Reviews (1)

Amazing book
Being a history student I may be a bit prejudiced, but I loved this book.I've read countless history books and many of them are incredibly dry.This book was engaging and interesting.I highly recommend it for a crash course in Colorado history. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Book Description
The story of Kaluaikoolau (or Koolau) is one of Kauai's great legends. In 1892, after learning that he and his young son had contracted leprosy, Koolau fled with his family deep into Kalalau Valley. In June 1893 Koolau shot and killed a sheriff and two Provisional Governemnt soldiers who had been sent to arrest him. He vowed never to be taken alive and became a powerful symbol of resistance for many Hawaiians in the years following the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani.

The story of Koolau's last years, as narrated by his devoted wife, Piilani, was published in Hawaiian in 1906. In this volume, the Hawaiian text is preceded by an English translation that successfully retains the poetic imagery and figurative language of the original. Many writers have attempted to tell Koolau's story, but none have been able to match the simple grace and poignancy of Piilani's narrative. It is one of only a handful of historical accounts by a native Hawaiian.

Frances N. Frazier has translated numerous works for the Bishop Museum and the Hawai'i State Archives. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

No Toil to Read This One
Never thought that a book about working on a construction site could be so insightful, entertaining, and cathartic.And it is the human element that makes Toil a little masterpiece -- the interchange between the crew members, the astute observations, and the perceptive characterizations of contrary and diverse personalities.But most of all it is the self realizations the author has while toiling on the job that make this book such a satisfying read. It is filled with revelations and epiphanies, and each coffee break or nail pounded solidly into wood seems to take on ceremonious proportions.This portait of a "construction cowboy" is nothing less than a true lesson in positivity.It is a confirmation that spiritual insights can be gained in every setting, and in every activity, no matter how mundane.

I couldn't put it down...
There are few books that are so gripping that you just want to read more and more.Toil is one of them.

Proctor captured me fully with his vivid description of seemingly mindless and empty events and days.He seemed to take every detail of every day and somehow make it wonderful and fascinating.I only wish that I could make the mundane in my life as exciting and captivating as Proctor did.

A workbook for life
I couldn't get enough of this beautiful book.It's like a workbook for life, seen through the eyes of a very human, humble and inspiring man.I loved it!

Great Book
"Toil" is a wonderfully personal account of work on a carpentry crew during construction of a custom house in Oregon. As a self-employed carpenter on the Oregon coast for 25 years, I have to say Jody Procter hasit down: the subcontractor trying to sell you on his latest pyramid scheme;the radios; the inane chatter of your crew buddy; the bad weather, endlesshunting stories and monotonous phases of construction. And then thosemagical days when the sun shines and mitered joints fit like they grewtogether, everything fades into the background and, as he says, "Workbecomes a prayer."

I find most home-building books boring, or at least astedious as building a house. But there's great humor here, someself-discovery, and a few home truths. Construction is the medium. Thisbook is about life. I was bereft to learn he died in 1998.

Toil - Building Yourslef
Jody Procter was one of those rare individuals who had found his happiness in life from unexpected sources.A Harvard graduate from a wealthy family, he turned his back on a predictable, comfortable future and went out to"find" himself. He wound up working as a carpenter andtranscending the difficulties of life by applying liberal doses of deepthinking and hard labor.This book is "real."You can almostfeel the grit of the concrete under your nails and the shock of the coldOregon rain pouring down the neck of your rain coat as you nail a subfloor. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

actual summary info from book sleeve (additional info)
First published in 1960, Neil R. Johnson's The Chickasaw Rancher, Revised Edtion, tells the story of Montford T. Johnson and the mixed and intermarried Chickasaw settlements of Oklahoma (and Indian Territories). Abandoned by his father after his mother's death and then left on his own following his grandmother's passing in 1858, Johnson had control of a piece of land in the northern part of the Chickasaw Nation (and some in the Oklahoma Territory that was often occupied by the Boomers) in what is now Oklahoma.
The Chickasaw Rancher follows Montford's family and friends for the next fifty years. Neil R. Johnson (Montford's grandson) describes the work, the ranch parties, cattle rustling, gun fights, tornadoes, (the unexpected return of Montford's father after a thirty-three year absence, trips to Florida and New York City), encroachment of white settlers, the run of 1889, the hard deaths of many along the way, and the rise, the fall, and the revival of the Chickasaw Nation. (The original edition ends with Montford's death in 1896. The revised edition covers the next generation's continued expansion of the family's business ventures ending with E. B. Johnson's death in 1935).
Including more than fifty previously unavailable photographs, illustrations, and maps, (and more than 20% new material) this revised edition of The Chickasaw Rancher, edited by C. Neil Kingsley-grandson of Neil R. Johnson-is the perfect addition to any reader's collection of the history of the American West.

Real Life of an Indian Cowboy
This book is a most unusual account of life on the range. It describes the life of Montford Johnson, a friend of Jesse Chisholm, from around the time of the Civil War until after the land runs in Oklahoma prior to 1900.
The unique value lies in the specifics of living on the range, the daily routine of the cattle drive, and the reality of cowboy life.
Taken largely from the journal of his son, it's a story that Hollywood could use. ... Read more

Book Description

"Everyone was moving to Denver, which was mushrooming all over the prairie and giving every evidence of becoming a metropolis of real proportion"—so recalls Elizabeth Young of her childhood on Colfax Avenue. Her youth ran parallel to that of her hometown: she grew up in the 1890s in the midst of Denver’s rapid metamorphosis from frontier town to modern city. Young’s memoir provides vivid glimpses of the people and events of this heady era, along with the adventuresome spirit that animated them. On Colfax Avenue captures the sense of joyful self-discovery that comes with childhood—both the author’s and Denver’s. ... Read more

Book Description

Hollywood lifestyles of today have nothing on those of the first half of the last century for opulence and glamour.David Wallace, author of Lost Hollywood, has unearthed new stories and fresh details about some of the era's biggest names and how they lived, worked, and played.The stars' real lives at the dawn of the studio era were infinitely more interesting than anything committed to celluloid, and they're all here.Hollywoodland explores, among other topics:

--high society
--"twilight" guys and gals
--getting high
--dream houses
--great movie music and where it came from
--star retreats and playgrounds
--the mob and the movie business
--celebrated on-screen and off-screen fashions

Hollywoodland is rich and lively history about Hollywood's grandest era, and necessary reading for any fan of the movies and their earliest stars.
... Read more

Reviews (9)

Great Title; Poor content
It's disappointing that not one, but two books by this author, filled with inaccuracies, could find their way to publication. A glance through the chapter about Blondes relates the tired Jean Harlow/Christian Science/Evil Mother Jean story that first appeared in Irving Shulman's 1964 best selling, but totally made-up HARLOW, AN INTIMATE BIOGRAPHY. Mr. Wallace apparently missed both the excellent David Stenn and Eve Golden bios of Jean Harlow that were written in the early 1990's, which refute that legend based on hospital records and other 'minor' facts, etc.
If you are in the mood for salacious gossip unrooted in reality, read Kenneth Anger's books; they are 'classics' of this genre that will leave you howling and hungry for more, unlike copycats like HOLLYWOODLAND, which reminds one of stale bread.

Babylonland
As in his previous volume "Lost Hollywood," Wallace here does little more than recycle the gossip & rumors found in Kenneth Anger's "Hollywood Babylon." Much of it is fun reading - for example, it's always amusing to re-visit Mae West's witty one-liners - but the book is rife with factual inaccuracies and typos. Many of them - but certainly not all - have already been cited in other reviews. One correction I might add is that Herbert Stothart, not Max Steiner, was the film composer for "Wizard of Oz." After that sort of gaffe, it becomes difficult to trust Wallace's information (new to me) that "Oz" author L. Frank Baum designed the crown-like chandeliers that still hang in the dining room at the Hotel del Coronado. Wallace's assertion that "Citizen Kane" was "certainly the best" film music Bernard Herrmann ever composed would likely be disputed by most film music critics (the consensus would appear to favor "Vertigo"). The absence of even a single footnote and the lack of a bibliography are simply additional indications of a carelessly researched and poorly edited volume. Rather disappointing.

Inaccuracyland
Despite Mr. Wallace's avowed claim to find the "truth behind the anecdotes," this book--just like his first on the subject (Lost Hollywood)--is nothing more than a series of mostly unsubtantiated Hollywood myths coupled with outright inaccuracies (e.g., Mr. Wallace indicates Jean Harlow as being the recipient of James Cagney's grapefruit-in-the-face in the famous "Public Enemy" scene--when, in fact, it was Mae Clarke), held together by numerous misspellings and typos. Only for the desperate! The dust jacket is nice, though.

Hollywood History
"Hollywoodland" has alot of stories about the early history of Hollywood and the movie business. It goes into alot of the gossip and myths surrounding the start of film. I think it is a good book for anyone who wants a good overview of this. I don't think it was very well written. But if you are looking for an easy start to learning about Hollywood history, this would be a good book.

Delivers the info, but without any style
HOLLYWOODLAND indeed contains many facts, and many anecdotes, about the history of Los Angeles. Specifically, this book features the entertainment industry, basically treating this industry and the city in which it is centered as one and the same. The information offered by author David Wallace mostly dates back to the creation of the modern city of Los Angeles at the turn of the Twentieth Century.

HOLLYWOODLAND is an interesting and thought-provoking book which drops many of the industry's largest names, from studio heads such as Harry Cohn and Sam Goldwyn to directors such as Frank Capra and Victor Fleming. The stars are included, too, the greats of the first half of the Twentieth Century, such as Cary Grant, Clark Gable and Rudolf Valentino.

Neither are the scandals neglected. Jean Harlow's death is covered, and so is Jayne Mansfield's.

There are two significant problems with this book. One is that many of these famous stories, these allegations of the lesbianism of about a dozen of the greatest movie stars in history, are unsubstantiated.

The second problem is sloppy editing. This book is rife with typos; it reads as if it is an unedited first draft, or a draft transcribed directly from dictation without being proof-read. In one spot, the word that should have been "and" becomes "an." Throughout the volume, articles and prepositions are missing. The book was brought out by a reputable publisher, and it reflects poorly on that publishing house to release such an unprofessional work.

There's also a strange chapter with "a day in the life" of a fictious aspiring actress, c. 1925. The chapter serves little purpose other than to make a reader wonder whether this book even had an editor.

Still, for anyone with a curiosity about the early years of the film industry, HOLLYWOODLAND is a worthwhile book. ... Read more

Book Description

A radically different take on Route 66: not two guys in a Corvette, but the generationshere since it was an Indian trail. David and Frannie encounter more than nostalgia: 66's environmental dangers, great food, ghosts--and their own wanderlust. ... Read more

Book Description

Westwinds is an autobiography that follows a group of six high school students as they grow lasting friendships and lingering emnities. This is more than the story of a few teenage kids; this is the story of the youthful spirit that echoes in us all. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (14)

Strong and spare, like the desert
I was fortunate to hear Greg Martin give a reading from this book. Reading this book from end to end I heard the echo of his voice, the caring for his family, the strong feeling of place and anchoring he gets from Mountain City. Driving by, I have often wondered what it must be like to live in some of the small, lonely, almost-empty towns that aren't too hard to find in the West. I wonder where the people came from-and went to, and what happened, and this book gives me a glimpse into one such place. The smallness and sparseness aside, there's more history and depth than I would have thought driving by it. I'll look more carefully at other small places now.

A strong work about vanishing small town America
When I read about the History of America, two aspects come to mind. And that is that America is made up of many different groups and many small towns. While the USA is perhaps more ethnically diverse then ever, small towns like Mountain City are disappearing from the landscape. I fear that one day we will all be living in cities, and then America will have lost something. Gregory Martin writes of his immigrant community with great affection and feeling. Many of the characters in his book are individuals who had lived in Mountain City when it was a relatively thriving town, and refused to leave when the town declined after the mines played out. It was somewhat chilling to imagine that in our lifetimes Mountain City may well cease to exist. The fact that I would be concerned about this is a testement to Martin's writing.

The Literature of Loss
Thomas McGuane says that "...all literature is about loss, or the recognition of loss..." and Gregory Martin's debute memoir certainly shows this to be true.

In Mountain City, Martin writes poignantly about a small town and a huge loss, about a place in rural northeastern Nevada, its people and their way of life--all leaning toward extinction. "Thirty-three people live in Mountain City," he says. "I come and go, but when I'm here that makes thirty-four." The community of ranchers, Native Americans, widows, and Martin's relatives, who are descendants of the original Basque settlers of the area, is already mostly abandoned to the past. There are no young families; one one, in fact, under forty.

"I sweep the floors," Martin writes, providing us with his intimate perspective as he helps out at his Uncle Mel's store. Martin is always in the background, always observing. He lets us see the salient details, without judgment, without pity. From the hub of Tremewan's general store, an anachronism not unlike the town itself, he shows us the slow erosion: a circle of widows who won't allow any other woman to join them until her husband is dead; a grandfather who no longer recognizes life-long friends due to his failing eyesight; an Owyhee Indian who lives from one government check to the next and on many bottles of wine in between.

By the end of the book there are two fewer people in Mountain City. But by then, we've come to see all of them as survivors. We admire them for their fierce tenacity, and we appreciate that Martin has shared their spirit with us.

Very, very well written
My book jacket summary for this book would be "an American Angela's Ashes, only better!" This book is great. Gregory Martin does a fantastic job at pulling you into the middle of this miniscule town in Nevada. I grew up in New York and now live in Los Angeles, but every time I drive through the deserts of Nevada or Arizona I think of this book.

Sometimes you can never leave home
In the world of book publishing it seems that 2000 is the year of the memoir. There are literally hundreds of so-called memoirs being rushed to press. Most are a thinly veiled effort to cash in on the latest touchy-feely fad and will soon be piled on the growing remainder pile. A few, a precious few, are of an award-winning caliber and worth the reader's time. This is such a book. Mountain City is the story of a rural mining town in Nevada that has experienced the bust-and-boom times so typical of much of the West. It's population, once numbered in the thousands, now totals thirty-three. The town has experienced the off-told western tale of fame and fortune, good jobs and a promising future, and then the seemingly inevitable exploitation of the land and people and ultimate abandonment by those who promised the elusive pot of gold. Attrition follows soon after and the cycle begins again with every promising rumor or spoken hope by those that remain. It is a story as old as the West itself. So, what makes this book so special? Gregory Martin, unlike so many that grew up in the West, never really left Mountain City. Oh, to be sure he moved away and established a career away from this northern Nevada town that is 84 miles away from anything. However, he kept returning time and again to visit his grandparents and work in his uncle's general store. His memoir of not only the history of the town but its inhabitants is nothing short of wonderful. He has succeeded in telling the story of these descendants of Basque (Bascos) shepherds and Cornish Tin Miners; Native American Indians; and assorted others that at once introduces the reader to a small slice of contemporary western life and the history of much of the West as a whole. The reader will meet many of the 33 permanent residents. People such as Uncle Mel, the owner of Tremewan's. Tremewan's is the town general store. In fact it is the only store in town and thus the social and cultural center. This is, if you don't count the bar frequented by the four widow ladies that meet to discuss town matters and pull the levers of the slot machines. Membership is limited to those whose husbands are dead...not just gone, but dead. It is a story of growing old, watching out for each other, and hoping, always hoping, that things will improve. It is also the story of self-reliance, stubbornness, love, and the acceptance of a most difficult but rewarding experience. This is an honest, moving, touching story of a way of life that in many respects is disappearing from the West. The folks in Mountain City know it's better days are gone, probably for good. Yet a few stay and rather than become hardened where it matters most, in their soul, they maintain a stoic yet determined demeanor that values the individual while it supports the collective community. That is also a trait common to the history of the West. This is a marvelous book not only in the way it is written but also in the story it tells. For those readers interested in the West this is a must read. For those living in the West this book will help remind you of the values still found in places 84 miles from nowhere. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The real New Mexico
Far too many accounts of life in New Mexico are written by people with an agenda, often Anglos who came here to "find themselves" or "get back to the land" and were outraged when they discovered that reality wouldn't cooperate with their fantasies. By contrast, Stanley Crawford arrived with an open mind and integrated his family so successfully into a small, predominantly Hispanic village that he became the "mayordomo" in charge of administering the community's irrigation system. This book recounts his experiences and describes the workings of the community, in which the water system performs an important symbolic function as well as a practical one. It's well written, sometimes almost poetic, and often very funny. I think this and Crawford's "A Garlic Testament" are far and away the best books on life in rural New Mexico, and I recommend both of them unreservedly.

The acequia system of northern New Mexico
In "Mayodomo" Stanley Crawford describes his experience as manager of an "acequia" or irrigation ditch system in arid northern New Mexico. The use of acequia-irrigation originated in Spain and was introduced to the desert Southwest by Franciscan monks over 300 years ago. Acequias feed from rivers or larger acequias, and from these larger tributaries water is run through farm land and orchards then back to the main source. Each year a manager (mayordomo) and three commissioners (comisiados) are democratically elected to oversee water rates and insure fair distribution of water to each "parciante" or landowner who farms along the ditch. Acequia association members are historically of Hispanic or Latino descent, so Crawford's anglo heritage creates an interesting viewpoint of an age old tradition. As mayordomo Crawford supervises the annual spring clearing of his association's acequia, determines the amount of water that each parciante will receive, and is partially responcible for record keeping and payrolls. A parciante's share of water is determined by the nature of his plantings and for a larger part, the weather. As manager of his ditch Crawford must also contend with family feuding, annual dues or "delincuencias" and parciantes who "cheat" by diverting water to their lands. Crawford's observations take more into account than the physical labor and political hierarchy associated with the maintenance of an acequia. His words create a meaningful perspective of life among the residents of an old northern New Mexican farming community and his story reveals a group of people that have been chronicled by few writers and generally ignored or forgotten by everyone else. It is a book with literary, anthropological, political, and historical significance. Spanish water laws, established long before state government regulations, support solidarity and insure the parciante's place in the community. Recent land and water legal disputes threaten to undermine an important aspect of life in northern New Mexico, one that keeps these communities together and has done so for hundreds of years. ... Read more

Book Description

Oral histories and riveting portraits of thirteen homeless women and men enrich our understanding of the complex personal struggles and triumphs of their lives. Nomads of a Desert City sheds a glaring light on the shadow side of the American Dream-where, at the crossroads of despair and hope, the human spirit still survives. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Harsh Reality
This book is like a hard punch in the gut. With its rough pictures and raw interviews, it is quite a tour-de-force by a great photographer. The people profiled really open their hearts up to Barbara Seyda. There is nothing on earth quite like this powerful book.

...in the end, only kindness matters...
Barbara Seyda has eptomized the words, "...in the end only kindness matters..." a real look at homeless not only in Tucson, but everywhere...thanks Barbara Jo ... Read more

Amazon.com

Loosely the story of how a divorced, middle-aged Jewish professor of English moved from San Francisco to rural Sonoma County, California, and found fulfillment in the ups and downs of garlic farming, this intensely personal narrative describes the interplay of generations and cultures in Northern California. It should have particular appeal for garlic heads, would-be writers, middle-aged men in transition, feisty septuagenarians, and touchy-feely types. Along with fiercely prejudiced discourses on garlic, Chester Aaron presents his sentimental story in crisp, no-nonsense prose loaded with Woody Allen-esque asides and self-deprecating observations. The book ends with 40 recipes. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The title says it all.
This is an autobiographical slice of Chester Aaron's life as he waas intoduced to garlic growing and became a garlic devotee. Aaron and his cat take the reader into the world of garlic,its many varities, and how to best grow these bulbs of life. At the end of the book are thirty recipes for tasty garlic dishes. It is a very readable primer on garlic growing. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

A FASCINATING WESTERN SAGA
Introduced to the epic of Tom Horn by the excellent western movie starring Steve McQueen, I wanted to find a book and read more about the history of a man who, on the one hand, seemed a ruthless killer and on the other seemed the unfortunate dupe of the big business of the day--the cattle barons.

Tom Horn: Blood on the Moon: The Dark History of the Murderous Cattle Detective fit the bill marvelously. I came away with what I believe is an accurate history of the hapless Tom Horn and, more interestingly, names of several interesting characters who contributed to the demise of arguably a great American hero.

Key among these characters was Joe LeFors, the very same detective and lawman who made life miserable for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Named Joe Bell in the movie, LeFors methods were, shall we say, "creative."

We are tempted to believe that political scandals, scapegoats and other applicable cloak and dagger are primarily of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Read Tom Horn: Blood on the Moon... and find out the rest of the story.

Ive never read anything this poorly written.
Although this book seems to contain a well documented, and at times, interesting account of Tom Horn and the Nickell murder, its about as much fun to read as a treatise on the history of linear-regression analysis. Mr. Carlson's poorly constructed syntax and meandering story lines makes this book a "plodding" experience.

Tom Horn Blood on the Moon
An exceptional documentary dealing with one of Wyoming's most notorious citizens, one that reads like a novel. Although much has been written about Tom Horn, Chip Carlson has done an excellent job of presenting new facts and information furthing adding to the controversey over Horn's guilt in the murder of young Willie Nickell.

Portrait of a rogue
Chip Carlson has established himself as the most prolific and knowledgeable Tom Horn buff since Dean Krakel, and his work is extraordinarily readable. To understand a true American (choose your own term) outlaw, rogue, bounty hunter, lawman, Westerner ... whatever ... pick up Carlson's work, which is full of the grittiness that haunts the legend of Horn.

Tom Horn: Blood on the moon :Dark history of the murderou Ca
The best word I can think of to describe this book is FANTASTIC.Chip Carlson has written another masterpiece on the subject.
To me just about every chapter leaves you craving more information, and thats what a good book should do.His indepth research is amazing on how he has put it into a format for persons interested in this period of western history.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants more insight into the times trials and tribulations of 1890's Wyoming. ... Read more

Book Description

Bret Harte was the best-known and highest paid writer in America in the early 1870s, yet his vexed attempts to earn a living by his pen led to the failure of his marriage and, in 1878, his departure for Europe. Gary Scharnhorst's biography of Harte traces the growing commercial appeal of western fiction and drama on both sides of the Atlantic during the Gilded Age, a development in which Harte played a crucial role.

Harte's pioneering use of California local color in such stories as "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" challenged genteel assumptions about western writing and helped open eastern papers to contributions by Mark Twain and others. The popularity of Bret Harte's writings was driven largely by a literary market which his western stories helped create.

The first Harte biography in nearly seventy-years to be written entirely from primary sources, this book documents Harte's personal relationships and, in addition, his negotiations with various publishers, agents, and theatrical producers as he exploited popular interest in the American West. ... Read more

Book Description

The Night Gardener is more than a memoir; it is a quest. Literature, music, the art of storytelling, fly fishing, gardening as an expression of our deepest selves, the nature of memory, and the desire to story our own lives are its subject. Ultimately, transcendence through storytelling is the secret strength at the heart of Sandor's life, work, and play. These twenty essays form a startlingly honest and passionate narrative that strikes a mesmerizing balance between the domains of the domestic and the creative. Sandor is bold and heretical, witty and learned. From fishing in an alligator-infested lake and hiking through grizzly territory to seeking a way to ease her young daughter's pain after separating from her husband, she explores wildness and solace in both the outdoors and the mind. Each essay is dramatic and beautifully formed - full of wit and the author's insatiably curious mind. She brings to these works the electricity and thrilling imagination that ignite her highly acclaimed fiction. And through these essays emerges a portrait of a mother, scholar, fly fisher, and gardener living each role with furious passion. She also is a writer of glorious talent, able to wield this last with the control and virtuosity of the true artist. (53/4 X 81/2, X 212 pages) ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The Storyteller
The final chapter of the book captured an image of my great-grandmother that had never been visible to me. I am the great-grandson of Francisca Rodgriquez, and my mother was a childhood friend of Ms. Sandor. As a child I would accompany my mother to visit my great-grandmother, but I have unfortunately never heard her tell me any ghost stories. Her warmth and presence have remained intimately with me. I see the volumes of history and experience in her hands and in her spirit. As a child, I used to play under the tables of her living room and laugh with her dog molly. As I have grown to the age of 19, I feel my maturity opening my eyes to her special place in my heart. It is only now, with the memoirs of Ms. Sandor to inspire me, that I wish to grab a hold of grandma's stories and ensure that as she turns 89 years old, her spririt, wisdom, and love live forever.

Marjorie shares her life with the extended family
As a member of a wide extended family, within whose ranks Ms. Sandor grew up, I found this book delightful in its woven tapestry of mysticism and real-life meditations on life's ebb and flow. Her stories evoke a gentle tug on one's spirit, while discussing things as disparate as gardening and fly fishing. I look forward to more of Ms. Sandor's work.

Beautifully written, but self-absorbed and ultimately sad
First the good points. She's an excellent writer. The stories are well-told, interesting, and her style is interesting. The personalities of many of the key characters remain obscure, yet we learn a lot about her father, Uncle, and a woman who helped raise her. I thought this was an interesting approach.

But the story is ultimately a sad one. For no apparent reason she leaves her husband to take up with another man. The writing starts to get very dramatic and maudlin. "The summer I fell in love and shouldn't have," is a phrase she repeats often. "But that is his story to tell," she writes about her ex-husband, as if he has the opportunity to write books explaining his side of the story. She ultimately wants to see a woman who once helped raise her, in part because this woman won't judge her.

The whole book left me feeling very sad. Sad for her daughter, he ex-husband, but not for the author, who did it to herself. ... Read more