Colors of the Mountain

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Now a writer living in New York, Da Chen describes his youth in mainland China with engaging humor and affecting warmth. It's often a harrowing tale: born in 1962, Chen was the grandson of a landlord, which rendered his entire family pariahs during the Cultural Revolution. And though initially an excellent student, he was ostracized in school and told he could never attend college. He responded by making friends with a group of young thugs who drank, smoked, and gambled but were kind to him. After Mao died in 1976, the budding juvenile delinquent discovered that higher education might be available to him after all. Chen worked hard to make up for years of neglected studies, and his memoir closes with a jubilant scene as he and his brother Jin are both accepted into college; for his suffering family, "thirty years of humiliation had suddenly come to an end." Chen's lucid yet emotional prose unsparingly portrays a topsy-turvy society where unfairness reigns and the rules are arbitrarily changed without warning, but his zest for life and sharp eye for character make even the most awful moments grimly funny. This is no saga of victimization, but a thrilling account of an ordeal that fosters spiritual growth. Readers will cheer Chen's triumph over daunting odds. --Wendy Smith

Book Description

Colors of the Mountain is a classic story of triumph over adversity, a memoir of a boyhood full of spunk, mischief, and love, and a welcome introduction to an amazing young writer.

Da Chen was born in 1962, in the Year of Great Starvation. Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution engulfed millions of Chinese citizens, and the Red Guard enforced Mao's brutal communist regime. Chen’s family belonged to the despised landlord class, and his father and grandfather were routinely beaten and sent to labor camps, the family of eight left without a breadwinner. Despite this background of poverty and danger, and Da Chen grows up to be resilient, tough, and funny, learning how to defend himself and how to work toward his future. By the final pages, when his says his last goodbyes to his father and boards the bus to Beijing to attend college, Da Chen has become a hopeful man astonishing in his resilience and cheerful strength.

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"I was born in southern China in 1962, in the tiny town of Yellow Stone. They called it the Year of Great Starvation." So begins Da Chen's enthralling memoir of life in the midst of the Cultural Revolution. The youngest of five children born to educated parents of the "landlord" class who have been stripped of their wealth and possessions, Chen faces a life of poverty, shame, and hunger. He and his family are harassed by their neighbors. Chen's older siblings are denied an education, and when Chen does attend school, his teacher pressures him to denounce his parents as "counter-revolutionaries." Ostracized, Chen finds acceptance in a group of young toughs, from whom he learns the joys of smoking and ignoring his studies. It is only by dint of his strength of character, his nurturing family, and his towering intellect that Chen is able to overcome the obstacles that confront him to finally achieve success and be praised by the same people who once persecuted him.

"Colors of The Mountain" is full of unforgettable scenes of rural Chinese life, as Chen recalls feasting on oysters and fried peanuts on New Year's Day, studying fifteen hours a day for ten months to prepare for the arduous college-entry exams, or praying before a hidden Buddha statue since Communism has outlawed religion. By turns funny, moving, and inspiring, this memoir has a universal appeal and a deep humanity.

Customer Reviews:

Incredibly inspiring.......2007-10-07

I read a lot of memoirs precisely for what I received from this book, inspiration. The sentence that galvanized me was this one, "I had been studying an average of fifteen hours a day for the last ten months."

Other reviewers have explained Chen's story, so I won't reiterate it. But I will say that when I think about what this man accomplished in pursuit of his dream, I realize once again how easy it is to excuse our failures as a matter of fate or luck.

Da Chen teaches us otherwise.

The bankruptcy of the Chinese Communist system........2007-02-10

One wonders why the communist system was swept into the dustbin of history. Da Chen tells you why. Intellectuals were purged in Mao's society and people learned very little. In fact, school was not even required of everyone. Only after Mao joined Lenin in a masoleum did intelligence and ability matter much.
Da Chen relates his early life story about his early Chinese childhood in the rural south of China. He was discriminated against because he was a son of a former landlord. Peasants lorded it over him and his family. Da Chen relates his experiences of the Cultural Revolution and how the school system was devastated by the purges and reeducation.
Da Chen escaped this poverty by using his intelligence to shine in the reform education system after Mao's death. He received a state education in English and went on to emigrate to New York. A nice rages to riches story and the tyranny of the Communist system.

A very entertaining memoir.......2006-09-22

Chen Da's bestselling COLORS OF THE MOUNTAIN is one of the more entertaining memoirs I've run across in recent years.

In this volume, Chen recounts his life, growing up amid the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, through his acceptance into college. In the writing of autobiography, certain liberties are par for the course (memory is never impeccable), but I was overall rather impressed with Chen's determination, and his detailed, direct way of attempting to illuminate the day-to-day texture of life in an out-of-the-way part of China.

Chen's approach is gentle - both accessible to Western audiences, and attentive in its' detailed depiction of his family's life, accomplishments, and the troubles those accomplishments brought (during the Cultural Revolution years); the occasionally mentioned poems of his grandfather were one of Chen's major motivators, and their eloquence was the model this entire memoir was constructed upon.

Perhaps not the most literary, or the most historically rigid autobiography, but definitely one of the warmest.

-David Alston

Mountain Of Life.......2006-04-14

Da Chen's rendition of memories etched within his heart is very descriptive. I especially like this passage:

"...The thoughts tortured me and I squirmed in shame and humiliation, but I had to face reality. The teacher could throw me out with a sneer on his face. That was fine, I had thick skin. A poor child couldn't afford to have thin skin. Only rich boys and well-to-do girls with cute little butterflies in their hair could afford to have thin skin"

For a child of nine, to have such vivid memory of a childhood, is startling. The innocence and words crafted makes Colors of the Mountain, a reading worth investing time in. Reading between the words give you an insight to how deep Da Chen's spiritual values are.

An amazing, funny and innocent book!

Interesting book.......2006-02-28

I enjoyed reading the book. I praise the author for his hard work and his motivation to improve himself and his life. I do agree with another reader that the author very often patted himself on the back, which I have concluded that it's a weakness of a person who had a difficult life.
Although the author often patted himself on the back, but terms he used to describe feelings, places and situations were touching and close to heart. Over all, it's a good book to read and to learn what Chinese people had to do to survive the Mao's time.

Tortilla Chronicles: Growing Up in Santa Fe

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Tortilla Chronicles: Growing Up in Santa Fe
Marie Romero Cash
Manufacturer: University of New Mexico Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

African-American & Black | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0826339123

Book Description

A family memoir full of New Mexico flavor, Tortilla Chronicles serves up a hearty helping of the "City Different" from the perspective of the humble, hardworking Romeros, a family honored for its contributions to regional folk arts. Marie Romero Cash, herself a renowned artist, poignantly sketches each family member using his or her own voice. Their stories present a rare glimpse into the life of a traditional Hispano family and provide an antidote to typical nostalgic tourist accounts of 1950s Santa Fe.

Book Description

Western historian, Laurie Winn Carlson, analyzes the lives of the first six white women - missionary wives - to cross the Rocky Mountains. At a time when a woman's entire fortune and future was tied to the man she married, four of the six women married virtual strangers, on short notice, and with absolutely no financial security. Why did they take such a gamble? Carlson's research gives a fresh and sometimes startling view of these pioneers of the womens' movement as she sheds light on the religious motivations, cultural expectations and desire for a better life that drove these brave women west.

Customer Reviews:

Has a lot of things that I, a Northwestern didn't even know........1999-08-03

This book was put together really well. Everything had an order and only once or twice did you feel like you were jumping back and forth between years(which is what I think is the problem with most books on history). I really enjoyed the time the author took to describe things like the sidesaddles themselves or all the stages of syphlis. The Whitmans were portrayed in a completely different light than what most children are taught in school. In a time when the women were all but ignored; I find it amazing that this author could find so much information about them so that we could finally read about who they were beyond the wives of missionaries. Thank you Laurie Carlson for all the hard work you put into this one. It was worth your time and dedication.

Victorian Decorating & Lifestyles February/March 1999.......1999-01-17

Carlson has written an absorbing and poignant account of these brave ladies. In addition to giving readers a good sense of these women as real people--not simply stoic helpmates in a great historical drama perpetuated by their missionary husbands--Carlson provides many telling details about aspects of frontier life, such as feminine hygiene, childbearing and sanitary practices, that previous historical accounts have overlooked. This book is a wonderful example of history from a woman's point of view, and it does a fine job of bringing the past vividly to life. Highly recommended.--Paul Slimak, in The Bookcase, Victorian Decorating & Lifestyles, February, 1999.

Victorian Decorating & Lifestyles February/March 1999.......1999-01-17

A powerful story of pioneers in the early feminist movement.......1998-08-30

The characters seemed quite real. I was drawn to them in spite of their obvious human frailties. They were much like modern peace corps workers, idealistic but not very practical. Dedication to their individual faiths gave them both motivation and courage. The depictions of the characters lives in New England before their journey were disturbing. The severity of their lives made it easy to understand why they would choose such a dangerous path. Depictions of the Indian tribes concerned were historically accurate, but possibly not politically correct. I greatly enjoyed this example of Mrs Carlson's work. I look forward to seeing further work by this author.

Insightful glimpse of the women of the Rocky Mt. Missions.......1998-07-19

This book is an excellent read for lovers of Northwestern history. It is an insightful glimpse by a women author about women missionaries. I believe it is an important addition to the genre. Carlson's research helps readers understand why these women specifically "sought out" westward-bound missionary men to marry. The book gave me a new perspective on the Rocky Mountain missionary efforts and greatly increased my understanding of the cultural mores and pressures on women during the 1800's.

Joan Fontcuberta: Landscapes Without Memory

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What was that? An undergraduate paper?

Joan Fontcuberta: Landscapes Without Memory
Geoffrey Batchen
Manufacturer: Aperture
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1931788790
Release Date: 2005-09-15

Book Description

Joan Fontcuberta tries to put the "real" in Dal''s surrealism. In this first major monograph to be published in the United States by one of Spain's most prominent and innovative artists, Fontcuberta subjects various imaginative landscapes--among them ones by Cezanne, Turner, and Weston in addition to Dal', as well as photographs of his own body--to the manipulation of landscape-rendering software originally designed for the military and scientific communities. The limited visual vocabulary of the programs translates contours (like floppy clocks) into natural elements such as hills, rivers, clouds, and the like. The result, actually, looks far from real. As Fontcuberta says, "In a typically surrealistic caper, introducing the critical-paranoid method in the technological heart of the computer, Dal''s dreams become equally impossible landscapes." And, he might have added, gorgeous black-and-white ones.

Customer Reviews:

What was that? An undergraduate paper?.......2005-12-22

It is unfathomable to me that someone so entirely untrained in the appreciation or analysis of 20th c. art was allowed to review this book for Publishers Weekly (Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.) It is little wonder that the reviewer was too ashamed to sign his/her own name. I don't believe that I have ever read a less-reasoned, more personal attack outside of a pro-Bush anti-"liberal media" Op-Ed piece! Is this the type of review Publisher's Weekly is enlisted to provide? A mere venue to allow uninformed writers to vent their personal hostilities towards works they personally find distasteful or simply don't understand?

The first warning sign is that Caspar David Friedrich's "Wanderer in a Sea of Fog [sic]" (I mean, after all, if he was "in" the fog we couldn't see him could we?!) is characterized as a "depiction of a man trying to have a little quiet time in the mountains". Geez! The writer clearly does not understand the importance of the category of the Sublime for German Romantic painters, following from Kant's observations, and the examination of the place of the individual in Nature. Friedrich's "Wanderer" wasn't just hanging out at the KOA campground before he had to go back to the office!

Certainly the appreciation of artwork(s) is/are subjective--not everyone is aesthetically moved by the same works and/or artistic visions, but there *is* such a thing as reasoned critical analysis that doesn't just launch into full blown ad hominem (ad arte) attack! What kind of "Rape of the Masters" belief in the nature of art has to be blindly accepted such that it can be "ruined" by being referenced in another artist's work/vision? Can Friedrich's painting really be "ruined" by Fontcuberta? Is a hole being poked in its "aura"? What a priori judgment determines the truth of the proposition, "Computer Art Bad. Thomas Kincade Good"?

As if that is not enough, it then turns into a "class" argument! Invectives are flung at "Wealthy nerds" (to have "their own Thomas Kincade")! I am a student, living in a garrett on a meager stipend, in the winter the room is drafty and I have no heat. I do not own a car. I ride my bike everywhere I need to go. That said, the last time I checked I could easily afford this Phaidon 55 book, but could never begin to afford (even should I ever want to), the 1,000-30,000 dollar, DNA-infused, mechanically reproduced and lightly-respackled paintings by Monsieur Kincade, "Painter of Light"!

I'll admit that Fontcuberta is far far far from my favorite artist, although I think some of his 80s work like the cryptozoology installations and the false-scientific documentary work was interesting. I have no desire to personally run out and buy this book. But I am completely flabberghasted that this review was found to be acceptable as a review of the book. I grade over 200 undergraduate papers on art a year, and if any of them based their arguments on their personal distaste for the art, they would receive an "F".

A Beast the Color of Winter: The Mountain Goat Observed

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Great Book
Best of the Best
The Authoritative Foundation for Mountain Goat Studies
Informative, but
A Dated Masterpiece

A Beast the Color of Winter: The Mountain Goat Observed
Douglas Chadwick
Manufacturer: Random House, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Mammals | Field Guides | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0871568055
Release Date: 1983-08-12

Customer Reviews:

Great Book.......2007-01-03

This book has everything you would want to know about Oreamnos americanus including how many times goats chew their cud depending on age. We view mountain goats a lot here and this book will greatly help improve this experience. I thought this book was well written and mixed informational data and story telling very well to keep things from getting to dry.

Best of the Best.......2005-12-09

This is one of the best books I have ever read. Douglas Chadwick is a brillaint and sensitive observer of all natural things and has a keen insight into human nature as well. Nothing you can read will ever teach you as much about Mountain Goats as this wonderful book. I have hunted Moutain Goats and will continue to do so. Regardless of Chadwick's feelings about hunting, I admire him greatly and highly recommend this book.

The Authoritative Foundation for Mountain Goat Studies.......2005-09-19

Chadwick presents here the most thorough and enjoyable encyclopedia of everything Oreamanos Americanus (Mountain Goat). It takes me back to my own days roaming the high country of the Bob Marshall on long weekends, seeing early spring heards back of Gibson Reserviour playing and every munching on sedge in the snow.

A thoroughly enjoyable read for any high country affecianodo.

tim

Informative, but.......2005-02-22

I found the book to be very informative about the ways that goats go about their daily lives and the hierarchied structure that prevails. The problem I have with this book is the author's admission that he is against the hunting of mountain goats. This is fine to have as an opinion, but when the author admits in writing that he has performed an illegal act, harrassing animals to prevent legal hunting as well as threatening to destroy a legal road to disallow legal vehicle access, my opinion of the book plummeted.
Also the data in the book was from the 1980's and there have been many studies done since then. More recent information would have been helpful.

A Dated Masterpiece.......2002-08-26

Chadwick's book is one of the best glimpses at the biology and life of a unique North American creature. It is well written and easily understood by anyone with an interest in mountain goats. The mountain goat has such a unique niche in any landscape and has a very interesting social structure, which Chadwick makes a compelling argument for all of these and so much more. However, the fatal flaw of this edition is its lack of updated material. So much more has been discovered about these creatures since his first edition in the early 1980s. Unfortunately, the situation of the goats has also become more precarious since that time as well. I had hoped that this new information could be found in this edition; however, it was not. I highly recommend this book as a great asset for a natural history library, but I would look elsewhere for more timely publications.

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Interesting Story
An Honest Look at the Man and his Passions
Very good book!
Call Him Coach
Excellent, thoughtful book

A Season on the Reservation
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Manufacturer: Audioworks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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ASIN: 0671788493

Amazon.com

Nearly a decade after leaving professional basketball, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar decided to return to the sport he loved by becoming the assistant coach of the Alchesay Falcons--a high school team composed mostly of White Mountain Apaches. But in A Season on the Reservation, he may have actually learned more than he taught.

An outsider at the beginning, Abdul-Jabbar found ways to learn more about his athletes and the tribe. He discovered cultural traditions that made it difficult to coach the team (discomfort at being singled out for criticism, for example) and became more sensitive to the special challenges faced by young Native Americans. As Abdul-Jabbar notes, by working with the students he moved from a historical appreciation for the White Mountain Apaches as a people to an understanding of them as individuals. That said, Abdul-Jabbar can't quite seem to shake his romantic image of the young Apaches: "Sometimes I would glance his way and imagine him sitting astride a paint pony two hundred years earlier, ready to ride off into the mountains and hunt."

Through his players, Abdul-Jabbar finds himself getting caught up in the competition--his passion for basketball obviously rekindled. Readers may find the end of the Falcons' season rather abrupt, but perhaps that's the nature of high school sports. They also may be a bit put off by Abdul-Jabbar's occasional arrogance, especially when talking about his professional days ("The 1985 Lakers would have taken [Jordan's Bulls] in a championship series.") or when dissing later NBA stars such as Shaq ("He's publicly referred to the way I used to play as 'old man's basketball,' which it may have been, but it earned me six more rings than he's got so far."). Overall, however, A Season on the Reservation is infused with an obvious love of the White Mountain Apaches, their land, and the sport of basketball. --Sunny Delaney

Book Description

If there was ever anyone who can be called a living legend, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the genuine article. Dubbed "history's greatest basketball player" by Time magazine, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's place in NBA lore is assured.

But even legends sometimes find themselves at the crossroads. Tired of life in Los Angeles, disillusioned with the state of basketball, and devasted by the death of his mother, Abdul-Jabbar accepted an invitation from the White Mountain Apache reservation in Arizona to coach the high school basketball team.

He encountered a complex reality. The kids on the Alchesay Falcons team don't easily embrace what he's trying to teach them on the court. But gradually he teaches them to get out of their comfort zone and try new things, both in sports and in life. They give him something he didn't quite expect: a way to reconnect with his passion for basketball.

This is the story of Abdul-Jabbar's "sojourn" with the Falcons. He connects with the kids, and with their culture and customs. An avid student of history, Abdul-Jabbar discovers new truths about the connections between Native Americans and African-Americans -- and learns some deep lessons about the inter-racial care of America's heritage.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting Story.......2004-12-29

This book is a record of Abdul-Jabbar's first season as a basketball coach. When Abdul-Jabbar's mother died, he became quite distraught and didn't know what to do with himself. One of his friends at the White Mountain Apache reservation in Arizona invited him to come to the reservation to try out coaching by working with the high school basketball team on the reservation for a season. Abdul-Jabbar found the invitation attractive for a number of reasons, and decided to give it a go. Once on the reservation, he had to learn not only how to coach rather than play basketball, but he also found himself trying to lead teenagers who weren't always looking for his directions, all while operating in an unfamiliar culture.

After reading the first chapter of the book, I stopped to re-examine the title and cover page to find out who the ghost writer was. After all, most books by sports figures are "told to" rather than written, especially books whose prose flows as well as this one. I was surprised to find that this volume had no ghost writer listed at all. As I read further along in the book, the reason became clear-unlike many other sports figures, Abdul-Jabbar has a number of academic interests and writes quite well. In reading this book, one finds that Abdul-Jabbar is a thinker, a person who brings his analytical skills to problems and new situations. He tries hard to get kids to appreciate the mental aspects of playing basketball. He is quick to pick up on the cultural characteristics that make the Apache kids react differently than other kids in mainstream America. He is occasionally carried away with emotion at games, but afterwards analyzes his inappropriate actions and chalks them up to lessons learned about coaching. Abdul-Jabbar explains how he happened to make a connection with the reservation, describes the kids on the team and the other coaches, and recounts hoop-by-hoop stories of several key games. In a few places, the tale bogs down a little in detail, but overall, it's well written and very enjoyable to read.

An Honest Look at the Man and his Passions.......2002-02-05

The honesty with which Kareem Abdul-Jabar's "A Season On The Reservation" is written is quite refreshing. In this age of spin control, especially when it comes to athletes and other public figures, it's nice to see a high-profile individual such as Mr. Abdul-Jabar share his insights and interactions with no noticeable smoke or mirrors. He begins his journey to an Apache reservation with hopes of uncovering some history (Mr. Abdul-Jabar has a fascination with Native-American history) and of sharing his wealth of basketball knowledge with the resident high school basketball squad. There are many bumps in the road, though, and "A Season On The Reservation" speaks eloquently about the cultural differences Mr. Abdul-Jabar encounters when dealing with the Native-American basketball players. They are not comfortable being singled out for criticism and they are not necesarily open to learning techniques that may make them better players. Over the course of the book, however, they learn from Mr. Abdul-Jabar and he, in turn, learns from them. One scene in particular, a confrontation with a player named Tony, is amazingly honest. "A Season On The Reservation" paints Mr. Abul-Jabar as a fellow human being, not a sculpture standing on a pedestal. The history lessons in the book, often drawing a parallel between Native Americans and African Americans, get a bit cumbersome occassionally, but "A Season On The Reservation" is well worth the cover price thank to its honest approach.

Very good book!.......2002-02-03

This book was very interesting and was filled with a lot of information in many ways. Abdul-Jabbar told us the history of the surroundings, the Apache tribe, and also told of his daily challenges and joys.

Call Him Coach.......2000-08-07

After being frustrated in his attempts at beginning a coaching career at either the collegiate or professional level, circumstances led the NBA's all-time leading scorer to an Apache reservation in Arizona where he became the assistant coach of the boys high school basketball team. In addition to relating the chronology of that season, Kareem also provides a fair amount of history while he's at it, and offers more of himself than he typically did during interviews throughout his playing career. As might be expected, Kareem gained as much from his year on the reservation as his players did.

Excellent, thoughtful book.......2000-08-04

Kareem tries to impart the difficulties of introducing a western cultural ideal to a group of young men that are trying to keep their own cultural ideals intact while at the same time competing within the majority culture. This book reflects Kareem's own difficulties in aculturation, and his conflicts in trying to impart his basketball culture on another group. This is a thoughtful though imperfect work, less about basketball than about the difficulties of blending different people in the world today.

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Wildflowers of the Blue Ridge Parkway
J. Anthony Alderman
Manufacturer: The University of North Carolina Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0807846511
Release Date: 1997-04-30

Book Description

The Blue Ridge Parkway, winding along the backbone of the southern Appalachian Mountains, is cherished for its grand vistas and massive mountain peaks, but nestled in the recreation areas, overlooks, and hiking trails that line its length are a wealth of smaller, equally beautiful gems. Hundreds of species of colorful wildflowers thrive among the misty glades, open fields, and marshy streambanks along the Parkway. J. Anthony Alderman's invaluable Wildflowers of the Blue Ridge Parkway will help the visitor locate, identify, and enjoy many of these seasonal treasures.

Illustrated with close-up color photographs, this field guide covers roughly 275 species of flowers that the casual visitor could expect to encounter along the Parkway. Clearly written descriptions aid in each plant's identification and offer interesting details, including notes on how Native Americans and early settlers used various species for food, medicine, and clothing. Finally, the book includes a tour guide and map that identify 75 of the best, most easily accessible sites for viewing wildflowers along the Parkway, listing by season which species can be found blooming at each site.

Average customer rating:

A beautiful and informative book

Solid Information and Beautiful Photography

Good Guide almighty

This book gets it right

Unique and extremely well done - William Hunter

Color Country: Touring the Colorado Plateau
Susan M. Neider
Manufacturer: Falcon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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High Country: Touring the Colorado Rockies

Photographing the Southwest: Volume 2--Arizona (2nd Ed.) (Photographing the Southwest)

John Fielder's Best of Colorado

Photographer's Guide to the Grand Canyon and Northern Arizona

Photographing the Southwest: Volume 3--Colorado/New Mexico (Photographing the Soutwest)

ASIN: 0762736461

Book Description

A full-color guide to nineteen parks and national monuments in the vast Colorado Plateau region of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.

Customer Reviews:

A beautiful and informative book.......2005-12-07

I took Susan Neider's wonderful Color Country on our family's recent trip out west. We had never been there before, and traveling with Ms. Neider's book was like having our own personal tour guide. She tells you where all the "not to be missed" spots are in each park, and even the best time to see them. Then she provides great maps that make it foolproof to get there. We were never lost even once. We particularly appreciated the scenic route she recommends for approaching Monument Valley, and the detour to Goosenecks State Park, a wonderful spot our other guidebooks didn't even mention. And there was just the right amount of information about the geology of each area to keep us informed, and so well explained that we were still interested. She gives each site a Child Rating for its interest to children, and we found these to be spot-on. For example, she rates Mesa Verde a "5" (the highest child rating), and we all loved it. And now that we're home, Color Country has become our favorite souvenir. The photos are just plain amazing. This book is worth the price just for the portfolio of photographs alone.

Solid Information and Beautiful Photography.......2005-12-04

[...] Color Country provides travelers to the Colorado Plateau of Utah with essential information to get the lay of the land, a concise explanation of the geology of each park, a list of highlights, and gorgeous, honest photographs of the places covered. Dirt and gravel roads are not the focus of this touring guide; those who want more detail about backcountry travel would be advised to read an expert such as Michael Kelsey. However, even remote places like Kolob and Needles are, in fact, mentioned in the copy I bought. For the traveler looking for a superb overview, this book cuts to the quick and captures the essence of each park with finely-conceived text and images. Rating this book with one star is like buying a Brooks Brothers suit and then complaining because it didn't hold up when you went rock climbing in it.

Good Guide almighty.......2005-10-27

The photography is art and I am looking forward to our trip. I feel as if I've already been there.

This book gets it right.......2005-10-25

Susan Neider's Guide to the Colorado Plateau gets it exactly right. Read this book - or even just look at it - and you are itching to get on the road! The stunning pictures tell you where you'd love to go and the logical and readable maps and the clever photo icons show you just how to do it. After you make your travel reservations, go back and really read the book. The pictures will reward much careful looking and the literate, informative text is filled with useful and unusual details on the history and geology of the region. This book informs without clutter or preachy wordiness. And when you are finished with your trip, you'll have an unbeatable souvenir - though it is likely to be worn out! No matter, you will likely, like me, log on and buy another! The price is right, too, it won't break the bank. This book is an excellent value. Great job, Ms. Neider, thanks!

Unique and extremely well done - William Hunter.......2005-10-19

The best book of its kind and it delivers a remarkable balance of informative text, readable maps, and wonderful photos. This is much more than your normal guide book - it is a portfolio of why I love this place. There is a great deal of information that I haven't found anywhere else - or at least not from the same reference. I now have a copy to carry with me, and a copy to keep displayed in the house.

Rocky Mountain Flowers An Illustrated Guide for Plant-Lovers and Plant-Users

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Rocky Mountain Flowers An Illustrated Guide for Plant-Lovers and Plant-Users
Frederic Edward; Clements, Edith Schwartz Clements
Manufacturer: H. W. Wilson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K6MSPY

Canyons of Color: Utahs Slickrock Wildlands (Genesis Series)

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Canyons of Color: Utahs Slickrock Wildlands (Genesis Series)
Gary Paul Nabhan , and Caroline Wilson
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0062585711

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