This book took me back, and walked me through California in the 1860s

This book is a lot of things. First, it's a marvelous description of what unmapped California was like--when Los Angeles had 4,000 inhabitants, and shootings every Saturday night. The physical descriptions of the state are very interesting. But it's also a sort of social record; Brewer stayed with families on his travels, and the description of life on these isolated homesteads is absorbing. Up and Down California is also, of course, an adventure story. Brewer and his companions traveled for four years, on foot, by horse, mule and steamer, throughout a vast and wild territory, sleeping outdoors in fine weather and foul. As I recall, the only time during this period when he was ill was when he spent a couple of nights in a hotel room! Last, the book is very moving; Brewer joined the California survey because of the death of his young wife and child in New England. The book is a compilation of his letters home to his family. After the survey was over he returned to Connecticut and had a very useful career in the new field of public health, as teacher and administrator. He was an honest man, a good writer, and dedicated public servant. The book is highly enjoyable, and it's not necessary to be a California to appreciate it!

Brewer was working for the Whitney survey of California's resources. The gold rush had slowed down, but excitment about finding new resources in California was at a fever pitch. I read the parts about New Almaden and New Idria first, because I am working at the New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum. Brewer's journals give very clear and interesting pictures of the mining towns at that time. Mary Halleck Foote's (Susan Ward's) letters of ten years later in "Angle of Repose" by Wallace Stegner, show a very similar picture . Brewer was a curious, brave and nice guy, so he had no trouble going wherever he wanted to go. All Californians should read this book.

This book is not understood by many people, mainly the white race is taking charge of black men in gangs, yeah many of us black men today gang bang today, and what are you all going to do about it? the only thing I can tell y'all is to take this seriously and you know this is a black thing, we are taking charge of our lives cuzz.

I thought this book would teach much out to young brothers that grow into this gang life and any child into a path of destruction, they need this book -Reid Korach

This book taught me more about the inner workings of gangs than any newspaper article or magazine piece I have ever read. Finally I have begun to grasp what is truly going on in the hearts and minds of gang members. It is a mind opening book and I encourage all people to read it especially educators.

Very comprehensive guide for those of us who love to haunt used bookstores in CA (et al). Useful information such as inventory sizes, specialities, phone numbers, special services, and more. Organized by state, city, and also several indices.

An invaluable take-along tote for any who consider a used book store visit an essential part of the trip. Choose the revised, expanded Used Book Lover's Guide To The Pacific Coast States if traveling in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska or Hawaii: it includes number of volumes, store specialty, and candid comments if the store was visited.

This newly updated and expanded addition of The Used Book Lover's Guide To The Pacific Coast States continues to insure its preeminence as the most comprehensive and important guide to the used bookstores and dealers in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii. Featured are 1,500 used book dealers conveniently grouped by location and category; a Specialty Index to help locate dealers specializing in a particular area of interest; easy to follow travel directions for getting where you want to go; twenty-four city, regional and state maps to aid in planning book hunting trips; and practical comments about shops based on the David and Susan Siegal's personal visits. If you are a true bibliophile or antiquarian book dealer traveling the area, don't leave home without your copy of The Used Book Lover's Guide To The Pacific Coast States!

By far the most thorough and comprehensive text on the teen drug subculture. It's the only text I have seen that follows the subjects for an extended time period- in this case 30+ years. The depth of inside information on the subculture is second to none. You won't be disappointed.

Fr. Lowney has years of sociological real life experience all recorded in this book. I was shocked from the statistics of drug use/abuse, it certainly brought me out of "The Cave". Kudos for telling it how it is...

This book is thorough--covers 31 years of research, but presents a very human understanding of my generation. It combines the story of the young people with the author's own life journey (he even enters the priesthood during the course of his research). Brings back some great (and not so great--now that I think about them) memories!

Recently received my copy of "Windows on the Past..." and just loved it! Sue Gutierrez has truly captured Carlsbad's history, from its early beginnings to the present day. I was very impressed by how she managed to make her historical facts come to life, as well as her careful use of photographs, maps, and first-hand accounts...a great read! I highly recommend this book, and am looking forward to other works by this author!

Reading the book makes me want to visit carlsbad,california again.

For anyone who has visited California and tried to imagine what it looked like before the freeways, urban sprawls, masses of people, Windows on the Past, will take you back in time, back to 1769 and Spain's "Sacred Expedition" and bring you forward through the decades to a modern-day, beautiful city. I got a laugh in the opening lines of the chapter on Carlsbad's school system which the author describes as "challenging". The picture of the Carlsbad School and it's students was particularly fun to look at, as well. The book is packed with wonderful, and rare, photos which bring the author's words alive. A great read!

This is the first book of poetry that didn't leave me feeling ill after reading it. This is true life without all the cosmetic work made to spice it up into something it isn't. Instead we get the real thing, which is more interesting. Wonderful work from a talented writer. Hope to see something else from this writer in the near future. I recommend this book for anybody interested in real poetry from the heart.

Somehow I'm under the impression that poetry books are meant to be read a poem at a time, thoughtfully relished and slowly. I read Wishbone like a bestseller paperback, page after page consumed in the subliminal drama of the heroine's life. It's the only book of poetry I've read in one sitting. I'm really pleased to have five of her poems in the Modern Wife Library so you can see for yourself why I love Priscilla Lee's poetry....

I was moved by this debut book. I loved how the images of bridges and of eyes connected the range of sections from the early familial content of the first section through the sections having to do with loves, friends, and finally the "new" family. I also liked the whole question of one's life relative to what is fated, even predicted about it: how one chooses one's life as much as one is chosen by it.

I was intrigued by the style of her long-lined poems in the section titled "Peel". I found them consistently successful, and unique to her rich and thoughtful mind. And the humor in "Burnt Offerings" simply underscored the wisdom I sense throughout the book.

I'm glad Priscilla Lee write this book, and I look forward to her other work.

Los Angeles has always meant/will always be/is many things to many people. Some write it off as the City of Pilates-loving, Yoga meditating, Chai Tea Consuming Crack Pots. Well, yes...it is that and so much more as exemplified in the mind expanding, colossally comprehensive, edited by David Ulin: "Writing Los Angeles: A Literary Anthology." That so many important writers have deemed Los Angeles as appropriate subject matter, both positive and negative, only supports the notion that the City of the Angels "gets" to everyone who comes in contact with it. Some like Faulkner and Fitzgerald came to Hollywood late in their careers and left disillusioned to say the least while Nathanael West and James M. Cain thrived and wrote some of their best stuff here.
"Writing Los Angeles" is exhaustively researched and some of the expected writers are represented here: Cain, West, Ellroy, Didion but what of Simone De Beauvoir and Umberto Eco? Probably the most important thing Ulin has done is introduce us to SoCal writers we didn't know or of whom we've forgotten: D.J. Waldie or Ruben Martinez, for example.
If nothing else, Ulin has proven that Los Angeles is fertile ground for the creation of writing of the highest order. And for this, we Los Angelenos are forever in his debt.

"definitive" is a an overused adjective... but this volume is indeed just that. ulin's winning (and sometimes surprising) selection of material captures the breadth and depth of a literary milieu artfully and evenhandledly. (ulin must be uniquely well read and/or uniquely familiar with his material - some of his choices, e.g. robert towne's intro to chinatown screenplay, are fun just to consider in a potentially crusty dusty Lirbrary of America anthology). forget the heavy intellectual (and physical!) weight of this tome -- this is no door stop or boat anchor, its a joyous sojourn in the searing sun. brevity, clarity and wit!

Compiled and edited by David L. Ulin, Writing Los Angeles: A Literary Anthology is a unique and diverse collection of fiction, poetry, essays, journalism, diaries, and more, contributed by over seventy writers (ranging from William Faulkner, M.F.K. Fisher, and Bertolt Brecht, to Ray Bradbury, Norman Mailer, and Tom Wolfe), and showcasing the "City of Angels". Through varied eyes, the teeming and diverse West Coast metropolis manifests its best and its worst during its eventful history as Writing Los Angeles explores a wide range of issues and events ranging from the post World War I economic boom to recent and nationally televised violence. A very highly recommended compendium of artistic, emotional, severe, gritty, nostalgic, and clear-eyed literary pieces, Writing Los Angeles vividly brings a city and its people to life throughout the generations.

This book is a great resource for anyone. The calendar of events makes it a breeze to find dates and times of your favorite things to do on the Monterey Peninsula.

This is the "ultimate" tour guide to beautiful Monterey County, CA (referred to by the locals as Paradise). It truly is invaluable as a resource for locals and tourists alike. I've lived here for 15 years and can't believe there are so many wonderful things to do and see...for FREE! Unlike any other tour guide.

The Ultimate Field Guide to Monterey County this beautifully organized book is a must for visitors and residents of central California's most acclaimed region. From the famous shoreline of the Monterey Peninsula to Steinbeck's Pastures of Heaven and the nation's great salad bowl in the Salinas Valley this edition covers it all. Easy to read, clearly indexed and well designed this book defines the phrase "essential reference" and I especially recommend it for families.

Excellent book with an easy to follow layout. Mostly geared towards moderate to "difficult" hikes with overnight backpacks, or longer dayhikes, the most common. Lists 100 hikes and, in general, they spend 2 pages per hike, with directions to the trail head, max elevation, elevation gain, etc. They also give a sketched map and a photo for each.

This book is geared more towards the serious hiker/BPer, not the 2 mile family dayhike type.

I have done about 10 of the listed hikes and have found the info accurate.

One note: Some of the kiosks they list to get wilderness permits are no longer in operation. To be safe, plan on getting wilderness permits at the ranger station.

I've used this book extensively over the past 3 years and have hiked over 20 of the routes described here. It is excellently laid out (it uses highways to organize the treks) and features an excellent and varied selection of short and long trips. I own most of the guides to the Sierra and this is the one I use most regularly.

The book is also very durable - mine has fallen in rivers, gotten scrunched against rocks, been boiled and frozen and is still perfectly serviceable.

For anyone who is trying to get their head around the central Sierra and identify some good trips - this is the ideal book.

THis book is a great trail map for bars in Los Angeles. Mr. Mulvey is a truly likable man with a genuine interest in the semi-lost tradition of decent dives. The format of the book is convienent and has within it, a lot of interesting facts and anecdotes. If you are interested in bars, or if you aren't, this is the book for you. It will bring you up to speed about what's cool in LA.

This book gives all pertinent information regarding many bars in L.A. The descriptions of setting and atmosphere are accurate and it even provides history and interesting stories and facts about L.A. bars. It provides a variety of different bars in L.A., from the most trendy, hip places, to the divey hole-in-the-walls. I've been to most of these places and frequent some, but this book makes me want to try each bar mentioned!