Here's what happens when you take a typical post-WWII American suburban home, add some design ingenuity, a lot of labor and a ton of money: you get a unique, livable and classy home. At least that's what's shown in this book--though I wish some of the homes had more photos and detailed floor plans.

This is not an academic dissertation on the downfall of American suburbs - there are plenty of sources for those. This book for most readers is something better. I found it to be a fresh look at what is being done to bring life and inspiration for the tired,neglected, and typically dull field of "ranch house" renovations. As an architect I see this book as a great primer and visual starting point for people who don't believe good design can transform the ordinary (suburban box) into something Special. The Designers and Architects who shared their work with Mr. Connor for the book should be commended for tackling a seemingly simple but actually challenging design problem.

As a home owner, I am faced with the usual problem of aesthetic / expense. My wife and are lucky in that we have similar taste in design and decoration - so we sing from the same hymnal - so to speak. But one is always on the prowl for a great look as yet undiscovered, or at least unexploited. This exquisitely produced and artfully written volume opened our eyes to a widely ranging catalog of both classical and neo-millennial architectural "looks" that both inspired us and confirmed our opinion that there is no substitute for good taste. I recommend this wonderful book to anyone who owns a home and wants to improve it.

John Heminway's hippie-commune-turned-subdivision is an environmental and community tragedy, but he and his trust fund find it a paradise. This book is instructive for its unintentional exposition of the hypocrisy, condescension, and self-absorbtion that the super-rich bring to "their" Montana. But if you know anything about the state, it's truly painful to read.

Not just in need of the most basic proofreader, the book contains dozens of factual errors. (I was particularly surprised that National Geographic would place the Missouri River in Fargo.) Not only does Heminway blandly repeat the same old stories, but in getting them wrong (not only does he botch the story of Charlie Russell's painting "Waiting for a Chinook," he even inflates its alternate title from "Last of the 5,000" to "Last of the 10,000") he does a tremendous disservice to anyone who would find this representative of Montana.

Avoid this book! If you want to read about this region, read Mark Spragg's "Where Rivers Change Direction" -- not only a more accurate book, but a truly eloquent memoir.

"Yonder" (subtitled "A Place in Montana") by John Hemingway is an untidy book, but one I still recommend to readers interested in the west. Hemingway is an expert on Africa, a producer of documentary films for PBS, a writer, and a Montana "hobby rancher". Noel Perrin used the phrase "hobby farmer" to identify people who buy farms in Vermont in order to feel connected with the soil and the hardy Yankee yoemen who till it, but who continue to derive most of their income from some other source. The book relates Hemingway's experiences after he and members of his family purchase first a ranch in central Montana and then a 36-acre mountain retreat, named the Bar 20, north of Yellowstone Park. He interweaves events and observations from his own life in Montana with his search for information about the previous owners of the Bar 20.

One of the pleasures of the book is Hemingway's gift for vivid word snapshots of people he encounters in Montana. His filmaker's eye rests briefly on organic rancher Tom Elliott, BLM archeologist Michael Kyte, outfitter Larry Lahren, horse whisperer Ray Hunt, ranch foreman Floyd Cowles, teepee manufacturer Don Ellis, and his motley neighbors in the Boulder River valley. The sketches are illuminations of ordinary lives rather than (a la Annie Proulx) a lepidopterological display of "characters". The book's other strength is the mini-biography of Stanley and Bab Cox, easterners like Hemingway, who owned the Bar 20 from 1933 to 1951 and who, unlike Hemingway, resided there continuously except for the war years. Hemingway's determined and ingenious research has unearthed a story worthy of a novel.

"Yonder", published by the National Geographic Society Adventure Press, is the worst-edited book I have encountered in some time. It is rife with typos: missing quotation marks, uncapitalized proper names, "souh" for "south", "there's" for "theirs", "Yate's" for "Yates'", "shooting match" for "shouting match", and a missing negative that turns a sentence about organic farming into nonsense. It is also guilty of dubious or incorrect word usage. Examples: three sheets of paper become in the next paragraph three sheaves of paper; a hinged bookcase hiding a door is called "trompe l'oeil". And what is one to make of this sentence? "While grounds for abandoning a six-year-old child seem inconceivable, we can speculate he justified his decision because, perhaps, he felt rejected by the Hydes, who clearly had never warmed to a man they regarded as a diffident provider, husband, and father."

Hemingway grafts a couple of self-contained essays (previously published articles?) onto the stalk of his narrative. They deal with native American activities in other parts of the state and artist Winold Reiss. These are interesting in their own right, but anti-climatictic after the drama of the Cox research.

"Yonder" will save future owners of the Bar 20 the trouble of playing detective in order to find out what John Hemingway was doing and thinking during his days in Montana.

I loved Yonder. It is the story of John Heminway's search to uncover the history of a ranch in a beautiful Montana valley. John and his sister, Hilary, bought the ranch soon after they had found it with the help of a knowledgeable agent. As Yonder unfolds I fell under its enchantment and could not put it down until I found out what John had discovered through his search for its past owners. However, Yonder is more than a paean to Montana as moving as Ivan Doig's This House of Sky or Rick Bass's Seven Mile Wolves. It is also the story of the author's search for peace and joy. This is heartfelt book should fascinate those who enjoy interesting people and unique places.

I am a Marine veteran of the Korean War. This has to be the worst book that I have ever read. Really, really bad!!!!

The author takes you on a journey that tugs on the hearts of those that wish to forget and those that will always remember the Chosin Campaign of the Korean War. The author's insight into both Korean and American culture made this book both extremely believable and very enjoyable. I would encourage everyone from the Korean War Veteran to those that just enjoy a great read to buy the book. The "journey" I traveled as I read this book is unforgetable. Enjoy.

This book will keep you turning the first 50 pages in the hope that something might actually happen. It doesn't. This is one of the slowest moving, boring, beginnings I've ever read. Wondering how it ever got published is the only excitement you'll receive.

Excellent, coming of age story with a historical setting and an added measure of suspense. The writing is first-rate--Louise Moeri captures the voice of the 12 year-old hero perfectly.

My beef with this book and a few others by the same authors is the total lack of respect for the environment. Chemicals are portrayed as the "good guys" and there is never a mention of their carcinogenic properties or the harm they do to our world. Agricultural chemicals drift at least 25 miles after they are sprayed, even when the wind is not blowing. They end up in our drinking water and cause cancer in humans and animals. None of this is mentioned in this book. It makes me wonder if the authors are sponsored by a chemical company. I wish the authors would write a book on an organic gardener. I do like their style but not their subject matter.

To a Reader from Mansfield...drift 25 miles away in a no wind condition? Boy...you've never been around farming or farmers. If there was drift 50 feet away there would be trouble! I can appreciate your valid concerns for the environment, but please fight your cause with facts.

I was disappointed in this book and it did not meet my expectations after reading the previous reviews and the details about the book. It did not provide any helpful information in my opinion and for those looking for similar material, I would highly suggest the book by Gene Kilgore.

Overall, I have found the book very helpful - it covers a vast range of guest ranches across the US. Lots of fun to read and plan the next trip - great photos.

The descriptions are generally complete and describe the key points about the accomodations, dining, and activities. However, they tend to read as if they were authored by the owners of the ranches - there are very few, if any, critical comments that might be helpful to guide the reader in their selection (quality of the horses, the accomodations, etc.). Although almost all of these facilities offer horseback rides for the beginning rider, I would like to see more explanation (where applicable) of the rides offered to the more experienced rider who may be looking for something more than the typical nose-to-tail trail ride.

But overall this is a very nice book and a greating starting point for researching a horseback vacation.

If you are interested in this book because you loved "The Power of the Dog," you might be disappointed. Although the two books were written 20+ years apart, there is an abundance of similarities. The characters, setting, relationships and insecurities will sound very familiar. Yet this book isn't as dark, intense, or satisfying as "Power of the Dog." It is worth reading if you are intrigued with Thomas Savage. I definately am.

This is a delightful adaptation of "The Little Red Hen" retold with Digger Pig in the lead role. Digger requests help to make a turnip pie from three barn yard friends: Chirper Chick, Quacker Duck and Bow-Wow Dog. They each refuse to help every step of the way, except when it comes to eating the pie. Digger Pig then refuses them a piece of pie and she and her piglets settle in to eat the pie. The message of sharing and assisting is subtle and not preachy. This is a good book for beginning readers because of the repetition. The colored pencil illustations work well with the story. I'd recommend this book to children, however, don't miss a chance to read the original Little Red Hen classic.

Although at first this book appears to be about a wild stallion, it really is centered on a father-daughter relationship. The writing is good, but the ending is too predictable, and I felt like the father's change of heart wasn't entirely convincing. I did enjoy the story however. I would recommend this to girls who are looking for horse stories a little "deeper" than the Saddle Club series or Thoroughbred series.

Paul Cecil's history of the Ranch Hand Program in Vietnam is invaluable for understanding why the US engaged in herbicidal warfare in the conflict.

The author breifly presents the history of US CW spraying and herbicidal warefare (chemical only), then follows this with a lengthy detail of Vietnam spray operations. The book is invaluable in understanding the tactical challenges of spray operations, and the techniques devised from these experiences. While I enjoyed the book thourghly for the authors wealth of knowledge on aerial spraying, most readers will be disappointed in its lack of development of the personalities involved, and it rather dry context.

Nonetheless, no history of US herbicidal warfare would be complete without reading this book. The author points to the combat effectiveness of herbicidal warfare, the strong demand for it by field commanders, and the mistakes made by analysts at the time that were critical of the program (such as not even looking at the operational field data!).

The author points to the early effectiveness of anti-crop operations, but their eventual failure due to misuse by GVN planners to punish villegers and not allocating moneys for relocation. Also details the failures of the forest burning operations.

The author does describe how Ranch Hand pilots received more than 1,000x the exposure to Agent Orange than troops on the ground, and that they did not have any ill effects decades later (epidemeological study). Also that Agent Orange (or Purple) had to be reapplied on a regular basis to maintain defoliation, as vegetation quickly grew back.