Reviews (5)

A focussed farrago
This collection of essays shifts from the usual scattered melange of topics in this series.Weiner has opted to focus rather more closely on selected areas.In this volume health and medicine gained much of the ink.Given the sources and market, the decision has merit.Certainly the issues discussed are worthy of close attention.The narrower topic approach hasn't allowed any slipshod writer to sneak in.All the articles command your attention - and are worthy of it.Well-written, informative and current, the selection is a treasure of quality.
Stimulating addition to an outstanding series
I look forward every year to the annual edition of this series and its competitor, Best American Science Writing. Since there are way too many good magazines published I gave up long ago trying to keep up with them, and this book/series serves two useful functions. First, it provides a delightful sampler of science-related writing of the past year, and, second, it often introduces me to some new writers. It is the kind of book that has repercussions: I have never failed to follow up by buying additional books, either books by the authors represented or books referred to in the selections (WARNING: This book could be dangerous to your budget!)
a mixed bag
A mixed bag is good -- there's something for everyone. But I felt that there were too many "essays" and too many book reviews that I didn't think strictly belonged. Other pieces, though, were stellar. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American - General    2. American Literature (Specific Aspects)    3. Essays    4. Literary collections    5. Nature    6. Science    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Scientific Writing    9. Science / Essays   

Reviews (8)

An enjoyable read
A pleasant book with great insights into the lives of hummingbirds. Though not technical, there's plenty of information I've never read elsewhere. A great book for the casual observer, for someone who has a feeder, to get to know the birds better. Heidcamp certainly shows an unparalleled degree of devotion to these tiny creatures. This is just a book to sit back and enjoy. The photography, too, is spectacular.

Beautiful and informative
This is a marvelous little book: both captivating narrative and very informative. I've been a great fan of hummingbirds since visiting the aviary at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tuscon. The author has done a marvelous job of telling us what its like to have a hummingbird in the house on a daily basis. And how lucky Squeak was to find Ms. Heidcamp--some things just seem to happen for a reason. An adorable, heartwarming story
If you like birds in the least bit, you should enjoy this cute story about the tiny but spunky Squeak, the young, male hummingbird whom the author rescues from the frost and keeps in her sun room all winter long.Ms. Heidcamp should be extremely proud that she was able to make such a positive difference in the life of a creature whose species she was already following with a notebook and a passion.Her knowledge of flowers that attract hummingbirds is amazing.So, too, is her ability to stock her sun room with healthy, flowering specimens, ensure the availability of nutritional supplements and patiently regulate both the light and the temperature in the room, all so that Squeak would have what he needed to thrive.Her color photos are beautiful and perfectly illustrate the narrative.I just hope that Ms. Heidcamp someday writes a sequel so we can learnabout Squeak's fate upon leaving his winter home and doting host. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Birds & Birdwatching - General    4. Essays    5. Heidcamp, Arnette    6. Hummingbirds as pets    7. Nature    8. Nature / Field Guide Books    9. New York (State)    10. Ruby-throated hummingbird    11. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    12. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching   

Editorial Review

Seashells are often spirals, just like water going down the drain. There Read more

Reviews (7)

A really great book.
This is one of the best books i have read. Clear, in depth, and intelligent. Academic and also well written!
Sad
I hope some publisher will do the world a favor and keep this book in print. It's a classic that belongs on the shelf right next to D'Arcy Thompson's "On Growth and Form." This might seem strange for me to say, but if I were to design an educational curriculum for people learning my profession (oncology), this book would be mandatory. It is highly recommended for anyone interested in morphogenesis. If anyone knows where I can buy 10 or 20 unused copies, I'd appreciate hearing from you (wmshea@earthlink.net).

The Self-Made Tapestry:Pattern Formation in Nature
The Self-Made Tapestry:Pattern Formation in Nature written by Philip Ball gives us some answers to long-standing questions as to why there are patterns in designs in nature that reoccur in seemly unrelated objects.Read more

Subjects:  1. Developmental Biology    2. Essays    3. General    4. Life Sciences - Biology - Developmental Biology    5. Life Sciences - Biology - General    6. Nature    7. Science    8. Science/Mathematics    9. Systematics (Biology)    10. Earth Sciences    11. Life Sciences    12. Mathematics for scientists & engineers    13. Science / Biology    14. Science: General Issues   

Reviews (1)

A classic of environmental history
This book, first published in 1921 in Britain and New Zealand, and now reissued in the United States with a generous and enthusiastic introduction by William Cronon, is certainly one of the strangest and at first sight most unpromising works of environmental history ever written. The book is basically an extraordinarily detailed account of the environmental history of a single sheep "station" (sheepfarm) on the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand written by the lessee of the property, Herbert Guthrie-Smith. He describes in great detail the environmental transformations that he himself brought about as he cleared the forest cover from the steep hills, grassed the slopes and stocked the property with sheep. In many ways Guthrie-Smith regretted what he had to do in order to make a living.The book describes everything: clearing the land, changes in birdlife, the local geology and archaeology, the spread of noxious weeds, accelerated erosion, the complexities of exporting wool, etc etc. Guthrie-Smith was from Scotland and the book is written in an old-fashioned heavily literary style, but it is well worth persisting with. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is Guthrie-Smith's descriptions of his Maori landlords, from whom he leased his farm but who were a lot poorer than he was. One can see from his pages how the present day sheepfarming landscape of the North Island was created, and at what cost: a true classic, but for serious environmental historians only. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ecology    2. Essays    3. General    4. Natural History    5. Nature    6. Nature/Ecology    7. New Zealand    8. Tutira    9. Tutira (N.Z.)    10. Animal husbandry   

Reviews (7)

AMAZING TRAVEL AND SCIENCE WRITING ON THE AMAZON
Though there are many books that describe nature in the Amazon, David Campbell definitely is among the top writers on it.In this book he offers, from start to finish, a very interesting mix between storytelling with lyrical qualities and scientific analysis with social commentary.
Richly textured
This book delivered much more than I expected. The author is a scientist, not just a traveler. Each observation went several steps deeper into the biology and history than typical with this kind of book. The story was made much richer by these details.
Excellent!
A Land of Ghosts is a splendid journey through Amazonian Brazil. Infused with enlightened historical, ecological, and anthropological perspective, Campbell stands alone in his ability to fuse eloquent science writing with a tale of adventure. At times haunting, this book reveals the deep causes of rainforest destruction in the region. However, this book presents these causes in a unique way, and, at least for me, marks a new style of conservation advocation. Indeed, a refreshing one. If you have any interest in tropical ecology, and like works by such authors as David Quammen or Tim Flannery you will love this brilliant work. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Acre    2. Anthropology - General    3. Brazil    4. Cultural And Social Anthropology    5. Ecology    6. Essays    7. History    8. Indians of South America    9. Jurua River Valley (Peru and    10. Juruâa River Valley (Peru and Brazil)    11. Latin America - South America    12. Natural History    13. Nature    14. Nature/Ecology    15. Social conditions    16. South America    17. Nature / Ecology   

Reviews (5)

Excellent technical manual
This has tons of great information about the repair and maintenance, though the pictures are dated and not all close enough to see the details of what is being illustrated.I would recommend this for the weekend hobby person to skilled mechanic to assist in any work on this model of outboard.

not good for beginners
I found the text to be very unclear for inexperienved mechanics.The instructions say things like "remove the middle and outer cowlings"without explaining what the cowlings are.The picture associated with the instruction step then just shows a picture of the motor without identifying the part in question.
Too broad
Overall not a bad book, found it to be very general in a few key area; this would be due to such a large range of models covered.Next time I may look at the OEM manual; for a comparission. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Automotive - General    2. Boating - General    3. Handbooks, manuals, etc    4. Maintenance and repair    5. Outboard Motors    6. Science/Mathematics    7. Self-Help    8. Ships & Shipbuilding - Engineering    9. Ships & Shipbuilding - Repair & Maintenance    10. Technical & Manufacturing Trades    11. Technology    12. Transportation    13. Transportation / Automotive / General   

Reviews (1)

Don't Go Offshore Without It
Some books that you read just come across with the ring of truth. This one does. I think that this is best explained by referring to one short example. On page 60 he reports that he noticed rust stains on the rudder of his boat. Upon finding out that the rudder had a mild steel web in the middle he decided to rebuild it. After all, you really don't want the rudder coming apart half way across the ocean.
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Subjects:  1. Boating And Sailing    2. Fiberglass boats    3. Maintenance and repair    4. Sailboats    5. Sailing - General    6. Ships & Shipbuilding - Repair & Maintenance    7. Sports    8. Sports & Recreation    9. Transportation    10. Boating    11. Consumer guides & advice    12. Sports & Recreation / Sailing   

Editorial Review

"Everything in nature invites us constantly to be what we are. We are often like rivers: careless and forceful, timid and dangerous, lucid and muddied, eddying, gleaming, still." Whether she's reflecting on nature's teachings, divulging her experiences as a cowpuncher, or painting vivid word portraits of the people she lives and works with, Gretel Ehrlich's observations are lyrical and funny, wise and authentic. After moving from the city to a vast new state, she writes of adjusting to cowboy life, boundless open spaces, and the almost incomprehensible harshness of a Wyoming winter:Read more

Reviews (19)

A chiseled paean to the high plains of Wyoming

Surprises
This little collection of prose is surprising.A reviewer who didn't care for this book mentioned that it didn't do much to develop or push its theme forward.I think that description is accurate, but misses the point: the book, like its subject matter (Wyoming, mostly, NOT Montana), defies being pushed in any direction.It has a way of imposing itself upon the reader.The vividness of phrase dominates the imagination, but the place it brings you to is an open space, where you're only supposed to linger, discovering and uncovering little surprises of detail as they arrive.It is a wonderful experience and highly recommended, though with a warning: you must be prepared to wander a bit and fall into a different rythm, with different rules, for at least a little while.

Well Written
I first read this book when i was a junior in college. It was my last block of the year. When i first though of Nature Writing i think of Transcendentalism with Thoreau and Emerson. Though this book among others changed my mind.
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Authors, American    3. Biography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Ehrlich, Gretel    7. Essays    8. General    9. Homes and haunts    10. Intellectual life    11. Wyoming    12. Collections & anthologies of various literary forms    13. Nature / Essays   

Reviews (5)

Reality check for the Great Outdoors
This book is a fine overview of the history of search and rescue in the parks from one of the professionals in the field. In addition to lots of historical information, it provides plenty of food for thought for anybody planning an outdoor trip. There are lots of lessons to be learned from the mistakes of others.

Left me wanting to know more
If you are interested in the subject matter, it would be hard not to enjoy this book. I was amazed at the number of bodies that had to be left in the parks because they couldn't be retreived for one reason or another. I was also surprised to learn how many planes had crashed onto the lands or into the mountains of national parks. There are also the things you would expect, such as falls from mountain climbing and people who get lost while hiking. It was sad to read about the rangers who risked their lives and became heroes to save others, only to read about some of them succumbing to the dangers of the park themselves later on in the book. Many of the stories made me wish there was additional information, because I wanted to know more about what happened to these people. Overall a very engrossing book.

Compelling Gathering of Varied Narratives
As the NPS's Chief National Emergency Services Coordinator the author spent many years in the search and rescue business. In the course of his career he had access to the original records and was able to select most dramatic and cautionary stories. Each covers at most a few pages but the reader will want to keep reading. Very hard to put down and a substantial amount of research and good writing. Read more

Subjects:  1. Disaster Relief & Rescue Operations    2. General    3. History    4. History - U.S.    5. History: World    6. National Park Service    7. National parks and reserves    8. Parks & Campgrounds    9. Search and rescue operations    10. United States    11. United States - General    12. United States.    13. History / General    14. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    15. Nature / Essays   

Reviews (1)

JOHNSON/EVINRUDE OUTBOARDS 1971-89
A handy guide for the person wishing to know more about how their outboard operates, how to care for the same and plenty of good hints. Would be also suitable for a person wanting to take the engine apart and rebuild, written in simple style with good illustrations. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Automotive - General    2. Boating - General    3. Handbooks, manuals, etc    4. Maintenance and repair    5. Outboard Motors    6. Reference    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Ships & Shipbuilding - Engineering    9. Ships & Shipbuilding - Repair & Maintenance    10. Technical & Manufacturing Trades    11. Technology    12. Transportation    13. Transportation / Automotive / General   

Reviews (1)

Could have been worse
Several Wilderness Press books were written by the author or his hunting buddies. The latter is the case with "Western Wings". So it goes without saying that is no classic of upland bird hunting, but rather a loosely organized collection of hunting tales and observations of your average Western bird hunter. Williams does do a good job of describing the behavioral patterns of birds throughout the days and the seasons, and dispels some common myths about prairie gamebirds (e.g. "huns always flush wild in the late season"). You get the impression he knows his bird dogs, although he does does not really delve into the subject. I do have to respect him for NOT including a chapter on pheasants---which he says he hunts "reluctantly". This book is really mostly his personal homage to the vast grasslands of the West, and the grouse, prairie chickens, and huns that make the Big Sky country a bird hunter's dream. It is neither great writing nor informative naturalism, but it's a pleasant book to crack open on a winter's night, when you want to reflect on seasons past. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Hunting - Bird Hunting    2. Hunting - General    3. Hunting Sports    4. Northwestern States    5. Sports    6. Sports & Recreation    7. Upland game bird shooting    8. Upland game birds    9. Birds    10. Hunting   

Reviews (4)

Great Waterfowling Book
This book spans a century of waterfowling tales.It is amazing to begin your journey in time when the skies were clouded over by magnificent flocks all the way to the present.Since it is a treasury by many authors from many areas around the country from different time periods, the reader is able to see many different waterfowling scenarios.After reading this book, it has made me want to buy the works of many authors included in it!

You'll Want this Book
The stories that make up Autumn Passages are true Duck Hunting Classics.The book takes you through time providing insights from the earliest market hunting days to the rejuvination of duck hunting in modern times.The onlything more enjoyable than curling up with this book in front of a fire isliving the stories yourself in a favorite duck blind.

A great book to relax to and compare your hunting adventures
This book was a very relaxing and fufilling history of the duck hunting experiences we all have had. There were many stories which brought back memories of my own personal experiences I have had with close friends andfamily. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American Novel And Short Story    2. Canada    3. Hunting - Bird Hunting    4. Hunting - General    5. Hunting Sports    6. Hunting stories    7. Sports    8. Sports & Recreation    9. United States    10. Waterfowl shooting    11. Sports & Recreation / Hunting   

Reviews (19)

Is Brown Insane or Merely a Liar?
If you're going to gloss yourself as "America's Greatest Outdoorsman," you should offer more to your readers than juvenile, New Age adventure stories. This book holds more snickers than the M&M Mars wharehouse.
Can't he use any more descriptive words?
I bought this book yesterday from Barnes and Nobels bookstore.I liked the title and thought, "This might be a good read."I read half of it yesterday.The book was so monotonous.He keeps using the word "Cenntrical ring" and "track" too much.I couldn't get past a page without reading the word track.It became so repetitive that it was chore to continue reading this book.I hated it.

Not as bad as the other reviews say...
First full disclosure...this was the first book I've read by Tom Brown, after the title caught my interest in the bookstore. Also, after initially starting it, I did the standard Internet search to find out who he was and what he was about.
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Subjects:  1. 1950-    2. Anecdotes    3. Brown, Tom,    4. Essays    5. Mammals    6. Nature    7. Nature/Ecology    8. Outdoor Life    9. Outdoor Skills    10. Sports & Recreation    11. Tracking and trailing    12. United States    13. Active outdoor pursuits    14. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    15. Nature / General    16. Other prose: from c 1900 -   

Editorial Review

The "essence of the American desert," as the subtitle of Craig Childs's book has it, is water. A desert, by definition, lacks it, but when water does come, it comes in torrential, sometimes devastating abundance. Childs, a thirtysomething desert rat with a vast knowledge of the Southwest's remote corners, knows this fact well. "Most rain falling anywhere but the desert comes slow enough that it is swallowed by the soil without comment," he observes. "Desert rains, powerful and sporadic, tend to hit the ground, gather into floods, and are gone before the water can sink five inches into the ground."Read more

Reviews (17)

One of the best books i've read, period.
gorgeous language and imagery.an amazing adventurer (but the adventures aren't really the point) and incredibly in tune with his foibles, strengths and desires.if i could follow in even 1/100th of his footsteps (literally and metaphorically)...

The Fundamental Life Source of the "Wasteland."
Although I had planned to do so, I had not gotten around to reading this wonderful book until I had some time while I was waiting in an airport recently.I immediately understood the author's reverence for the waters of the desert because I grew up in southwestern Arizona and intimately know some of the places he mentions, as well as others that he does not.The water tanks of the area near and on the Camino del Diablo and the life-giving stream called Sycamore Canyon are well known to me and I am very familiar with tadpole shrimp and some of the other smaller organisms of the tinajas, playa lakes and puddles.Indeed, Craig Childs has caught the not so easy to define wonder that one feels when seeing water in the desert."The Secret Knowledge of Water: Discovering the Essence of the American Desert" voices what many desert rats (as I was when I was younger) would have difficulty saying- that water in the desert is almost a holy entity, a substance that defies definition (despite our knowledge of the chemical structure) because it is manifestly the material of life. very good
I was surprised that I liked this book as it started out so slow.But stick with it.It's fascinating. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Deserts    2. Essays    3. Essays & Travelogues    4. General    5. Natural Resources    6. Nature    7. Nature/Ecology    8. Psychological aspects    9. Southwest, New    10. Water    11. Arid zones, deserts    12. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    13. Nature / General   

Reviews (2)

Poetry at its best
Everett Ruess is a marvelously gifted poet. He writes in elegant lines teeming with passionate imagery. "Wilderness Song" is the most incredible piece and describes nature at its fullest. Any poet can write beautiful lines, but Ruess writes with soul, the soul of an aficianado of the wilderness.

An amazing read
A chilling voice out of the past from one who loved wilderness so much he vanished without a trace in it.I am hard pressed to come up with a book or person who was able to articulate the beauty around him more than Everett Ruess.In a tragic twist this lover of the purity nature gave and continues to give a painter's perspective in words to the American west despite the mysterious circumstances surrounding his disappearance.He left behind not only the beautiful writings of a master (and at such a young age) but also a mysterious tale of intrigue that leaves people guessing to this very day.Was he a victim of murder or did his love for wilderness drive him into the vast unknown to live out his days in the peaceful tranquility only nature can provide?Buy the book and formulate your own opinions.I highly recommend it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th Century American Poetry    2. 20th century    3. Artists    4. Correspondence    5. Essays    6. Explorers    7. Homes and haunts    8. Letters    9. Literary Collections    10. Literature: Classics    11. Nature    12. Poets, American    13. Ruess, Everett,    14. Southwest, New    15. United States - West - Mountain (General)    16. b. 1914    17. Biography: general    18. English    19. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    20. Nature / Essays    21. Other prose: from c 1900 -    22. Poetry & poets: from c 1900 -    23. Ruess, Everett    24. Travel writing    25. USA    26. Utah    27. Western & Pacific Coast states    28. Works by individual poets: from c 1900 -   

Reviews (19)

Every Living Thing
I read this book many years ago, I enjoy animal stories, I loved books by James Herriot, I read all of his books, the one perchased recently was a gift for my grandaughter who likes animal stories.

Every Living Thing
As usual, I enjoyed the stories written by James Herriot; maybe not quite as much as previous books but it still made very enjoyable reading!

Funny, sad, entertaining, another Herriot Masterpiece
When I think about it, it scares me that James Herriot almost never got published. It was through a small bit of luck/fate/intuition, whatever you want to call it, that his writing was made into a book.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. England    4. Essays    5. Herriot, James    6. Medical - Physicians    7. Nature/Ecology    8. Veterinarians    9. Veterinary Medicine - General    10. Veterinary medicine    11. Yorkshire   

Editorial Review

For three decades, primatologist Roger Fouts has been involved in language studies of the chimpanzee, the animal most closely related to human beings. Among his subjects was the renowned Washoe, who was "endowed with a powerful need to learn and communicate," and who developed an extraordinary vocabulary in American sign language. Another chimpanzee, Fouts writes, "never made a grammatical error," which turned a whole school of linguistic theory upside down. While reporting these successes, Fouts also notes that chimpanzees are regularly abused in laboratory settings and that in the wild their number has fallen from 5,000,000 to fewer than 175,000 in the last century. ... Read more

Reviews (51)

My favorite book
This book is a very thorough treatment not only of the plight of the chimpanzees who have learned American Sign Language, but of other captive chimpanzees and free-living chimpanzees as well. It explores science, philosophy, and philanthropy as they relate to our relationship with our next of kin. I appreciate how honestly it is written and it has since become my favorite book (ten years and counting...).

where to even begin...
This was a book assigned for a class I took on comparative (animal) psychology.In addition to having a few humorous anecdotes of monkey business, it introduces concepts of zoology, linguistics, and psychology more generally.It also raises questions about what it really means to be human or animal.It's not dense reading, but the issues that it raises are not light either.It's worth the struggle.The mark of a good book: even a few years after reading it, I still recommend it to folks.Including you.

an eye opener
I enjoyed this book very much. It is an eye opener to the way research animals are viewed and sometimes treated in our society today but it is written in story form so it does not come off as boring or preachy. Since I work with research animals I found the book to be very educational. It gives you insight into the varying degrees with which people interpret "proper care and well being" of these animals. But the most interesting part about this book is that you get to see just how chimps learn and how more interestingly, how they feel about people and things happening in their lives since they are able to communicate with humans via sign language.
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Subjects:  1. Apes & Monkeys    2. Biography    3. Essays    4. Experimental psychologists    5. General    6. Human-animal communication    7. Nature    8. Nature / Field Guide Books    9. Nature/Ecology    10. Sign Language    11. United States    12. Washoe (Chimpanzee)    13. Language Arts & Disciplines / Sign Language   

Reviews (2)

Great book for the photographer visiting Maine
I took this book with me last month when our camera club went on a January trip to Acadia National Park.The photography is outstanding and inspirational to say the least!We visited many of the places shown in this book and were able to take wonderful pictures ourselves.This book inspires one to visit Acadia at any time of the year and I highly recommend it to any photographer or persons who are planning a visit to Mount Dessert Island.

Beautiful!
This book is superb.Packed with spectacular photography and interesting essays regarding Mount Desert Island's history, geography, and ecology.The print quality is first rate; kudos to the publisher.A very inspiring volume which reminds us how important it is to have places like Mount Desert Island and Acadia.Highly recommended from a resident of Maine. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Acadia National Park (Me.)    2. Description and travel    3. Essays    4. Mount Desert Island (Me.)    5. Photography    6. Pictorial works    7. Subjects & Themes - Plants & Animals    8. Subjects & Themes - Travel - U.S./New England    9. Travel   

Reviews (15)

Great story, interesting subject
I received a call from a friend who said he had a book on bees that I needed to read.I raised my eyebrows, you see, because I'm allergic to bees.Why would I want to read a book on bee-keeping?
A Fun Read
This book is a fun read about bees.Definetly not a technical manual, so I don't know why the "How to Keep them" part of the title got added on.There's a lot of good historical information about bees, biological information, and some tricks of the trade from Sue who is a commercial beekeeper in the Ozark Mountains.She shares some great stories about her life, which is intricately woven with the lives of her bees.

Bee Knees
Back in early April, I mentioned one of Sue Hubbell's other books, A Country Year: Living the Questions on my blog, where she writes about her time living in the Ozarks and raising bees as a profession.Read more

Subjects:  1. Agriculture - General    2. Apiculture    3. Bee culture    4. Bees    5. Essays    6. Honeybee    7. Insects & Spiders    8. Nature    9. Nature/Ecology    10. Apiculture (beekeeping)    11. Nature / Insects & Spiders   

Reviews (17)

Read The Last Season by Eric Blehm instead
Perhaps it's because I had just finished The Last Season, another, much superior, book by a park ranger that I found this book so lacking.The subject has much promise but the execution is excruciating.There are a few good parts but the choppy storytelling and unrelated tangents left me unsatisfied.After the rendering of one incident regarding a missing woman, I actually wished I had never picked up this book.

Excellent Ranger-read also all the political dirt on American River Dam
Really different. Excellent read. All the dirt on Rep. Doolittle over the years. Neat twist at the end. Only a ranger could know all this. Jordan Smith gets it all right.

Pleasantly Surprised
I wasn't exactly sure what the book was about when I bought it, but had a general idea. I was pleasantly surprised! It is one of the best books I have read in the last several years. It gives a great account of the Rangers work and the information provided in the book about the American River Canyon is amazing. The book is easily readable (good story) but at the same time it is also descriptive, detailed and very informative. This book has something for just about anyone, and I would definitely recommend it as a wonderful read. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Essays    3. General    4. Mountains    5. Natural History    6. Naturalists, Gardeners, Environmentalists    7. Nature    8. Nature / Field Guide Books    9. Nature/Ecology    10. Parks    11. Parks & Campgrounds    12. Personal Memoirs    13. United States - West - Pacific (General)    14. Nature / Mountains