2 comments about The Map of Who We Are: A Novel (American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series).

1. "The Map of Who We Are" is a challenging and ambitious novel with a plethora of characters and ideas, and is a rewarding read. It weaves the stories of people of all colors and time periods, forging a history of "travelers" - those special in our world's history that have the capacity to lead us to a greater understanding of ourselves. This novel reminded me Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the U.S" with its focus on the unseen heroes and unusual events that comprise a dual mythology to complement the uninspired version we learn as children. I particularly enjoyed Smith's idea of racial/gender hybridization and his off-beat sense of humor. The language in the novel may be too lyrical and poetic for some, but I believe it added to the overall richness of the novel.



2. A friend recently recommended "Map" to me, and I was skeptical that this would be something I'd enjoy. Through the first few chapters I remained skeptical, yet this novel soon hits its stride and begins to show the breadth of its characterizations and vision. The protagonists are vivid and real, whether modern-day radicals or larger than life historical figures. Smith is reaching for a spiritual and emotional higher ground, and this novel proves how earnest and humorous that journey can be.

No comments about Michigan (America Series).

No comments about The Carolinas & Appalachian States (Smithsonian Guides to Historic America, Book 9).

No comments about A Guide to the Archaeology Parks of the Upper Midwest.

5 comments about Miles from Nowhere: Tales from America's Contemporary Frontier.

1. I read this book several years ago, and it still crosses my mind often. Dayton Duncan is a wonderful author, and you immediately are in the vehicle with him, sitting right along side him and experiencing all the highs and lows of this trip in 3-D. Soon after I read this book, I sought out and read everything else he'd written by then, each of which was a joy to read. If you enjoy road trip books and learning something about the nature of we Americans, you'll not go wrong by reading this book. I've read most other contemporary American road travel books, and this certainly ranks at the very top (along with Bill Bryson's "The Lost Continent"). Get both books, you'll have traveled the length and breath of the country by the time you've finished andyou'll have met some very interesting, fun companions along the way.



2. Here Dayton Duncan takes us on a fascinating tour of counties in several Western states that have fewer than two people per square mile - under which communities are considered "virtually uninhabited," at least in terms of standard sociological expectations. In addition to descriptions of jaw-dropping emptiness that people from more populated areas would find either uplifting or terrifying, Duncan provides many engaging stories of the real people toughing it out in these areas in which few are hardy enough to live. Examples are fractured politics among the Navajo in Utah; victims of nuclear testing in Central Nevada; an elderly woman living alone in Montana without modern conveniences dozens of miles form the nearest road; and the compelling story of the last few Seminole Negroes - descended from escaped slaves who mixed with Florida Indians and eventually ended up in West Texas. Included are great examinations of the cyclical boom-and-bust economics and strange politics confronting these lonely places, as they are alternately overlooked, romanticized, dumped on, and fought over by know-it-alls from far away. (On the other hand, Duncan also examines the irony in how such people often despise government interference, even though their existence would likely be impossible without Federal subsidies.) Duncan shows that these under-populated regions are still home to hardy and interesting people who continue to fulfill the American ideal of breaking off from the rat race and making it on one's own. [~doomsdayer520~]



3. In "Miles from Nowhere," Dayton Duncan travels to all the least populated counties in the continental United States--the frontiers--just about all of which happen to be in the West.
   He explains that the definition of "frontier" has to do with how many people live within one square mile, and then he commences to visit all the loneliest, most offbeat, most middle of nowhere spots in the entire country.
   What he finds, he writes about in flowing, clear prose, and he does a good job understanding and explaining the lives and lifestyles of the people he meets.
   This is the kind of book that makes you pack your bags. It could be dangerous. It could make you load your wife into a car and head out to a mice-infested trailer on some tired patch of Arizona soil where cows block your driveway, your water comes from a windmill, and your nearest neighbor is a gun-toting survivalist who homeschools his kids.
   I know it can happen. See my profile for evidence.
   The book is worth it alone for its portrait of Alex Joseph, his many wives, and the polygamous citizens of Big Water, Utah. Their group is a subject worthy of whole books, but this is one of the few printed references on them, and Alex Joseph's son told me himself that they consider this book to be almost completely accurate. They like it too.



4. You thought the American frontier had disappeared? Well, Dayton Duncan spent a couple of years visiting those American counties that still meet the definition of frontier -- less than two people per square mile.
   
   In Miles From Nowhere, Duncan sheds light on what it means to live alone, really alone, no neighbors in sight or in small communities where there is no "next town over." There are quite a few counties in the mid-west and far west that meet the Census Bureau definition and the author provides an excellent sampling of what makes people stay or in some case move here.
   
   The place stories are sometimes fascinating and also interesting. One area of Nevada was the fallout zone for early nuclear tests -- chosen because it was almost empty. Duncan explores some of the people who lived under where the white ash fell and explores their continuing health problems as well as their exasperation with an unresponsive government.
   
   In Montana, there are still one-room schools where teachers live in trailers at the school site and teach one to ten kids from an attendance area measured in the hundreds or thousands of square miles. There are people in the mountains of Washington and Oregon who pack their cars with a week's worth of provisions in case they break down because that's how long it could take someone else to happen upon their stalled vehicle. And in Love County Texas, a county with under 1,000 people, the local elections are decided by feuds and family grudges that separate people into warring camps for elected offices which hold no real power and have no real money to spend.
   
   I found a peak into these lives and stories fascinating and couldn't put the book down. Duncan has a way of getting these folks to open up and treats them matter-of-factly in a manner which allows the stories to speak for themselves.
   
   This is a very interesting book that opens up a part of America that almost all of the rest of us will only ever drive through while considering it empty. Its not all empty, in valleys and nooks and up miles of dirt trails and in other hide-a-ways live some of us who are Miles From Nowhere and live a life the rest of us would have a difficult time enduring.



5. Duncan is best at his research and then going out and finding people to interview for his topics. He doesn't leave anyone out, from 80-year-old homesteaders who refuse electricity or running water, to polygamists, questionable cattle rustlers to religiuous survivalists in New Mexico. He put his heart and soul into this book, and the chapters read easily, going from writing about the history of the places to the current people in the towns along the way.
   
   His descriptions of the surroundings, the descriptions of the people he stays with for his interviews make this book a worthwhile read for lovers of the old Frontier. Although slightly dated now (references are from 1990) there is no doubt that many of the facts still remain; there are still many void regions of the West where few people dare to plant roots.
   
   This book is comparable to Jon Raban's "Bad Lands" of eastern Montana, another good book on how the West was settled. Both were written in the late 1980s/early 1990s. How much of the information is still valid? Duncan toured every county in the US that had less than two people per square mile. Out in West Texas, New Mexico or Montana, that is still a lot of land.

5 comments about Guide to Rock Art of the Utah Region: Sites With Public Access.

1. This is the best and most responsible guide to the rock art of Utah I have seen. It is well written and researched, the maps are excellent and so are the directions. It's a winner.



2. This is the best and most responsible guide to the rock art of Utah I have seen. It is well written and researched, the maps are excellent and so are the directions. It's a winner.



3. Filled with black-and-white photographs and a brief insert section of color plates, Guide To Rock Art Of The Utah Region: Sites With Public Access is a singularly comprehensive, illustrated, informative, and descriptive introduction to Native American rock art, as well as a thoroughly "user friendly" travel guide to the viewing of rock art found in Utah that has endured since before written history. Chapters cover not only the artwork found throughout Utah, but the accessibility of sites and proper etiquette and conservation that traveling viewers should observe. Highly recommended for students of Native American studies, rock art history, armchair travelers, and people with a simple zest to visit Utah and see these amazing drawings for themselves.



4. I'm not easily satisified with guides, but this one appears to be an exception. It fits the need of those of us who enjoy and appreciate indigenous art and the wilderness that typically accompanies it. There are numerous maps, excellent directions, a section of color pictures, and good insights.



5. Usually when I buy a book, I feel I get my money's worth as long as I can get something out of it. It is very rare when the entire book becomes an invaluable resource. This is such a book. This book contains excellent maps and directions and includes numerous B&W pictures and illustrations. There is also a color panel in the middle. When I say detailed directions I mean DETAILED. The author tells you what landmarks to look for, what exit to get off, how the road winds and breaks the distances down to a tenth of a mile. It is also written in a very easy to follow and understand text. The highlight of the book for me is the detailed breakdown of Nine Mile Canyon. I was not intending on doing nine mile canyon due to a shortage of time and thinking I would need a guide to find many of the sites. The book describes the trip in such detail you feel like you are on a tour. Besides Utah, the author also writes about some sites in Nevada, Arizona and Colorado. Before I purchased this book, I thought I would only get to see a few rock art panels at the more popoular destinations. After reading this book, I now know that there are many more sites I can visit. Hopefully, those who are intersted in this book will also heed the authors plea to be respectful of the sites. His book speaks about way to many instances of idiots vandalizing these treasures and destroying them for the future generations. Bottom line is that this is a must have for anyone serious about seeing rock art in Utah.

3 comments about Maps, Myths, and Men: The Story of the Vinland Map.

1. This book gives you the latest updates regarding archaeological findings of Norse artifacts in Canada and Norse objects made of
   American resources found in Greenland. It goes through all
   Norse references about the Norse way of seeing the world and
   suggests that the Norse used American territories for centuries
   after Leif Eiriksson's discovery.
   The fact that no other pre-Columbian Norse maps of Vinland
   exists together with ink studies, oddities in the text on the map and script analyzes suggests that the Vinland map is a 20th
   century fake made by a German priest.
   If you are interested in the Viking voyages to America this book is a must in your collection and the reference section will
   guide you to further interesting material about Vinland.



2. Author Seaver is nothing if not thorough. She spends more than 400 pages of text and notes in this book examining the provenance and legitimacy of the famous Vinland map published in 1965 by two institutional giants, Yale University and the British Museum. The authenticity of the map, supposedly drawn in 1440 and showing "Vinland," the Norse discoveries in North America, has long been questioned by scholars. Seaver's account and her detective work in identifying the likely forger of the map is likely to be the definitive account.
   
   Actually, although admiring her work, I spent little time on the long tale of how she determined the Vinland map is a modern-day forgery. More interesting to me was her summary of Norse history in North America which she covered in the first 86 pages. This is an abridgement of the longer account she gave in "The Frozen Echo"
   
   The main question she tackles is one of the most intriguing in history: why did the Norse colonies in Greenland disappear after almost 500 years of existence? A worsening climate, Eskimo attacks, and the failure of the Norse to adjust to the environment of the Arctic have all been cited. To the contrary, Seaver believes that the Greenland colonies failed because the isolated residents united with English cod fishermen and moved on to greener -- and more lucrative -- pastures in Newfoundland about 1500. There's little evidence to back up her opinion, although it is well reasoned. If this idea excites you, read "The Frozen Echo" for a more thorough examination.
   
   Seaver combined the skill of an exhaustive, and sometimes exhausting, scholar with that of a literary detective in writing the book. Its worth your attention.
   
   Smallchief



3. Great book!!! Ms. Seaver's detective work is wonderful and thoughtful-beyond doubt. But the end of the story? NO! Read the book and then order the NOVA DVD on the same topic: "The Viking Deception" (available from Amazon- completed in 2005 after publication of this book and thus updates the story)...Carbon 14 tests indicate the map is on very old parchment but that parchment that may have been 'treated' prior to being used for the map in 1950, thus the priest as creator is now doubtful. If created in 1950 the 'creator' is again open to investigation and question. Lots of questions, lots of debate--great story.

2 comments about The Rites of Autumn: A Falconer's Journey Across the American West.

1. If you are interested in falconry at all, this is a MUST READ! The story takes you from the hack site to the beaches of Texas. I ordered this book for my boyfriend (now husband!) many years ago based on a review that I read in Sports Illustrated. I recently read it again and it was better the second time around (maybe because I know more about falcons, falconry and especially falconers than I did before!). It is a great story, it wont take you long to read and anyone who has ever loved a bird and let it go will really appreciate it!



2. Dan O'Brien has a keen respect for and love of nature. His desire to protect and preserve peregrine falcons not only is told in an interesting way, but with a desire to teach others a respect for the importance of letting nature teach us.
   There are funny and interesting tales of his relationships with his hunting dogs and a peregrine falcon, as he trains a wild falcon to hunt and soar, with the hopes of releasing it in the wild after a migration from the Black Hills of South Dakota to the Gulf of Mexico.
   Dan writes with the ability to hold your interest. You'll want to keep reading!
   This is a "good read".

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

No comments about Father Louis Hennepin's Description of Louisiana: Newly discovered to the southwest of New France by order of the king.