Book Description

Reviews (11)

Kick...!
Aside from an incoherant forward by Sean Penn, this book kicks ...! Whether you're a real tough guy or [not], Chuck Zito's story will put your own exploits in perspective. It's the fast, entertaining, well written story of an American icon that too few people know about. In a time of foppish, flippant yuppies and ...disrespectful wrestlers- this book will make you long for the days when being a man actually meant something.

All hail the king- Chuck Zito!

A Likeable Guy Comes Clean
I liked this book alot. Chuck comes clean with his own insecurities and regrets even though he lives the 'tough guy' life. It is an honest monologue about growing up in NY and becoming involved in a lifestyle that todays posers want to emulate but can't. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about Chuck Zito, who obviously set his own course and sailed it.

The REAL Rocky Balboa...
No, not Sly Stallone. Chuck Zito. I've never been the violent type. But I can't say I've never wanted to sock someone in the lip for mouthing off. Let's just say that I was able to live vicariously through Chuck Zito's autobiography. What I found to be most interesting was the level of detail associated with his stories of brutality. Additionally, he gives a SCARY account of prison - it's no wonder HBO hired him as a consultant/actor for the hit series OZ. WARNING: This book is not for the squeamish. His book is graphic and often times disturbing - just the kind of reading material to keep my attention! Now, I'm not one to read a book cover-to-cover over the course of three days. But this was just "one of those books" I couldn't put down. If you're interested in a first-hand account of bike gangs, violence, and prison, then this is the book for you. I would venture to say that the most memorable part of this book was the beatdown Chuck Zito delivered to Jean-Claude VanDamm at Scores Gentleman's Club in New York City - it's classic. Upon reading this book, I couldn't help but realize how truly "boring" my life was in the context of things. Please feel free to disagree with my opinion; let us compare opinions, invite a few more points of view, and debate, like the humans we are.

THIS THING SUCKED
Almost unreadable drivel written -or ghost written- by a wanna be celebrity. Hated it.

he beat up jean claude van damm he cant be a bad guy !
I read this book in a period of about 4 days it was very interesting to say the least. The book of course starts from when he was a kid going all the way through adulthood to his role on oz and the jobs he has had between bodyguard, bouncer. I know there was a ghost writer but i think the thing that kept it from a 5 star book for me was the constant park the car, get off the bike and punch somebodys lights out and keep going we all know that he and the angels are all tough guys no need to keep putting it in peoples faces through the whole book but I enjoyed reading it. ... Read more

Reviews (25)

Inspirational Adventures out of Africa
Dancing with the Witchdoctor is a marvelous book, all the more remarkable because it is Kelly James' first one. This account of some of her experiences as a private investigator in Africa reads like a well-crafted novel, a page turner at that. But as she says in the preface, these tales are not about her. James' aim is to tell the stories of women she met and the extraordinary ways they prevailed against the challenges of ordinary life in Africa in these troubled times. She succeeds with gusto.

James calls them "heroines," and does them proud. Among others, she introduces us to the Watusi women of Rwanda, to Moana of Mozambique, and to Lua, a Turkana woman who saves Kelly's life. The qualities James admires in these people come through in the text: courage, compassion, commitment. I found inspiration here.

The land, the elements themselves, have presence in Dancing with the Witchdoctor, notably the unceasing winds of Lake Turkana and the rainforest home of the mountain gorillas. The book smacks of Africa. The beat of life that drew James to that continent resounds in these pages.

This book defies categorization. One Seattle book store originally put it under travel, until an employee who had read it, said "no way." Another has it under World History for some reason. Call it an adventure story (which it is), and people think fiction. Say it's a memoir, and watch people yawn. It's by a woman about women, but it's not a "woman's book," or if it is, you certainly don't have to be a female to treasure it.

One category this book certainly fits: Damn Good Read!

Truth more fascinating than fiction
Private investigator Kelly Clark has an adventurous spirit. That spirit leads her to take investigative contracts on the forgotten continent of Africa. She stares death in the face and somehow lives to write about it.

That synposis sounds like a page-turning novel, but this book is much better because it is true. Kelly James is a red-headed American who fell in love with adventure when she as a youngster and tells of her African experience in four stirring vignettes. She is a modern renaissance woman. A master of African culture, regional history and the human condition. She also writes incredibly well.

This book is not for the weak or soft any more than Indiana Jones would appeal to those of high sensitivities. James' Africa is harsh and real. As the sun beats down, mankind also often does the same to its fellow earthly inhabitants. But the lessons James teaches are invaluable. Her love for Africa and its people is indisputable. James teaches us lessons poignantly and with page-turning adventure. Western arrogance can be very dangerous.

A must-read, I recommend this book to all readers who don't need life candy-coated. A winner!

Not one boring sentence and the action never stops. Great!
I love true stories about adventures in faraway places. And this fine book certainly meets that test. Kelly James gives us a short introductory chapter in which she describes her upbringing on a ranch in the American northwest. She was raised to ride and shoot and live with adventure. Soon, she realized she didn't want to be relegated to a typical female role in life. And so she became a private investigator and has traveled all over the world in a wide variety of international business investigations. Mostly, she works in Africa and the book is comprised of four separate stories about a few unique assignments.

Her writing style is fast-paced, breezy and has the sense of adventure that obviously drives her life. There's not one boring sentence in the whole book and the action never stops. I read these stories with the kind of attention that kept me breathless and turning the pages as something new happens on every page. And my sense of wonder at her bravery and willingness to take risks never ceased. I just couldn't stop reading and was sorry when this 235-page book ended.

In the first story she investigates a mysterious death of a wealthy plantation owner. In the second story she travels into the depths of gorilla country. In the third story she helps a young man visit his war-torn land. And, in the last story, she is hired to investigate a young female African doctor's disappearance. Often, she fines herself in personal danger and has is forced to survive in a very hostile environment. Each one of these stories kept my eyes glued to the page. I couldn't put the book down until they were finished.

"Dancing With the Witchdoctor" was a mini-adventure for me. It brought me to places I've only dreamed of visiting and made me identify with the author's courage, stamina and sense of adventure. For me, reading this book was like being picked up by a whirlwind and experiencing the trip of my life. I loved it!

Highly recommended.

A story of strong women
I loved how Kelly James wrote a book honoring the women she met in her adventures in Africa, instead of just describing those adventures. The sights and sounds in this book will stay with me a long time.

The story, Gorillas and Banana Beer, is a tale of hope in the face of no possible reason to hope, of a young man's discovery of a reason to live and give back when he found no life in our culture, of the bravery and strength and endurance of those who are trying to protect the children and gorillas. This story and the others are too powerful to describe.

Remind yourself again that America is not all there is to the world.

Myths of Africa
I lived in Beira, Mozambique for two years in the early 1980s, researching the history of women in that city, and I returned for a week-long visit at the end of that decade, so I was very interested to read Kelly James' account - her 24-hour visit to Beira some unspecific time in the 1980s makes up one chapter in this book. I found absolutely nothing that I recognized - not the hotel name, not the descriptions of the harbor, not the portraits of expatriates who were there, not the ubiquituous "shelters," nor her potted history of Mozambique - every detail rang false. By the time I finished this chapter I wondered if she had perhaps been somewhere else entirely, or had fabricated the visit out of whole cloth. I did not read any other chapters after the exceedingly disappointing experience with this one, as I have no trust in the observations or analysis of this author. I find it horrifying that this kind of writing that harks back to the "dark continent" stories of a century ago can still get published by major publishing houses. She has certainly written an adventure story, but I believe it belongs in the fiction aisle. ... Read more

Reviews (58)

I Dreamed of Africa-- a review
This book is the type of rare work that draws its readers into a whole other world by making them see and feel everything that the storyteller does. We become almost a part of the life of this extraordinary woman and her passion not only for Kenya and Africa but simply for life and living. Each one of us dreams of some place or ideal as we grow, but few of us are fortunate or determined enough to turn those dreams into realities and go on to live them. Kuki Gallman along with her husband and children shows us what it is like to achieve and live our dreams and at what cost our dreams sometimes come. "I Dreamed of Africa" is a lyrical, magical account of one woman, her family, and the people and customs of the last continent in our world that truly has a soul. The message of this book and Kuki's continuing mission to preserve that world will stay with all who read it and they will be better for it.

this book has (homo sapiens) legs
there are two types of popular books about east africa: thosemacho male memoirs aping the hemingway big bwana mystique, andfeminized memoirs penned by intuitive, thoughtful, grounded women whose affinity to the land and its wildness brings to mind concepts like gaia or 'earth mothers". this book obviously belongs to the second camp--it's powerful in its lyrical and poetic evocation of the life, with her second husband and son, that she created on a huge ranch in a region teeming with black rhino, lions, and elephants. yet impending tragedy hovers over almost every page--her husband dies in a car accident, her son dies from a puff adder snake bite--and though you know beforehand that these deaths will occur, you still can't help but shed a sympathetic tear. she is a survivor, who won't let africa beat her down; her support system includes a large staff of ranchhands, servants, anti-poaching security team, and a tight coterie of well-heeled neighbors who own large ranches and drop by in their airplanes. ms. gallmann has recently created a wildlife conservation reserve on her ranch, and one feels that her efforts to protect the vanishing wildlife and local culture is quite admirable.but there is a question that is never answered--how does a young family from italy come to kenya, and buy a ranch the size of san francisco. with what or whose money? there is definitely a whiff of colonialism here, as if to say, it is up to the european landed gentry, newcomers to a foreign land, to teach the locals proper respect for the region by ironically relying on the locals' time-honored modes of adaptation. ms. gellmann is certainly not a snob, and she does learn swahili and many local customs, and she treats her staff like an extended family, but think about it--wouldn't it be great if one of us can have the ability and means to buy a small country in which to live. out here, in san francisco, it's hard enough to rent a two-bedroom flat.

I laughed and cried...
This book is a testimony to the human spirit and how one can overcome extreme adversity and channel that into productive life altering experiences.

I laughed and cried and didn't want this book to end. It was so motivating and not at all pretentious. It made me feel as though I could accomplish anything by merely wanting it enough. Mrs Gallman articulated the surroundings so well that it made you feel as though you were sitting next to her. I mourned each time something horrid occurred and laughed at the little things in her every day experiences.

I Dreamed of Not Having Read This Book
I am utterly stunned that this book got so many positive reviews from readers. I got about two-thirds of the way through it before I finally let myself quit reading it.

Gallman has lead an interesting life; there's no question of that. The only trouble is, she's not a good writer. She tends to tell the reader things--like that her son was a special person--rather than showing us. And she tries way too hard to add mystical foreshadowing. Example: her son was killed from a poisonous snakebite. Years before, when he got his first pet python, she said that she felt uneasy. This is supposed to show us, the readers, how in tune with the world she is, how she's probably psychic. Excuse me, but I think any mother would be a little uneasy about their child having a lethal pet.

Do not waste your time with this boring, painful book.

Take this book for what it is
I have little to add to the other positive reviews of this book; but half the reviewers seem to be criticising the author, rather than the book. While I do not deny it has faults (the fact that English is not the author's first language sometimes weakens the expression of her clearly genuine feelings)I am astonished at the resentment expressed in many reviews. Specifically, over the fact that the author happens to be a white and presumably wealthy European - as though this fact automatically makes her a hypocrite and her views and experiences less worthy... and furthermore, that this a fault of the book itself! Judge the book on its own worth, instead of making moralistic judgments about the author.

Ms Gallman doesn't claim this is the ultimate African story - it is the personal story of her life, her deep love of Africa and of her friends and family, and in my opinion of her remarkably brave journey. Many reviewers seem to criticise this book for failing to be what it was never intended to be in the first place.

Oh, and all the spiteful comments about the "rich white Europeans" owning airplanes!!!

For God's sake, we are not talking about private luxury jets here! Clearly reviewers have completely disregarded that this is AFRICA, where people have immense properties, where it takes hours and hours to drive on dusty and dangerous roads to your nearest neighbours. How some people have gained the impression they were simply flitting about in style for their own pleasure is quite beyond me. About the only way of practical transport to most places was by plane, and it would seem these were small and often rundown planes, where people took their life in their hands each time they flew them. So please, get over the fact that most people had planes!! ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Interesting - but more on a "fiction level"
I have been in KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and had hoped to read about a similar experience by another american woman. As a muslim and probably a bit more serious person, I was s a bit shocked at what the author wrote. There is an old saying "One who looks for trouble will surely find it." Genia definitely went out of her way to find "trouble." Her behaviour (heavy drinking, drug use, flirting, casual sex) as well as her less conservative (for arab standards) dress probably was like a green-light for those saudi men that Genia mentiones in the book. --- Genia's story, unfortunately does not mention many of the decent Saudis, that would have never behaved so debauched. --
In all, I felt like the book was written more like a Jackie Collins novel, then an account of an american nurse's 2 year-stay in the Kingdom. Perhaps, had it been different, the book (and the story) would have been less interesting for western readers.

Incorrect English is very distracting.
I had trouble following the story due to poor sentence construction and mis-spelled words. The last time I checked there was no such word as noone and it was used numerous times throughout the book. I have read many interesting books about Saudi, especially Jean Sasson's "Princess" series, but "Single In Saudi" was more about her sex life than about the lifestyles of Saudi. Very disapointing book but would have been slightly better if a proofreader had been used.

Over-sexed in Saudi
This book was a page turner - the descriptions of her experiences in the medical field in such a different country, her travels during off times, the people she met were very intriguing. I had just finished reading all of Jean Sasson's books on life in the royal family of Saudi Arabia and was eager to read of this author's "American girl" experience. The author seemed very competent and together in her two years there but I was totally turned off by her social life. Was she exaggerating the amount of alcohol and drugs she consumed along with her overly-abundant sex life?? This was a bit over the top and hard to believe a top-notch nurse could abuse her body like that and live to tell the story. Her respectability in the eyes of this reader regrettably took a downslide as the book progressed due to her seeming need for sexual daliances with most every male she encountered. Too bad.

To reader from Wa.
There are those who write. Those that can't criticize. Perhaps the reader is jealous of Genia as she told her story as she lived it. Few women have had the adventures that Genia had. Perhaps she is not Danielle Steel with the help of editors who strip her story to fluff, but her story is real and true. Genia's story is truly her experience-if it is a testimony to her self-certeredness(not selfcerterness) as written by reader from Washington, the reader should just enjoy the story and not be over critical as Genia wrote of her true life in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

A Badly Written Book
I was surprised by the favorable views of this book. I don't think I've ever read one that was as badly written as this one. Poor grammar, misspelling, and poor sentence construction aside, the context and style were dismal. The entire book seemed to be a monument to the author's ego and self-centerness. There are some marvelous books out there that are far superior regarding Saudi culture. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

A good read
I am Balinese and live in Ubud, about 10 minutes walk from where Colin McPhee stayed, when he came to Bali in 1931. My aunt worked for him.

He heard a record of gamelan music in New York and couldn't wait to get to Bali to listen to the real thing.

He stayed in Bali for almost 8 years and set about documenting gamelan music. Much of his research was carried out in a village near Ubud where my Villas are. There are still old people in the village who remember him.

His book is beautifully written and tells stories of his adventures and life in the village and his encounters with the local Balinese. It's not necessary to understand technical music matters to enjoy this book - it is totally accessible.

Highly recommended.

Quite an interesting and well presented account of Bali
It's a very interesting book in regards to what I have actually read. It seems to have accounts on Balinese culture. I found it enjoyable and interesting to read because it not only talks about Balinese culture but about the conflict and clashes within the village like the little dancer named Sampih and his dance teacher Nyoman Kaler.

Colin McPhee conveys many interesting things like when bad luck happened in his home in Sayan and how they had to do a purification ceremony in regards to dispel the demons, witches and evil spirits. His wanderings in Bali to record music and study their music like the rare gamelan angklung and gamelan selonding from Tenganan who were the Bali Aga. Colin McPhee was drawn to the scintallinating sounds and metallic shimmer from the gamelan. At times there are humours accounts of what goes on between him and his friends that happen in the village or when they are touring around Bali. I found it enjoyable because, he seemed to have fitted in well with the Balinese people without too much problems compared with other writers before them spoke of barbarity and the animal like behaviour of the Balinese at certain functions. He writes with passion about what goes on and how things have changed with the colonial rule of the Dutch. The loss of autonomy by the Rajas who were reduced to poverty at times and how their obessions with cockfighting led to their ruin. Yet in times of despair and hardship they are always humble to him.

Overall the book contains a few photographs of his friends and colleagues. I found it wonderful and intriguing and as well as captiviting at times which he covers so many topics like the temple functions like Galungan, Wayang Kulit (Shadow Plays), the music club etc... This book you will grow to love like the book written by Miguel Corrovabias "Island of Bali".

Hooked!
Ever since I visited Bali in 1997, I've been hooked on anything Bali--gamelan music, the wayang puppets, the masks, the smell of kretek ( I don't smoke) and incense, frangipani flowers,... even the sputtering sound of motorcycles! I got my hands on all the National Geographic issues on Bali I could lay my hands on in second-hand bookshops .

When I found this book, I was almost certain I wasn't going to be disappointed. I was right. Consider, for instance, the blurb at the back of the book: "The graveryard, moreover, was a natural meeeting-place for witches and sorcerers, for every village had its suspects, owneres of books of spells that enabled the reader to change himself into a leyak--a ball of fire, a giant rat, or even a riderless motor cycle that travelled backwards. In this magic state sorcerers were indeed dangerous; they could send a man out of his wits or bring him to a lingering death."

Written by a musician, it doesn't fare so badly as a literary read. It captures the magic, mysticism, and soul of a place. A Bali experience is a sensory overload. Colin McPhee happily immersed himself in it and did a very impressive job.

A magical view into an ancient tradition
I first read this book as an anthropology major at Harvard. I immediately wanted to go to Bali and experience it for myself. The book not only taught me about the tradition of the gamelon, but it also made me feel as if I was there. This book makes you want to pack a backpack and experience the Balinese culture .I hope to get a copy of this fine work someday.

Diary of an artist charmed by heaven.
A must-read for all those, like me, have fallen in love with Bali. McPhee tells a tale that many of us would like to live...and provides us with insight of all aspects of life on the island as it was in the 30s. I don't own anymore my copy of the book and I am desperate to get one...I hope it will be reprinted. ... Read more

Book Description

When Jeffrey Greene, a prizewinning American poet, and Mary, his wife-to-be, a molecular biologist at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, discover a moss-covered stone presbytery in a lovely village in the Puisaye region of Burgundy, they know they have to live there. With an unabashed joie de vivre, they begin the arduous process of procuring their slice of paradise amid the wild beauty of the French countryside -- a place of gentle farmlands and dense forests, of rivers and lakes, of stunning fields bursting with the color and heady scent of wildflowers.

Reviews (13)

inexpensive trip to a french village.
Jeff Greene is doing what the rest of us dream about doing. I found this book to be enchanting. His descriptions of the village physical are so stimulating. I have a sister living in a small village in France so I found so many similarities between his village and my sister's village. The characters are wonderful, full of life. The next time I visit my sister I will surely stop in Rogny and see for myself Jeff Greene's dream.

A charming and spirited look at la belle France
I have read just about every book on restoring homes in France and Italy. (Non, I'm not a voyeur or dreamer.... I have done something similar in SW France & wanted to check out others' experiences.) In my view, Jeffrey Greene's poetic and self-revealing (without being self-centered) memoir of his experiences with his neighbors (as well as his family members) and his presbytery is simply the best of the genre. He treats his new acquaintances in the Burgundy village in the same way he approaches his building restoration: with delicacy and good will.

Greene's vignettes (e.g., one can SEE the car secured with boards and covers by the village square and the woman who leaves it there)add up to a loving portrait of a place and a time. Greene is a poetic observer who gives us, his readers, a feeling -- and understanding -- for his world. Thank you!!!

I've been had!
Beware the spate of books on the topic of Americans/Brits living in France! Talk about publishers milking a trend! Unfortunately, not every author is a Peter Mayle or an Ann Barry. Greene's book, for example, is hopeless--- a shambles as far as organization goes, peopled by clueless, insensitive, and incompletely delineated characters (maybe that last is the good news, because the bad news is that this is a work of non-fiction.) It is about as illuminating of the French culture and countryside as a Greyhound bus tour of the Top Ten tourist sites of the Ile-de-France.
Don't be taken in by the book's title, as I was. Even we bibliophilic Francophiles have some standards!

A memoir in France
I just finished reading this book. I have never wriiten a review , but I do feel compelled to after reading some of the other reviews posted here. For me, this is a memoir, not a travel guide. I admire anyone who is willing to share his life experiences with me--I find it a most generous act. I feel like writing to the author to thank him for his book. He brought the area and the people to life for me. I am studying French; so the sentences in French (don't be alarmed, he supplies a translation just following) were fun for me to figure out. I liked learning about Henri IV's locks, and learning about the author's childhood. I love a good memoir--and particularly, one by someone who is not famous except in his own circle. I would encourage anyone who feels the same to buy, or borrow this book--and order "Eyewitness France" if you want a travel guide. This book is a lovely eyewitness to a man's life.

Wonderful
I loved this book. It is not egotistical at all; it writes of an area less explored than Provence or Tuscany; and the author has a knack of bringing his characters alive; the house itself is so well described one feels one has walked through it. There was not a chapter I found dull, and I devoured it in a sitting. Greene doesn't laugh at the locals, or sneer at the imagined "quaintness" of Europe. You can't do better than this for travel narrative. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Richard Feynman, brilliant physicist and inspirational teacher, wasn't much for coats and ties. He lived a life that the adjective "bohemian" doesn't begin to cover, scripting percussion scores for avant-garde ballet troupes, musing over life's imponderables, and delighting and annoying his many friends with odd-duck questions--all the while teaching generations of students at CalTech.

Always adventurous, Feynman was also a careful planner, recounts his friend and fellow drummer Ralph Leighton in this affectionate memoir. When a chance remark happened to dislodge a long-dormant memory of a faraway Siberian land called Tannu-Tuva, Feynman and Leighton set about scheming to get there--a program that included learning the little-described Tuvan language, picking up the rudiments of throat singing, and reading the scattered, hard-to-find literature concerning a place that, in Feynman's fond view, was as close to paradise as the earth contained. It also involved corresponding with scholars in what was still the Soviet Union and wrangling with bureaucrats to secure the necessary papers--all for the sake of seeing a country that had to be interesting, Feynman insisted, just because its capital, Kyzyl, had such an odd spelling.

These picaresque armchair adventures make up the bulk of Tuva or Bust, an unconventional mix of travelogue and scientific biography that's a pleasure to read at every turn. The book yields a memorable picture of Richard Feynman--who did not live to see Tuva, but whose memory is honored there today, thanks to Leighton's refusal to abandon their shared dream. --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Reviews (25)

funny, informative, and even a little inspiring
"Tuva or Bust!" is the story of three friends in the 1980s, who were determined to travel to Tuva, a little known land in Central Asia, which at that time was part of the Soviet Union. Their original motivation? As Richard Feynman says in the first chapter, "A place that's spelled K-Y-Z-Y-L (Tuva's capitol) has just got to be interesting!"

The book chronicles the adventures and misadventures of Ralph Leighton, one of Feynman's longtime friends. Though the book is subtitled "Richard Feynman's Last Journey," it's really Leighton's story; Feynman is more of an inspiration and a supporting character. Over several years, Leighton and his friends wrote letters, researched articles, read books, and became more and more fascinated by Tuva, a tiny country in the middle of nowhere. They learned, among other things, that Tuvans practice three different types of steppe herding lifestyles, within a hundred miles of each other, and that Tuva is the home of throat-singing, a musical technique in which a single person produces two notes at the same time.

Leighton's narration is chatty, reminiscent of Feynman's autobiographical works; one suspects Leighton learned to tell anecdotes from his friend. However, Leighton isn't as inherently fascinating a narrator as Feynman. Also, Feynman's persistent cancer, which kept him from participating in several preliminary trips, and finally killed him shortly before Leighton received permission for a group of Americans to travel to Tuva itself, casts a pall over the book.

Still, this is a fascinating story -- a great example of what people can do if they really care about a cause, and don't realize precisely how little chance they have of succeeding. It is also informative, if somewhat superficial in its description of Tuvan culture; I now want to know more about Central Asian peoples, and Tuvans in particular. But while the chapter "Reflections 2000," included in the new paperback version of "Tuva or Bust!" is interesting, I really don't think it was fair of Leighton to mention a new idea for a Tuvan monument to Feynman, and refuse to give any details. Now I want another reprint!

Extremely pleasant and informative book on lost land of Tuva
When I was a kid in the 1950s I collected stamps and had quite a few from a mysterious little land called "Tannu Tuva". It always intrigued me because though I could find it on the old globe we had at home (made before the USSR swallowed the unfortunate Tuvans in 1944)I never heard the slightest news from there, nor did I ever hear of anyone going or coming from that little red country sandwiched between the yellow Soviet Union and green Mongolia. Time passed. A lot of time. Fast forward in fact, forty years. One day I saw a new book advertised--TUVA OR BUST. I could scarcely believe that somebody else in America remembered that hapless little country that once issued diamond and triangle stamps with yaks, camels, archers, and horsemen on them. Yet, they had it at our local bookstore. I bought it and read it as soon as I got home. What a treat ! I had never heard of Richard Feynman, not being a physics aficionado, but he turned out to be a great character. I enjoyed reading about his years-long efforts with Ralph Leighton to get to Tuva. They went through all kinds of trouble and interesting side voyages. I strongly recommend that you read this book. For me, reading the book was only a beginning. I listened to the plastic disc of Tuvan throat singing that came with the book, and subsequently bought tapes and attended Tuvan concerts by the group Huun Huur Tu in Boston. I also became a "Friend of Tuva". You can find their website on the net. I still drive around with my 'Tuva or Bust' bumper sticker. All of this stemmed from reading this delightful book on a faraway, unknown country and two people's adventures trying to get there. A very pleasurable experience.

Something To Do
A peculiar book: Ralph Leighton's TUVA OR BUST isn't really about Richard Feynman, who, the more one reads about him, begins to seem a genius, yes, but more than a little insufferable. He does instigate this whimsical notion of visiting Tannu Tuva (which had become Tuvinskaya of the U.S.S.R. (the book takes place from the late 1970s to Feynman's death in 1989), but the ball is picked up by Leighton, and Feynman is merely a supporting actor in the book.

The quest carries itself through many frustrations, mostly having to do w/ the hermetic paranoia of the Soviet Union, which seems to work like an enormous rural county: If you know someone, then things can be smoothed out; if not, then the official channels will be little help.

I'm not sure why anyone would read this book. There's no reason to if you're interested in Feynman, because, besides his concoctions to fit in at Esalen, amongst the New Age mumbo-jumbo, his mind is absent from the book. His personality & his drumming are there on occasion, but Feynman's thinking, no.

Leighton is not intrinsically interesting, and though a fluent writer, gives little sense of character. All the foreigners are forgettable, so the index is very handy. When a name turns up on page 150, say, then one can look it up to see which person this is.

As one reads, one begins to have the same thoughts about oneself that one has about Leighton's attempts to visit Tuva: Why am I going on?. Moreover, I think that one comes up with the same answer: Just to get through the damn thing. By the time that Leighton reaches Tuva (without Feynman, who died just a smidgen too soon), the appearance is anti-climactic, and the land is colorless: A Nevada trailer-park suburb, but with yurts instead of double-wides.

TUVA OR BUST! becomes a critique of bureaucracy. The slow, spirit-killing, mind-numbing bureaucracy of the Soviet Union ensured that Feynman would die without reaching Tuva. Our world, in which stupid little men can control our lives, is death to the spirit, and is death to the spirit of Feynman, insufferable though he may be, and inexplicably kow-towed to by everyone (you get the feeling that Feynman never opens a door for anyone or shuts one for himself).

TUVA OR BUST!, in its pedestrian prose, preaches, unwittingly, I think, for a freedom for whimsy, for the spirit, for the individual. At the same time, excepting the author and his male friends (his wife is also colorless), the book has no individuals. So, by the end, nothing: No Tuva to speak of, no more Feynman, nothing but an accomplishment to scratch off the list.

Mostly Great, But Slightly Condescending!
Did you know of certain artists who painted scenes on a human hair! Yes, bring your magnifying glass! Or singing in 2 part harmony with only one singer! I surely did not before reading this book! However, as a stamp collector starting at a very young age (about 7) , I also was fascinated by the Tanna Tuva stamps, and still have a nice assortment of diamonds and triangles. This book is an amusing and informative read, not least in its descriptions of meetings between Soviet and western scholars during some of the "Bad Old Days" of the 1980's Cold War, including moments like the shooting of KAL 007 near Korea. At times , though, there does seem to be a slightly condescending attitude towards a small section of Siberia based on what seems "funny" to English speakers. Nonetheless a very worthwhile read, with many amusing anecdotes, not to mention the amazing cancer recovery attitude of Mr. Feynmann himself!

Feynman's inspiration...
If you're reading this review, you've probably read dozens of witicisms from Richard Feynman, one of science's most colorful characters. Though the name suggests otherwise, this is really about a Feynman inspired journey.

Ralph Leighton and Richard Feynman spot a stamp from Tuva, which inspires Leighton's journey around the world. What makes the book an interesting read is that you can easily follow Feyman's curious energy in the actions and writing of the author. This really brings the heart of the book's value - this type of intellectual curiosity is not just the property of Richard Feynman. Anyone can chase a journey because it's fun or because it's there.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and hope that you do too. ... Read more

Book Description

Carol Drinkwater's The Olive Farm told the lyrical tale of her real-life romance with partner Michel and an abandoned Provençal olive farm that they fell in love with and bought--a double love story, recounting with wit, warmth, and alluring detail the couple's attempts to bring their dreams to life.

In The Olive Season, Carol Drinkwater's much-anticipated follow-up to The Olive Farm, Carol and Michel prepare to exchange vows in, of all places, Polynesia--Michel's answer to Carol's challenging response to his marriage proposal (Only if the ceremony is performed by the King of Tonga!) Upon their return to the south of France as husband and wife, they find there is much hope--and work--to greet them.

With a farm consisting of fifty trees producing some of the world's finest olive oil, no longer is the challenge one of restoring the farm but in charting its development and growth. France's rigorous agricultural standards are responsible for some of the world's best produce but also for one of its most infuriating bureaucracies. In order to obtain the coveted AOC rating, Carol and Michel are forced to both expand their farm and to negotiate a Byzantine world of forms, officials, and inspections, including the surveying of their land by a water diviner, who, via a power akin to extrasensory perception, can point out the existence of underground water sources on their property.

Further complicating matters is the fact that Carol has become pregnant with the couple's first child and has just accepted a demanding acting role. As the harvest season approaches, dramatic events, culminating in a heartbreaking miscarriage, cast shadows over the olive farm. With all the warmth and vibrancy of the Mediterranean sun, Carol Drinkwater tells her passionate, moving, and utterly uplifting story. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

The passion continues, but with a tear
In the Olive Season, Carol Drinkwater continuous Michel and her dream-come-true olive farm experience in the south of France. Other reviewers of her first book, as well as this reviewer, hoped for a sequel and Carol did not disappoint them. Although the book can be read and enjoyed without reading The Olive Farm, this reviewer strongly recommends that readers first read the Farm, as it provides the necessary backdrop and introduction to characters that enhances the enjoyment of the Season.

In the Season, Carol shares a lot more on personal level than in the Farm. Although I have enjoyed the first book specifically because it largely revolved around their farming experience and dealt less with them at intimate level, I can accept the change in focus because it is quite understandable when one reads about their tragic loss halfway through the book. The closing paragraph of the book confirms this conclusion. Do yourself a favour and do not read the last page of the book before you "legitimately" can after you have read the rest of it - apparently some people actually do that! It will not necessarily spoil your reading experience, but the story unfolds very well and pulls the reader closer to the author as it develops. Similar to the first book, the Season is well written and/or edited.

I again enjoyed Carol's description of the French rural characters she and Michel meet during their farming adventure. Although I appreciate her sharing of her research into various aspects of farming and nature, I find that those specific paragraphs tend to clash with the writing style of the rest of the book. Although short, they are almost reference book fact-like descriptions. However, they are far and in between and do not really distract from the overall reading experience. Their exploits into the French countryside and visits to interesting little shops and eating places do a lot to make the reader want to get onto a plane and explore those hide-away places!

If you have enjoyed The Olive Farm, you will also enjoy The Olive Season, although it is somewhat more "heavy" because of the dramatic events referred to earlier. Would I buy the next episode if Carol writes it? Yes, probably, even if only to find out whether they have managed to find a beekeeper! She clearly wrote, or at least completed, this one, inter alia for her own personal healing, but her writing style is such that I would support sequels in the Olive-saga much more positively than I would support Hollywood follow-on's!

CANDOR, HUMOR, AND SENSUALITY
Countless readers enchanted with Carol Drinkwater's initial memoir "The Olive Farm" will find themselves similarly captivated with her eagerly awaited follow-up. The candor, humor, sensuality, and gift for the appropriate word, all the qualities we've come to associate with this talented actress/writer are again very much in evidence in her latest offering.

"The Olive Farm" which traces Ms. Drinkwater's passion for an abandoned villa called "Appassionata" in the south of France, and her even greater passion for Michel, a French film director, allowed many to enter a world of which they could only dream. Despite the dire prognostications of friends she joined her financial resources with Michel's to purchase the villa with hopes of restoring it to former glory and overseeing a profitable olive farm.

As "The Olive Season" opens with yet another marriage proposal from Michel, Ms. Drinkwater cannot quite bring herself to take that step and responds with, "Only if the King of Tonga marries us."

She underestimates Michel, and their vows are repeated on an island in the South Pacific. It is more than a fairy tale wedding. Upon returning to their villa they happily learn that she is pregnant. She has miscarried several times, and now yearns to have their child. Yet thoughts of impending motherhood must be set aside as pesky boars are once again intruding. Further, the newly marrieds want the much desired Appellation d'Origine Controlee rating for their olive oil, which necessitates an infinite number of bureaucratic forms, inspections, plus an expansion of their farm. The setting of the Cote d'Azur, evenings on their terrace are incomparably beautiful; their work is exhausting.

Once again Ms. Drinkwater peppers her narrative with vivid descriptions of lush countrysides as well as historical notes. Readers accompany her to villages that Napoleon once roamed and learn the origins of bamboo, which she is surprised to find near Baremme amidst apple and cherry trees.

Bringing her own unique style and perceptions to these descriptive passages Ms. Drinkwater's words fairly sing with verve and rhythm. "And our poppies in the garden," she writes, "so hot is that colour, I hear the heroin cracked voice of a jazz singer, scarlet lips flush against a silver mike, crooning the blues."

Dropping by Cannes for the film festival, the contented couple saunter through the Croisette. This area is described as a haven for swindlers or, in French, for an "escroc." Scoundrels abound, seeking out and bilking foreigners who long for a part of the Cote d'Azur. Escroquerie or swindling "is woven into the fabric of living here," she opines. "How could it be otherwise when money is the god? It is the yardstick by which worth is judged and valued."

Visitors come and go at "Appassionata;" readers will never want to leave. We wish for just a little more time with Ms. Drinkwater, a charming hostess who enchants and delights with her tales. She is a spellbinding contemporary Scharazade who leaves us awaiting another missive from her paradisaical land.

- Gail Cooke

A SEQUEL TO BE CHERISHED
That Ms.Drinkwater's 'The Olive Farm' made me immediately want to pack and fly to see the verdant countryside she described, I never believed for a moment that a sequel could be so much more engrossing and personal.'The Olive Season' is filled with the stories of visitors to the farm, together with the difficulties of bringing the olives to fruit, but it is her baring her soul in dealing with the trauma of a personal tragedy that tears ones heart out. She must be a fighter for she went on with her life and her farm, and in the end one knows she will come out on top. A joy to read and to re-read.

What a read!
I loved this book ! This is one of the best travel books I have read in ages! I have and still am going through the same issues that Carol went through in this book and I am very grateful that she had an outlet for her pain. I am very happy that she wrote this tale of her journey, I was happy to be a part of her life for this book! I could not put it down! And it was funny too!
My only question when is the next one?

Lovely and Tragic
As much as I adored Ms. Drinkwater's first book, The Olive Farm, this one touched me in a much more personal way. Not wanting to spoil it for anyone, I'll just say that I recently had a very similar experience to hers, and I know there are many, many women out there who share her pain with her. That doesn't make it any easier to bear but it did help me to know that there is that strong, silent sisterhood.

This book had all the charm of her first one...the olives, the lovely farmhouse, the travels, the food, none of which were overridden by the sadness of her experience. If you want to read it for those aspects alone, you definitely will not be disappointed. I so hope that she's already at work on another book--I'll read everything she writes. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (8)

Profound in its Simplicity
George Packer's ability to describe the lives of many who live in Togo make this piece of text a must-read for all, even for those who do not have an interest in serving in the Peace Corps. He writes with raw emotion and sincerity, without a tad of pretense. I'd say that Packer's foremost accomplishment in this text is that he makes no attempt to tell a story about how a superior white individual intervenes in a remote village and rids the residents of poverty and illiteracy. Rather, The Village of Waiting is a sincere account of his realization that sadly, some things just cannot be altered. I think Packer knew this from the outset, but it is interesting to read about he endures this realization during his 2-year service in Togo.

Incredible
Haunting--this book is raw and hontest. I can't get it off my mind. Will be visiting friends doing VSO in northern Ghana soon and am trying to get a copy for them as well.

Togo: still crazy after all these years
I read a tattered, much passed around copy of Village of Waiting in my Peace Corps house in a village not far from George Packer's. I just returned in October 2001. Hard to imagine that after nearly twenty years, so much of what Packer wrote about Togo has not changed very much. . . Togo still waits. When people ask me about Togo, I'm still not sure what to say. I imagine Packer is still unsure. All I can say is that it is easy to give up on Togo, quite another thing to give up on its people. Packer's reflections of life in Lavie provide a lot of insight into the life of a Peace Corps Volunteer. This is a book that many PCVs either love or hate. Although it must be said that they seem to hate it when they arrive in Togo, and love it if they read or re-read it later, especially after leaving Togo. Many PCVs have complained that he was too soft, and couldn't handle it, but it is my impression that Packer really understood his reality and that is what made it so hard for him to handle it everyday. He understood the absurdity and hardship, and did not romanticize it. It made him angry. I know how he felt. I often wondered about the characters in Packer's book, as I zoomed through Lavie on my way up-country. Luckily, this new print has some follow-up on the many characters of his village.

A moving, intelligent and insightful masterpiece
For the longest time after reading this amazing and wonderful book I worried about George Packer - how he had gotten on, if he was successful, where he had gone, and if he had written more in the same lucid and painfully honest style he used in this autobiographical essay on his years in Togo as a Peace Corps volunteer. So it was with special joy today that I discovered not only that he's just written a major work (on American liberalism) that has been reviewed by the NY Times quite favorably, but that's he's written other works as well. Truly, Packer has an intellectual honesty that is extremely rare, coupled with an innate ability to put in words the deepest and most sincere and heartfelt feelings of Peace Corps volunteer and of those who have share the volunteer experience, particularly those among us who were blessed with service in Africa. The Village of Waiting is a "travel narrative", you might call it, that transcends the genre. Highly recommended.

The ultimate book on life in the Peace Corps
The Village Of Waiting is an incredible description of life in West Africa. It captures the essence of being a Peace Corps Volunteer in West Africa. Anyone who has ever been or thought about being a Peace Corps Volunteer should read this book. ... Read more

Book Description

Whith unforgettable characters coming to life on every page, this humorous story of one family's search for the Arcadian idyll speaks volumes about learning to live, laugh, and drink Ouzo together while turning a tumbledown ruin into a place to hold their hearts. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (5)

A Wonderful Story
I "lived" the experience with Paul Paolicelli as I read this book. Always wanting to not just visit, but to live in the land of my ancestors, to experience the culture, the people, just to experience the life.

Mr. Paolicelli has to be richer for this experience.

I recommend it to all of Italian descent and to anyone wanting to experience the culture of your family, no matter what heritage.

A Must-Read
This is a marvelous tale of personal discovery that includes the reader and helps illuminate the many mysteries for all of us bearing the Italian American heritage. Mr. Paolicelli's research and care for his subjects is evident from the first page. Those wanting more specific information are given a strong push to go find it out for themselves, rather than complain that the author didn't do it for them. Paul's "dance" with Luigi is an elaborate and remarkable waltz through Italian history and family mystery. Read this book. The music will linger...

Great Idea But Incomplete and Inaccurate
I was very much looking forward to reading a book about my fathers DePasquale side of the family in Abruzzo, Italy. However, much to my dismay, Mr. Poalicelli seemed to skim over or dismiss the rich history of the DePasquale's and the town of Gamberale where our ancestors came from. For example, although politically connected to the South in the past, the town Gamberale, in the provence of Chieti in Abruzzo is in the Central region of Italy, not the South. This town was not just inhabited by the Lombards or Longobards (a Germanic tribe) as they where also refered to, but also it is believed the town was inhabited by the Franks and French normans after the tenth century. Also, many of the surnames Mr. Paolcelli's mentions on the DePasquale side of his family are incorrectly spelled. Although I give Mr. Paolocelli credit for taking the time to want to write about his family, I wished he had contacted and interviewed many more family members on the DePasqaule side of the family to get a more accuate and historical perspectiveas to who and where the DePasquales came from both historically and geographically. If, so he would had a more insightful and meaningful book for both family members an general readers.

BRAVA BRAVA BRAVA
It amazes me that some of the reviews were critical. I wonder if any of the critics have attempted to write a book and have been published.

First, I envy Paul that he had the guts to set out on the adventure that would change his life. Don't we all wish we could do that.

I started to read this book and couldn't put it down; I read it in one day. It is a travel book, a mystery book, a history book and an Italian philosophy book all rolled into one.

Join the author on his quest to understand his Italian heritage and discover fascinating characters who help him find the true meaning of life. His relatives who came to America are wonderful too, especially Uncle Al.
It's true what they say "There's something about Italians!"

My relatives and friends are getting copies for Christmas presents.

To Paul Paolicelli "Grazie, ti voglio bene."

Gloria Valentino

Dances with Luigi
This book touched major chords with me. The author
lucidly tells the tail of searching for family and family history in Italy,with both stark self examination and great observations of the people around him.
His portrayal of the good and the bad, and the uncertainity
involved in being in a foreign country and trying to speak
their language; Italy, specifically,
are excellent.

I recommend this book to people planning a trip to Italy, specifically southern Italy, but I think it would be great
reading for anyone who loves things Italian or is a genealogist. ... Read more

Book Description

A funny and moving story told through the letters of two women nurturing a friendship as they are separated by distance, experience, and time.

Close friends and former college roommates, Hilary Liftin and Kate Montgomery promised to write when Kate's Peace Corps assignment took her to Africa.Over the course of a single year, they exchanged an offbeat and moving series of letters from rural Kenya to New York City and back again.

Kate, an idealistic teacher, meets unexpected realities ranging from poisonous snakes and vengeful cows to more serious hazards: a lack of money for education; a student body in revolt.Hilary, braving the singles scene in Manhattan, confronts her own realities, from unworthy suitors to job anxiety and first apartment woes.Their correspondence tells--with humor, warmth, and vivid personal detail--the story of two young women navigating their twenties in very different ways, and of the very special friendships we are sometimes lucky enough to find.


From the Trade Paperback edition. ... Read more

Reviews (52)

A Wonderful Read
I read a positive review of this in People Magazine, of all places, while waiting in the doctor's office and was attracted to its epistolary form. If you are a letter writer you will appreciate Kate's tightly written and amusing letters filled with humorous and sad anecdotes of her Peace Corps experience in Africa. Hillary's letters on the other hand, though less exotic, accurately reflect the post-college, single-girl-in-the city, more mundane world that many can relate to. This works because it's about two friends sustaining a relationship through the written word despite the different paths they branch out on after their college union. They are both likable in their different personalities and style of writing and one begins to care about them in this quick read. In reading some of the reviews here some have made criticisms of Kate's Peace Corps reflections but if the letters are true to their originality they are just observations and perceptions of a year in the life of two women keeping in touch with eachother. Too precious at times? Maybe it could have been meatier, but it's a good start.

I sent a copy to my 23 year old sister in NYC and she loved it. Since we are 11 years apart and have radically different personalities I think this book would appeal to many. I only wish there there had been more letters!

Dear Exile
I enjoyed reading the letters in this book and the opportunity it allowed me to peek into the lives of these women for one year. The daily problems of everyday life in NYC may not seem as important or difficult as the challenges of everyday life in Kenya, but they are to the person who is living them and to their best friend. I tell my own best friend everything including when I have to change a light bulb. I couldn't stop reading the book because I found it suspenseful. What was going to happen at the school in Kenya and would Kate survive her time there? What would happen with Hilary's love life or with her disturbed downstairs neighbor? I hung on to every word and looked forward to every letter as if they were written to me personally.

The end of the book left me kind of sad. There did not seem to be much hope for a better future in the village in Kenya or the school system there. Kate's optimistic anticipation for her time in the Peace Corps flattened by the reality of conditions beyond her control. Hilary surrounded by friends, the center of attention, yet so alone. I worry that now that they are no longer half a world apart and don't have to write each other letters, that time and new responsibilities will get in their way and cause them to drift apart even though they live in the same city. They profess undying friendship in their letters and I believe them, but I hope they take the time to have a leisurely chat over tea and cake every once in a while too.

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful
A great book. I loved reading the letters between the two friends and their different styles of writing. I hope their friendship will always endure. I look foward to reading more by both. I've already read Candy and Me by Hilary. I hope to hear more from K8.

Compelling, insightful, and funny.
This is about as perfect as a book can be. I won't recap the concept; plenty of other reviewers have summed it up. But I want to express my unbounded admiration for this book. I would never have imagined that a set of letters between friends could make for fascinating, hard-to-put-down reading, but this set of letters does. In spades. These women's lives are just plain interesting--Kate's, in part, because she's in a situation most of us know little or nothing about and Hilary's, in part, because she's in a situation most of us know all too well. There's more going on here, though, than just the fact of being interesting. The friendship between these two comes alive on the page; the insights about the world and about each other that the women reveal are meaningful; the wit each writer possesses is sharp and on target. I loved the book. I'm giving it to everyone I know for Christmas because they're all going to love it, too.

Not as absorbing as I had expected
I was a bit disappointed in this book. I love corresponding with others, and I looked forward to learning about Hilary and Kate by reading their letters. I felt that something was missing and I cannot quite put my finger on it.

The book was short and I think what I had been looking for was a longer narrative. Kate and Hilary's friendship certainly is one of a kind, and it was nice to have a look at their confidences and challenges.

Overall, I vote this book 3.5 stars of 5, as the glimpses of Kenya were poignant and interesting, and I did find Kate and Hilary's relationship intriguing. The story was of real life, so perhaps the only thing wrong was that I have read too much fiction in the past, and this story was reflective of how the world really works. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A Great Find -- Great stories, great writing.
Review by Robert R. Frump, author of "Until the Sea Shall Free Them." This is a great find! "The Last American Sailors" -- Subtitled appropriately enough, A Wild Ride in the Modern Merchant Marine. These are the stories of Michael R. Rawlins, a merchant mariner for more than a decade, who can indeed turn a phrase. This is among the very best writing I've seen in recent years not just because Rawlins can turn a phrase but because he writes from first hand experience. Yes, John McPhee can hitch a ride on a boat and Langewiesche can do what he does so well (see below). Rawlins is not so seasoned a writer as those two, but what he lacks in polish he makes up for in authenticity. -- and a first hand knowledge and ease that neither of the two more famous authors will ever muster on this topic. What we have here is the unvarnished world of the merchant mariner told by a nautical Everyman with a great ear for dialogue and a great eye for character. Rawlins announces he will take the romance out of the sea for us but of course in the course of his story telling, he firmly establishes it. We hear no modern day tales of piracy -- but a day cleaning out a chemical tanker's holds is in its own way a modern day scarier tale. Buy it. Encourage this guy. Perfect for the son or daughter who thinks they want to go to sea, and for the uncle or father or grandfather who was there in an earlier day. Immensely readable and valuable.

An Amazing Tale to Tell...
"A word to all those who contemplate running away to sea. At last there is a really good book that will let you know just what you are getting into. Rawlins captures the essence of his past decade in the merchant marine, and sheds much light on the lives of the merchant seamen cast of characters that sail aboard the merchant fleets and all that that entails. We are talking about some really strange adventures here, on land and at sea. For Rawlins is an intelligent keen-eyed observer who learned early on to keep his wits about him at all times, especially as those around him were losing theirs, sometimes wondering about just what he had gotten himself into after signing on aboard different ships. It is an amazing tale to tell as Rawlins tries to set the record straight about the merchant marine and the mysterious world of merchant shipping. He has a way with words that catches the irony of it all and does so with good style."

A uniquely personal perspective of sea life
Written by a seaman and officer of extensive experience among over three dozen countries, Michael R. Rawlins' The Last American Sailors: A Wild Ride In The Modern Merchant Marine is a captivating and entertaining memoir that recounts vicious captains, tragedy at sea, the highlights of travel, and a great deal more concerning life as a merchant marine today. A uniquely personal perspective of sea life, challenges, hardships, and rewards, The Last American Sailors would make a welcome addition to any community library American Biography collection. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

The Wild Muir
This book is a total bore. The flowery description is beautiful for the first three sentences, but then it becomes a tranparent cover-up for a book with no plot! Even I could write a more interesting book, and I failed high school english! Muir was a great person, but he sould have stayed where he was better aquianted: the woods! Anyone who enjoys this book obviously has never seen a tree before. A whole book dedicated to them is ironic and lame.

Muir is crazy!
This book tells of several adventures that John Muir had in his life. It confirms that the guy was a bit of a lunatic, but it makes for enjoyable reading. Some of the stories are better than others, but at least they are short and easy to read.

Adventuresome and just plain fun
This is a delightful book and will be enjoyed by adults as well as children. John Muir was a remarkable man and I was surprised that he was also a truly gifted writer. Muir writes in a fun, infectious style similar to Mark Twain. He infuses all of his tales with vivid descriptive words and a dose of humor. It's a pure joy to read and shows what an incredibly courageous, physically fit man he was. I decided to buy this book because for years I have hiked larged sections of the famous John Muir Trail in California. The scenic beauty is so overwhelming that it stimulated my interest in the man for whom the trail was named. All I knew was that Muir was a Scottish-born enviromentalist who had lost his sight and then miraculously regained it. But there is so much more to his story than this.

This book will fill you in on many of the adventures Muir experienced. It's amazing that he was able to forge trails and do the things he did in an era when convenience was unheard of. He mapped out the wilderness with nothing more than a compass, a hard set of leg muscles, basic clothing and no comforts. Muir didn't rely on sunglasses, sunscreen, maps, granola bars or cell phones, he was the "real deal" and my respect for him is endless. I can't recommend this book highly enough, it's a joy to read and to learn about this magnificent and underrated man.

Like being caught in a wind storm
There is one, though certainly not the only, thing that sets Muir apart from other naturalist writers in my mind... adjectives. You will not find minimalist prose in any of the condensed tales found in this beautifully bound book. However, you will find wonderfully descriptive passages that engage the senses and provoke imagination. The Wild Muir is a great introduction to Muir's exploits and beyond that to the creative non-fiction field in general. This book will provide a wonderful escape for adults and children alike.

Essential Muir!
This absolutely wonderful volume distills some of John Muir's more memorable wilderness adventures into an absorbing, thrilling read. Lee Stetson, who for years has brought the spirit of John Muir alive to audiences in Yosemite and elsewhere, has assembled some of Muir's most hair-raising stories of mountain exploits into this single volume. Fiona King provides delightful illustrations that effectively compliment the narrative.

John Muir was many remarkable things: Explorer, adventurer, environmentalist, inventor, and much, much, more. This volume s