This book is the best book about Baby Face Nelson, I enjoyed reading this book greatly. Everything you wanted to know about Lester Gillis is in this book. Every part of his life was explained in great detail; the authors did not leave anything out. I highly recommend this book to people who are into the depression era gangsters.

this is the only book you need if you want to know about Baby Face Nelson. I can't say enough good things about this book. I only hope the authors will pen another book about Dillinger.

The era of the depression desperado was a very short lived one, but the authors do a great job researching the life of Lester Gillis, aka Baby Face Nelson. Partners in crime such as John Dillinger, Homer Van Meter, Pretty Boy Floyd, and others are included in this book close to 400 pages long. Don't let the length keep you from reading it, because I believe you will find it hard to put down. I especially enjoyed the lengthy section devoted to the fiasco at the Little Bohemia lodge near Rhinelander, Wisconsin, in which federal agents staged a shootout with gangsters. Gillis (Nelson) was responsible for killing one of the agents while another agent killed an innocent person staying at the lodge he thought was a gangster. In any event, the bad guys escaped and lived to fight another day. The price these men paid for their violent lifestyle showed in the tension they constantly lived under as they covered their tracks to avoid detection from the law. At times they wistfully envied the simpler lifestyles of the common man who had an everyday job. I'm not that familiar with the suburbs north of Chicago, but I was confused when the author mentioned that Niles Center is now Wilmette in the picture section of the book, and then on page 361 Niles Center is referred to now as Skokie. Was Niles Center part of both suburbs? This is a well researched book and easy to read. Make sure you have a good amount of time when you sit down to read it, because you are not going to want to put it down. I highly recommend this book to you.

Tony Clark's BAT MASTERSON'S CREEDE takes us behind the scenes at this rough Colorado town as the days of the Old West are winding down. The characters we meet in the play are real, but they are anachronistic in that they are still living in a wild time that is passing. We meet Bat Masterson, of course, but the most interesting of the characters is Robert Ford, the man who shot Jesse James in the back--he is remembered in song as "That dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard and laid pore Jesse in his grave." (James was using the pseudonym "Mr. Howard" when Ford killed him.) Ford lives out his life in this play and in the book as "the dirty little coward." Clark, who knows modern Creede and Creede in days of your makes the town live in this play.

Bat Masterson's Creede

By Tony Clark.

What happens to murderers in a lawless land?

"Fact is .....back shooting was considered a logical exploitation of a fortuitous opportunity."

Readers will be well entertained in this rollicking, thoughtful and well-crafted play. Full of colorful characters and authentic depiction of the gambling life in an Old West mining town, Tony Clark's historically accurate account of Bob Ford's death, the man who shot Jesse James in the back, is a worthwhile read for anyone interested the characters, literature and myths of the American West.

This lively play reveals the inner stories of several of the West's more flamboyant personages such as the infamous gambler Soapy Smith, and Dot Evans the manager of dancehall girls who loved Bob Ford. Bat Materson narrates and tells this tale set in the closing days of reckless time. Clark's archetypical western characters become real people with dreams, fortunes and misfortunes spent in the saloons of Creede, Colorado.

Tony Clark's imaginative recreation of Creed at the turn of the twentieth century is required reading for anyone interested in a vivid picture of the Old West and along with that self-determination and plain survival in hard times. Clark's blend of the characters, both men and women, and their places and concerns is centered in dramatic conflict and resolution. I read this play during an afternoon in the Big Bend National Park, a fitting atmosphere for the rugged world of Masterson and Ford. Tony Clark's skillful writing transported me from one mountain range to another. Once you start reading, Bat Masterson's Creed is hard to put down, a must for those interested in a realistic and dramatic portrayal of the life and times of the man who shot Jesse James.

My husband can't put this book down! Baxter Black's clean and side-splitting "talk" is entertaining for all audiences. My mother, my husband, and my best friend have all loved this book.

A few years ago I awoke to National Public Radio's Morning Edition and to the voice of some easy going, homespun cowboy reading a poem that had me in stitches by the third verse. As I read "Cactus Trails..." I could hear Black's easy voice utter each word. While his departure from veterinary medicine is a loss to that community, it is a clear gain for easy going, common sense, sanity seeking people caught in the cross hairs of our cell phone, pager, eEVERYTHING society. Thanks to Baxter Black's commentary and writings we have an excuse to slow down a bit each day and get in touch with the basics. Will Rogers would love this guy!

Back to basics, the way life IS in America, without all of the Political poles, lies, and propiganda as spread by the media. should be classed as "Must Read"

Even though he stands to lose precious income, a young Jamaican boy trusts his feelings of empathy for the helpless crabs who are forced to race at a big resort and takes action. No heavy-handed preaching, just a gentle morality tale where the child is the hero. A lovely book.

The Crab Man is a wonderful children's' book about a young Jamaican boy's dilemma and how he resolves it. Neville has been selling hermit crabs to the crab man to earn money for a new dress for his mother. One day he learns what the crab man does with the crabs and about the consequences of people's actions and feelings.
Ms. Van West skillfully weaves many themes into this tale-familial love, the fragile web of life, economic survival, and societal contrasts. The Crab Man is an excellent choice for the bookshelf, a tale that a child can relate to.

The Crab Man provides a fascinating glimpse at Jamaican life through a child's eyes. Beyond that, it tells a compelling story that children all over the world can understand. As little Neville struggles with a tough decision, readers (and listeners!) have a chance to examine their own values and feelings about the earth's creatures. The writing is graceful and clear; the illustrations bring the story's rich setting to life. It's a perfect book to read aloud, but older children will also enjoy making their way through the pages alone.

I, like everyone else, thinks of one thing when thinking about the Donner Party--canabalism. There were many wagon trains headed west in the years just before the Civil War that never made it, or suffered terrible hardship, but it is the Donner group that we all remember. Author Peter Limburg has done a marvelous job separating the sensationalism from the facts, and writes a poignant tale of people, just like us, looking for a better life in a new place. I always appreciate a book that solidly puts me in a different time and place--this book didn't disappoint.

From Marisa D'Vari, author of "Script Magic" Sure, travel is difficult ... but count your lucky stars you're not traveling over a hundred years ago, when the travelers were not at the mercy of surly airline attendants but nature's elements. I became fascinated with the Donner party in a fourth grade history class in California, and am not surprised that Limburg's story continues to grip me. An excellent read!

I was fascinated by the detailed unfolding story of the famous Donner Party and how they got to the state that has made their name legend in the field of horror and disaster. With more than 45 photos and illustrations this book was I'm sure the most thourough treatment of this story.

I read this book years ago and I attribute it to making me into a history buff. De Voto is a master at making history come alive. If you're fasinated with (American) western geography and history, I don't think you'll be disappointed. De Voto was truly a genius. It is possibly the best historical work I've ever read.

DeVoto said "this book tells the story of some people who went west in 1846." He weaves together the story of those people: the Mormons, the Donner party, Fremont and Kit Carson in California, historian Francis Parkman, "Old Rough and Ready" Zack Taylor, and others.

The theme of the book is in the invocation, a quote from Henry Thoreau. "I must walk toward Oregon, and not towards Europe." America in 1846 became a continental and not just an Atlantic power. U.S. President James Polk crafted a deal with England for Oregon and Washington and launched a war with Mexico for California and the Southwest.

The largest part of the book deals with the war with Mexico -- but the best book on this subject is "So Far From God" by John S.D. Eisenhower. Rather than a historian of war, DeVoto is a sort of Homer of the West, extolling the feats of his company of heros. He's opinionated, arrogant, sometimes obnoxious, sometimes too clever to be tolerated, but he's turned out an epic of American empire here. It's not a balanced book. DeVoto doesn't waste many kind words on Mexicans, Indians, or Eastern intellectuals. The good guys are the mountain men, the uncouth, unlettered men who led the American charge across the great plains into the western mountains. Example: while Thoreau was extolling the virtues of self reliance on Walden Pond, about a mile from Concord, Massachusetts, Kit Carson rode a horse from California to Washington, D.C. -- and then turned around and rode back again. The mountain men are formidable.

This is not an easy book to read as DeVoto makes demands on the reader to remember a great number of characters participating in the complex threads of multiple movements. But its possibly the best book I've ever read about Americans going west.

Bernard De Voto is one of our most eminent American historians and 1846 is considered to be one of his best works. He does what few historians are able to do and that is to capture the pulse of American expansionist desire. He does so by using a variety of novelistic devices to give added emotional weight to the events that transpired in this very decisive year in American history. Underscoring the narrative is De Voto's razor-sharp wit, which deflates most of the grand ambitions of the leading figures in 1846.

De Voto develops several paralleling stories: that of the great Mormon migration, the ill-fated Donner Party, Fremont's attempt to establish the Bear Flag Republic in California, the attempts to secure Texas and the New Mexico and Oregon territories, all during a time in which President Polk fought for America's Manifest Destiny against Britain and Mexico. De Voto develops a great number of characters, some well known, some lesser known, and weaves them together in an American quilt. He sets up the events that would lead to the Mexican War and briefly describes some of the battles, taking aim mostly at the ineptitude of both armies and the political posturing of the various Whig generals.

It is an unbridled view of historical events. At times, De Voto can be unmerciful in his attacks on the heroic postures that some of these leading figures took, and at other times quite sympathetic as he tries to make sense of the conflicting reports that were written.

He uses terms that may be offensive to some readers but these were the terms often employed by the figures of this era. He provides a wealth of information from journals and diaries that were kept, often giving his account a "first-hand" quality. De Voto sustains his incredible driving force throughout this narrative, capping it off with a pithy epilogue regarding the events that would grow out of the decisions made in 1846.

I recently traveled to baja for my first time last november,2000. I used this book and it was helpful. I hitch hiked for three weeks in baja sur, traveling most of the unbeaten paths. This book was helpful to get me to those places people seldom travel to. I was surprised by the fact that alot of things in the book, like the adventures mentioned, costed much more then expected. So be careful when traveling on a tight budget, the book makes these adventures seem cheap, this book should have some price guidelines for the places that allow tours and rental equipment. also call ahead if you plan to try any new adventures, like diving, or sea kayaking, some of these adventures require certifaction. so call ahead!! happy travels

My wife and I traveled the peninsula for two months in a VW Bus with this as our sole reference book. This literally guided us to the best travel adventures ever. Walt didn't miss a thing from road signs, to camping spots, to customs, and to inside local knowledge. Don't miss the "way-off-the-beaten-path" trip to Gardener Cave. Buy it early, and read the whole thing just to get fired up for your trip.

There is no point in going to Baja without this book, if you want to explore beyond the walls of the resorts. You will have maps and mile-post by mile-post (actually, km-post) descriptions of every cranny of the peninsula and what you can do there -- scuba, petroglyphs, whatever. You'll think of the author Walt Petersen as another and very valuable traveling companion. No other guide compares in depth and ease of use.

I purchased this book because I can count sereral people I know that have had a loved one or friend that that has an drinking/substance abuse problem...and this book was to better help me understand what not only myself, but others can do when they are in this situation.

You can read this book in one sitting since it if very short, but informational. If you are looking somewhere to start, this is a perfect book! I had never even knew there were such support groups such as Al-Anon & Nar-Anon, which are support groups for the loved ones of substance abusers.

So if you want to help and do not know where to start, pick up this book!

During Family week at the BFC I sat in a lecture conducted by Dr. West. It was during this informal lecture that I came to the reality that I was an alcholic and was just as sick, if not more, than the family member I was there for. The main item in the "Book of Answers" that made me realize this, among other things, is listed on pages 20-21. I failed this test miserably.
I've been clean and sober for 6 years. BFC and Dr. West literally "SAVED MY LIFE". I only pray that many other lives as well as relationships can be saved by simply reading this "Book of Answers". Thank You Dr. West

This book is a compendium of multiple newspaper columns written over several years. In it Dr West shares practical knowledge, insights, and compassion that is rarely seen in medical texts. As a medical oncologist I have occasion to work with many people with varying stages of alcoholism. I have found this book very helpful for practical points of view that are not seen often in medical literature. I recommend this easy to read useful book by this authoritative source to all in the healthcare profession.

In every boy's life there is a crucial point where he teeters on the brink of manhood. It's at this time, when the boy-man is most vulnerable that he needs a role model to guide him past the final pitfalls of adolescence into the responsibilities of adulthood.

Breaking Even, Alejandro Grattan's brilliantly crafted coming-of-age novel begins with 18-year-old Val leaving his small West Texas town in search of his role model, a father who left years before and who Val discovers is very much alive even though his mother, Lupe has always told him his father had died a hero's death.

Apart from the mystery of his father, Val has other issues. His mother is Mexican and Val's mixed racial heritage fixes him firmly near the bottom of the social pecking order in their small town and gives him an identity problem. He dislikes his life working in his mother's roadside diner and dreams of going to Hollywood to work in the movies. His confusion causes him to refuse advice from those who most care for him. To top it off his girlfriend Bonnie is pregnant. His immaturity ensures he only grapples with twinges of conscience, never with real issues.

Val's father Frank Cooper is a high stakes poker player in search of his own Holy Grail, the big pot that always seems to be in the next game. When he finds Cooper, Val is at first taken in by his charm and easy manner. However as each flaw is uncovered Val comes to see his father as he really is, an addicted gambler with no dream and no prospect of one. With this realization Val's own sense of responsibility to himself and to others begins to develop. This, in turn allows him to discern right from wrong, and to identify those who really do care for him.

The theme of this book is personal responsibility and Grattan has ensured authentic characters by coloring no one completely black or completely white. All are developed realistically including the minor characters of Floyd, his mother's short-order cook husband and Blue, a washed-up saloon singer and paid escort who travels with Cooper. Though everyone has personal flaws they are redeemed by the responsibilities they assume. Only Cooper is without redemption and therein is the brilliance of the novel. The message is conveyed without preaching.

This is a serious story dealing with serious issues and can be enjoyed at different levels. At one Val's search for his father is a metaphor for the real quest, his identity. On another level the book can be enjoyed as a great story with tightly defined characters who speak incredible lines such as, "The life of the party had gone home leaving Val and Cooper stranded out in the middle of a conversational wilderness."

The author's screen-writing and film directing background is clearly evident in the imagery and visual scenes painted throughout the book. Apart from being a darn good read this novel is noteworthy for the issues addressed, well-rounded characters, colorful images, and biting dialogue.

This heart-warming and enticing story grabbed my full attention. I could hardly put it down. I was captivated by the plot and Val's dedicated search for his father and the challenges that he faced on his journey. Each character contributed to the excitement and the intrigue. I highly recommend this book.

This is a coming-of-age story set in the 1950s. Val, an 18-year-old Mexican-American, works in his Mexican mother's cafe, lives for the movies, and dreams about leaving the small West Texas town where he has lived all his life. Having grown up thinking that his Anglo father was dead, he is shocked to learn that he is alive,and there begins the real story.

It is Val's search not only for his father, Cooper (who looks to Val like a Hollywood movie star and is actually a professional high-stakes gambler), but also for his own identity and roots as a Mexican-American man. Team the father and son characters Cooper and Val with Ms. Blue Morgan, a kind-hearted, aging paid companion from Reno, and the story becomes even more deliciously colorful and complicated. A poker game brings these three together in El Paso for their initial meeting, and it leads to a bigger poker game in Reno and the adventure of their lives. They are all coincidentally at turning points and must decide on new courses for their lives. This is more than a coming-of-age story; it is one of coming to terms with one's life and taking responsibility for that life. It is a story of hard questions and decisions. Ultimately, it is a story of liberation from past circumstances and the pursuit of destiny.

Grattan-Dominguez is a fine storyteller with a good sense of dialogue. His portrayals of character and of the authentic Southwest are sure to earn him a growing reputation as a writer.

'Culinaria - The Caribbean' is a big, wonderful book on the cultural and culinary sides of the Caribbean. Readers will be treated to a visual tour from Bermuda to the Netherland Antilles and many places in between: The Bahamas, Haiti, Dominica, and more.

This is a great coffee table book with enough recipes to tempt you to keep it in the kitchen. The photography throughout is absolutely beautiful. But be warned: After purchasing the book, you'll probably want to see your local travel agent. VERY tempting! Enjoy.

Both my parents are from the West Indies (Barbados & St. Vincent) and I have seen a lot of cookbooks about the Caribbean. This was the first book that provided SO much detail and the pictures where so life-like. It transports you to the island with pictures rich in colour and recipes from every island. I loved this book so much that I got one for my mother!

I brought the book in my home island Barbados, I am very impress. It taught me all about the Caribbean, culture and taste of my fellow West Indians. It also encourages me to visit the other Caribbean islands. It is must for every-one to have.