Religious historian Richard Hughes Seager provides a revealing and candid portrait of the communities, practices and individuals who are central to the modern Buddhist life, examining not only Buddhist beliefs and history in Asia and the US, but providing profiles of Buddhist traditions which have been brought into the U.S. Buddhism In America rounds out our information and provides important insights into the Americanization of Buddhism and is an important addition to the growing library of Buddhist historical liteature.

This "road map to the American Buddhist landscape" succeeds in being both "engaging and informative," as the author intended. While it could be used as a text for a college class, it will also be of interest to American practitioners of Buddhism (like me) who want to know more about our roots and about the variety of forms of Buddhism in America.

Part One provides background material on the history of Buddhism and its transmission to America and includes a short chapter on "Very Basic Buddhism" for those new to the subject or wanting a refresher. Part Two, the largest part, discusses the various forms of Buddhism in America, with chapters on Jodo Shinshu, Soka Gakkai, Zen, Tibetan, Theravada, and "other Pacific Rim migrations." And Part Three explores some "Selected Issues": gender equity, social engagement, intra-Buddhist and interreligious dialogue, and the Americanization of Buddhism.

Religious historian Richard Hughes Seager provides a revealing and candid portrait of the communities, practices and individuals who are central to the modern Buddhist life, examining not only Buddhist beliefs and history in Asia and the US, but providing profiles of Buddhist traditions which have been brought into the U.S. Buddhism in America rounds out our information and provides important insights into the Americanization of Buddhism and is an important addition to the growing library of Buddhist historical liteature.

I don't fish. some time ago I gave it up, but fish are interesting animals. Mr. Biser gives an interesting read into the Kokanee. I especially like the fact that he doesn't try to come through putting himself forward as the expert of all experts on Kokanee, but presents what is some careful research from the people for whom Kokanee are a passion. If you fish or if you don't, this is well worth reading.

This book knocked my socks off. All I knew about kokanee when I started was a desire to fill my smoker with them. Now I feel I know more about these critters than I do about trout - and I've been fishing them for the last 5 years. Perfect blend of biology, technique, and expereince to make Kokanee fishing a reality for anyone who'd like to try. Now all I have to do is find a boat...

I am an avid California fisherman and spend most of my time fishing for the elusive Kokanee. Dave Biser has written a book that will greatly increase my Kokanee hook up this 2000 fishing season. I appreciate his detail in discussing the many types of lures, presentations, and miscellaneous tackle. Also, at the end of the book is a listing of addresses and phone #'s where the reader can contact a manufacture listed in the book. Pay attention to the chapter on scents because using "pro cure" is an idea I've never heard of until I read this book. It was easy to relate to Daves first experience in the small 14' aluminum boat, with the smoke belching 2-stroke, the big pen reels and lead-core. I've fished that method a hundred times.

Maps and dreams is a special book. As the lector, we can understand a reality that is far from us. The writter give us the chance to know somme people by is experience. He also explain the politic context in which this people lives and why they have somme specials demands for their communauties. The book is not perfect, but he propose to the lector a series of questions that only the lector could answer or the autochtones themselves.

The Big Boys planned to build a pipeline from Alaska down to the US Midwest, bringing energy from source to consumer. The line had to cross some hundreds of miles of British Columbia, over land that had once belonged exclusively to Indians, but which had already been invaded by trappers, sport hunters, ranchers, oil and gas explorers, loggers, drillers, and the beginnings of suburbia. By some miracle, somebody thought that it might be a good idea to see what the Indians thought about this. It seems they had never been consulted up to then. Treaties had been made, then subverted---the old North American pattern. In general, nobody had paid much attention to the Indians of northeastern British Columbia. It was believed that their way of life was kaput, that they were all alcoholics living on welfare, and that they hadn't kept their traditions. It seems they had been living for centuries in an "energy corridor" without a viable way of life. But now they were seriously in the way. Enter Hugh Brody, a British anthropologist.

In MAPS AND DREAMS, Brody accomplishes the near impossible. He writes a marvelously sensitive, interesting report, incorporating such often-boring details as hunting and land use maps, and accounts of meetings. Not only does he show that the culture of the Athapaskan Indians was alive in 1979, he allows them to speak, describes the land use situation from their point of view, and connects their economy with their culture and daily lives. His book is at once a report, an answer to those who had written off the Indians, and a readable work of anthropology. White man's dreams of ever bigger projects, ever more exploitation of the land, he says so exactly, "are the most established carcinoma of the North American imagination". They are ever poised to crush the Indian dreams. The Indian dreams, of how to find game, how to find their way to Heaven, stand in the way of the white man's maps---the maps that show where to put the pipeline, where to drill, where to stake out more claims. Both the Indian maps on paper, which showed how they used the land and their traditional dream maps, showing the way to the Beyond, stood in the way of the white man's dreams. A few thousand souls against the tide of Western visions of "progress". We don't find out what happened, but it wasn't looking hopeful. Different maps, different dreams. For good anthropology, for deeper understanding of the problems of the Far North, for just a fascinating book, you can do a lot worse than read MAPS AND DREAMS.

I came to this book in an effort to understand how First Peoples adapted to the landscape they live in. Mr. Brody eloquently presents the people, their land, and their inherited way of life. It is heartbreaking to read how their claims to this way of life have been ignored in the past hundred years under the impact of colonization. I lived in this area as a child and it is difficult to describe the impact of this book - it presents aspects of experience so many in our inherited colonial culture wish to either eradicate or to ignore. This book is a powerful indictment of the way the people and the land in this province have been abused.

I would just add a few more points to the review that was already written on this book.

Most books that attempt to portray a history of British Columbia will undoubtedly be contrasted against Margaret Ormsby's 1958 "B.C.: A History". Barman's book is no different. I agree that it does provide an excellent regional history of this province (thus making it a staple textbook for many university classes), yet it can also be viewed in the context of the changing historiography of British Columbia. Barman has chosen to focus on the many social aspects of B.C.'s history that may have been neglected in past works. The previously mentioned work by Ormsby would be a case in point - "B.C.: A History" spent a disproportionate ammount of time on BC's pre-confederation, colonial past. Where Ormsby's emphasis was put on individual accomplishment - usually by white men - to the detriment of other facets of society (such as Natives, Women, Immigrants, etc. . . ), Barman, and the new generation of historians since the 1950s, have sought to write a more inculsive history. And this is what "The West Beyond The West" is. Unfortunately, I believe it has gone to far.

This is a similar point that has been made by Robin Fischer (another BC historian) on a variety of other occasions; that the emphasis on "social" history in this province has come at the expense of a greater understanding of "political" history. If you are thus going to be reading "The West Beyond The West" to try and find a deeper understanding of BC's political tradition you are going to be hard pressed to find it in this book.

Up until I read this book I did not understand BC politics or Native issues. The early workings of the political parties are uncovered along with their philosophies. Barman graphically describes British Columbia over the century capturing the spirit of what it means to be a British Columbian.

This is one of the best regional histories that this reviewer has ever read. The book imparts a real flavor of the overall history of the Province of British Columbia.

British Columbia, Canada's most western province, is part of the Pacific rim with Chile, Peru, California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Japan, China, South East Asia and Indonesia. As such, British Columbia tends to share with more history with those areas that it does with the more easterly parts of Canada and the United States.

Until recently the western regions of the United States and Canada have suffered from a lack of adequate regional histories. Barman's book neatly fills this void in regards to British Columbia and brings the reader right up to the present with the resignation of Michael Harcourt as the premier of the New Democratic Party government in 1996. The charts in the Appendix of the book add a great deal to the historian's appreciation of this book.

This is a text book type look at the weather systems that are common in British Columbia and the Yukon. Very well researched and documented with facts as well as anecdotal observations. A must for pilots venturing into this vast wilderness area.

Very good book about weather hazards for B.C. and the Yukon. A must have if you are planning to do any flying in this mountainous region.

This is a very good view of the overall career of Norm Stewart at Mizzou. It is unique in it is a compilation of articles from the Columbia Tribune starting with a game in February, 1956 through his retirement this past April, 1999. For the avid Missouri basketball fan it will bring back alot of fond memories and things long forgotten. For the newer fan, it will point out just what kind of coach Norm Stewart was and bring out a side of him alot of people don't know about. For just the rabid basketball fan, it is an interesting look at some of the great upsets by Missouri basketball teams, such as over Notre Dame in 1980 in the NCAA and Louisville in 1982, along with the battles within the Big 8. It's an easy read with alot of good pictures.

This should win a Pulitzer this year. The content is tremendous, full of insightful garb about the most cantankerous coach to ever pace the hardwood sideline. Plus, one writer in particular really bolsters this literary masterpiece, James D. Horne. Buy this book while supplies last.

I was disappointed in this book. The Hudson Valley is a magnificent well for story tellers and I was excited to read about the generations who had lived in a single home and worked on its orchard.

This is much more a creative writing guide than a history of a house/family. Philip spends chapters describing the writing process, but not enough about the actual home/family. The writing parts would have made an excellent preface, but the book needed more substantative history.

Too often Philips interupts herself to backtrack to modern times.

This had great potential, but left me looking for another book.

Evocative, elegant account of family history, deftly blending geneology with present day realities. Highly enjoyable read~

After all the books about houses in France and Italy, it's nice to see a truly American story about a house and the family that has owned and loved it for nearly 200 years. Philip deftly interweaves the personal and the historical into a memorable narrative. Although nonfiction, the book's flow and vivid descriptions make it read like almost like a novel. Talvera may be the most interesting American country house since Tara.

Cliff Robertson once told me: "Dennis Foley is a lying sack of crud. I've never met him, never even heard of him; what a pathetic loser."

First things first. This book only gets an "8" becuase I realize some people could care less about studio executives in Hollywood(unless their name is Julia Phillips or Steven Speilberg, both of whom make appearences in the book) but it truly is a ten. It is truly an amazing tale: what starts out as a theft of less then a $100, 000 becomes a battle for corporate power. David Begelman, the man behind the scandal, isn't even the main character of the book. It's Alan Hirschfield trying, desperately, to do the responible business decisions he was hired to do and is one of only a few major players in this detailed history to remain a completely sympathetic person by story's end. Indecent Exposure is truly is one of great true life American Dramas I have ever read. (Review by Michael Goodman)

David Begelman would never have been exposed as the crook he was without the dogged, principled determination of Cliff Robertson to get to the bottom of corruption at the top levels of Hollywood. This excellent book documents Robertson's heroic efforts to get at the truth -- for which he was blackballed by the Hollywood establishment for years. Cliff once said to me: "Of all the things in my life I'm proud of -- if I'm proud at all -- is not winning the best actor Oscar or Emmy; it's my part in bringing down that crook Begelman." But perhaps the book is most valuable for its exposure of the top echelon of Hollywood -- controlled by people with lots of money and no taste; people who know nothing whatever about movies. And could care less. I hope this book is reprinted soon. It is timeless.

I knew next to nothing about the Pacific Northwest, having only spent a few days there as a kid for the Spokane World's Fair. William Dietrich's Northwest Passage: The Great Columbia River filled much of my knowledge gap with a fascinating and well-told story. Dietrich recounts the history of the Columbia, from its original creation through geologic forces and its discovery by Lewis and Clark and other explorers, to development of the river and the region by forestry, fishing, and industrial interests, harnessing of the river through multiple dams (including the huge Grand Coulee dam), decimation of the salmon population and later attempts by environmental and Native American interests to revive the salmons, and turf wars between various interest groups. Dietrich's book is extremely well researched and annotated, but reads not like laborious scholarship but like a labor of love. He clearly loves the region he writes about and is troubled by its many changes; he conveys both his enthusiasm and in-depth knowledge through this graceful book.

Really enjoyed reading the numerous stories of Columbia River history and the competing uses of the river. Towards the end the author gets a little too dramatic about wild salmon and native Americans and seems to lose the balanced views presented thoughout most of the book.

I have taught Pacific Northwest History at high school and college levels, and found this book one of the best regional histories published. Although focused on the Columbia River, it presents more of the general history of the interior Northwest (east of the Interstate 5 corridor) than any other history of the region. Of course, the Columbia River and its tributaries are central to Northwest history from the fish that archaeologists discovered to be the core of Kennewick Man's diet to the present Kaiser Steelworkers lockout and the controversy over Snake River dams.

The story of human modification of the Columbia River is one of heroism and greed, boom and bust, promotion and fraud, and the winners and losers that go along with the competition among interest groups. Dietrich tells the story with drama, fairness to competing interests, and the kind of focus that requires a point of view. His history is honest, rather than objective; committed, rather than unbiased. It is rich in details, but doesn't lose sight of the big picture. This is newspaper-style feature writing at its best.

At the core of this book is a story of a peoples' faith in progress, the achievement this faith enabled, and the blind spots this faith nurtured. Immense benefits and enormous failures have resulted from this faith. Now, as Dietrich makes clear, we must reexamine our basic assumptions and redetermine our priorities.

Not every reader will agree with Dietrich's priorities and perspectives, but few can identify critical points that he missed. His facts are sound. My only complaint is that too little accommodation is made for readers who want to track down and verify some of his statements of fact. The book has a bibliography and index, but no endnotes. It is published by a university press, but lacks the usual scholarly apparatus.

Judith Barnes' freshman novel is an expansive tale set mostly in Canada. She does so many things well. The story is one that captures our attention. Garnet Harris is a black man who as a youth experiences a difficult beating and family history. He escapes his tangled history and acquires the skills of an excellent horse trainer. In 1946, ragged and worn, he stumbles upon Salthill, a ranch in British Columbia owned by Irish immigrant, the aristocratic Grey St. Ogger, who welcomes him and gives him a job. Over the next five years these two men bond in a special way. Grey's own son Gordon decides he wants to become a doctor, much to the dismay of this family of horsemen. Harris seems to step into the role of an adopted son. Sister Flavia marries and starts her family. Grey helps Harris buy a nearly wild horse, Red, who becomes one of the most well drawn animal characters I've read. Barnes encompasses and brings to life the independence and passion of this amazing horse. Daughter Elsa who was left in Ireland with an abusive grandmother early in life goes to school and magically returns a young woman. Elsa's and Harris' chemistry connects in an exploding passion that despite her youth and the difference between their races cannot be denied. Barnes takes the novel fully into this steamy, seemingly ill-fated romance. Harris feels something between guilt and betrayal toward his benefactor Grey despite his inability to resist Elsa's advances. This lead Harris to pack up and leave. The novel jumps years ahead as the consequences of this unresolved romance come to light as well as the hidden history behind the St. Oggers of Salthill. As Barnes writes him, Harris is hardly the most likeable of protagonists, an abrupt man who is haunted by his history as well as drawn by his ability. Elsa, a talented artist and painter, has a bit of the Irish vinegar running in her veins as the two bash and smash at coming to terms with their illogical and irresistible romance. By the conclusion the novel seems to have run its course rather than achieving a magical denouement. This is an excellent read that makes us hope for more magic in Barnes' sophomore effort. Enjoy!

I read a good review of Salthill in the Globe & Mail. It talked about the lyric writing and full-bodied characters. Besides, I like horses! So I bought the book. Salthill turned out to be about lots of other things too; family and redemption, and the nature of love. It's not a light read, but it was so involving the pages seemed to fly by. The setting, a horse ranch in the Canadian wilderness in the 1940s, was intriguing. I would recommend Salthill to anybody.

Barnes' mastery of imagery is superlative. She has written a thoughtful, entertaining and powerful novel. If you don't read it, you'll never know.