs and his extensive text, which gives a solid but concise presentation of Barbados' history in a very readable way without being dry. (Kind of National Geographic style.) And the picture captions are in-depth, presenting little gems of info about the picture subject matter if you're in too much of hurry to read the whole text. I've lived in Barbados, and this has the feel of an insider's view, not just someone who has breezed through the island and shot a few pictures.