I never imagined I would find someday something like this - a gay western romance! All the fantasies about gay cowboys and their life within the raw nature :-) I thought no one would ever write a book about it. But someone did - and he did such a wonderful job!
"Bristlecone Peak" and its two sequels "The protectors" and "Home to Kentucky" center around two equally amazing protagonists, the life-experienced Wiley Deluce and the innocent, friendly Jake Brady, the latter fresh from Kentucky and in danger either to get killed or get married, in this case two comparable destinies ;-)
These two strong, handsome men meet and within an hour it is clear to Wiley, Jake and the reader, of course, that they are meant for each other and have to stay together for life.
And with this the adventure begins, including many dangers they have to face, many friendship they share with other wonderful characters they get to know and many quiet, loving moments they spend only in each others company.
All this is so amazingly written, so exciting to read, the humour so enjoyable I am sure every reader will love them as much as I do after reading this first book in the authors "Legend of the golden feather" series. It ends with quiet a cliffhanger so you have to buy all three books but don't worry: it is worth every little penny :-))
So buy it and then help me pestering the author to write more such smashing books!

What a ride! The "Legend of the Golden Feather" series, of which Bristlecone Peak is Book One (a fourth episode is in the works) is a well-written, gripping, homespun adventure right out of the old movie serials, or TV's Lone Ranger, Bonanza, Have Gun, Will Travel --- chock full of authentic Western history, locations and characterizations, but with one added twist. The heroes are gay!

The Greeks have their myths, the Romans their commentaries, the medieval monks their hourbooks, the Japanese their tales of the shoguns, the Egyptians their books of the dead...and the Americans have the Wild West, a time and place of vigor, greed, virtue, vice, valor, deceit, and adventure. In other words, a microcosm of all human history.

Until now an important aspect of that predominantly male society has been ignored, except for scholarly treatises buried in university libraries. The Old West was truly a place where men were men, where Puritan prudishness and prejudice (except towards the Indian) were often left on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River as men seeking a better life wandered westward. Yup, there were cowboys and wranglers and hostlers and miners and homesteaders and cattlemen who, if only for lack of female society, found spiritual -and physical- refuge in the arms of another man.

Until Bristlecone Peak by Dave Brown, the West has been cheated of an undeniable part of its history, i.e. men with men, and in a way more intimate than just cowpokin'! But the book is no dry and serious study of old diaries or suppressed confessions, but rather a work of fiction based on the author's intensive studies, a rip-roarin' adventure sure to satisfy the modern adult grown cynical with age, tired of impersonal technology and its attendant social isolation. We live at a time that yearns after the innocence and carefree joy in life which seems to have vanished with adolescence. Dave Brown offers any reader the opportunity to escape the rat race and find the wonder of youth once more, but mixed with the passions and experience of a grown-up to offer a more stimulating involvement.

The book's heroes, Jake Brady and Wiley Deluce, find one another in the Colorado mining town of Alma some 20 years after the Civil War. Their reasons for being there are quite different, as are their personalities. Jake is a 24-year-old Kentucky farm boy, full of youthful exuberance and wide-eyed wonder for the whole world and all that is in it. Wiley hails from Vermont. college educated in Boston, last residing in Philadelphia before his trip West, a man who has already at age 25 reached some cynicism in life, and who carries with him a shady past. Around the two protagonists author Brown weaves a tale of burgeoning friendship and love set against obstacles of trumped-up revenge, cattle-rustling, crooked lawyers, the fabled woman wronged, the injustices committed against Native Americans, all the while avoiding the Hollywood clichés. Brown writes in a clear and direct English that matches the comparable simplicity of the era he portrays. In other words, Eastern sophistication melts before manly straightforwardness!

Whenever an author can create characters which remain in the reader's memory as though they had been real people, actual experiences, then such a writer has proved the rare talent of intimate communication only a book can yield. Those addicted to computer games or home video are missing a very human component in their diversions, and education. Brown's Jake and Wiley are so real that when one finishes reading the series, he sorely misses their almost palpable presence, the vicarious friendship mediated by the books. In fact, no gay man can help but fall for country boy Jake, his aw-shucks innocence coupled to common sense observation of life; his confident rejection of hetero tyranny supported by his very private dependence on a country-style sentiment of religion, or better, his personal, spiritual friendship with Jesus, as one would expect from such a man of simple farm upbringing and 3rd grade education. The reader cannot help but laugh at, and envy, Jake's heartwarming, youthful exuberance. But for all that, Jake is not simple-minded, not a cornpone country bumpkin, but rather an endearing, naturally wise young man unencumbered by the veneer of feminized East Coast civilization. His innate spirituality, his private friendship with a man Jesus rather than a cold, churchly icon, go hand-in-hand with Jake's sense of otherness in his lack of "normal" desires for women and consequent rejection by his father. These traits allow Jake to grasp better the sentiments, the betrayals and ostracism at the hands of white society endured by the Indians he encounters; and that portion which is Indian and different in Wiley, contributing on a subliminal level to their love. More importantly, this innate and natural spirituality which is the core of Jake's character allows him to better understand the pantheism of the Native American; and Wiley's part Iroquois heritage lends more underscore to the role Indian mysticism plays in the novels.

Incredibly, the Golden Feather series takes the reader on a journey that not only brings the Old West back to life, but also manages to tie it to directly as a plot device to the present day, a device this review will not spoil for the new reader! Suffice to say that the adventures which begin with Bristlecone Peak and run through the Legend series revolve around a fixed point: the friendship, the love, shared by Jake and Wiley through changing landscapes of mystery and danger, even of time. That is the adventure they selflessly share with every reader, reviving in him memories from adolescence of similar if less exotic loves and adventures. This is not to imply that the books are juvenile in the Tom Swift vein, but rather a portal back to the sensations of joy and anticipation before adulthood and a cold technological age robbed life of its sense of wonder. The beauty of a sunrise, the dignity of human struggle, the value of friendships, the virtue of tolerance, all are forgotten in front of a TV or computer CRT. That which is of lasting value, the human part in all of us, finds resuscitation in these beautiful books from the heart and soul of Dave Brown. Book Two of the Legend Series is entitled The Protectors; Book Three, Home to Kentucky. Book Four is in the pipeline scheduled for 2001.

At last, thanks to Carolyn Meyer and her remarkable first adult novel Brown Eyes Blue, we have a poignant, pithy story, rife with recognizable relationships among women spanning three generations, where the heroines are not all under forty with violet eyes. In fact, arguably my favorite character is Lavinia, an artist in her eighties who is scandalizing both family and community in her sleepy Pennsylvania town by her switch from painting bucolic country scenes to bringing naked men to life in full frontal view.

My five children grew up reading Meyer's award winning books for pre-teens and teens (she's written forty nine of them), and I read them through the years to keep pace with my kids developing knowledge of powerful women in the pantheon of world history. Meyer's many works on famous queens contributed to my daughters' belief that they could be anything they wanted to be and tweaked their imaginations as they donned regal garb to present plays in the garage and relegated their two brothers to playing their courtiers and jesters.

Now at last, Meyer has brought her vivid characterizations to life in a novel for me. In Brown Eyes Blue, through Lavinia, Dorcas, and Sasha, Meyer presents the difficult, often daunting, three generational family sandwich so many of us have lived through or are living. Dorcas, in her mid-fifties and struggling with her own dramatic change of life issues of career and romance, is caught off balance between an outspoken and hypercritical elderly mother who is showing signs of senility and a needy, twenty-something daughter whom Dorcas thought was safely launched into adulthood but who arrives back on mom's doorstep, seemingly the same troubled teenager who left home several years before.

As with her children's books, Meyer's novel is spare with overblown description that bogs you down but rich with metaphor and realistic dialogue that takes you there.

As someone who was once a Sasha, who has very recently played the role of Dorcas and who one day can only hope to be as colorful and entertaining as Lavinia, I feel highly qualified to recommend Brown Eyes Blue to other avid readers of fiction. It's a wonderful read and one can only hope that Carolyn Meyer is at work on her sequel.

Brown Eyes Blue is a wonderful book about the relationships that women have....with other women, with men, and with themselves. It made me think about the choices I have made in life, my expectations regarding romance and the times I have sold myself short. The characters are wonderful! This is the perfect book for a book club to read and discuss. I strongly recommend it.

I thought this was a great book. Character development was excellent. What a cast of sleezy, mob criminals. This book should be on everyone's summer reading list.

The Brown Stilt House is an awesome book! Short Chapters and an easy to follow plot, make this a real page-turner! David Baughman could really be the next great Southern writer. I highly recommend this book for its suspense-filled plot and great dialogue! I bought it and absolutely could not put it down until I was finished!

This book is fantastic! I truly enjoyed the stories leading into each recipe. It made me feel as if it let me into a warm and personal side of Joyce White's life. This made reading these recipes interesting and fun.

I've always had a problem with picking out fresh fruit. However, Brown Sugar takes the guesswork out of it. I was so enlighten with the details on how to select the freshest fruits. With the knowledge I've gained, I ventured into preparing a scrumptious dessert for friends. My choice was the "Fresh Berry Compote". It was a hit and the instructions were so easy to follow.

Brown Sugar is a wonderful soul food dessert book that I really enjoyed.

BROWN SUGAR: SOUL FOOD DESSERTS FROM FAMILY AND FRIENDS is a cookbook filled with mouth-watering, delicious treats. There are seven chapters in the book devoted to various sweet reasures including, cakes, cookies, pies, puddings, candies, ice cream, and fruit desserts. Inserted before each recipe is a homey vignette describing a personal experience of the author or contributor.

The recipes are easy to follow, and Ms. White provides common sense advice throughout the book on obtaining maximum results from the recipes. Even the novice baker will be able to follow the instructions and end up with winning results. BROWN SUGAR is a "must-have" cookbook for discerning and freshman bakers alike.

Reviewed by Diane Marbury (HonestD)
The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

The book was great. Everyone should read it.I've been waiting for a book like this. You go Delores and Cole!

I absoluetly loved the book. Me and my husband would read it together. I've been waiting for a book like this. My friends love the book, too. This is definetly a book everyone should read.

This wonderful collection of Peanuts cartoons was originally published in 1959. As with other Peanuts books, this one has two strips of four frames each, all of then from 1957-59. This means that these stories include Lucy, Violet, Pig-Pen and Schroeder, but not Sally or Rerun.

As with all of the Peanuts books, this one is absolutely great, and if you can get it, then do so! In it you will see Linus as a wild-eyed fanatic, Lucy as a bug-enthusiast, and Snoopy as a vulture!

As an aside, it is in this book that Charlie Brown first revealed (to his pencil-pal and us) that his father is a barber and his mother a housewife.

This book is the 7th every reprint book published by the Holt, Rinehart, and Winston company. This classic Peanuts book features strips from 1957-1959. You can also find these strips in a newer book titled "Fly, You Stupid Kite, Fly."

I first remember seeing one of Richard Brown's spectacular photographs on he cover of Country Journal, a magazine devoted to celebrating rural life styles that ran a span of several years in the early to late 1980s. Brown's stunning photographic style showcased the day-to-day confluence of ordinary Vermonters living their lives in the rural splendor of the Northeast Kingdom in the far reaches of the lovely "People's Republic Of Vermont". Often Country Journal would feature a number of his photos inside each issue, so one subscribing the magazine began to look for them both on the cover and inside, as well. Indeed, his work was what made me search for the latest issue at the beginning of each month.

Here he stuns us with the majesty of Vermont as it transpires the incredibly beautiful cycle of seasons in a way that only a photographer of such obvious abilities could. Herein he shares many of his favorites, and several of these I have seen before in other venues. The problem with a book filled with such gorgeously shot, developed and produced rural photographs is that one is tempted to carefully extract them for framing on the wall. They are really that terrific! Photographs range from shots of landscapes to silhouettes of a farmhouse steaming against the winter cold, from children walking down a dirt-covered tree lined country road exploding into autumn's extravagance to an elderly gentleman leaning against a barn with his favorite cat.

While gazing at the book, one sits transfixed by the sheer variety of scenes and colors so native to the rural landscapes and personal portraits. Brown shows us all of the changes that transpire in the North country, a place where the changes are so frequent and so momentous that they comprise six seasons, adding both the dreaded mud season of early springtime on the one hand, and the so-called 'off-season' after the autumn glory has been swept away, leaving cold bare trees and a hauntingly spare and vacant atmosphere to settle over the region on the other. Listen a few times to folksinger Tom Rush's rendition of "Urge For Going" a few times on the CD player and you will get the idea. Brown's imaginative hand is lovingly apparent in this book, displaying both the soulful visages of local inhabitants and the unique flavor of the haunting ever-changing scenery so typically Vermont. This is a distinctive and memorable recreation of what we love so much about being native new Englanders! Enjoy!

we have visited vermont many times this book captures all the beauty of this spectacular part of the world

Hardcopy book is excellent and a must especially for people with only one or two properties. I would expect that most professional landlords would know most of the information.

When we moved to a new home, we decided not to sell our old one but rent it out instead. However, we've heard a lot of nightmare stories about being a landlord, so the idea was pretty scary even though it makes sense for the long-term financially. This book gives you great advice and even examples of doing things the right way and the wrong way. I certainly had a lot of misconceptions about what was legal and what was not, and I think it would even be helpful even if one decided to hire a property management service just to understand liabilities. After reading this book, I feel comfortable that we've done everything in a legally correct way, and that we did a good job of screening our tenants. The forms provided give you everything you need to start renting out a place.

AS the other reviewer mentioned, most books on casting expect the student to be satisfied with one or two basic approaches to the art. Mac Brown takes the genre to a higher level by describing the physical forces that control casting and then suggesting a variety of techniques that enable the angler to present the fly in a variety of subtle and creative ways. Despite the clear writing, the book requires a certain degree of effort to master the material. It is time well spent. The author puts the reader in a position to deal with fly fishing much like the expert golfer deals with the short game--the cast (or shot) is different in many situations, but the tools are available to solve the problem presented by the river. Mac is also a great teacher and guide, for those who might be in Western North Carolina.

This was the most in depth and most useful text that I have read ever on the subject of fly casting. Most of the text dealing with fly casting always have a McDonald's (A,B,C...) approach. Mac's book, Casting Angles, brings out several dozen styles which can be tailored to the individual. His knowledge as a fly casting instructor is genius-he takes the reader to new realms in the last chapter entitled "Enlightenment Casting". This is a must read for all fly casters that are always seeking tips for improving their skill.

This is the most informative book that I have read regarding the Catawba Indians. My great grandmother was cherokee/catawba and lived on Indian Land in Fort Mill/Lancaster SC.

I have been trying to purchase this book even though it is "out of print". I keep hoping there will be a reprint, AND for those who have Indian heritage, this is a very good book for you to read. Very, very in-depth of Native American sufferings. "The Trail of Tears" and "The Catawba Indians: People of the River" are great books regarding our Native American Heritage.

I found the Kimbrells/Kimballs in it and my Kimbrell heritage is in the book. 5th great uncles were the first white men to speak Souian, Iriquorian, Saponi Indian languages for the early Virginia Colony. I am lucky to have read this book, which inspired me to seek out the Kimbrell Geneology.

I had no idea who The People of the River were, until I read the first page of Mrs. Summers book, she clarified and expanded my knowledge of these great people immensely. A cousin had informed me of my Catawba Roots, and I was desperately searching for some clue, and Mrs. Summers guided me throughout the book, in a historical and personal journey into the trials and tribulations of Indian life in the Carolina's. Her statements of facts, and her historical knowledge of the area and people of this great nation is unmatched. It is my hope that I one day find a copy of this great book, to mark the start of my own personal journey.