This book, "A Field Guide to the Atlantic Seashore" is a great field guide. It presents an excellent overview of the life one commonly finds along the Atlantic coast of the USA. The book is arranged taxonomically, and each entry contains a description of characters useful in determining what you are looking at. As a professional biologist, I find this book to be superior in many ways to the Audubon Guides. For example, this Peterson guide includes both common AND scientific names by each entry, the book is arranged taxonomically rather than by other less important characters like color, etc.

This book is not, however, what many casual naturalists are looking for in a field guide. They often look for a book filled by page after page of photographs or illustrations. This book is filled by page after page of information more useful to the more advanced amateur or to the professional. There are several illustrations, many are simple line drawings that show details of important characteristics used to tell one kind of organism from another.

All in all a great field guide for the advanced amateur and professional. This is not, however, a book that is as likely to be embraced by the casual observer.

5 stars for the more professional audience, but 4 stars for the casual observer.

You might be happiest doing what another reviewer suggested... to use this book along with a photo field guide such as an Audubon Field guide to the region.

Happy splashing!

Alan Holyoak, Dept of Biology, Manchester College, IN

saboettger@yahoo.com. The Peterson field identification guide to the Atlantic Seashore by Kenneth L. Gosner is a useful tool in fieldwork. Seaweeds and animals are arranged taxonomically and described in detail regarding their distinguishing characteristics. All weeds and animals are called by both their scientific and common name and are described in an easily understood manner. The plates with drawings of creatures found along the Atlantic seashore are helpful to establish visual identification of seaweeds and animals. It is useful that the book explains different marine habitats that you may encounter as well as going into detail on important physical marine features such as water currents, salinity, tides etc. The details on how to maintain and preserve animals are an additional plus of this book. The Peterson field guide is a good tool for the use in class as well as for you personal exploration of the seashore. I would recommend its use in combination with the Audubon Guide to Shore Animals of North America. These books would complement each other since the Audubon Guide displays a similar identification system but enhances it with pictures of animals rather than drawings. The combined use of these books would increase the accuracy of your identification.

For a first book, this is well crafted. Some of the poems in the book are superb, while some are plain mediocre. But this is definitely a big book of poetry, and since most poetry books are half the size (excepted Anthologies or Collected Works), I will venture to say that about 50-60 poems in the book are par excellence.

There is a lot of passion in his words and imagery, and in many more ways than one, the final words in his poems tend to hit home. Modern as the author's poetry may be, there is some classical moody feel to it which is quite palatable. Some poems are preachy, and one can do well without them. But for a first collection, I find it quite good. I will recommend this book to those who are interested in feeling out contemporary East Indian writers for lately their contributions have been quite powerful in fiction scene in NY.

WOW - this is one of the cooooooooooool book. Images are butane - they fling fire and brimstone - sands and hot metals. Some I read again and again and it draws you in. Need to watch some cool flicks and read by candlelight. Kick out your woman. Something to cherish by yourself. Yep, and put on some incense sticks. A poem Who are You was great. Kind of rolls like the strumming of a guitar in twilight zone. Good buy. You will not regret it.

If you are a Hegwood fan, come on, read this book. It is a bit slower moving than his other novels, but the usual Hegwood cast of characters is here. This time at a Casino music spectacular. And the insurance companies get stung. And there is some pretty good misdirection. And the untangling of the plot will grab you. And ,yes, you can figure it out - almost- but I will not spoil the fun. Guess what I like about Hegwood is that there are clues to the solution ,and so far he seems to play fair in letting his readers speculate about the conclusion.

Casino employee Johnnie Koscko leaves Vegas with enough of a stake to return home to Biloxi, Mississippi to buy the Jackpot Bay Casino. Johnnie envisions the area becoming part of the European high roller jet set. In fact his first plane load of the Monte Carlo crowd is coming to Biloxi in a few days to gamble at Johnnie's casino and to listen to the rock sound of the very popular Snow Mountain.

However, as usual for Johnny just when he seems paused for success he rolls craps. The casino insurance carrier is concerned over missing revenue. They send private investigator Jack Delmas to force Johnny to hire security auditor Tara Stocklin. Even with Jack and Tara involved, Johnny seems to be holding the "Deadman's Hand" as murder and robbery follow.

Readers who try a Jack Delmas novel will believe they hit the jackpot, as he is a strong character who consistently provides the audience with a quiet intelligent outlook as he tries to do the right thing though not always successful. However, the rest of the key cast members such as Johnny and Tara, etc. come across as worthless sharks with nothing much to redeem them so that they appear more a caricatures than people. Still the exciting story line of JACKPOT BAY is an engaging look behind the scene at the Gulf Coast gambling spots. For those who don't know Jack, he is worth the time to read about even in this novel, but especially in his previous appearances like MASSACRE ISLAND.

Harriet Klausner

Having been to the Monterey area before, I was looking for information about where to stay/dine with our small kids. That guide does not seem to exist. Several restaurants this author mentioned were excellent, but one was a real dog. (Hint: Monterey is not the spot for pizza.) Our saving grace was when we found a copy of a local rag that listed Readers' Choices. Travel books should rely on these for restaurant reviews and also spend more time exploring accomodations.

The most complete guide from Monterey to San Simeon. If you are heading to the Monterey area this book is a must.

This book is extremely well written and makes me feel proud to be an almost Erickson! It is rich in humorous anecdotes and is liberally illustrated throughout. Sadly, the book is no longer in print, and I got my copy through default of being engaged to an Erickson! If you love American history then this a wonderful book to read and is a good solid history of a time that is often forgotten. In fact, my grandad is from Essex in England and he enjoyed the book as well, so thats as good a recommendation as any!!

Hey, what can I say about this book. My dad's cousin wrote it and it's got a lot of pictures of my grandparents, greatgrandparents and other assorted relatives. I have a copy of this book and I'm not selling it. If you want to know who Phoebe Erickson is, you'll just have to track down your own copy. By the way, I'll be in North Bay this Christmas and the book contains a map to the house I'll be staying at, so if you want to drop by, just pick up a copy of the book.

Currently much of Northern Virginia gets their drinking water from the Potomac River. For several years they've been trying to extend the intake pipe into the middle of the River where the water is less muddy and requires less treatment. The State of Maryland has fought them in court every step of the way because Maryland owns to the high-water mark on the Virginia side. The hard feelings between these two States goes back to the time they were Colonies and this book traces the history all the way through. This book is about the oyster wars which began in the late 1800s and extended up until the 1960s. You may find it hard to believe but as late as 1959 Maryland Oyster Patrol Boats fired on an unarmed boat near the Virginia shore which was dredging oysters and murdered one of the crewman. And I don't mean one bullet but a storm of bullets because they didn't have a Maryland license. The author, John Wennersten, did a nice job of research on a subject that wasn't heavily documented. He points out how rugged and plain mean a number of these early watermen were. Before the time of engines they would Shanghai vagrants in New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Once they got them on the boats on the Chesapeake Bay that's where they stayed until the end of the season. In a number of cases the end of the season would find them getting knocked into the water by the sail rigging...it was called "paid at the boom" because the skipper wouldn't have to pay them if they drowned. The book is only about 130 pages of easy reading with some nice photos and sketches of the early oyster and patrol boats. It's a must of anyone wanting to acquire a thorough knowledge of life on the Chesapeake Bay.

An interesting naration of a part of Maryland and Virginia's history few people know about. The book comes across as a little sensationalist when read. However, given the topic, and many of the turn of the century newspaper sources, this would be hard for any author to avoid. (I had the same thoughts when reading Michener's fictional accounts in "Chesapeake", yet these events really did happen.) If you are interested in the culture and history of the Chesapeake this is quite an enjoyable read that will add context to other readings.

This book is chock-full of the facts and anecdotes that make for a can't-put-it-down read.

I was fascinated by this well-told and well-documented story. I'm not a Packers or Bears fan, pe se, but this book is much more than just a documentation of the teams' rivalry. It's the founding of pro football!

Swain's obvious passion for his subject translates to the page. The tales he tells and the folks he talked to to get them! Don't know how he did it but I'm glad he did! What a joy!

Anyone who wants to know the complete story of the rivalry must ready this book. It covers the entire 150 + game series. The interviews are great. The photos are good to. There are some that I have never seen before. A must buy!

I picked this up on a whim. I've enjoyed Duras in the past and it was a story about travel and love - perfect. Turns out, it was an excellent novel.

The beginning felt slow, but that's because Duras has a tendency to describe things so dispassionately that it feels dull. Later in the novel, all those descriptions had laid a necessary foundation for events and conversations that would have seemed completely disjointed without a solid background. The plot sounds like a soap opera: man on vacation decides to leave boring girlfriend and dull job meets a rich widow sailing around the world in search of long lost lover. However, and thank goodness, it's not that simple, and not nearly that sappy. Both man and woman aggressively resist falling in love. Neither of them want to, but they do, but they don't.... Plus, there are a handful of colorful characters they meet and travel with along the way.

It's a character-intense novel that uses a simple plot as a basis to develop complicated personalities and relationships. Special bonus, it's out of print - so you can read something unusual and spark conversation yourself!

I recommend this for folks who like to analyze and then re-analyze followed by over-analyze life's happenings and participants. Be prepared to not want to put it down towards the end!

A beautiful, haunting story. Love/obsession that may be only what it's perceived to be, or maybe not. By far the best of Duras' early works. A book I knew I'd have to read again before I even finished the first time.

San Francisco is a city with a long and unique history. With this history comes a wide variety of interesting and sometimes stunningly beautiful buildings. Wandering the streets of San Francisco, and noticing these buildings, one frequently wants to learn more about them. And that is why I bought this book.

However, I was disappointed by the fact that most of the houses featured in this volume only have the year it was built, who built it, and a very brief description. Often there is only one sentence saying this house was built in Queen Anne style and that it has a tower (self-evident from the picture, or once you actually see the building). The book says very little about the history of each house, why it was built like it was, notable persons that lived there, etc. It also does very little to put the houses in the context of the surrounding neighborhood.

The book features "tours" that you can take to view the described houses, but it doesn't quite pull it off, and the end result is a strange mix of tourist guide and architectural reference that performs mediocre at both.

San Francisco desperately needs a good book to picture, describe and catalog its unique architecture, but alas, this book is not it. It would have been better if the author concentrated the book on San Francisco houses only, instead of the entire Bay Area, and offered fewer houses with a better description of each. Still, it is the best I have been able to find, and it is better than nothing, hence the three stars.

You can look-up just about any noteworthy San Francisco building in this guide to the best. My own choice is the historic Monadnock Building at 685 Market Street. It was being constructed in 1906, but before its west wall was even completed the Great Earthquake and Fire struck. Somehow the building managed to survive not only those calamities but two separate attempts by the army to destroy it with dynamite (hoping to create a firebreak that was intended to save the original Palace Hotel). After the Monadnock was completed in 1907 it was casually referred to as "the railroad building," because it housed so many offices in that business. By 1985 it was thoroughly renovated, however, and the tenants inhabiting it became almost exclusively those involved in either art or law pursuits. As the book recommends, be sure to ask the guard in the lobby for the free leaflet by Hamilton Barrett, the building's own historian. When we went for our copy the guard even contributed a few additional details about one of the ghosts known to frequent the first floor at night. A "Lady in White," she wears a long turn of the century style dress and likes to silently float toward the guard's desk from the west hallway. She then touches anyone who would dare sleep.

This book brought home some facts about the explosive growth that occured in the East Bay as a result of World War II, especially in Richmond. It also helps explain a lot of the migration and subsequent types of job creation that are still with us today as a result. I found the background on Kaiser - making ships, creating health plans and hospitals as a result - particularly interesting.

Anyone interested in the history of the east side of the San Francisco Bay during the 20th century will enjoy this book. Johnson employs a social historian's approach to explain what happened to the Richmond and Oakland from 1941 to 1945 and how the war years affected the Midwesterners and Southerners (and others) that came to the Bay Area and the natives that they encountered. The book successfully portrays aspects of Bay Area history such as huge shipyards, temporary war housing and rowdy downtown night-life that, for the most part, are no longer visible. Johnson also outlines some of the political movements that developed during the WWII years and how they affected post-war Oakland and Richmond. Johnson's discussion of the politics of the late '40s and early '50s is informative and interesting but also brief; this may somewhat frustrate anyone interested in the political history of the region. Overall, this is an informative, well-written book.