This is another well written, intense and interesting novel by Kate Horsley. She pulls readers into her stories and keeps them there. You may not always agree with what she has to say but you must agree that it keeps you thinking. I am buying the other Kate Horley's that I haven't read yet, today!

Horsley's revisisionistic view of the period provides historical insight into a period of rampant exploitation. Beyond that it is one woman's story of redemption. The story centering around a woman searching for her children who have been taken on a "nature trip" in the mountains soon comes to realize that no matter how horrible the acts of man, if the powers that be support the actions the perpetrators either individually or collectively can get away with the most heinous of crimes.

This book is incredible -- an honest and sensitive portrait of life in the changing Sonoran desert. I picked it up yesterday and haven't been able to stop looking at it since. Apart from the photography, there are two wonderful essays. In the second, "Another Country", Thomas E. Sheridan tells of falling in love with a place in a way that speaks intimately to my own experience of and passion for Mexico. But I'd better stop before I give a whole dissertation... Buy this book! You won't regret it.

Superb black and white photographs, with accompanying essays, concentrate on ordinary people. The result transcends its geographic region; this is about people who just happen to live in Sonora. Winner, Border Regional Library Association's 1998 Southwest Book Award.

A LAND SO REMOTE

Prior to the holidays, I received a great gift, a copy of the beautifully produced three-volume study A Land So Remote, authored by Larry Frank and Skip Miller, and published by Marianne and Michael O'Shaughnessy of Red Crane Books, Publishers, Santa Fe.
Creation of a successful publication of this magnitude can only be accomplished by many who work in concert, in this case scholar, editor, publisher and, of course, those who are willing to share their treasures with anyone wishing to turn the pages in this landmark study. Frank and Miller have devoted a large percentage of their lives carefully studying and painstakingly handling objects-some of religious importance, powerful images that were the subject of daily devotion, while other objects that served a useful function in the lives of hundreds of thousands attempting to make their lives easier. To the Hispanic, Native American, and the Anglo, these objects were an integral part of daily life-whether as an expression of their spirituality, their intense religious devotion-- or to enable them to perform certain physical tasks-- cutting wood or baking bread.
The authors, in concert with photographer Michael O'Shaughnessy, have treated each object sympathetically, whether it be a santo or bulto, or packsaddle or carreta wheels, with the same level of care, even reverence. The real joy is in seeing so many diverse objects fashioned out of wood and other materials in significant numbers. How often have we had the opportunity of examining page after page of images beautifully organized and described. The authors, of course, treat us to a display of work by lesser known santeros, as well as the most celebrated, notably José Rafael Aragon. Volume two devotes pages 288 to 377 to some of the most powerful religious images by Aragon and his followers that the reader will ever experience.
Since 1974, I have been a frequent visitor to New Mexico and have written a few books on the Anglo painters. After reading Miller's and Frank's essays, I said to myself, "I wish I had written these words. Both scholars write with conviction and authority. They also write in a style I have labeled "an easy read." They have organized their material so that it makes sense. You understand why the objects were created, who created them and importantly, how they were created. Happily, these objects, some still in the churches in Ranchos de Taos, Chimayo, Taos, and chapels throughout the Southwest, others in museums and private collections, have been "gathered" and presented to the reader and viewer in a beautiful and effective manner (I was tempted to use the phrase elegant but refrained).
All reviews of the publication praise A Land So Remote for its visual appeal, handsome photographs," fascinating account of the history and culture of Hispanic New Mexico," scholarship, a major contribution to Hispanic studies. One critic even suggested that, before being placed in a glass case [with other rare books], it might serve as a coffee table book. Never! If anything, it will be a banquet table book, and will be the scene of great feasts-visual and literary. But their words, like mine, fail to express the impact this handsome three-volume study will have on you-the participant. This study will, like the objects that it treats, transcends time. Secure your copy. I can assure you that it will never gather dust (although it will go out-of-print).

Dean A. Porter, Ph. D.
Director Emeritus, The Snite Museum of Art
Professor of Art History
University of Notre Dame

Published by the vaunted Red Crane Books of Santa Fe, New Mexico, this three volume set on religious art and wooden artifacts of New Mexico is a rare, rich visual and intellectual repast. It would be a treasured gift, one to which collectors and aficionados will return time and again.

Larry Frank is remembered for "The New Kingdom of the Saints" (1997), while Skip Miller is curator and director, Taos Historic Museums.

With 842 stunning color photographs and 848 pages A Land so Remote surely holds the most comprehensive and accessible information on this subject. Many of the photos included are of rare objects gleaned from nine museums and a number of private collections. Carefully selected for the part each plays in this artistic corpus, photos are accompanied by concise essays that enhance knowledge while still piquing an interest to know more.

Volumes I and II beautifully present the growth of religious art during a period of over 125 years. It was a time when in order to undergird their faith Spanish settlers turned to santos, visual representations of saints. Thus was born an art form unique to America which once was of great import in churches, communities and homes.. Santos were, if you will, incarnations of the hopes and dreams of these immigrants.

"Rightly understood," author Frank remarks, "santos are a kind of 'liberation theology' written in the language of wood, plaster, and paint, an understanding of Christianity that empowers the poor to free themselves from unjust socioeconomic and cultural structures in the larger world and within themselves.

Volume III centers on wooden objects, such as tools, furniture, toys, and domestic utensils. These objects testify to the influence of the Spanish on the traditions of the indigenous inhabitants of this region.

Photographer Michael O'Shaughnessy described his task as a "...wonderful, often awesome, experience of having such close contact with material that radiates the love and importance that their makers brought to their creation."

Such is the case with readers as they leaf through the pages of these landmark volumes.

- Gail Cooke

John Nichols is always a joy to read. He is the John Stenbeck of our time. No one combines art and social views so beautifully as he does.

My grandmother gave this beautiful book to me for Christmas the year it was published. (I believe it was 1980 or 1981). I feel madly in love and am still madly in love today. I re-read this book every year in October, it has become a most beloved ritual. I took a chance in early 1992 and wrote to John Nichols and was I ever surprised! He wrote me back. I have two copies and now that they have a new edition, I plan on buying it too! I have a hard back signed copy that I treasure and I know it is authentic because the signature is exactly the way he signed his letter to me. Read this book and plan to be thoroughly enchanted. I was and still am after almost 20 years.

Davis Ford has compiled a labor of love, this by capturing the thoughts, ideas and personas of an era that is quickly leaving us. Just as Tom Brokow has referred to those who participated in WWII as members of a great generation, so are those whom Dr. Ford memoralizes in his book. You can almost hear the campfire crackle as the cowboys discuss their lives in a time soon to be remembered only by the false pictures generated by Hollywood of men who are truely of the ages. Everyone who has even sat astride of a horse, or watched John Wayne in action, needs to read this book to hear the true story of the American west and the men who made history, and won a country, in their own quiet way. This book will be read 100 years from now by those who want to know the true story of the American west and those that left their own personal brand on our country.

In his excellent book, The Last Cowboy, Davis Ford creates a colorful mosaic not only of Leroy Webb but also of many other authentic cowboys - as well as the development of an entire region. The format of the book enhances the story with quotes encased in barbed wire, action pictures, regional maps and appropriate quotations interspersed in the text. The Last Cowboy is an outstanding chronology of an era told through ancestral history, geographical details and economic facts woven into telling the life story of Webb. It is a pleasure to read this well-researched and well-crafted history, augmented by humorous anecdotes and the personal observations of the author.

A wonderful book full of the rich flavor of the U.S.-Mexican border. Different writers bring the reader to the border through different reports about the region. Excellent book for border culture lovers. Different writers, different flavors of border culture.

From El Planeta Platica journal - Subtitled "Reports from a didsappearing line," this book may be one of the best collection of border essays and insights. I've heard of the Cinco Puntos Press for several years, but never came across their publications until recently. The editors have wisely chosen to include some of the best writers from the region instead of the usual hash of academics. Writers, such as Maz Aguilera-Hellweg, talk about cross-cultural childhoods. Debbie Nathan eloquently describes her city - El Paso - with free trade and cholera. The ever-present Gary Paul Nabhan documents his trek looking for night-blooming cacti. When I wasn't laughing, I was crying. How often can you really say that about a book?

From Rosemary Boyd, Editor, Laurel Press: "Renate Horney is one of the most vibrant and energetic, yet 'mellow,' people I've ever met. An octogenarian who radiates youthful enthusiasm, she is constantly on the go. One could read her memoir simply to absorb the attitudes suitable for enjoying a gratifying and fruitful older age if the book weren't so much more. The following excerpted comments from some of her readers express how much more."

From Sara Reimer, writer for the NY Times: "Once I started reading "Lazarus, What's Next?" I couldn't put it down. I wish it had been twice as long--I wanted more. You've had the most extraordinary life and I loved the warm, funny, and honest voice you found to tell your tale. It was happy and sad and profound all at once. I laughed out loud..."

From Jeanne W. Frank, writer: "The book is wonderful. It has all the elements of a page-turner: spontaneity, thoughtfulness, honesty, and the joy of life."

From Laurie Linda: "I've read countless biographies and memoirs, but I found yours to be absolutely spellbinding. I literally could not put it down, enjoying every moment."

It's is a great book that transports you to a world full of adventures some happy and others hard, but always finding the bright side of life and of things. It made me feel the same things Renate felt and made me laugh when she enjoyed life. I think this is a superb book but also the story of her life is an example for everybody, to learn that there is only one life and one must live it to the fullest.

This book offers a wonderfuly different and fascinating version of the legend of La Llorona, as well as another view of the very interesting and controversial historical figure La Malinche. The reader sees a fictionalized but possible glimpse into the heart of a woman who helped Cortes bring down the Aztec empire, who bore the first mestizo children, who was considered a traitor to her people. This is definitely a book people should read, especially those who are interested in Mexican culture, history, and legend.

This book is a wonderfully creative way of looking at the legend of La Llorona, as well as at a very interesting and controversial historical figure, La Malinche. The reader is able to get a fictonalized but very possible glimpse into the heart of the woman who helped Cortes bring down the Aztec empire, who bore the first mestizo children, who was considered a traitor by her people. This is definitely a book that people should read, especially those who are interested in Mexican culture, history, and legend.

This a great book for two reasons. First, the stories are interesting and well-written. Second, if you are learning Spanish, as I am, the dual language is very helpful. Read Spanish on one side and check yourself on the other. The author has written another book or two which are very good too!

Contemporary bilingual stories collected from the day-to-day life by a master storyteller

The Little Ghost Who Wouldn't Go Away/El Pequeno Fantasma Que No Queria Irse is a bilingual (English and Spanish) storybook for young readers, about Rebecca Garcia, a young girl determined to learn why a little ghost continues to quietly haunt the mountain community of El Rito in New Mexico. A warm and engaging story about discovery and emotion, The Little Ghost Who Wouldn't Go Away is nicely illustrated by Kris Hotvedt with a handful of black-and-white drawings.

Having lived in northern new mexico for most of my life, I can relate to this book. My kids love it and ask me to read it to them again and again and again.