This 1998 272 page volume features more than 600 large, great, sharp, mostly color photos of every type of Buffalo Bill collectible, along with values. There's plenty of text to inform the reader. Major topics include Wild West Show Programs, Route Books, Lithographs, Books, Letterheads, Dime Novels, Tobacco, Tickets, Toys, Pinbacks, Postcards, and much more. It's like visiting a Buffalo Bill Museum. Very informative and a joy to read.

This was a good book, one of the only ones about water buffalo.
It was exciting , especially when Tank,the water buffalo, beats Hurricane ,the wild pig ,and the tiger. The village children all love him, and so does the whole town. The ending is very sad. I
think you should read this book now!

This book held my constant attention from the first time I picked it up. Ms. Matthews gives a very even-handed account of what I call "The Dilemma on the Great Plains." She thoughtfully explains the Buffalo Commons plan for the restoration of the plains. She introduces Frank and Deborah Popper, New Jersey academics from Rutgers University, who came up with the Buffalo Commons plan. I was riveted because I once lived in South Dakota, near the Montana and Wyoming borders and could empathize with the issue. The Poppers came up with the Buffalo Commons idea in the late 1980s as a way to "save" the plains. It has been very controversial, to say the least. The plains way of life and the emotions of the issue are handled brilliantly by Ms. Matthews. I was able to see both sides throughout the book. This issue has an importance to our nation. Read this book to know the issues about the decline in our Great Plains.

I just finished reading Imani all Mine, this book was awesome. I laughed and cried with Tasha. I commend Ms. Porter on her outstanding novel. Tasha was such a strong person on the outside, but I loved her "little girl" side as well. This is a MUST read. Much success and blessings to Ms. Porter.

Let me start off by saying Ms. Porter did a WONDERFUL job with this book. Me and my mother both read this book and cried like a baby at the end. This book was very touching. In the beginning we are introduced to Tasha who finds herself a mother while in high school. Tasha isn't your average teenager. She wants more to life for her baby (Imani) and herself. She wants more than what the streets has to offer you (which is a bullet in your head, or crack in your mouth). Tasha is a very bright young woman that loves her baby so much. Imani actually keeps Tasha sane in a crazy world. From the time you find out Imani's daddy to Tasha dealing with her own demons you are hooked on this book. I thought Tasha's momma didn't really care to much for Imani AT FIRST. But by the end of the book you will see just how much she really cared for her. This book deals with the hard truth of loving someone more that you love yourself. It deals with the day to day struggle of raising a child on your own without being old enough to even have a job. It deals with having dreams bigger than what your eyes can see and reaching for your goals higher than the stars. I really enjoyed this book, but I was frozen at the end. I sat on my bed a cried to the very end. It was a touching and caring book about love and death and moving on. GREAT JOB!

I read this book in two days because I didn't want to put it down. Porter is a magnificent writer. I felt as if I was in the book watching Tasha struggling with life. I really felt for this character. I read the last 2 chapters of this book literally in tears. No other book has been able to make me *feel* so much. I reccommend this book to everyone.

I have used this book in my classroom many times. The students can't wait to read the next chapters. They even pull out their books to read when they are not ask to do so. They have voted it the book they would most like to see made into a movie. It lends well to language arts, social studies, science as well as reading. It has a "puppy love" story with lots of action. Both girls and boys enjoy the read. I have even turned my grandchildren into Bill Wallace readers!

This book has everthing a person could want in a book. It has adventure, romance, comedy, and suspence. Its about Amanda a girl going to Texas with her mom to save buffalo. While in Texas she meets David and the story gets better and better from thier.

This adventure book has you on the edge of you seat as Amanda, a gutsy city girl, encounters killer storms, deadly gators and snakes, outlaws, and runaway buffalo. You'll also find yourself cheering Amanda on as she races against the aggravating but handsome David. This book transports you to the Wild West where you'll meet lovable characters you'll never forget

In his latest book, "Buffalo for the Broken Heart," Dan O'Brien lets the reader accompany him as he switches from raising cattle to raising buffalo. In spite of worrying about how to pay for the stock, getting along with neighbors, the weather and other trials, O'Brien radiates confidence. His descriptions of the buffalo are authentic. I, too, have been captivated by these huge creatures having seen them closeup at the Custer State Park Roundup. O'Brien's prose is a joy to read. And educational too, whether he is describing how he built a fence on his property, survived a severe winter, or provides insight about his Great Plains neighbors and their emotional attachment to land and livestock. A biologist and English teacher, he writes from the heart.

O'Brien writes a well-crafted, non-glamorized story about trying to make a living off the formerly open, now fenced in, South Dakota range. O'Brien's step-by-step resurrection of his 3,000 acre ranch from a money-losing, environmentally unsound cow factory to a range-restoring, natural buffalo breeding, harvesting and meat marketing operation. Interspersed with the buffalo raising saga are wildlife vignettes, descriptions of hunting with falcons, interactions with neighbors and town folks and snatches of the history of O'Brien's ranch from the Sioux through several families of failed farmers/ranchers over the past hundred years.

One unusual aspect for this kind of book, arguably an "environmental" tract, is the description and associated stresses of the business and economic details of making a living in ranching in the 1990s. It's also an encouraging story of how a middle age man, living alone since his wife left and relying on a hired hand, redeems and reinvents his life under extremely difficult circumstances.

Recommended for anyone interested in ecological/sustainable agriculture issues, rural American life, entrepreneurial business tales or midlife turnarounds.

O'Brien's quest for meaning in life, as defined by his relationship with the land and the animals that call it home, continues here. In his previous novel, Equinox, he explored the dichotomy in his life between the pull of the wild, and the demands of a stable relationship that required more than he was able to give. In Buffalo for the Broken Heart, we find him feeling lost and ruddlerless, both in his personal and financial life, as he struggles to get past a failed marriage and looming financial disaster.

As O'Brien gradually comes to the conclusion that buffalo are the logical answer to his dilemma, it becomes clear that they are stand for a balance and wholeness he has been trying to restore to his land and his inner landscape as well. The story, as it unfolds, is full of the personal details of Great Plains life, and the honest self-exploration that make O'Brien's books a pleasure to read. As so often happens, his inner doubts and fears are reflected in the events and lives around him. The weather is unpredictable, farm costs rise, friends go bankrupt, he is beset by worries over the buffalos he has purchased, the list goes on and on until by the end of the novel, O'Brien comes to tenuous terms with his land and his new means of making a living. The buffalo are not the final answer, but it is clear that they have helped him find another piece of the puzzle he is working so hard to solve.

I heard about Oscar'Zeta' Acosta basically from reading Hunter S. Thompson's book but became quickly fascinated by Dr. Gonzo and wanted to know more about him. I was pleased to find out he had also written some books and was even more pleased to find out he was(is?) a very good writer. Truly an inspiration to anyone who has ever felt their identity as an american is something that they have had to come to grips with. Apart from that serious subtext, it also a very entertaining and amusing story that rolls along, introducing some interesting and memorable characters and situations. A passionate human being wrote this book and it is filled with all the honesty and humanity of someone bearing his soul to achieve a greater sense of genuine self which for Oscar Acosta means being "A Brown Buffalo"

This book is one of the most memorable I have read in many years. Oscar lived an incredible life, and his ability to render it in this book is consistently amazing. I've read this book about three times, and I reflect on the trajectory of Oscar's life often.

To finally learn who the inspriation behind H.S. Thompson's Gonzo attorney was a treat. This book is a must read for anyone who desired the guts to quit their job and hit the road and discover life on the 'other' side of life. Every American should graze where the Buffalo once roamed.

A fabulous book for two reasons. It chronicles a disaster that is virtually unknown beyond the state of West Virginia. Secondly, it's a great tool for any law student in a Civil Procedure class. Forget about "A Civil Action" or "Erin Brockovich", this book best depicts the struggles of those who suffered, both the victims and the lawyers who fought for the people in the Buffalo Creek region.

My Civil Proceedure Prof. assigned this to us over Christmas Break so we could become familiar with "piercing the corporate veil", which merely refers to the rare legal opportunity to cut through a corporation's legal armour and attack some of the meat and money, i.e. personal assets of the officers. This only happens when there is extreme wrong doing by those suits running the business, and if you want to know what extreme worngdoing is, this is the book that will lay it out for you, pretty as a penny.
I have to admit, I was dreading reading this book, as the holidays were a sweet time to escape the stressful activities of law school. So when "Harold", our WonderBread/uptight, D.C., in the process of divorce, Napoleonic law professor assigned this reading, I was not too thrilled.
But once I started reading, I couldn't put the book down. This is the story that makes good people want to become good lawyers.
The story is about a coal mining disaster, a preventable, mind-reeling, man-made disaster and how a dedicated attorney wades through the litigation process, extracting painful stories from the survivors, and skillfully uses hard work, pit bull clenched determination, the legal system and a little luck to persevere over a greedy, thoughtless, and culpable corporation. I hope those guys fighting Enron read this.
A great read, even if you have no legal aspirations and like a good, meaty story with a real-life happy ending.

Jerry Stern's account of the litigation over the Buffalo Creek dam disaster ought to be read by every wannabe trial lawyer so that he or she will understand the tremendous creativity real lawyering, particularly lawyering down in the pits, requires.

The real practice of law requires vision and courage, which this book amply illustrates. Stern and his team from Arnold and Porter took on the near impossible case, armed only with the real tools of our trade, the words and ideas that form the arguments that shape the law.

And yet this is not just the story of courageous plaintiffs' lawyers, it is about the truly great defense lawyers on the other side, in particular Zane Grey Staker, whose tenacity and command of the language and of his case, gave the A & P lawyers a great and fair fight, and of the United States District Judge, whose role was not only to provide each side with "the cold neutrality of an impartial judge" but who understood that proper case management plays a critical role in achieving substantial justice.

Enjoyed this fourth Jane Whitefield novel. I love the character--her strength, brilliance, logical thinking, ability to strategize and come up with great plans. Glad her husband's character, Carey MacKinnon, was part of the plot more than he was in the past. However, thought the ending was a little strange, the villains as it were. It could have been just one (Quinn)without the second--(Christie) that seems tacked on and too melodramatic and unnecessary. It was very clever until then. However, the book was a good suspenseful read. Even though it seems as if Jane Whitefield is going into retirement for real this time to have a family, it would be a real letdown for her fans. This is one of the better-written mystery series and one of the most interesting characters. To Thomas Perry--please do not let Jane Whitefield retire. It would leave too big a gap in the field of good mysteries and good and unique women major characters. Keep writing about Jane Whitefield--h! er fans plead.

Please Mr. Perry don't let Jane retire, not yet. I can't get enough. I became a fan when I just happened upon "Vanishing Act" the first Jane Whitefield novel. I quickly read and then went in search of anything else I could get my hands on. I was lucky enough to read Dance of the Dead and Shadow Woman in quick succession. Then I had to wait several months for "The Face Changers". Most books leave you feeling "tired of them" after you've read about the same character, but Thomas Perry is a master at giving you just enough to make you want more and more. I am now in search of all of his early works - again, please Mr. Perry don't stop now.

Thank you, thank you.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE Thomas Perry's novels. They are all incredible. I stumbled upon Shadow Woman, then went back and read the first two of the Jane Whitefield series. I am an AVID mystery/thriller reader, and read an average of 2-3 books a week. I've been reading for years now, and Thomas Perry is my favorite author in this genre, and he clearly stands above all the rest, when it comes to suspense, spy tricks of the trade, and intricate plot.

As with some of the other reviewers, I was THRILLED to see that Jane Whitefield hadn't retired and grabbed this book off the shelf right away. While this novel was well written and well-constructed as usual, I thought it wasn't nearly as creative or suspenseful as his other novels.

I was totally disappointed, for example, at the discovery of the identity of the "Face-Changer." It was a real let-down after all that build-up. It was no one that would make the situation more of a 'stake' for Jane.

Also, I felt that more could have been done with the "identity-tampering" theme. The final show-downs Jane had with the enemies weren't nearly as huge or intricate or exciting as her other ones.

Still, I hold Perry up to very high standards -- his own (that he has set in other Jane novels)! So this book is still excellent!!! A HIGH RECOMMENDATION to all. Beautifully written and detailed without slowing down at all.

And I agree with the latest reviewer -- THOMAS PERRY, IF YOU'RE READING THIS, PLEASE DON'T RETIRE JANE!!! I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF YOUR JANE NOVELS!!!

Joe Kurtz, ex-PI, has been out of Attica only four months, after serving a twelve year sentence for manslaughter, when he finds himself bombarded by hit men hired by the Farinos, an upstate New York crime family interested in making him dead. And then there's a dying violinist who thinks Kurtz might still be a PI and asks him to look into the case of a dead child killer who just might not be dead. The two plots soon converge, in a clash of bumbling Farino family bodyguards, the lovely and dangerous Farino daughter Angelina Farino Ferrara, two crooked cops who would just love to catch on-parole Kurtz carrying a gun, a freezing cold Buffalo winter, and the most dangerous element of all -- a serial killer hiding behind a big name right out in the open.

HARD FREEZE, Dan Simmons's second book about this tough, relentless anti-hero Joe Kurtz, is hardboiled, gritty, and full of dead bodies. How many were there? I never managed to keep count but the total kept rising, Kurtz carrying out a few too many of his own executions for me to be comfortable, and the bad guy spurred onward by the cheesiest motivation imaginable to justify his horrible treatment of teenage girls. The dialogue also left a lot to be desired; no Elmore Leonard here. Still, the story is fast paced with just a hint of heartless romance, characters who thankfully remain true to their type, and a justice for the bad guy terrible enough to satisfy even Joe Kurtz.

If you like tough and bloody hardboiled tales about cruelty and violence, ex-cons and crooked cops, and outside-the-law heros who never give up fighting for their own, HARD FREEZE is sure to satisfy.

I was actually praying last year that Dan Simmons would write a follow-up novel to his excellent "private eye" thriller, HARDCASE. Think of the early "Burke" novels by Andrew Vachss, and you have an idea just how dark, violent, suspenseful and entertaining this debut series is. When I found out that a new "Joe Kurtz" novel was in the works, I jumped up and down, singing praises to the gods above, wondering if I could hang in there till the book was published. Well, I made it, and HARD FREEZE is finally out. That's not all, either. Not only is HARD FREEZE better than the first "Joe Kurtz" novel (if that's even possible), but Mr. Simmons is now working on a third book in this fabulous series about an ex-P.I./ex-con who's hard as nails, yet has a code of honor reminiscent of the Japanese samurai. This time around, Kurtz has to do battle on several fronts. First and foremost, there's a contract out on him. Stephen "Little Skag" Farino, who's still in Attica, wants Kurtz dead because the P.I. knows too much about the Farino family business, especially with regards to the deaths of his father and older sister. Little Skag has his younger sister, Angelina, hire the necessary killers to take Kurtz out, but they prove to be no match for our dark hero. When Angelina sees just how good Kurtz really is, she decides to use him to kill mobster Emilio Gonzaga, who's trying to take over the Farino business, and to neutralize her older brother, who's due for parole in a few months. As if this wasn't enough to deal with, Kurtz is also being followed by two cops who want a little helping of revenge for the death of Detective Hathaway six months before. While Kurtz is trying to stay alive, his homeless friend, Pruno, gets him to help a dying concert violinist, John Wellington Frears, hunt for a serial killer that murdered his daughter. But wait, that isn't all. Kurtz is also keeping an eye on Donald Rafferty, the legal guardian of Rachel Fielding (the daughter of Kurtz's dead partner, Samantha). He's afraid that something bad is going to happen to Rachel and is ready to kill Rafferty, if it does. On top of everything else, Kurtz's secretary, Arlene, is pushing him to help find some new office space and to come up with $35,000.00 to start a new Internet business. Last but not least, Buffalo, New York is having the worse snowstorm of its history, and when the snow finally melts, there's going to be a dozen dead bodies scattered around the city for the local police to deal with, compliments of Joe Kurtz. HARD FREEZE is an intensely dark and utterly violent novel with touches of humor mixed in and a hero that isn't always the most likeable person in the world. It starts out at a brisk pace with the Three Stooges (three ex-cons from Attica) trying to take Joe Kurtz out and doesn't let up till after the final battle at the end when Kurtz will have to tangle with one of the most deadly serial killers around and a skilled martial arts expert that makes Bruce Lee seem like a Boy Scout. Not only does author, Dan Simmons, manage to expertly juggle a large number of intricate plot points and to tie up each one by the end of the book without it seeming forced or contrived, but he also creates a somber atmosphere with Buffalo, New York as the backdrop that is perfect for this type of story. The reader is with Joe Kurtz throughout the entire journey, rooting for his survival and for him to take out the bad guys. Mr. Simmons not only fulfills the reader's expectations in every way imaginable, he leaves the reader wanting more, and that is a skill only an accomplished writer can achieve. I'm now eagerly awaiting the third book in the series, knowing that it will probably be at least a year or longer before I can once again enter the thoroughly entertaining world of Joe Kurtz. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Joe Kurtz, the anti-anti-hero of Dan Simmons' latest crime novel, "Hard Freeze," is one tough ..... If you've read "Hard Case," Simmons' first foray into the hard-boiled world of crime drama, you know a little of what to expect from Kurtz and company this time out-but only a little, because Simmons has truly outdone himself with "Hard Freeze." If "Hard Case" was a cool little jazz combo swinging away for all it was worth, its sequel is a speaker-blowing blast of rock 'n' roll that's guaranteed to hit you where it counts. And hit you hard.

"Freeze" begins shortly after "Case" left off, with the ex-con, ex-P.I. Kurtz on the run from the Farinos, an upstate New York crime family eager to get him back behind bars-or better yet, in the ground. Kurtz must also face an adversary even more threatening than the family's cut-rate wise guys (who admittedly aren't all that wise): winter in Buffalo. It's one of the coldest in history, and even the most stoic Buffalonians are admitting it's a little cool out. If that's not enough, the city has also decided to condemn the abandoned porno shop Kurtz and his secretary have been using as a base of operations. So, when all of the elements conspire against him, what's an ex-con to do?

Kurtz keeps himself busy. While avoiding the Farinos and a pair of crooked cops on his tail, he soon becomes entangled in the dealings of a white-collar child molester/serial killer who might very well be hiding behind a prominent false identity. In the process of bringing the killer to justice, Kurtz must avoid being squashed like a bug between the greasy wheels of city politics and organized crime. He must also make sure not to loose his footing in a deadly dance of power he's fallen into with the shrewd, estranged daughter of the Farino family, the beautiful Angelina Farino Ferrara. Both Kurtz and Ferrara are out to use the other for their own purposes, while trying not to get used up themselves. It's all very romantic, in a cold-blooded sort of way.

Simmons has managed to create something intriguing and vastly entertaining in the character of Joe Kurtz. Kurtz is like a great white shark, long acclimated to the icy depths of his own solitary world: he's compelled to move forward in order to survive, and is ready to devour anything or anyone that obstructs his path. And yet, from page one, he's got the reader's sympathy. There's something about his amoral lack of guile that's kind of endearing.

With his second Kurtz novel, Simmons has honed his ability to write in the hard-boiled genre to a dog-bothering pitch. "Hard Freeze" is lean and mean, with nary an ounce of excess fat. Even if you're not a fan of the genre, you can't help but be carried along by the sheer force of Simmons' vigorous storytelling. He creates tension and suspense and moves his characters about with the able, foresighted dexterity of a grandmaster sitting down for a game of chess.

Simmons has deservedly won high accolades and praise for his writing in many styles and genres (horror, science fiction, historical fiction, travel narrative, and mainstream). Wherever his restless muse next leads him, Dan Simmons is sure to take with him an ever-growing legion of readers. The jacket copy of "Hard Freeze" promises another Joe Kurtz novel in the near future, and Simmons is reportedly also working on a massive new science fiction epic to rival his Hyperion novels. One of Simmons' own farcaster portals couldn't get me there fast enough.