Great cookbook! The recipes are easy to understand and even better tasting. Mr. Kerr has a flair for setting the mood for each of his recipes with anecdotal descriptions of how to serve and what to serve with the dish. The only drawback is sometimes the recipes call for ingredients that are not easily obtained (common grocery store), but he warns of that in the book! It's a good read and a great cookbook.

I love the Kerr family thinking when it comes to food-- big, blowsy, can't-have-too-much-of-a-good-thing type thinking. I've used this cookbook for five years, and everything I make has great, authentic Tex-Mex taste. I'd take any advice Park Kerr is giving out.

Every recipe that I have tried from this book is great! I use this cookbook more than any other!

This was one of those rare instances when I felt that the film worked better than the book on which it was based. Maybe this was because John Wayne was, in a sense, acting out his own life. Somehow, though, the characters were more convincing in the film and worked together better. Oh, and the book was surprisingly light. I sat down with it, expecting a good read, and was finished in a couple of hours. Not that it was bad - but it should have been a lot better.

If you think about it, its hard to make a western very intriguing and original, but some authors have an awesome way of putting words together for the enjoyment of the reader. The story itself is good but not extraordinary, but the way its put together and that characterization is what makes it special. It is a very good book !!

I would put this book up there with "Lonesome Dove" and "The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales" as one of the best westerns I've ever read. I have owned several copies of this book since I was in high school (1977) and have always enjoyed reading it. The book has a sad air to it, considering the circumstances of its hero, J.B. Books. I have almost come to tears several times while reading it, when I put myself in Books' shoes.

Some of the best lines in Western fiction are in this book:

"..I would not die a death such as I have described." "No?" "I would not. Not if I had your courage. I would not. And especially your skill with weapons." (conversation between Dr. Hostetler and J.B. Books)

"Day after tomorrow," he said. "When you see me then, in my Sunday duds, there will be no tears." (J.B. Books to Bond Rogers)

To overuse a cliche, if you read one western, "The Shootist" should be it.

The stories are disjointed and incomplete. Several leave one without any definite indication of resolution or suggested direction of resolution. The plot never solidifies in some and is barely evident in others. A compiliation of rambling thoughts and occurences, barely connected overall into a cohesive, enjoyable story. Left me very disappointed.

although i'm from califas i appreciate the high volume of chicano lit coming from the texas valley. yanez is a good addition to the growing shelf with this set of stories about life on the el paso/ juarez border. although this territory is not new yanez's vision is. he writes about the loss of innocence and about the people who must now struggle with the metaphysical borders that affect all of us no matter who we are and what our backgound is. happiness, disappointment, joy, grief, family and society are but a few of the pressures and desires that make us human and that the author explores through the triumph and downfall of us all: language.

While one might simply be satisfied with his intimate and artful texturing of images and people on the border, Yañez takes his stories to a higher level, layering time, place and character with spiritual journeys through struggles that are as specific to the border region as they are universally familiar. Through a palette of characters-a coming of age pre-teen, a widowed tire shop owner, a directionless and embittered high school graduate, and a half-sane woman on welfare, Yañez captures the dignity of a community by providing his characters with an equal amount of fallibility and promise. Throughout these stories humor is as ever-present as sadness, and in the end, Yañez consistently leaves us with subtle messages of hope.

While the "psychological thriller" is not really my cup of tea, I found this poetic work to be inventive and at times provocative. Saenz, a passionate writer and reader of poetry, infuses this novel with his poetic verve. The plot, a modernized, ramped-up version of Hawthorne, is well-paced and for the most part carefully laid out. The weakness would have to be in the characterizations: the rugged independent-minded good cop, dog-kicked for his honesty, and the equally independent, honest and hardworking female public defender, who just happens to be attractive and southern. Unfortunately, we know these folks from tv. The reclusive (and of course famous) academic and his goddess kidnap victim are more realistic.

For intriguing, escapist reading, this book is recommended, not for overall literary accomplishment.

Saenz has a remarkable imagination, and a true poet's sensitivity to the complexity of human emotion. He weaves a mesmerizing and compelling story, not least because it is unusual. It is almost gothic, with Thomas Blacker's house and garden as it's center and it's beautifully evocative descriptive passages. The atmosphere is perfect and the characterizations (for the most part)are psychologically incisive. The character of Gloria is a remarkably human and "real" character, and it is worth commending Saenz for that alone.

However, I cannot help but wish Saenz had spent more time on the character of Thomas and his relationship with Gloria. I felt he could have done better on that end. He tries to pass Thomas off as a monster at the end, yet that is not how he was portrayed--when you write realistic fiction, you have to create real people and Thomas, in this world, was real. He wasn't a monster any more than Karl Marx was a monster. His ideas were overly idealistic and too simplistic, like Marx's ideas of communism. And his childlike puzzlement that his plans didn't work out as he thought they would emphasize his humanity as well as the mental illness that he labored under. Mental illness does not equal a monster--only a lost and curiously naive human being. To be a monster is to be intentionally cruel. Thomas was not intentionally cruel and didn't realize his cruelty, therefore, Thomas is not a monster.

I FOUND THIS BOOK BY ACCIDENT AT A BOOK SALE. I LOVED IT FROM THE FIRST PAGE. IT IS ABOUT A WOMAN WHO WAS KIDNAPPED AT AGE 7 AND LIVED HER LIFE AS A CAPTIVE IN A MAN'S HOUSE. HER VIEW OF HER WORLD IS PERCEPTIVE, POETIC AND SENSITIVE. SHE STABS HER CAPTOR, IS IMPRISONED AND THEN RELEASED. THIS BOOK GRABBED A HOLD OF ME AND WOULD NOT LET GO UNTIL I FINISHED IT. THE CHARACTERS ARE REAL AND I WAS LEAD ALONG UNTIL THE SURPRISE ENDING. I WASN'T SURE WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN AND THAT KEPT ME HOOKED.

Gilb's collection of short stories detail the lives of working class people (not heroes, per se) in a very true to life fashion. I can almost picture Mr. Gilb working with his hands on a high rise or on some odd job, observing what was going on around him and in his own life, preparing to write about what he saw and felt. His stories read that way, and I very much enjoyed this book each time I read it. For the record, the working class Mexican-American friends I have given this book to tell me it is authentic. A corporate suit wouldn't have been able to write it, and thank God Mr. Gilb is not a corporate suit. Hooray for the common man who thinks!

I have recently been reading the books from people in my heritage and sometimes I have been disappointed by what teachers have told me what is good in our literature. When I started reading these stories I became so excited becuase not only are they smart but sometimes they are so funny. I am proud of this book like I had been when I was younger of Sandra Cisneros'. But I would say I like this one more, not just because there are so many more stories but they are all so good to read, almost every one of them great. Especially I liked "Nancy Flores," "Romero's Shirt," "I Danced With the Prettiest Girl," Photographs Near a Rolls Royce," "Hollywood". I saw a great story of his in New Yorker magazine and I bought the book. I do love it. Maybe I am in love with him! But really I think this is important because it tells true stories about our people and the work they do and it is telling the truth.

Sometimes you come across a book that can change the way you see things. I am not a Latino or from the Southwest, but I come from a family of construction workers. This is the first book that I have ever read that touches that world with honesty, humor, and pathos. The stories make humans out of characters, people usually not given a voice. Gilb makes every ordinary event resonate with mystery. He is a writer of great beauty, even as the language is coarse. Several of his stories are among the best I've ever read. He may be the most original of Latino writers publishing, and his stories are better than most of the well-known, anthologized American ones.

This is the best book available on the monumental historic 1966 NCAA men's basketball championship of Texas Western, the first team to start 5 blacks in the Final Four. It is very well researched, with an extensive bibliography. The civil rights impact is well dealt with, as are the racial attitudes of several of the major players. The Kentucky coach, Adolph Rupp, is treated fairly and the reader is left to make his own decision about his character. This is tricky to handle, because his attitudes had to be presented on a backdrop of his times and environment.

I have two minor criticisms of the book, which prevent me from awarding it 5 stars. The first is that the racial attitudes of Don Haskins, the Texas Western coach, were not clearly portrayed. We are left with the impression that he cared about the game more than anything, and we know that he was a little bit country, but we never really find out whether he harbored any prejudices.

Second, while the race issue is well dealt with by Fitzpatrick, he does not deal in depth with the problem with gentlemen's agreements. This refers, for example, to the rule of thumb "2 at home, 3 on the road, 4 when behind" that apparently many coaches used to define their quota for black players. A discussion of this, including who knew about these agreements and how widespread was their impact, would definitely have been in order in this book which is trying to place that basketball game in its spot in history.

These recipes make entertaining with good friends, fuss-free. You'll receive compliments on dishes that only took 20 minutes to prepare. Bold flavors are the basis for most of these recipies, yet you can easily modify any of the recipes to tone down any of the flavors. However, I wouldn't suggest leaving any of the ingredients out. From beef,poultry, fish and vegetables, you are certain to find several recipies you will want to prepare over and over again. Don't let that keep you from trying them all. This is a great gift cookbook for anyone who enjoys grilling.

Leon Metz's El Paso Chronicles is not written in the standard non-fiction style, but is a fascinating look at many different eras of El Paso history. It is a book that takes the reader on a chronological tour of the development of the El Paso Southwest and a look at many of the colorful characters who made this town. It is something you can read a little here, a little there, and not feel you are losing the plot. A good coffee break book.

This book surprised me at how many outstanding sports figures have come out of the town of El Paso, Texas, or are living there now. They include golfer Lee Trevino, NFL Hall of Famers Jesse Whittenton and Don Maynard, Basketball Hall of Fame coach Don Haskins, world champion jockey Bill Shoemaker, Eclipe Award winning jockey Jerry Bailey, former Wimbledon champion Margaret Osborne duPont and many, many more.

The book gives details such as their birth dates but also an insight into the life of each one.

Anyone who enjoys reading about successful people will enjoy this book.

I was first drawn to this book because I had known and worked with Mr. Sam Young, Sr., the 'Sun Country Banker, during the last decade of his life. I found it to be a very interesting biography that did a good job of documenting the life and accomplishments of an exceptional individual. Although I am not sure that any book can capture the true charisma, dynamics and sphere of influence of one of the most remarkable gentleman I have ever known, it does an excellent job of providing personal insite into the man and the community he loved. I highly recommend the book, especially to all Texans and El Pasoans who have a interest in their state and local history and heros.