This book provided a view into the Warm Springs Reservation, whether or not it is a realistic view remains to be seen. The "voices" the authors chose to include in the book were not the best "voices". Some of the people interviewed were newcomers to the reservation, had only lived on the reservation for a short period of time years ago, and a couple were bigots who lived in the border town. Since the authors seemed to focus a lot on educational issues and youth issues, it would make sense to include interviews of youth. None were included. Also lacking in the book were the "voices" of tribal elders and leaders. Where were they? The authors give no explanation for the lack of these "voices". I believe that they would have provided important and informative viewpoints. Perhaps if the authors had included a list of interviews they tried to obtain, I might not have such a harsh opinion of the authors and their work.

This book does a great public disservice. The information in the book has not been updated in years and is terribly outdated. Quite a bit of the information is absolutely wrong. Send the publisher a message - don't buy the book until they update it. Save your money, there are much better, current books out there such as "Hot Springs and Hot Pools of the Southwest" & Northwest - which are updated ever two years

The only useful thing about this writer's books on hot springs are the USGS maps and the latitude/longitudes. I bought a book of his nearly 20 years ago and was thoroughly dissatisfied, & was incensed when it seemed to me he was more interested in providing info for the land yacht crowd. I wonder if his book alleging that the lunar landings were hoaxes is any better. I doubt it. He probably denies the Holocaust took place, too. If you want a book on hot springs, check out Jayson Loam's books. They are much better. If you want info on faked lunar landings, get the movie "Capricorn One."

We have tried one hot spring listing and enjoyed our hot soak, found one shut down, one remodeling and one a bit too pricey for us. Would like to see some reference to actual costs rather than than reasonable or free or deluxe. One place inacessible without 4 wheel drive but we will keep trying, the maps are good.

This was one of the worst purchases I have ever made. If I had looked at it in a bookstore, I never would have bought it. It is nothing more than a list, with a few scarce details of each campground. Granted, it lists every campground. But there is no way to distinguish betwen the very good and the very terrible, the details are so minimal. I am not always a fan of the review systems other books use, but at least most of them tell you why they like or dislike a location, and you can weigh those opinions in your decision of where to camp. This book tells you virtually nothing. I have looked up campgrounds I know very well. Not only do I not recognize them based on the descriptions, I can not find any reasons that I would choose them over any other campground. Save your money! Buy something else, ANYTHING else.

Don't buy this if you are looking for a tour book. This is a campground guide. The guide includes 471 Free Campgrounds. If you want to know where to see the sights...Don't buy this. But if you want to know where you can park your R.V. or put up a tent...then this is the book for you. Simple maps, easy to read.

This book has one great failing: the directions to the trailheads don't include distances. Believe it or not, once you're off the main highway, it is perfectly easy to drive right by the tertiary road that leads to the trailhead.

An example is found on page 264, which is the hike to Blue Lake: "Turn right and follow Highway 14 to the Wind River Road. Proceed up the Wind River to Road 65, the Panther Creek turnoff."

If the authors had told us how many miles it was to Road 65, and whether that's a left or a right turn, we might have had a hike that day instead of a very nice day trip by car through the foothills around Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams. Never did find Road 65.

I've enjoyed this book, and we've used it several times. The selection of hikes is good.

My only legitimate (in my mind) quibble with the book is directions to the trailheads are often cryptic. Not exactly wrong, but kind of difficult to follow.

The author doesn't always put in distances to certain landmarks, and for folks new to the area or new to hiking, that can be difficult.

This lack of detail can be especially exasperating in the wilderness areas around Portland, for which traditional road maps don't supply the enough info.

Being a long-time Seattle-dweller, and even longer-time Western Washington native, this book irritates me. The author hasn't spent enough time in Seattle to truly appreciate the wonderful things about the city, not to mention he consistently dates both himself and the text by referring to events/people/places that are no longer in rapid use in the Seattle vernacular/mindset. Seattle is about MORE than coffee, grunge (ugh.. could that irritating phase have passed more quickly?), Microsoft, Boeing and rain. I'd recommend the Fodor's and Lonely Planet series to anyone who really wants a good feel for the city. Fodor's may be snooty, but at leats it's up-to-date instead of dated.

I very recently relocated to Portland, and getting prepared for my move I went searching for guidebooks. Since the title word "Irreverent" caught my eye, I was thinking this book would be a great "insider's look" to Portland and its quirks.

Now that I am living in Portland, I found that this text lacks severely in the "insider's look" aspect. I would especially NOT recommend this for younger people like myself. This "insider's look" is definitely not geared towards my generation. For example, the flannel and torn up jeans look is so outdated, yet the author writes about Portland fashion like it's a crime to not look like you just rolled out of bed. For much better insider's info, pick up a free Willamette Week when you get to Portland.

This guidebook does have its merits. It is written more personally than many guidebooks, it's easy to follow, and it has its humorous moments. However, you can find better (and free) technical info (where to stay, how to get where you want to go, best bets for visitors, etc.) at the Portland visitor's website, or at Pioneer Square in downtown Portland. For a good guidebook for "Generation X", and those about to relocate to the Pacific Northwest, I would highly recommend Best Places Portland. It provides much more detail and I find that the price guidelines are super helpful for people like me living on a limited budget.

Had I relied solely on Frommer's Irreverent Guide to guide me through Portland, I believe I would have been completely lost upon getting here. Save your money for a movie and a beer at a McMenamins theater.

Though I appreciated its humor, this book was a little lacking on some of the basic necessities in living in Portland. The sections dedicated to parks and recreation, for example, don't mention as much as you would want. On the other hand, it gives excellent background, trivia, and local interest facts. It's a fun book, but if you want something a little meatier, I recommend the City Smart Guidebook of Portland by Linda Nygaard.

This book is a compilation of three reprints of significant geologic papers first published in 1924 and 1948. While the works offered here are now classics, and it is nice to have them readily available, geology has moved far beyond the information offered here. Thus, the book is of minimal use to people who wish to learn about Oregon's geology as we know it in 2002.
This supposedly scholarly book should include information about the importance and significance of these original papers (reprinted in their original format) and chapters of updated geologic information . But it does not, and the casual and unwary "lay" reader may be mislead.
For example, the 1924 paper by E.T. Hodge proposes that three volcanoes in Central Oregon are the remnant of one massive peak which he dubs Mount Multnomah. But now we know that there was never any such mountain, and that Three Sisters are separate volcanoes with different histories. The other two papers, written in 1948, may be more useful, but they are also understandably out of date, and readers who wish to keep current on Oregon's geology would do well to look elsewhere.

Dennis and Diane Nason adopted over eighty children, as well as having some six or more biological children of their own. At the time this book was written, they had perhaps thirty of those children, all of which are pictured here, and their adoptions detailed in the various chapters. In this book, all seems idylic. All these children have been brought together and are being loved and cared for and respected and woven into a family -- a celebration family. And when I first read this book, I enjoyed it, even if it is not terribly well written. However, I now cannot separate this account from what happened some twelve years after it was written.

In 1995, Dennis and Diane Nason stood trial on charges of racketeering and abuse. Three of their children were dead, perhaps from neglect. Stories of cattle prods and cages were circulating. While the Nasons were acquitted from the charges that they deliberately harmed their children, they were convicted of racketeering, and all but three of their children were removed from their home. They are understandably disillusioned. Unfortunately, so am I.

Yes, the Celebration Family sounds good. It sounds right. I would like to believe the joy and christian good faith portrayed here. But I can't. I need the whole story. Although Diane says she is unlikely to write another book, I think she should. I think she should tell what really happened -- after it all fell apart.

We recently used this guide in selecting a short day hike. The loop we selected came across as very straightforward so we took off without consulting additional maps. We were annoyed to find ourselves off the loop twice after coming to trail junctions not included in the guide map. Upon returning home we looked at another guide book we had considered 'out of date', only to find that both trail junctions where we had been misled were clearly marked.

Plot Synopsis: "Danica Morgan had fashioned her own success. First as a top model, then -- secretly -- as a best-selling novelist. She had had enough of the limeliight. She swore she would have nothing to do with Bay Spencer. She would not take the leading role in his movie. She would not be a star. And she would not be one of the women he used so casually and cast aside so brutally.

"But from the moment he appeared at her isolated Oregon beach house, his blue eyes flashing fire and ice, her resolve began to weaken. And before she knew it, she had walked into his trap. She loved him! Had she hidden for so long behind a mask of indifference only to be deceived by a man who wore a mask of passion -- who would go to any lengths, determined to have his way?"

I picked this one up because I've been going through Kay Hooper's back catalog. This, like many of her earlier works, is a category romance. Many of her earlier stories hold up well to the test of time; they are charming, whimsical, fun little reads. This, however, is not one of them.

"Mask of Passion" is straight along the guidelines for early 80's romance. Lots of passion and intensity, both good and bad, and very little of anything that I would describe as "love." There is almost-forced sex ("overcome by passion" -- bah), and lots of jealousy and misunderstanding. It's not -bad-, but it is dated, and for anyone, like me, that has been raised on more modern sensibilities, it's a little tough to take.

A lot of Hooper's early works are worth picking up. Along the lines of her recent trio of reprints, "Enchanted," many of them are amusing reads worth a lazy summer afternoon. This one, though, isn't really worth the money you'll pay for it.

This book, which covers the life of perhaps the most important Oregon politician of the first half of the 20th Century, describes the life of McNary in dry, pedestrian terms. There is very little insight into McNary's character. Most of the book is merely a litany of his political achievements. Still, it does provide a good deal of information about the life of this important political figure.