This collection of moments from Christmastime broadcasts of "A Prarie Home Companion" is a very good one. It features excellent music, much of it by the "Hopeful Gospel Quartet". It also has wonderful skits, including Tom Keith's amazingly funny sound effects version of the twelve days of Christmas, and a re-telling of the Christmas story by Garrison and the other actors. The only complaint that I would have about this CD set is that Garrison's brilliant storytelling is not the feature of this compilation. Nevertheless, this compilation is without question worth getting for all of those who enjoy "A Prarie Home Companion".

I like this book. I like how the Hopeful Gospel Choir does most of the songs. I also like the story about the Christmas Oratorio. I also like the news from Lake Wobigan. It's cool along with the rest of the story. This is the best holiday Cassette ever found in the history of mankind. This is highly recommended to all future fans of Garrison Keillor.

I originally bought this CD as a gift but was curious enough that I opened it and played it. I love it. Obviously, I'm keeping that copy and buying another! I am from the Midwest and haven't been back for Christmas in years. Garrison Keillor's wit and homespun stories, the music and the humor all make me anxious to get back there this year. A Prairie Home Christmas is just the kind of down-to-earth Christmas we all need....

A good insight into the mind of an inhabitant of the new world in the 1800s. Very unpolitically correct to the point of being amusing (section on 'Indians'). I read this book on a long camping tour and liked in a lot. There are some sections that are more like lists, and arenot as interesting, but you can skip over them.

A fascinating assemblage of facts and information for the overland emigrant of the mid-1800's to successfully complete the long, arduous journey to the west coast. Captain Marcy includes everything one can possibly imagine: from types of wagons, livestock, food, provisions and medicines to fording rivers, selection of campsites, types of saddles, packing, tracking, guides, guards, etc. and habits of Indians. The itineraries at the end of the book detail the mileages, availability of water, grass, wood, road conditions, etc. along several different routes to the Pacific. With our many modern day conveniencies traveling across the country, we tend to dismiss the hardships and sacrifices our pioneers endured while traversing the continent. This little book puts it all into focus.

Randolph Marcy, an army cavalry officer, wrote this book (1859) when it became apparent to him that nobody better qualified was going to do the job. He intended for the book to serve as a manual for those who were going to travel westward by wagon train over rugged territory inhabited by hostile indians. A glance at his index reveals the information and actions he deemed vital: choosing a route and a group leader, selecting wagons and draft animals, buying provisions, supplies, equipments, personal clothing and weapons, march procedures, herding and guarding animals, organizing a first-aid kit, treating snakebites, selecting campsites, pitching tents, building fires, fording rivers, etc.
When Marcy explains the value of a qualified leader-guide, and the merits of having people with hunter-woodsman skills, he deviates somewhat and talks at length about indians. Eastern indians differ greatly from western indians, he explains, and all indians have natural skills of tracking and navigating uncharted territory that white men can rarely emulate. He describes indian tracking techniques, their use of smoke signals and sign language, and their battle tactics - simular in certain respects to those used by Arab guerrillas. He describes how they hunt the bigger animals - the buffalo, bears, deer, antelopes and bighorn sheep.
In brief, this little book (230 pages)- written for the 'prairie traveler' by a man who'd 'been there and done that' is entertaining, fascinating, and informative. Read it and you'll view those old western movies through new eyes.

The story is about two cowboys, one younger and a older. A stranded traveler knocks on the door one night. After helping the traveler the two cowboys find out he is someone very special.
This is a very good book.

I recieved this book as a gift, and I would surely recommend to anybody else. The pictures and the story are wonderful. The idea is really cute, and the it is quality writing.

The book Little House on the Prarie, in my opinion, was a very exciting book! One reason why I liked the book was because I liked how Ma,Pa,Mary, Laura,and Baby Carrie were pioneers.I learned a lot about pioneer life back then. I learned wooden cabins were the only types of houses, and people traded animals for other animals.Another reason why I liked this book was how most of the time you don't know what will happen next. When the Wagon fell in the river,I had no clue it was going to happen untill it fell. I would recommend this book to everyone that likes to read!

I first read this book when I was 10 years old. I rememberbeing delighted by the amazing way of life of a little girl who wasjust my age. I am now 30 and have just reread "little house on the prarie". I now am amazed by how a pioneer family not only survived in such times but lived life to the fullest.

"Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie Houses," by Carla Lind, is one of a series of mini-books dedicated to the work of this important architect. This volume focuses on Wright's Prairie Houses. As Lind notes, the Prairie School of architecture was inspired by the "spacious, horizontal feeling" of the American prairie. This book pays particular attention to several of Wright's Prairie masterpieces built between 1900 and 1908.

This book shares many of the admirable characteristics of other volumes in the series: a profusion of superb full-color photographs (both interior and exterior), Lind's interesting text, illuminating sidebar quotes from Wright and others, and a brief but useful bibliography. Houses pictured include the Bradley House of Kankakee, Illinois; the Darwin Martin House of Buffalo, New York; the Stockman House of Mason City, Iowa; and many more.

The only flaw in the book is the lack of any legible floor plans. Although floor plans are not a focus of this series as a whole, author Lind does call attention to the distinctive features of the Prairie House floor plans several times in the text. Thus, one or two representative plans would have really enhanced this volume. Actually, one floor plan is included, but it is used merely as a decorative background element: the plan is printed in a pale blue ink and has text superimposed on top of it, so it is not very legible. This matter aside, however, this is a fine volume in an excellent series.

Although the entire Wright at a Glance Series is wonderful, this book is especially good. It gives good examples of what made Wright's Prairie home distinctive. The photographs are very fine and the text supports them well.

i found this audio book funny and very impressive because he really tried to make the listener feel he was in each situation.

Where do I start?

(A pretty good impersonator of) Mr. Rogers tells little kittens everywhere that "when you get that special feeling inside, that means it's time to visit Mr. Litter Box" in the "Mr. Rogers Catbox Video".

Guy Noir, the sardonic private eye, makes yet another appearance (minus the wise-cracking, tongue-twisting Pete), being handpicked by an ex-con-turned-poet to publish some poetic parodies in the Paris Review, including a hilarious take-off on Robert Frost's "Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening".

"Cold Weather" tends to cheer you up on those super-cold December evenings when the apartment has no heat (hopefully that's just me). Cold weather, according to Mr. Keillor can come in many forms including, but not limited to, your teenage son kicking you out of your own house because he's afraid of his friends coming over and finding the dad in the house.

"You come to New York looking for one thing, and you find another. And Bob Dylan and Carol Channing found each other," in this spoof of the young sixties generation livin' for today in New York City, hanging out with Truman Capote, Larry King, Kirk Douglas, Paul Harvey, and Mr. Rogers ("Found the mushrooms that were so amazing...right here in the neighborhood.").

"Little House On the Desert" is a guarantee side-splitter for any "Little House" enthusiasts out there, when Ma fakes tuberculosis in order to convince Pa to load up the wagon and get the heck out of Minnesota.

For Mother's Day, be sure to take your mom to "Mel's Big Boy Cafe" at the mall. Chewing is optional.

"Newt" is a toe-tappin' little tune about the former Speaker, which is sure to draw laughs from conservatives and liberals alike. Likewise, the Bemidji Boroughway [sic?] song provides a strong warning to ice-fisherman everywhere about the dangers of mistaking cigars, brautwurst, and dynamite.

I could go on and on and on about how great a collection of laughs this is, but I'll end my rambling with "Getting Older", my personal favorite from the three compact discs. This monologue warns us about the dangers of getting older: your grown children getting you as a present one of those stupid books about "the joys of aging"; similar to "Cold Weather", the teenage son lectures his dad on not dropping him off at the front door of school anymore; the vegetarian waitress goes ballistic when her patron orders "the 47-ounce beef-butt in the hot lard sauce" with french fries and butterbrickle ice cream.

In short (a little late for that), this collection has something for everyone.

The authors have blended historical research, terrain analysis, and professional archaeological investigations of this important first battle of the Mexican-American War. This book sets a new standard in the study of battles and battlefields and is a brilliant use multidisciplinary approaches to the study of the past. The text is very readable, not at all dry and scholarly, although the book is a testament to scholarly research and analysis. The illustrations are excellent, especially those focusing on the arms and equipment of both the U.S. and Mexican armies.

The archaeological artifact finds are very well described and illustrated, and the chapter on the professional archaeology of the battlefield is very readable. It is exciting to be able to see what was really used and lost on a field of battle.

This is a well written and very readable study of a single battle. Military historians, Hispanic scholars, and archaeologists will all find this a very useful book. To those interested in the history of Texas and the Mexican-American War this is a book that should be read.

Douglas Scott

This 227 page book contains copies of the US & Mexican maps of the battlefield, photos of the battlefield today, a superb annotated bibliography, photos and illustrations of artifacts, analysis of weapons & tactics, descriptions of uniforms, sharp modern artwork, easy to read details of how the past and present archaeology was done with suggestions for future work, and quotes from soldiers of both sides who were there.

The research presents new clues to the battle, which may challenge popular misconceptions of both Mexican and US actions in the battle, and provides the potential tourist with places to see.

I had the privilege of playing David in the San Francisco production of this play. While it is, indeed, a play, and definitely makes its greatest impact in production, I can still recall the visceral thrill I got the first time I read it. Here's a play as messy as the lives most of us lead, full of characters who do wonderful things, who do hateful things, who do absolutely unforgivable things. Fraser has an uncanny ability to pack an astonishing density of information into short, punchy, razor-sharp scenes -- to limn entire emotional histories into exchanges that last just a couple of lines. I couldn't wait to get out onstage each night and get to "be" this character, and I know my fellow cast members shared the feeling. If you're weary of gay-themed material that either preaches to the converted or is so "politically correct" as to have no relation at all to life as it is lived, this script will send both a shock of recognition and a thrill right through you. Believe it!

I was one of the fortunate ones who saw Poor Superman in its premiere production in Cincinnati, OH in the mid '90's. The play caused such an uproar in conservative Cincinnati that it almost closed before it opened! I was lucky enough to see the play four times during its initial run, and have since seen another production at the Phoenix Theatre in Indianapolis, IN. This is a work which challenges the reader/audience member to look beyond him/herself into the lives of five rich, complex characters dealing with very real emotions and the realities of life, death, love and loathing. Brad Fraser's play is raw and visceral. The love scenes between the two male protagonists are explicit and incredibly erotic. The printed version of the play is quite beautifully laid out and includes photos from several productions (including the original Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati production). The front cover has a wonderfully campy cartoon drawn by Fraser himself. The back cover sports an unbelievably HOT photo of Mr. Fraser. I highly recommend this play for reading and for performing. Buy it! read it! Perform it! You will fall in love!

This book is all about Ida Kate. When her Mother dies, she is left all he chores, and can't attend school. A friend of Ida Kate's mother dies also. Her father sent away for a mail bride (that is where two people send lots of letters, and then the lady comes and they get married). Her friend's step-mother was very nice, so Ida Kates father decided to try. When Caroline (his mail bride) gets there she brings a big surprise with her. This is a very good story!

It's 1878. Ida Kate Deming and her father live on a farm on the Kansas prairie, several miles from the nearest town. Since the death of Ida Kate's mother, she has had to take on the household chores: cleaning, mending, cooking, etc. It's a big job for a young girl, and it doesn't leave enough time for Ida Kate to attend school or see her friends much. Small wonder, then, that Ida Kate is excitedly looking forward to the arrival of the mail-order bride that is coming from back east to marry her father. Trouble arrives with the new member of the family, however. Her hair is the wrong color, she's too short, she cooks too well and sings too well, she isn't allergic to the cat, and her handwriting is different from the handwriting in the letters they received. Who is this woman, really? What happened to the woman Ida Kate and her father were expecting?

While portraying the hardships of life on the frontier in the late 1800's, "Riddle Of The Prairie Bride" also gives kids an intriguing mystery to sink their teeth into. "Formulaic" it may be, but this is fine for kids. A plot with too many complications could be overwhelm a young reader. My ten-year-old daughter got quite caught up in this tale, and wanted to "keep reading" each evening until we finished it. Readers of other "history mysteries" will not be disappointed with this one. If you have never read one, give one a try.

Ever since her mother's death two years ago, twelve-year-old Ida Kate Deming has done all the housework for herself and her father on their Kansas homestead. The year is 1878, and life on the prairie is difficult, dangerous, and lonely. Ida Kate's father has decided the time has come for him to remarry. He puts an advertisement for a wife in an eastern newspaper, and a young widow, Caroline Fairchild, who has a one-year-old son, responds. Ida Kate is eager to have a mother and a brother, and her father is eager to once again have a wife. But all is not right with Caroline. Soon, Ida Kate begins to suspect that Caroline may not be Caroline at all, but someone else entirely different. But if "Caroline" is an impostor, what happened to the real Caroline? And are Ida Kate and her father in danger? This was a wonderful addition to the History Mysteries series that brought alive life on the prairie in the 1870s. Ida Kate was a spirited, adventurous heroine. I reccomend this book to all those who enjoyed the other History Mysteries books.

As a kid growing up in post-war Chicago suburbia, I got to see farmlands give way to housing tracts. The question I asked was "What was here before the farms?" Madson has the answer--prairie. Practically a million square miles of prairie and the first European settlers never had an idea that a vast expanse of grassland stretched roughly from the eastern border of Illinois to the Rocky Mountains.

Madson takes you to the prairie from an historical, personal, anecdotal, and geological perspective. You can practically see the prairie flora, feel the prairie air on your face, hear the prairie fauna calling you in this excellently written and touching book. Enjoy!

John provides a factful and sometimes comical look at prairie ecology and culture. A good first book for those interested in the prairie.

I once got lost with John Madson in the Great Batchtown Swamp, but I never got stuck in any of his books -- he is a great outdoorsman and writer, who always takes your imagination somewhere interesting (and often useful). He wrote the best book ever on The Pheasant, a wee paperback that he dashed off in a couple of weeks but which has never been bettered. It must be natural talent, but as Lee Trevino said, I had to hit a million practice balls before my natural talent began to show through. Willy Newlands (Scotland)