Peter Miller's work is marked by both personal and professional integrity. His writing always is clear, sensitive, funny, sympathetic to the subject unless he isn't, and layered with well researched meaning like a fine painting. His photography is as unwavering as the agreement in an old time Vermont handshake.

When Peter Miller hit the roads of the Great Plains to photograph and write about its people, it was a journey of discovery as much as a quest for stories, information and images. His discoveries are as significant, beautiful and moving as the stories and images in People of the Great Plains. This is a book every reader, every lover of fine photography, every person interested in the soul of America will want to have.

I am surprised to be the first reader reviewing this book, but accept the honor of setting the table. But why no other reviews? This book is beautiful in every department; Miller's photography is stunning, often provocative, and his portraits of a people shine in the pages, capturing the tenacity, grit, and joy of Great Plains life. Miller wisely lets everyone tell their own stories and saves most of his own remarks for the book's introduction and conclusion. He also rightly includes the stories of our indigenous peoples remaining on the reservations, whose ancestors held their own stories of the land long before Europeans arrived. Plains history includes both beauty and tragedy.

The book deserves its award for visual excellence. Miller includes several panoramic shots, only appropriate considering the ocean-like vastness of the landscape. He also shows us the people in a way that, combined with the text, almost makes you feel you've been introduced to them in person. This book honors them, and if they had the chance to read it I hope they would agree.

Plains people, of course, are no more or less important than anyone else. But if this book were, say, "People of the Strip-Mall Towns," I don't think it would have quite the same appeal. It seems Great Plains life is in many ways endangered, not only its economy but also, more importantly, its ideals. What is it like to have roots, a heritage? What is freedom, good work? These questions beg to be asked as we careen through our microchipped, catch-me-if-you-can Information Age, a beat to which America marches faster each year. The future can never--and should not--be exactly like the past, but nevertheless there are many things worth saving. Read this book and you may understand.

An excellent and concise guide to the astonishing buildings to be found in downtown Chicago. The book covers the great buildings of the 19th century to modern skyscrapers by Mies, SOM, Murphy/ Jahn, KPF, Perkins & Will, et. al.

The book is great because of its clear structure and handy size; downtown is divided into 3 neighborhoods each with their own map with buildings keyed by number. The 100+ buildings are then each given their own page w/ an architects fine line drawing of the building (some with close up details) on top and description below. There's also a glossary of Chicago archi-terms and everything is indexed by building and architect. The writing is user-friendly and often very entertaining -- brief historical backround of building and architect, followed by incisive an commentary as to WHY the building is famous and how it fits into the ongoing story of Chicago's architecture.

One of the best portable guides to buildings that I have used in any city--highly recommended.

As a long-time fan of Access Guides and of the city of Chicago, I was pleased to find this pocket guide to Chicago architecture. Loved the history and all the visual detail "explained" that made it easy for me to visit and observe. This is a "must-have" for visitors and architecture buffs as well. It spurred me on to pick up the "skyline Chicago" videos. As well done as any Ken Burns documentary, these are great -- loved Chicago's Neighborhoods in particular.

Once I began the book I never put it down. Bruce lived five blocks away from me in the same era. I especially remember Shortcake and Roy Beatty. They were friends of mine too. Bruce's recollection of Frank's restaurant was poignant although I didn't remember the dirt, just the heavenly(?) taste of a tenderloin sandwich. As to Old man Pierce, I too was chased from the premises, albeit not for the same reasons. My home was across from Scarrit grade school. Bruce no doubt played baseball there too. I do remember Lykins Square where we played the kids from "south of Independence Avenue" on many occasion, probably losing more than we won. This was a great step back to my own childhood. NE grad 1954.

This memoir of growing up in Kansas City in the 1950s is much more than nostalgia. It is an evocation of the importance of baseball in a young person's life, the ambitions of youth, and the impact of family, friends and neighbors. The characters are wonderful, and the whole book is beautifully written. It's a good read, humorous and poignant.

Want to find a great guide for an enjoyable cycling adventure on the Katy Trail across Missouri? While this "escape" is only one of many covered in Gustafson & Jarrett's "Great Escapes from St. Louis", it is worth the price of the book alone. My husband and I have enjoyed several weekend bicycle trips along the trail made more enjoyable by their recommendations for historic sites, restaurants and our favorite experience; staying in a bed & breakfast. Pick up this book if you want to plan a bike trip from beginning to end! It is enjoyable reading while you locate valuable information that takes the guess work out of your travel planning. The authors convince you to travel our part of the country and experience the fun they obviously had while researching this book.

I have lived in Kansas City area for 15 years and had no idea there was so much too see and do here. I had heard about these attractions, but the authors really captured their character and liveliness. Seeing our city through another's eyes made us realize how much we have to offer. We also went to St. Joseph and enjoyed seeing the museums described in the book. We definitely plan on using this book for more "Escapes," especially those to the east. These authors obviously put a lot of time and work into this publication.

A friend of mine had this book and we used it all the time because we were all over the city AND surrounding counties. I had to get one for myself. Chicago is so widespread that most single maps don't cover the entire area I need. This book covers all of the counties in the Chicago area. Very handy & worth the money.

I have an old edition (1995) of this atlas, and have found it very useful in finding the exact route to meet clients. Anyone that can read maps can find their way to anywhere in Cook and the collar counties with this durable spiral bound atlas. So good that I had to update it for Y2K.

In Rest Area Review: Northwest Edition, RV travelers Gerald and Sharon Hammon share their personal reviews for every roadside rest are in the states of Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. The provide the car, truck, and RV traveler with maps, details about amenities, the names and addresses of the state tourist bureaus, and more. Each of the 201 reviews is engaging, informative, and fun to read with generous infusions of humor and common sense. Rest Area Review: Northwest Edition is a regional, thoroughly user friendly travel guide, and a "must" for all motorized travelers passing through or touring the American northwest.

Review from the Dec. 2000 issues of Bookwatch, the official newsletter of the Midwest Book Review. In Rest Area Review: Northwest Edition, RV travelers Gerald and Sharon Hammon share their personal reviews for every roadside rest area in the states of Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. They provide the car, truck, and RV traveler with maps, details about amenities, the names and addresses of state tourist bureaus, and more. Each of the 201 reviews is engaging, informative, and fun to read with generous infusions of humor and common sense. The book is a regional, thoroughly user friendly travel guide and a "must" for all motoring travelers passing through or touring the American northwest.

I am a friend, so I may be biased, but the first (Return to the Scene of the Crime) was so good, I was happy to see the second. Anyone who is interested in Chicago history, mystery, or geography will enjoy both these books. Richard's rich descriptions of both famous and long-forgotten cases create excellent backdrops for the events he narrates, and the information about the "then" and "now" of the communities in which they occur wrap up the stories neatly.

I don't know how author Rich Lindberg comes up with his material, but he has a knack for story-telling, and this true-crime anthology is just as good, if not better than the first volume in the series, "Return to the Scene of the Crime: A Guide to Infamous Places in Chicago." The sequel features the story of the executed Nazi spy, Herbert Haupt, captured on the North Side in 1942. It is particularly timely, given the ponderous debate over what to do with the captured American Taliban, John Walker. In 1942, Haupt slipped into Chicago and was promptly seized by the FBI, tried, convicted and executed within a few months. This is but one of an amazing assortment of stories lost to history. The "Vampire Woman" of Hammond is another, and the two female "Torso Killers" of Wrigleyville is quirky, amazing, and gruesome but one that I never heard of until now. This chilling crime of passion happened in 1935, proving once again that the daily dose of violent and heinous crime we hear about we are subjected to on the news every night is not exclusive to our modern times. Blanche Dunkel and Evelyn Smith, the two North Side femme fatales, chopped up the victim Irvin Lang in 1935. Lindberg's research on this case is meticulous: he even looked up their parole dates, and unlike other authors who leave us hanging once the suspects are arrested and tried, he tells us the rest of the story. This book is not only crime told with grim irony, an occasional dash of cynicism, and much pathos, it is a moving account of the City of Chicago, and the people that shaped its destiny for good and bad. Lindberg is a fine writer, and it will be interesting to see what he comes up with next.

Perhaps it has to do with living in the Midwest or on Lake Michigan, but 'The River Home' hit home in more than one way. Jerry Dennis brings out all the humor, irony and mishaps that anglers experience. I just didn't know these things happened to others until I read about them! He breaks down the pleasures of life and fishing to the simplest forms. Can't wait to break out the fly rod in spring!

"Big trout are greedy," writes Jerry Dennis in one of the nineteen essays and five short stories that make up this splendid collection.

And as a writer, Dennis is as greedy as a big trout. He feeds voraciously on the facts, observations, insights and conclusions which tell him that as a writer he is alive.

Both long-time fans of Dennis's work and newcomers alike will find "The River Home" to be a special treat. Those familiar with his early book of fishing essays, "A Place on the Water" as well as his two books of natural history, "It's Raining Frogs and Fishes" and "A Bird in the Waterfall" will be able to trace his growth as a writer. Those who aren't will be amazed at the style at which Dennis has arrived at this point in his career.

I'll leave the official pronouncement of "a classic form" to wiser and more experienced reviewers. But in this book, Jerry Dennis has elevated the typical "outdoor" essay, usually a mere recollection of adventures while hunting, fishing, camping, canoeing, or pursuing other outdoor activities. He has transcended the typical by blending in elements of "nature" writing: observation, research, speculation about the world in which the sportsman places himself. And for Dennis, this world is not merely part of the background; it is part of the fabric of the experience in which he wraps himself.

For example, in the initial essay, "Home Again," as easily as he'd don a favorite pair of worn blue jeans, he slips into a discussion of the geological impact of glaciers on the part of Michigan where he lives. And in "Big Troug in Condor Country" he takes time out from taking you trout fishing to explain the topography of the Rio Puelo Valley and the lives of the people there.

If you want comparisons, I'll offer: Dennis is like John McPhee in that he speaks with authority based on exhaustive research and experience; the facts have become his own. He is like Walt Whitman who! wrote, "What I shall assume you shall assume." In places Dennis speaks of "we" and you quickly learn to trust his conclusions.

Whitman also wrote: "Do I contradict myslf? Very well then I contradict myself (I am large, I contain multitudes)

Contradictions didn't bother Whitman and they don't bother Dennis. In one essay, with a simple pejorative, he dismisses Thoreau's advice that a person be content to explore a few acres in a lifetime. But in another, whose title itself is a quote from ol' Henry David, "Simplify, Simplify" he paraphrases: "I am determined to live life deliberately. I refuse to fritter my life away on details ..."

Then again, perhaps he's not contradicting himself. Perhaps he is just being picky.

In addition to being greedy, big trout can also be selective.

A fantastic collection of images of the city of Rochester. Whether you were just a visitor to the city or are a lifelong resident of the community, Riggott's book captures the beauty of the city in page after page. The images are beautiful, timeless and are perfect memories of the incredible city.

Having lived in Rochester for a time, I know that Dean has effectively captured the essence of the city with this book of photographs. Everything here could be framed and put on my living room wall. Looking through this book makes it seem as though I still live there. Great work!

If you're looking for a spectacular coffee table book that's also a great read, this is it!

C.J. and Edna Elfont - a husband-wife team of amazing talent - have combined their uniquely complementary skills to create a truly unique creation in Sand Dunes of the Great Lakes. What makes this book special is that it's a spirit-inspiring BLEND of the photographic art with the literary art. C.J. is the photographer; Edna is the writer.

The book's 144 pages contains a breath-taking photo on nearly every page. And these aren't your usual postcard pictures of sunrises and sunsets. They're truly art. Each one grabs your attention and dazzles your imagination, and makes you wonder "How in the world did they see that ... and capture it on film?"

The photography alone makes this an awesome piece. But the addition of the poetry and prose elevates it to the sublime. Amazingly, the prose explains the geo-scientific origins of the sand dunes through the eye of the artist. ("The masses of moving iced filled once green valleys, seeking the paths of least resistance. As the glaciers moved, they scraped and scoured the earth, trapping rocks, soil and anything else in their path.")

But what ultimately takes this book into a realm of its own is the poetry. I loved it. Appearing here and there are beautiful five-line poems (known as cinquain poetry). Each one pertains to an adjacent photo. I found that first I gazed at the photo, marveling at its beauty, then read the poem next to it, and, finally, went back to the photo to see it in a whole new light and appreciation. This book isn't just photos combined with prose and poems, it is - believe it or not - artistic SYNERGY!

In short, this book is a unique, awe-inspiring blending of photographic and literary art that depicts and explains an aspect of our natural, environmental heritage in a way never before done. You won't be disappointed.

It is that. The photography by CJ Elfont is technically superior, vivid and dramatic, ranging in subject from the grand vistas of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park to the intimate closeup of a Pink Lady's Slipper. The photos give a sense of the distinctness of each of the dunes and their environments all along the western coast of Michigan.

But it is more than a visually stunning book; it is also very informative. Edna Elfont's text takes the reader through the geologic history of the formation of the dunes, the forces that constantly shift the sands, and their flora and fauna. My favorite section is "Then There Was Sand," a wonderful essay on the uniqueness of the Great Lakes granite sand, and its qualities: "Unlike the qypsum sand of White Sands, New Mexico or the calcite sand in Bermuda, the sand of the Great Lakes coastal dunes slips through one's fingers like granulated silk." p. 37

It is clear that this couple has a deep love for the dunes and the nicely matched skills to articulate them verbally and visually.