Ray Hudson's memories of Unalaska and its people form a beautiful portrait of a time and place. As a former resident of Unalaska, I highly recommend the book. Although the community can no longer be called a village, the Aleut roots described in Hudson's tale are still there. And his deeply evocative descriptions of the land--one of the most remote and beautiful in the world, I'm convinced--are wonderful. The descriptions of everything from fog to wildflowers to stormy nights are moving and accurate. A definite must to anyone traveling to the Aleutian Islands--and a terrific travelogue for the armchair traveler..

Commenting on a Fred Beckey climbing book is a little like critiquing a Mozart opera: who among us, really, has any standing to question him? It's remarkable that the man combines such complete mastery of two crafts, both climbing and writing. Compared to Reinhold Messner, another heroic climber and author, Beckey's writing is much better, more insightful, and ultimately far more useful. The book begins with a forward by Heinrich Harrer, famous for the first climb of the north face of the Eiger, as well as his books "The White Spider" and "Seven Years in Tibet." Much of the book is a history, detailing the early explorations and attempts, including Cook, the sourdough expedition, and the Reverend Stuck's successful climb, on through the pioneering climbs of other routes on the mountain. This is one more book that demonstrates that, in his areas of experience, Fred Beckey is unsurpassed. He is a climber's climber (not least because of his legendary guidebooks) and this is a climber's book on Denali. It's extensively footnoted and makes good use of historical photos, which is a nice professional touch, but the real value of the book is Beckey's total knowledge of climbing and of the mountain. One of the chapters details his participation on the first climb of the NW buttress (the first ascent of the Wickersham Wall) as well as his subsequent first ascent, with Harrer, of nearby Mt. Hunter. It's hard to imagine undertaking a climb of Denali without reading this book first; the last section includes complete route descriptions of the four most-climbed routes on the mountain, an extensive record of accidents and disasters, including analysis of what went wrong, and a chapter on logistics and equipment. Some things have changed; Talkitna is already more built-up than it was in '93 when the book was published (with a soberingly well-used cemetary) and the standard routes are more crowded than ever, but the same accidents happen for the same reasons. If everyone who attempted the mountain read this book, it would be a safer place.

Munger Maps are an invaluable resource for historic and current location of oil and gas wells. My occupation entails phase one environmental review of sites primarily in the southwestern US. These maps allow a greater level of certainty for statements regarding CA real estate near or within oil fields.

Surprise, surprise! The Birdman of Alcatraz hails from Alaska. I had no idea. Tom Brennan brings news from the depths of frozen he!! with accuracy and style. Ten stories for the price of one. Cases include The Trophy Hunter and The Newman Family Massacre.

My Heart on the Yukon River is more than a collection of black and white portraits of people who live in remote places: It's the story of a woman who knew what she wanted out of life and had the courage to go after it.... In nearly every photograph, people are leaughing or smiling. No one seems to be taking themselves too seriously. Yet, Dykstra affords each person a sense of dignity. In one photograph of a woman, Suzanne Picot from Whitehorse, she poses in front of her car- painted to look like a car. Picot, who reveals in her interview that she's in love with a man who grew up on a dairy farm, is dressed like a dairy cow. She wears a black and white spotted jump suit, complete with rubber udders, horns and a cowbell necklace. Oddly, she doesn't look ridiculous. She just looks happy. For 2,000 miles, Dykstra remains optimistic and never stoops to exploit poverty, lonliness or human tragedy.... Dykstra's images are visually interesting and her text is a pleaure to read.... My Heart on the Yukon River is a a carefree romp- a lighthearted journal of a road trip Lorrie Blair for Hour Magazine

The story is exciting,the suspects are hard to decide on,and the end result is great.It's an interesting,funny,suspenseful mystery - enjoy!

"I wanted to learn this: how I could tell a story and tell truth" With those words poet and teacher Katherine McNamara joins her voice with those who are called to experience and ponder the sacred in an information driven age.

Trained in Paris during the glory days of structural anthropology, McNamara set out in the mid 1970's to find her own "pensee sauvage" in Alaska. The great land responded by inviting her into a world which while more materially primitive than Paris displayed a far more profound emotional intelligence. In Alaska she found love, death, mystery, the great attention to the ordinary which is both the poet's burden and her gift. She saw literary culture bump heads against an older kind of storytelling, the kind of stories which teach us how to be human, the sacred stories, Akhmatova and Mandelstam stories. She writes courageously about her own lack of understanding. She wonders why we ourselves live in a culture too "advanced" to trust the ancient wisdom of dreams.

A Narrow Road to the Deep North is a profound celebration of earth sacredness. We stand at a crossroads where we will either understand that the animals, the earth and ourselves to be a single organism, or we will drown in the toxic oil spill of technology and greed. That is the great tension in Alaska, both when McNamara lived there and today, when the Bush Administration wants to rip up the fragile tundra.

But Narrow Road is no polemic. It is first and foremost a work of poetry. Thanks to the author for the care and courage to share it with us.

I recently graduated college, and this was given to me as a gift. Previous to receiving it as a gift, a friend had the same magazine, and I enjoyed looking at it. I have the opportunity to say that I live in the one of the most beautiful places on earth, Alaska. I have lived here for 9 years and I have done and seen a lot of Alaska. But reading the magazine articles and looking at the beautiful photographs made me realize that there is so much more of Alaska that I have not seen, and that I am dying to get to see. I have see and read lots of book on Alaska, but up until this one, none of them done Alaska justice. Everytime family or friends come over and we start to talk about what we are going to do this summer, I pull out this magazine.

The Volume 23, Number 2, Quarterly, 1996 Alaska Geographic issue, Native Cultures In Alaska offers an informed and informative introduction into the daily life of modern-day Native Americans of Alaska. Full-color photographs and a variety of vignettes and anecdotes about tribes such as the Aleuts, Yup'ik, Tsimshian, and more make Native Cultures In Alaska an engaging tribute and fascinating wealth of insight into enduring cultures and traditions that would enhance any personal, school, or community library Native American Studies collection.

In this highly readable book, Rita O'Clair and her co-authors explore the geology, habitats, and animals of Southeast Alaska and how they interact with each other. I haven't found any other source that puts the basic story of the region together in this way. For those getting started learning about the area, this book provides a framework to organize future observations and learning. Those who already know some natural history of the area may be surprised by the connections this book helps make and the gaps it fills in.