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Editor William Kittredge has done a remarkable job of bringing together this great collection of Western writers representing a vast swath of American terrain, covering prairie, mountains, desert, and Pacific Rim. At 600 pages, his book is an introduction to over 70 writers from the journals of Lewis and Clark and the collectors of Native American chants and tales to the writers of late 20th century fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

Some are well known and easily associated with the West: Wallace Stegner, A. B. Guthrie, Louise Erdrich, John Steinbeck, Edward Abbey, Maxine Hong Kingston, Raymond Carver, Larry McMurtry, Ken Kesey. Many are lesser known and deserving of a wider audience, such as James Galvin, Sherman Alexie, and Linda Hogan. As someone less familiar with the poetry inspired by the region, I appreciated selections from a wide range of poets, including the influential Montana poet Richard Hugo.

Describing the experience of reading this book is like trying to sum up a year traveling in another country. There are several familiar works: Wallace Stegner's great story "Carrion Spring," set on the northern plains during the spring thaw after a horrific winter kill; the opening of Ivan Doig's wonderful Montana memoir "This House of Sky"; Terry Tempest Williams' chilling essay on the rising incidence of breast cancer in her family after above-ground nuclear testing in 1950s Nevada; childhood memories of homesteading in the Nebraska Panhandle, from Mari Sandoz' book about her father, "Old Jules"; a discourse on water from Gretel Ehrlich's essays about ranching in Wyoming, "The Silence of Open Spaces."

There's also Edward Abbey's account of summer work as a park ranger in Utah's Arches National Monument from "Desert Solitaire"; a poignant memory of fishing in Norman Maclean's "A River Runs Through It"; a brief scene featuring the joyous prankster McMurphy, later immortalized by Jack Nicholson, from Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"; a section about a man who stakes a claim on the Wyoming-Colorado border from James Galvin's brilliantly written memoir-novel, "The Meadow"; the evocation of a ghost town and the Nebraska prairie in the opening pages of Wright Morris' novel "Ceremony in Lone Tree"; and one of the many humorous recollections of frontier cowboy Teddy Blue Abbott, as he remembers his friendship with Calamity Jane.

And there are wonderful discoveries. I liked Rick Marinis' short story "Paraiso: An Elegy" about two couples from El Paso on a car trip; Richard Nelson's account of deer hunting in Alaska from "The Island Within"; Raymond Carver's memories of his alcoholic father in "My Father's Life"; Larry McMurtry's demythologizing memories of his cowboy-rancher uncles in "Take My Saddle From the Wall: A Valediction"; Mary Clearman Blew's harrowing memoir of marriage to a wildcat oilman with a terminal pulmonary illness, from "All But the Waltz"; David Long's story of a ranch family's disintegration, "Lightning"; and John Haines' description of nightfall in a remote Alaska cabin in "The Stars, The Snow, The Fire." Among the poets, I found the Hawaiian/LA voice of Garrett Hongo, the dark vision of Robert Wrigley, and the thoughtful ruminations of Montana poet Greg Pape.

Altogether there are voices of all kinds between the covers of this book. You get a sense of great diversity bound together by a vast landscape. There are a few themes that run through most of these selections, which are also common to literature about the West: freedom, loss, and isolation. The expansiveness of the West has traditionally permitted a kind of liberation from what is restrictive and claustrophobic in the settled East. The flip side of that freedom, of course, is the isolation that comes with living lives beyond the reach of other people. Meanwhile, expansion into the West has meant the loss of what was pristine and unexploited; it's meant the loss of Native American cultures; and as the West evolves, it has meant the loss of the frontier itself. Even as we have discovered the West, it is disappearing.

Kittredge's book has captured all that, as well as one can in 600 pages. I heartily recommend his book to anyone interested in the real West, what it was and what it is. As the editor of this anthology, Kittredge has graciously not included anything from his own pen; so I'll recommend his well-written memoir of growing up on a ranch in Oregon, "Hole in the Sky." Two other collections of Western writing I can recommend are "Northern Lights: A Selection of New Writing from the American West," edited by Deborah Clow (currently out of print) and "The Big Sky Reader," edited by Alan Jones (also currently out of print).

I'm only 66 pages into it, but I love this book. I would never have known some of these writers. My favorites so far are the Navajo night chant "House Made Of The Dawn" and the writings of Linda Hogan, John Graves and Louise Erdrich. Thank you for editing this book. What a pleasure to read such high-quality writing. Such a sense of the American West. Such voices. I like the John Graves story about the old buffalo almost as much as I like the writings of Cormac McCarthy. If anyone ever doubted it, this book shows that there is great literature from the West. I will use this as a guide to further reading. I can't wait to read more.

I highly recommend this book. I don't read anthologies usually, but a class that I am taking this semester, "The Western As America," required it. I sighed and picked it up with reservations. I have been won over by the variety and depth with which this anthology brings together. From a Navajo night chant, journalistic reportage by Stienback, "Legends, Heroes, Myth-Figures and other American Liars" by Thomas McGrath, and Alexie Sherman's "My heros have never been cowboys," (just a small example of the range in this book) the anthology questions our conceptions of literature and the essence of America. I couldn't bear to sell this book to anyone and I hope that you will give it a chance.

On the back of the book, it says that it is written for the clinician, not the statistician. I would say that a biostatistician should definitely read this book before conducting any consulting or collaborations. One has to understand the clients's needs (clinician) as well as the client's audience to be a truely effective biostatistician.

A must have. When would be the next version?

A great guide that will aid you during medical research projects. Easy learning, great setup and very very helpful.
Just buy it!!

Taking care of sick and injured patients requires special skills, obtained at considerable effort over many years. What about publishing research reports? Any author will tell you that completing and then publishing a research project requires an enormous amount of time and effort. The number of submitted manuscripts has increased more rapidly than the number of journals; at some of our strongest journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, JAMA, only about 10% of submitted papers are accepted. Clearly, a "wannabe" author needs any and every bit of help he/she can get.

Dan Byrne's attractive reasonably priced "Publishing Your Medical Research Paper" provides essential help for both the novice and the more experienced author. The book is unique in many ways. For example, some of the material was obtained from a questionnaire sent to reviewers - the best source of ideas and tips about how to submit a successful, competitive manuscript.

Both the overall big picture, and small, but important details are well covered. Several chapters focus on overall objectives. For example, chapter one summarizes ten key principles for success. Some are obvious, but easy to overlook.

"Invest ample time and money in planning."

As Dan Byrne suggests, you need to spend a lot of time thinking about your research problem and formulating a research plan before you do anything. Without a clear aim and a careful literature review, you are unlikely to succeed, or, if you do, you may simply duplicate previous work.

There is equal attention to small points, such as choice and effective use of graphics.

"You can reduce your graph on a photocopier to see how it will look. Edit the graph until it is as uncluttered and professional as possible."

Any experienced reviewer will tell you how important it is to submit a manuscript with clear writing, clear graphics, and a clear development of ideas. As the book points out, even if the idea is good, a poorly prepared, confusing manuscript is likely to be rejected simply because the reviewers and editors are unsure what the author is trying to say.

It is easy to develop a hostile attitude to reviewers and editors, especially when, after months of hard work your only reward is: "Dear___: I am sorry to inform you we are returning your manuscript entitled .... Because of tight space requirements, we are forced to reject many high quality papers such as yours...."

At such times it helps to remember that Dr. Rosalyn Yalow collected and framed all the rejection letters she received prior to eventual acceptance and publication of the paper for which she was awarded the 1977 Nobel prize in medicine. This book provides accurate, detailed information to authors so they will understand what reviewers and editors look for, and how they judge the quality of a manuscript.

The appendices, which take up about a third of the book, provide practical information to guide authors through the publication process. Having all this material in one place is a real time-saver. You will find the widely used "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals", a medical researcher's directory with extremely useful web sites, and the Helsinki declarations for biomedical research.

"Publishing Your Medical Research Paper" is a valuable tool that will guide researchers and authors through the entire research and publication process. Following the recommendations will greatly increase the strength of a manuscript and the chance for acceptance. One word of caution - many of the recommendations concern the early phases of research; to obtain maximum benefit from this book read it before rather than after completion of your project.

This is a superb book. Its very well written and exceptionally well researched and thought through. Anyone who's interested in the work of Springsteen, Guthrie and Whitman or the liberatory potential of popular culture will find this book fascinating. I read it like a thriller - staying up all night.

Garman works from a rigorously principled political position which leads him to be very even handed in his assesment of the achievments and failures of the subjects of his study. This is no hagiography but it also has none of the self righteous contempt for the popular that infects so much cultural studies.

This is exemplary work.

Bryan Garman's book provides an indepth study of those singer-songwriters who, according to the author, follow in Whitman's footsteps. He analyzes Woody Guthrie and Springsteen's work thoroughly. The consideration of Guthrie's "hurt song" is fascinating. The author also makes a good case for expanding our horizons beyond the white male heterosexual dominant order. I was rather taken aback to learn that some of my old favorite English folk club singalong songs smacked of homoeroticism. In particular, we are told that Tom Paxton's "Rambling Boy" is "a love song that contains and expresses a homoeroticism that permeated the work of socially engaged artists from Whitman to Traubel, Hughes to Guthrie" (p 159). Gosh, I wonder what Paxton would say about that! I agree with Mr. Garman, however, that much of this New Left rhetoric marginalizes women. That is why folks like Ani Di Franco seem far more engaging and even revolutionary than Springsteen. A Race of Singers has proved an invaluable book for me as I prepare my PhD dissertation at a Spanish university. I recommend it to anyone studying contemporary folk music and its place in recent history.

Garman's analysis of Springsteen, Dylan, Guthrie, and Whitman is very provocative. Especially his insights into Springsteen and the way in which his music played off against (or was interpreted as being in sync with) Reagan's politics, and pop culture in the 80s, such as Rambo. Definitely a worthwhile read for someone who considers her or himself a fan of any of the aforementioned singers, or someone interested in an in-depth analysis of the politics of these singers.

Since I started to read this book I just couldn't, stop doing it, is an amazing suspense story from the first page till the last page, and the way that Montana fights against the bad guys is not out of reality at all, meanwhile you learn a little bit of autism boys.

This book got better and better as the pages flew by and tension mounted... Eight year old autistic twins, Rickie and Trace, attended a special school........while out in the school playground with their teacher, Laura Stoner, they witnessed an elderly man getting gunned down right in front of them!! As with most autistics, they had a gift for details with numbers.....they repeated the license plate number, how many shots were fired, and described the murderer.......what they had witnessed was the execution of a mafia don.... Ex-cop turned assistant U.S. attorney, Mike Montana, was in charge of protecting both Laura and the twins....Laura had no option other than to trust him while he moved them around from one state to another, running from the villains and not knowing who in the US government, has betrayed them!! This story will have you holding your breath when the good guys confront the bad guys!!

I say it again -- if you are getting a little weary of Mary Higgins Clark, then try Bethany Campbell's thrillers. I picked this one up out of the blue (on a whim) and was hooked from page one. Well drawn characters, a very tense plot, and plenty of empathy for people who are coping with children with problems. Any mother or teacher can relate to this book, and be carried along by a fast moving, credible plot as well. Bethany Campbell's publishers should be promoting her like crazy, because there is a heap of talent in this lady.

As a student in England, doing work on military academies, I came across the notes, papers, writings, etc of Thomas Jefferson in the bibliography of "West Point", by Norman Thomas Remick. I'm absolutely thrilled that Merrill D. Peterson has put it all together in one 1600 page book. It makes this part of my project almost like one stop shopping. The book is marvelous as a research reference, while at the same time being very interesting reading. By the way, as I see that the book "West Point" is not among the Amazon books on Thomas Jefferson, I hereby highly recommend it to you. It was marvelously interesting, as well.

This edition of Jefferson's writings is an excellent comrehensive collection. Edited by Jefferson biographer Merrill Peterson this volume is a treasure.

It includes Jefferson's Anas, Autobiography, The Notes on Virginia( complete), Summary View of the Rights of British America, his version of the Declaration of Independence, numerous public papers, and addresses. This volume is a must have for the Jefferson reader. It also very necassary for the current state of the American Republic which would be wise to hear the words of this great man. A great buy!

This book is a treasure: it contains many of the writings of Thomas Jefferson, and his letters.
They are reveal a crisp thinking, like Voltaire, Rousseau, the abbey Gregoire, Rabeau Saint Etienne, and other geat thinkers of the 17th Century (T.Jefferson meet with most), as well a Pascal who was way ahead of his time. TJ try to explain the rational for generosity, compassion, respect for life, respect for people, respect for justice, and more: anyone who claims to be president of the USA (or any sovereign nation) should read and understand this book. Unfortunatly this is probably not the case... Politicians love to use a citation of TJ, but their policies would often be despised by TJ.
Let's hope that the future will give the US presidents with the values of this great thinker, and for the time being let's just be patient.

And this book with show you the way!!!!

Easy to follow instructions with items you have around the house. Successful papermaking from the very first try!

It is a simple book, but very usefull. As I work with homeless people the book shows us conditions to make paper without money; the material is very easy to find and the way-to-do is very well explained. I liked very much the model of envelope printed in the book and that we can copy in a fotocopy machine. Congratulations for the author.

After they see two of their teachers murdered, Sunday and Fred run away from school campus to Sundays summer house. They are surprised when they find Noah there, because he is scared of going home, because well, if you were caught on tape sleeping with a teacher, would you wanna go home? I dont think so. Noah, Sunday, and Fred begin to put pieces of their stories together, and things begin to come into the light. But Allison shows up, demanding to know what is going on, and the murderer shows up, threatening to kill them all if they dont get him his $200,000 soon. Eventually Maczine, and Hobson are dragged in. If they work together, can theystop the scandal at Wessex Academy?

I loved all the books.I was so happy about how at the end Sunday could never decide what her and Fred were. And then the very last page said they both went to Georgetown i was so happy i think i almost cried seriously you must read this whole series

After just witnessing what they believed was a murder, Fred and Sunday are on the run, taking refuge in Sunday's summer house. What comes to them as a great surprise is that someone else has been hiding there too, Noah Percy. It turns out Noah is afraid of confronting his parents after recently getting expelled for having sex with a teacher, and getting caught on tape too. What Noah doesn't know is that it is all a conspiracy called "Operation Time Capsule". As Fred, Sunday, and Noah work together they begin to put the pieces together and everything pretty much comes to light. Unfortnately two more surprises are on their way. One: Allison shows up at the summerhouse too. It turns out after Allison found out Sunday was missing she started looking for her and figured Sunday had to be at the summerhouse. Two: The murderer shows up too and threatnes them to give him $200,000 dollars or else. Deperate the four teens go back to school and devise a plan with the help of Mackenzie and Hobson to catch the thieves with their own game.

I first got interested in these books after reading the excerpt in Payback: Fingerprints #7, another series I love. I must say this series was no disappointment. Though it had some weird humor it was still satisfying to read. You wish all the characters are real, even Allison! My favorite character has got to be Noah, though Mackenzie is a close second. I recommend everyone to read this trilogy as Daniel Parker's way of writing is perfect in a weird way. Her irony works right with this type of story. A must-read!

Follow Dr. Hunter S. Thompson on his manic trail of drugs, degeneracy, and discovery through the sixties, seventies, and into the eighties, a decade he has labeled the "Generation of Swine." The good Doctor is at it once again, and no one is safe from his hilarious yet amazingly accurate social commentary. Relax and let Thompson fill your body and soul with horrible tales from the death of the American Dream and other demoralizing corners of modern life.

Songs of the Doomed contains Thompson's famous article about the Pulitzer divorce trial, "Bad Craziness in Palm Beach: I Told Her it Was Wrong," which is the summit of ths poignant book. Dr. Thompson delves into a life reserved for the seriously rich. A place where "price tags mean nothing and pampered animals are worshiped openly in churches...the rules are different here, and the people seem to like it that way...there are bizarre trials over money occasionally and hideous scandals like a half-mad 80 year-old heiress trying to marry her teenage Cuban butler."

So relax, enjoy and "Let the good times roll!"

I've been digging the audiobooks version of this book for several years now.Dr.T. is a man who knows his limitations, and so most of the readings are done by people who by standards of technique might be considered better.His own sections are thereby thrown into relief. Repeated listenings of the "Cherokee Park" segment of "Prince Jellyfish" continue to be a revelation of fictional technique. Makes you want to read the whole book."Let The Trials Begin" is primo Thompson.

Great overview of all his work. Mike should buy it now and never look back!

If you hve a child who is a dreamer, into non-traditional fun, and loves to read, then this book is it. My uncle got it for me when I was 11 or 12, and I devoured it whole. The airplanes are fantastic to build, and they truely fly for a long time. Be warned though, the planes take about 20-30 minutes each to construct and you will need scissors, a paperclip (some models even require rubber cement), and lots of patience for great airplanes. I lost my copy in one of my many moves since being 12 (about 14 years ago) and I bought this book again. It gave me not just hours, but DAYS of fun as a kid.

Every book on paper airplanes will start by saying their planes are the best. When I first bought this book in 1985, I judged the book by it's cover and believed it was going to contain "the ultimate paper airplane". That was almost 20 years ago now, and the cover has never let me down!
I enjoyed these planes when I first got the book, I enjoyed them again when I started to learn to fly real airplanes in High School, I enjoyed them when I was taking physics classes in College, and now I'm looking forward to enjoying them with the next generation of paper airplane flyers.
If there is a better book about making planes that can be folded out of a single sheet of paper, I haven't found it.
A compelling story about inventors and their dreams, clear explanations about the physics of flying, easy directions for folding planes, AND you end up with planes that are fun to fly because they fly so well!

If you have any interest in paper airplanes, beyond the simplicity of tossing one around for a few minutes on a slow day at work, this book is for you. Forget the flimsy loop-the-loop planes that you used to make as a kid. This book will really show you how to make the *ultimate* paper airplane, with some interesting variations as well.

The concept behind the aerodynamics of this plane are so profound, it has been awarded patents, and several college graduates received scholarships researching and writing about it. Definitely a must read.

Vastly illustrated and very informative. Although the majority of this book is pictures (very nice ones at that), there are some very interesting facts and historical information about the victorian card craze. Because there are in excess of 100,000 different cards in existance, don't expect to find every card in here or the current market price. It is just a matter of time before a more extensive guide is published, (I would still recommend because of the great illustrations!) The only problem I have with this book is the layout which can be annoying if you are trying to find info on one of your cards. You have to search through several sections of the book. (e.g. Jackson's chewing tobbaco card in the "Exploration and Travel" chapter instead of the "Tobbaco" chapter). More expensive cards are usually only discussed in the chapter rather than illustrated, which I find kind of strange(Maybe he didn't own any of those to get the photo?).

The beautiful 224 page, 8 1/2 x 11" softbound book contains more than 500 full color, sharp, large photos. '98 values. There are 70 topics ranging from angels, baseball, dolls, expositions to Uncle Sam, women, wringers and washing. There's plenty of background information on each topic. A useful glossary of terms is provided. A must for tradecard collectors. Fascinating to read and refer to.

This is a great book. It's a definitive reference on the somewhat obscure subject of Victorian Trade Cards, but for those of us who love them, it's a feast. It is crammed with illustrations, broken into categories, and contains history and collecting tips. The pricing information is somewhat out of date, due to the impact that online auctions have had on these collectables (some are more expensive, some less, as auctions make them more available.) If you're at all a fan of this genre, don't hesitate to buy this book!