I used to love Stephen Greenleaf's John Marshall Tanner mysteries, but ELLIPSIS was tired, mechanical, and unconvincing. It reminded me of the reasons why Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels ran out of steam. For one thing, there is too much midlife crisis angst on the part of Tanner, too much relationship trouble between him and his girlfriend. For another, there are two different women of mature years who are raunchy and amusing and make Tanner blush -- one is plausible, two are excessive. For a third, the plot is warmed-over. I was reminded of Parker's LOOKING FOR RACHEL WALLACE. Again the p.i. bodyguards a major female celebrity writer. Of course, in the Parker book the writer was lesbian; here she's straight and a romance novelist. A promising plot development -- allegations of plagiarism -- goes nowhere. Another plot line, a carryover from a previous book in the series, becomes increasingly significant, but if you haven't read the previous book you'll be frustrated and put off by the too-neat tying together of disparate plot lines. Finally, the ending of the Tanner character study in this book depends on a "deus-ex-machina" ending that had me throwing the book across the room.

This was my first John Marshall Tanner mystery, not an ideal place to begin reading this series. So much is said about important events in Tanner's life that the outcome of one or more previous mysteries is given away. On its own merits, this novel has a lot going for it. I like Tanner, a regular guy, no superhero, and feel I got to know him fairly well. Through most of the book, Tanner shows good sense in the actions he takes, given that he's aware he doesn't fully know what he's getting into. Greenleaf's style is crisp, with few wasted words. The only problem is that this story is 100 pages too short for my taste. The beginning of the book is terrific, strong on plot development, characters, dialogue, everything. Then, just when things are getting interesting, Tanner suddenly solves the case. For me, the solution happened too quickly. This book has a great beginning, pretty good ending, but not much of a middle. If the series continues, I will probably read on, although at the end Tanner appears ready to retire. That would be disappointing.

John Marshall Tanner, private investigator, tells his story of this case. His client is Chandelier, a super successful writer of romance novels. Her secretary is Lark. Tanner's girl friend is Coppelia. And the author surely has fun inventing names. Aside from that, he writes in clear, concise language, presents a tight plot that is well thought out. It is a book that is a pleasure to read because it is written intelligently and without the usual gimmicks. What more can one ask for? I highly recommend it.

Many recently published books have been devoted to the plight of Urban sprawl. How Cities Work is a recommended addition. Clear, concise and to the point it establishes a solid perspective from which to view the choices that we have made in how we choose to live.

The book begins by asserting that the factors that shape any city are a combination of its Transportation, Economics and Politics. After creating a framework for understanding these factors the book presents a critique of the so-called "New Urbanism". Marshall chooses none other than Disney's Celebration in Orlando Florida as his case study for the New Urbanism movement. Contrasting the Potemkin-like Celebration with neighboring Kissimmee, Marshall examines the forces that shaped each. The history of Kissimmee, complete with its ups and downs, demonstrates the workings of an authentic city. Celebration, in comparison, shows itself to be all style and little substance.

Cities don't "just happen". It wasn't the simply the car or modern technology that shaped how we live today. Rather, it was the integration of the three forces of Transportation, Economics and Politics. The car is only as good as the roads that get built through government funding and a city's growth is shaped by the politics of zoning boards. The history of the last 50 years has shown that we have chosen a centrifugal direction for these forces. From general neglect of mass transportation to the emergence of restrictive covenants, we've chosen a path that has lead us to the creation of communities that serve to segment and isolate rather than bring together.

While Marshall's remedies, especially his penchant for generally left-wing approaches to social policy, may sometimes miss the mark, his book offers an excellent framework from which to approach the task of remaking our cities into much more livable places.

Finally a voice in the wilderness that effectively unmasks the whole New Urbanism / Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) "movement" for what it truly is: just another developer-driven ploy to sell real estate at maximum profit and minimum responsibility for the impact such development has on the entire region and its growth patterns. NU/TND is nothing more than suburban sprawl in new dress, and it fails to acknowledge the true "engine" of growth in contemporary American society, the auto-centric lifestyle so many of us cling to. Marshall's book is the first to come out and declare that the emporer ( in this case leading advocate of NU: Architect Andres Duany and his wife, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk ) is naked. Continuing the socio-economic stratification of suburbia while dressing up the architecture with cute porches set close to the street ( so we can observe our neighbors gliding by in their new gargantuan SUV's I suppose) and creating little "town-centers" with a Starbucks ( of course ) and perhaps a Baskin-Robbins/Subway combination will not solve the problems of urban sprawl. These developments are only studied as far as the first intersection with the regional transportation grid, and then the streams of vehicles pouring out become a problem the rest of us must contend with as they compete for a traffic lane on ever-clogging freeways. As long as we continue to allow the profit-driven development community to set the design agenda, we will continue suffering the morass we now attempt to navigate. Marshall examines the true Urban/Suburban transportation infrastructure and guides our thinking towards more effective solutions than those put forward by the NU/TND camp. This is not a book for those seeking quick easy solutions to long-tem problems, but it's highly readable and Marshall brings a fresh-perspective to the discussion.

This book gets 5 stars because Marshall has understood someting that other writers on this subject have missed entirely. The form of our cities is not a result of free-market forces, it is a result of political choices and in a democratic society voters can control those choices. I am so tired of hearing misguided free-market libertarian types insist that traffic jams, strip malls, suburban blandness, endless freeway expansion and social isolation are what people would choose to buy if they actually knew how to make other choices. Marshall realizes that building a good city requires citizens to acknowledge themselves as citizens. The impulse towards suburban living and car-dominated transport is not a step towards individual liberty. To have these things, people must abandon the kind of public life necessary for democracy and give up some degree of political participation for the supposed security of a gated community or a planned community. I appreciated this book as much for its heartfelt support for the democratic ideal of citizenship as for its insightful critique of the flaws in the New Urbanist movement.

Thurgood Marshall needs a better book than this one, but in the absence of a more comprehensive, analytical volume, that would be alot longer & cover his thought and his life, this work will have to do. Juan Williams is a very good writer, the prose is "breezy" and the book is a fast read laden with interesting characters & interesting gossip. It shows Marshall's central place in 20th century, indeed US historical, civil rights in various arenas, not just racial justice. He is a very appealing person as well ... someone any reader probably would enjoy having known. I noticed in the forward that Williams was prevented from talking to some of the people closest to Marshall, which is most unfortunate. The book is not an expose but a very favorable view of the man. Marshall's relatives should be kicking themselves for not having shared their views & experiences with Williams. The next biographer will almost certainly be a more critical writer than Williams. Where the book falls down is in its exposition of Marshall's thought & some of the details of his legal work. So we come away, unfortunately, not understanding that Marshall was an intellectual giant, not just a legal-oriented civil rights leader. I enjoyed this book very much but gave it only 3 stars because it is almost entirely missing Marshall's intellectual life.

I (like many people, I bet) usually think of the civil rights struggle mostly in terms of Martin Luther King and bus boycots. This book tells the story of the legal battles that were mainly lead by Thurgood Marshall leading up to and including Brown vs Board of Ed that ended "separate but equal" and the cases after. The book follows Marshall's life to his appointment to a judgeship, the Solicitor General in LBJ's administration to his time on the Supreme Court. However, I found the time period from post WWII to the 60's as the most interesting. The importance of these legal battles is often forgotten. I guess it took MLK to really turn the nation's hearts, but Thurgood was the one who changed the laws. Williams does not deify Marshall and discusses his shortcomings - he was a heavy drinker, cheated on his wives and he his behaviour would be considered sexual harassment today. I am very glad that I expanded my knowledge of the history of the civil rights struggle by reading this book

This is one of the most wonderful books I ever read. Thurgood Marshall is one of the most dynamic figures of the Civil Rights Movement. Williams not only gives an excellent and engaging account of Marshall's life, he represents the time in a manner that easily imagined. I was not alive during this period of time, but reading Williams' book made me feel as though I had experienced it. So often, when an author truly likes and admires his subject, the work that results is biased and not well-rounded. You can tell when you are reading something that is one-sided and too tributory to be accurate. Williams' admiration for this great man shines through in his book; however, it is by no means a song to Marshall. Williams' is fair in his dedication to not only Marshall's courage and brilliance, but also his fallibility and humanity. This is what brings the history to life. When you finish reading this book, you will feel as though you know Thurgood Marshall.

My son's 4th grade social studies unit last year covered the Oregon Trail and westward expansion. I caught his enthusiasm and found this book to be an exhaustive, informative, and interesting work. It fills in a large gap in American history- the time between the Lewis and Clark expedetion, and the settling by pioneers of the Oregon and California territories. The mountain men were not just trappers, but were truly instrumental in determining the topography and geography of the West, and so gathering the knowledge that allowed emigrants to populate the area. A trip to the Grand Tetons this summer was enhanced by having read this book, as that area was of great importance to the fur trade and to westward expansion with the discovery of South Pass. Although the author's literary style is not as compelling as that of Stephen Ambrose, I still found the book interesting and worthwhile. The maps were valuable as well.

In the years between 1804 and 1847, Americans explored the Louisiana Purchase, the Rocky Mountains, took California from Mexico, and colonized Oregon. And the explorers and trappers called mountain men were instrumental in all those events.

Utley starts his account with George Drouillard and the legendary John Colter, both members of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and concludes his main story with Kit Carson's actions in the Mexican-American War. However, this book is not a collection of biographies. Utley does provide sketches for some mountain man, the events they are most famous for, and, sometimes, details of their deaths. He does not provide any real details about their gear or trapping and fighting methods. Utley concerns himself with a broader theme: how the travels of mountain men filled in the maps of the west, expunged certain geographical fantasies from the public mind, and drew people west.

Some of the mountain men here are famous. Besides Colter, we meet Jim Bridger, trapper, Army scout, guide, and establisher of the famous trading post named after him. We also, briefly, meet Hugh Glass who once swore to kill Bridger after he and another trapper left Glass for dead after Glass was mauled by a grizzly. Kit Carson's adventures with John Fremont are discussed.

But Utley also covers less well-known, but important, mountain men. The greatest explorer of all, Jedediah Smith, trapped beaver mainly as a means to subsidize his extensive wanderings. Atypically literate for a mountain man, he kept extensive journals and maps -- most of which vanished after his death. Utley considers another trapper, Joe Walker, the most accomplished of all in the mountain man craft and, as an explorer, second only to Smith. Others had less august reputations. Edward Rose, a trapper who lived for many years with the Crow, was frequently sought as an interpreter but never really trusted. Too often negotiations he was involved with broke down, and he was suspected of mischief for private ends. Old Bill Williams was known as an eccentric mountain man. Jessie Fremont, John's wife, even accused him of cannibalism.

In their quest for beaver pelts, before changing fashion, overtrapping, and substitution of nutria made trapping untenable, the mountain men not only added to geographical knowledge but served as agents, intentionally and unintentionally, for American expansion to the Pacific. They traveled to Spanish California and helped bring it into the Union by their settlements there and their actions in the Mexican-American War. But California was not the only Pacific territory whose national ownership was disputed. American mountain men, and this book is concerned with American citizens or those mountaineers who served American interests, competed with the English Hudson Bay Company in the Columbia River basin. Their knowledge inspired and guided missionaries and, later, settlers into what became the Oregon Territory. British interests there were supplanted, and some mountain men, like Joe Meek and Doc Newell, became important political figures in Oregon's early history.

Besides the broad story of mountaineers as the vanguard of American expansion west, there are other things of interest here. Taos, New Mexico and its importance to fur trading is covered. Utley talks about the little known 1823 punitive expedition against the Arikara. Writer Washington Irving shows up as an important source for this period of history.

Though it is not a main point of the book, Utley does talk some about relations between the mountain men and Indians. The attitudes ranged from racism to toleration to admiration. Some tribes, like the Blackfeet, were constant foes of the mountain men. Others, like the Shoshone and the Nez Perce (at least during the time of this history), were almost always friendly.

Utley uses his last chapter to wrap up the loose ends of some of his subjects' lives and the ultimate nature of their contributions to American development. Cartographer Peter Dana has the final say with an interesting chapter on how the book's extensive topographical maps, detailing the travels of various mountain men and the fur trade in general, were prepared from satellite photos.

Utley organizes the book along geographical lines and accounts of how particular routes of travel were developed. This leads to some confusion since he jumps back and forth in time. However, Utley's clear style and a well-done index help keep things straight. The footnotes are not only extensive but full of useful information.

This is ideal follow-up reading to Stephen Ambrose's "Undaunted Courage" since it details how the Rocky Mountains were penetrated and paths were found to the Pacific Coast, preparing the way for emigrant trails, in the four decades following the Lewis and Clark expedition. Some participants in that venture feature indeed in the early chapters of this work, some meeting horrific fates at the hands of Indian tribes. Mr.Utley structures his very readable narrative around the lives and careers both of individual Mountain Men and of more formal explorers and he is very successful in explaining how each new item of information on river systems, mountain ranges and watersheds was haltingly, and sometimes even wrongly, integrated step by step into an overall understanding of the geography of the American West. A major strength of the book is the collection of coloured, computer-generated maps which complement the text splendidly and which, far more effectively than conventional maps, convey the complexities of the terrain traversed in these amazing journeys. Mr.Utley carries his scholarship lightly and the story is told with fluency and grace. A most enjoyable book and an ideal vade-mecum for anybody planning a holiday in the Western United States.

Having read "Soldier of the Great War", I was disappointed in this novel. "Soldier" was superb! I found myself suspecting that this was an earlier work, perhaps his first novel (which it is). It is broad in scope and bold in vision, but too often the use of language is pretentious and obscure. There is some excellent writing, which previews what is to come in "Soldier". But "Refiner's Fire" lacks the control and the consistent elegance that I had expected and which one finds in his later work. This book is an interesting read for one who enjoys observing the development and maturation of a great writer.

I started life reading all of the works of William Faulkner -- The best American writer of the 20th Century. Richard Powers is obviously a genius and a great writer. Don Dillio, John Irving, and especially Wallace Stegner are all great writers. But Mark Helprin is a true genius with language. After reading four of Mark Helprin's books, he comes closest to the magic writing of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, except I end up caring a gread deal more about his characters. "Winter's Tale" is remarkable. Just the language in "A Soldier of the Great War"; and "Memoir from Antproof Case" are worth reading. The brillance of the later works are evident in "Refiner's Fire".

This is the best Fiction I have read in English since I read the translation of Milan Kundera's "Unbearable Lightness of Being". The beauty of the language is such that it would not be surprising if one required grief counseling after completing this book. The experience and beauty gained in the reading, is mourned soon after you have turned the last page and a feeling of loss descends upon you. Though the book is not sad. Completing it is. It is alive with the joy of lively and interesting characters who take you with them in their dreams and hopes for the future. It is only this that one loses by turning the last page. Intellectually a stimulating story and linguistically one of the best examples of how English should be written with an appreciation of the natural poetic imagery of the language.