I have been planning family vacations using this book for five years now and it has yet to steer me wrong! The authors know children and have an excellent grasp on what will entertain them and what will bore them. We have found small out of the way gems using this book, like the Great Sand Dunes Monument in Colorado...a place we would not have looked at if it hadn't been mentioned. I highly recommend this book to anyone travelling to the four corners region or the Black Hills of South Dakota with or without kids. You will not be sorry!

A terrific book on the meaning of writing & how some writers' go about it. Joy Harjo, Barbara Kingsolver, Edward Abbey, Alberto Rios -- these are writers with depth and some remarkable things to say. Part bio, part political, part inspiration, it's one of those books I've read way more than once.

The first half of Listening Woman, the third in the Joe Leaphorn series, is vintage Hillerman. There's lots of desert scenery and insights into Native American life. Unlike other books, this book is focused entirely within the Navajoes but even then we learn that there are 58 clans, 57 who keep Navajo time and then this clan that's slow even by Navajo standards. Of course, much of the mystery takes place on their turf.

Joe is investigating a variety of backburner cases as an excuse to be in an area where a motorist had nearly hit him. As he digs deeper, a missing helicopter and an FBI investigation seem to be involved in whatever is going on. Enter the Dirk Pitt side of Joe's personality. I won't spoil the surprise but suffice it to say that Joe endures flame, flood and a host of other harrowing experiences as he solves the crime and saves the day.

Bottom line: Less religion and culture, more action than the other Hillerman's I've read. Still, a fun, entertaining read.

"Listening Woman" is typical Tony Hillerman: a thrilling adventure in Navajo country, told from a Navajo's point of view and written by one who knows the lingo. The book begins with the totally impossible and progresses to a satisfying grand finale that couldn't be topped by a hot celebration on the 4th of July!

The characters are so true to life, one is certain that some of them must surely be neighbors or their neighbors' children. The action never ceases, and the reader never stops loving Joe Leaphorn.

This, as my review title says, was the first Hillerman novel I ever read. Obviously it made me want to return again and again. Well, I really want to ask a question, but since I owe you all a review, presumably a focussing on the unique qualities of this book, this is it: If you are new to Hillerman but like mysteries, read Listening Woman for that intense, life-or-death adventure on U.S. soil that you can count on from T.H. If you are a Hillerman reader but haven't read this one, prepare for some terrifying suspense. If you read it already but just want to see what others say, well, all the excellent, elegant writing is here in this one too. My question is: Can anyone tell me the name of the artist who did the paperback covers for the early (1970's) Joe Leaphorn novels? The same artist did boot advertisements with the southwetern backgrounds.

I picked this book up in preparation for a recent trip to the Four corners region, and found it to be a highly readable account of one man's search for answers as to what did happen to the Anasazi. While Roberts raises more questions than he answers, this is still an entertaining way to learn more about the area and I would recommend it for anyone who has an interest in the cliff dwellings and general aura of the area.

An extremely readable, even exciting, account of the Anasazi presented from a personal point of view. I found it excellent - - I even gave my father a copy for father's day. Even though I can't agree with Robert's in his disdain for Lake Powell, I can't argue with his passion and knowledge of his subject. After reading several books on the Anasazi for a project I found this book to be the best source for my needs. It is full of interesting facts and lore. As an example, I have visited Moki Canyon on Lake Powell by boat many times, but Robert's chapter on the canyon opened up my views considerably ( I had always wondered what lay along its dry, barren stretches, far from the lake) and I when I go back this summer it will be with an entirely different attitude

In Search of the Old Ones is one of the best books I have ever read about the Anasazi in the Southwest. David Roberts does a wonderful job and made me want to go to the deserts of Utah and Arizona and track them down myself. I have read many books about this area and I have backpacked several of the canyons he describes. This book can be used as a guide if you decide to search for the 'Old Ones' yourself. I'm waiting for the sequel.

Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman is a wonderful and intriguing action packed book filled with suspense, magic, and savage death! Multiple unsolved homicides bring Officer Jim Chee and Lt. Joe Leaphorn together to try to find a connection or reason for all the mindless killing. This compelling tale takes you into a world of Navajo Lore and strange curses. This book kept me on the edge of my seat every minute I was reading it and kept me guessing who did it! Whether Jim Chee was being shot at or Joe Leaphorn was incognito in enemy territory; it was suspenseful the whole way through! Reading Skinwalkers really makes you think, I was always trying to figure out who killed who and why throughout the whole book! It was nice to not have the answer be obvious. This was one of the best books I've read in a while because it is so captivating and thrilling! Although this is a wonderful book and I loved reading it, there are parts in the middle that get pretty dull. But if you love murder mysteries you will enjoy every grueling plot-twisting event! This was a truly excellent book and anyone who loves murder mysteries should read it.

Skinwalkers is just another example of Hillerman's ability to keep readers on the edge of their seats! A great tale of Officer Jim Chee and Lt. Joe Leaphorn. As always with Mr. Hillerman, the book pays acute attention to detail and provides a cultural lesson in anthropology including Navajo religion and social customs. Mystery, murder, suspense, and Hillerman's fantastic writing style make this a definite "Must Read!".

An unknown person tries to kill Navajo policemen Jim Chee and three apparently unrelated murders on the Navajo reservation puzzle Lt. Joe Leaphorn. The murders, it appears, all something to do with witches (skinwalkers).

"Skinwalkers" is the seventh book in the Navajo Detective series by Tony Hillerman. He wrote three books featuring Joe Leaphorn, then three featuring Jim Chee, and now he brings the two policemen together in the same book. Also, in this book, Hillerman introduces Janet Pete, an agressive Navajo lawyer, as a new love interest for Chee. Hillerman fans will be interested in this book to see how Leaphorn, methodical and reliable, and Chee, a bit flaky but brilliant, get along working together. The answer is: uneasily.

The mystery itself is not overly credible, but weaving the story in and around Navajo beliefs about skinwalkers is fascinating and, as always, Hillerman uses the backdrop of the violent weather and magnificient landscape of the Navajo reservation to frame his story. And as always Hillerman includes a goodly dose of instruction in Navajo etiquette and attitudes and demonstrates -- usually with good humor -- the ineptness of white policeman, especially the FBI, in the Navajo culture and environment.

If you haven't read Hillerman before, this is probably not the best book of the series. He has written more intriguing mysteries. But the settings of Hillerman's books are fabulous and Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee are top caliber characters worthy of inclusion in a short list of the best detectives in fiction.

An absolutely hilarious journey. A great mixture of points of views, different narratives, different cultures and generations. So real I just couldn't put it down. Amazing insights into the life of a woman.

The story of Soveida is one of the best ones I have read. Soveida is a Latina girl growing up in New Mexico. It is the story of her life and her growing up. It has a different plot line, of a Catholic girl who wants to be a saint as a little girl, but as she grows up she has more realilistic dreams. She begins to work in a local resturant as a young teen and continues to work there throughout her adult life. Her family is also a major part of her life. The author also includes stories of her parents, and her grandparents, and her great grandparents. It is a wonderful book full of family gossip, a great read.

With school and all in the way, I manage to find time to read the book during bus rides. This is a beautifully written story about the Mexican-American women who struggle with thier identity and themselves. Soveida Dosamantes, the narrator of the book, daughter of Dolores and granddaughter of Mama Lupita, is an independent twice married woman working as a waitress at a restaurant runned by a Mexican-American who has little connection to his culture.
She deals with the men in her lives beginning with her father, who cheated on her mother constantly; her brother Hector, who marries a woman because she's pregnant, yet is involved with another woman; her first husband Ivan, who cheated on her with the town slut; Veryl, her Anglo husband who commits suicide; J.V., the professor who buries his head in academics; and Tirzio, the man she is in love with but is married.
Ms. Chavez's novel is moving describing how each woman dealt differently to their family situations, community and themselves. In addition to Soveida and her family, the other characters make the book an interesting read.

I'm not really a mystery buff, so when my book discussion group chose this title to read, I was a little wary. But someone who had read several Hillerman titles recommended his works as much for the cultural portraits they provide as for the mystery element. With SACRED CLOWNS the cultural component is strong indeed: in fact, you could say that the murder mystery is mainly a pretext to explore Navajo and Pueblo life more deeply. Cultural lore comes first, and wrapped up in the text of a pulpy detective novel, it may seem easier to take than, say, a anthropological tome or a socio-political screed.

I found the murder story sketchy and confusing. Perhaps regular readers of the genre would disagree. What I did find compelling were the principal characters, tribal police officers Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn, their inner conflicts and their attempts to make sense out of the cultural conflicts they experience. They, and some of the secondary characters as well, are well developed characters, whom you come to care about. What makes the mystery storyline a little less resonant, I suspect, is that we never really get to know much about the victim or ultimately, the murderers themselves. The ending is a bit of a surprise, but primarily because it involves characters we scarcely got to know at all.

Still, I wouldn't rule out reading more Hillerman. As a more or less painless way of acquainting oneself with American Indian culture, this novel can't be beat. Well worth checking out--if not at the cash register, or via email, at least consider borrowing it from the local libary.

Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Tony Hillerman's crack Navajo investigators, know treachery, deceit, corruption, wickedness, and tribal politics of their fellow Navajos very well. In "Sacred Clowns," Hillerman is in top form, spinning his web of intrigue, murder, and, indeed, mayhem in the Southwest. In addition to a taut plot line, in which Leaphorn and Chee are at their best, Hillerman's penchant for presenting the character of these two is superb. Both are incredibly complex men, yet so vastly different too. A teacher at a local Navajo school is murdered; shortly afterward another murder, this time at the Tano Indian pueblo. With the adroit skill of which his readers have become accustomed, Hillerman unfolds his story with the dexterity of a surgeon. The sacred kachina scenario is one of his finest, as Hillerman evokes the landscape and atmosphere so well. Hillerman seems to have done more for the preservation of the Navajo culture than just about anyone, yet his

story line does not suffer. As the kachinas (sacred clowns) are not what they seem, neither are the murders. This book is refreshing--and compelling--to read!

Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Tony Hillerman's crack Navajo investigators, know treachery, deceit, corruption, wickedness, and tribal politics of their fellow Navajos very well. In "Sacred Clowns," Hillerman is in top form, spinning his web of intrigue, murder, and, indeed, mayhem in the Southwest. In addition to a taut plot line, in which Leaphorn and Chee are at their best, Hillerman's penchant for presenting the character of these two is superb. Both are incredibly complex men, yet so vastly different too. A teacher at a local Navajo school is murdered; shortly afterward another murder, this time at the Tano Indian pueblo. With the adroit skill of which his readers have become accustomed, Hillerman unfolds his story with the dexterity of a surgeon. The sacred kachina scenario is one of his finest, as Hillerman evokes the landscape and atmosphere so well. Hillerman seems to have done more for the preservation of the Navajo culture than just about anyone, yet his

story line does not suffer. As the kachinas (sacred clowns) are not what they seem, neither are the murders. This book is refreshing--and compelling--to read! (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)

Is this a book that teaches you to be an ecoterrorist? Edward Abbey's very specific technical descriptions of the sabotage carried out by the Monkey Wrench Gang have the air of feasibility. Anyone who wants to destroy heavy earthmoving machinery or blow up a bridge might get some nice ideas from this book. Of course, people should take accountability for their own actions and not use a book as a weak scapegoat. For the rest of us who know the difference between fantasy and reality, Abbey has given us a very entertaining comic novel of this motley crew of budding terrorists. What Abbey is really doing is commenting on the destruction of the beautiful desert southwest by industrial "development" just for the sake of development, while the gang represents the feelings of the longtime natives of the area who want to save all that natural beauty. That's the true good side of this novel, although the characters can be a problem. Hayduke's intelligence level rises and falls ridiculously based on the situation, while the Bonnie character is a serious problem. Here Abbey only demonstrates his lack of connection with real females. Regardless, the screwball plot and subversive political commentary in this book lead to a legitimate classic of environmentalist fiction, and comic fiction for that matter. Now I yearn to make another visit to the southwestern deserts - my latest stint as one of those tourists that the Monkey Wrench Gang can't stand!

Note: Try to find an edition of this book from the mid-80's, with great illustrations by R. Crumb in conjunction with a calendar project. This edition is out of print but I found mine at the library, so you never know.

This extraordinarily fun novel is part farce, part environmentalist fantasy, and part social and political tract about the abuse of nature in the American West.

The plot concerns an odd collection of radical environmentalists who band together to blow up the Glen Canyon River Dam. Of all the parts of the West that have been destroyed by the damming of the rivers of the West, nothing comes close to the regret over the loss of Glen Canyon. The extreme beauty of the area now underwater is well documented in Eliot Porter's beautiful book THE PLACE THAT NO ONE KNEW. Environmentalists and lovers of the West have long lamented the loss of these beautiful canyons. Hence the central fantasy of this book. But he loved to contemplate their destruction. I don't think Abbey really wanted to blow up the dam. If the Glen Canyon River dam were to be breached, by whatever means, it could cause a flood that would cause all the dams on the lower part of the Colorado to collapse because of the tremendous volume of water that would be unleashed. Even the Hoover Dam would be breached. Perhaps tens of thousands of people would die. That is why the book is a fantasy. Abbey was a provocateur. He stated things in a way to stir up a controversy, to get people riled up, to make people think. But I find it impossible to believe that he would actually have blown up the dam if it had been within his power.

Although an environmentalist message and fantasy is at the heart of the book, the book wears its message lightly. The reason for this is the marvelous collection of absurd characters. The crew that assembles for their errand of mischief makes the novel exquisitely enjoyable. In particular, George Washington Hayduke III. One of the foulest mouthed characters in all of fiction, Hayduke is also one of the funniest, most outrageous, and most enjoyable. To be honest, remove Hayduke from this novel, and you are left with merely a decent rather than very good novel. The novel does carry a serious environmental message, but without Hayduke, it is merely a political tract dressed up as a novel. Hayduke, as the central and dominating character, balances the fun and fantasy with the message.

No one opens minds quite like Abbey. Litter roads? Why not? Most roads are huge deposits of trash anyway according to George Washington Hayduke, a character as colorful as any other I've encountered in life or fiction.
The Monkey Wrench Gang is a fictional tale about four protestors of industrial progress and defenders of the American Southwest. It reads as a hair-raising yet amusing story with many close calls. Yet as entertaining as this story is, it is also a truly tragic depiction of the increasing shrinkage of the lower 48's largest wilderness area. This book should prove to be vastly important in American history. It spurred the births of various environmental groups which will have a collectively substantial impact in stopping superfluous ecological ruin.
It's my wish for everyone to read this book. Abbey lives on!

I am a huge fan of Bobby Flay and of his restaurants -- Mesa Grill and the underrated Bolo. This book passes on the flavor and flair of those restaurants well. The recipes in this cookbook are fantastic, and every meal you make is guaranteed to be outstanding. But there are two BIG problems.

First, many of the ingredients can be difficult to find, particularly if you don't live in an urban area. And substituting doesn't do the trick. Second, many of the recipes are exceedingly complicated and time-consuming. More than once, I've spent 8 or 10 hours preparing a full meal (not including shopping time, which often involves several stores).

So as long as you have access to the relevant range of ingredients, and you have several hours to invest in making an amazing meal (or the expertise of a Bobby Flay in the kitchen!), this is a terrific cookbook. Otherwise, you might want to look for something a bit more basic.

I've been a fan of Bobby Flay's cooking shows on TV for a few years. He makes cooking a way to have fun and socialize while not taking away from the true art of cooking. So, after eyeing this book on the shelves for a few months, my sweet wife ordered it for me online.

This book is a winner! In it you'll find many fresh applications of the wonderful flavors of the southwest. For the most part, the recipes are straightforward and easy to follow. It's amazing how far you can go with just a few basic ingredients (Chile, corn, onion, garlic, etc.) In addition to learning lots of specific recipes, Bobby also gives you a great feeling for how to improvise and come up with your own bold creations. I just cooked my first few recipes from the book (New Mexico BBQ Salmon, chipotle buttered roasted corn), and they came out great!

P.S. As an extra bonus, the book is filled with lots of beautiful color photos of the dishes. It's all very artistic.

The first cookbook by Chef Bobby Flay. Here is an wonderful book that shows what an excellent Southwestern-style chef he is.

This book contains explanations to some of his ingredients, as well as techniques to use, when using an ingredient, for example, using yellow tomatoes versus red tomatoes. He, also, adds resources where you can find some of his hard-to-find ingredients. This is a definite plus, as a lot of the chiles are hard-to-find in my area, but so worth the effort, because once you assemble the recipe, it is SO delicious! You just can't believe it.

I tried a few of these recipes on my husband, who has a distinct taste that is hard to please, to say the least, and he has loved each recipe I have made from this book. Favorites of ours are the Pan Seared New York Steak with Chipotle Butter, Caesar Salad with Red Chile Croutons and the Peach & Blueberry Cobbler!

In addition to writing cookbooks, Bobby Flay hosts three television shows on the Food Network: "Food Nation with Bobby Flay", "Hot Off the Grill with Bobby Flay" and "Grillin' and Chillin'".

"Food Nation" is a tour of the United States in the least likely spots, where Bobby Flay explores the cuisine of that area. Spots visited have been the Pennsylvania Dutch country, Kentucky, Nashville and Boston.

"Hot Off the Grill" shows Bobby Flay assemble meals with some volunteers that may be like the more average at-home cook, showing me, how easy these dishes really are to prepare.

"Grillin' and Chillin'" has only been on during barbecue season (that I have noticed), but shows Bobby Flay with Jack McDavid, a real southern cook. Together they barbecue huge spreads all on the grill!

Bobby Flay also has his own line of spice and condiments. A wide assortment from dry rubs, drink mixes, infused oils and spice blends. These are available to purchase at his "Mesa Grill" web site: www.mesagrill.com

Also, he owns and works at two restaurants in New York City: "Mesa Grill" (Southwestern cuisine) and "Bolo" (Contemporary Spanish cuisine).

I thoroughly enjoyed this cookbook and would highly recommend it!

Western cooking has proven to be America's favorite cuisine for its hardy, robust flavor, whether cooked on the indoor or outdoor range. Wiseman has culled recipes from the membership of the Western Writers of America of their favorite savory delights, along with a brief reading from one of their writings and a short bio of current writing activities. For all kitchens of the Southwest flavor. Daniel L. Nutter, Books of the Southwest

This book is fun! The excerpts from the various authors' writings are thoroughly enjoyable. Some recipes are practical; others are just plain interesting. Our favorite is 'The Bowl of The Wife of Kit Carson' which we have enjoyed many times, just the two of us or with company.

This book of recipes has been compiled from 70 members of the famed Western Writers of America. Many recipes presented in the volume played parts in scenes from the different authors' variouls novels and screenplays. Colorado is represented by a recipe from Sam Arnold of the famed Fort Restaurant. Included are recipes for just about anything you want to cook, from jerky to sandwiches. I found the book interesting and intend to try some of the recipes, especially, the Egg Gravy for breakfast some morning. To satisy my husband's craving for pozole, I will certainly have to try the Snake Killer's Pozole. This book is a must for lovers of Wild West cooking and stories. Lynn Stull, C.M., Denver Westerners Roundup