Kansas Books

Amazing Gracie: A Dog's Tale

Dan Dye, Mark Beckloff

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 98 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Now in paperback, AMAZING GRACIE is a moving, funny, and inspirational canine rags-to-riches story. Tears will stain the pages as you read about Gracie, says USA Today. The Chicago Tribune advises, If you're short on inspiration, read Amazing Gracie. You don't have to be obsessed with dogs to love this story (Philadelphia Enquirer), Two paws up (Portland Oregonian), humorous yet poignant (ASPCA Animal Watch). Booklist comments that Dog-loving teens, especially reluctant readers, will eat this up. AMAZING GRACIE was nominated as a Young Adult Choice for 2002 by The International Reading Association-proof that it's a great crossover book.

Gracie was a deaf and partially blind albino Great Dane with a delicate constitution and a penchant for small miracles. Dan is the man-sad over the loss of his last dog and trapped in a dead-end job-who adopted her. Three Dog Bakery is the burgeoning and much-publicized chain of canine bakeries that, inspired by Gracie, Dan and his friend Mark founded. A love story, AMAZING GRACIE describes how Dan saves Gracie, the loneliest pup in the litter, then how, over the next ten years, Gracie saves Dan and Mark, teaching them the real meaning of happiness. There's the moment of meeting, when Gracie gets to her feet like a clumsy foal and nuzzles Dan's nose. Gracie's romance with the pint-size Boston Terrier next door. And the eureka moment (born of Gracie's anorexia-inducing dislike for commercial dog food): Dan teaches himself to cook and within three days begins baking the dog cookies that will transform their lives. AMAZING GRACIE is a dog-lover's treat.

What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America

Thomas Frank

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 377 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The largely blue collar citizens of Kansas can be counted upon to be a "red" state in any election, voting solidly Republican and possessing a deep animosity toward the left. This, according to author Thomas Frank, is a pretty self-defeating phenomenon, given that the policies of the Republican Party benefit the wealthy and powerful at the great expense of the average worker. According to Frank, the conservative establishment has tricked Kansans, playing up the emotional touchstones of conservatism and perpetuating a sense of a vast liberal empire out to crush traditional values while barely ever discussing the Republicans' actual economic policies and what they mean to the working class. Thus the pro-life Kansas factory worker who listens to Rush Limbaugh will repeatedly vote for the party that is less likely to protect his safety, less likely to protect his job, and less likely to benefit him economically. To much of America, Kansas is an abstract, "where Dorothy wants to return. Where Superman grew up." But Frank, a native Kansan, separates reality from myth in What's the Matter with Kansas and tells the state's socio-political history from its early days as a hotbed of leftist activism to a state so entrenched in conservatism that the only political division remaining is between the moderate and more-extreme right wings of the same party. Frank, the founding editor of The Baffler and a contributor to Harper's and The Nation, knows the state and its people. He even includes his own history as a young conservative idealist turned disenchanted college Republican, and his first-hand experience, combined with a sharp wit and thorough reasoning, makes his book more credible than the elites of either the left and right who claim to understand Kansas. --John Moe

PrairyErth (A Deep Map): An Epic History of the Tallgrass Prairie Country

William Least Heat-Moon

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Experience Kansas 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

If you want to experience Kansas, with its excruitatingly boring places that slowly creep up on you and leave you blissfully satisfied and in awe of beauty; if you're willing to read long passages of flat text just to discover the beauty of burning fields; I highly recommend PrairyErth.

I grew up in Kansas, about 2 hours from Chase county and was always facinated by the hills, the people, and just the auroa that came from Strong City and Cottonwood falls. After reading "PrairyErth" I am even more mesmorized by the locale.

I have been out of the state for 2 years now, and long to go back. Many friends have complained about the long drives through Kansas, the flat scenery, and boring people. PrairyErth brings to life these flat lands and opens up new worlds of community and life.

For me, reading Moon's book was much like experiencing life in Kansas. I did find some of the chapters long, dry, and dull.. but, that's how some Kansas life is. Moon always concludes these sections with a gorgeous snapshot of the land. He shows us what it is like to be in relationship with the land just as we are in relationship with one another.

He concludes the book with a beautiful journey down the Kaw Trail.
"How do you know when the Prairy is in you?"
"When you see a tree as an eyesore."

Editorial Review:

Three months on the New York Times bestseller list, PrairyErth is now in paperback. Robert Penn Warren pronounced Heat-Moon's Blue Highways "a masterpiece." Now Heat-Moon has pulled to the side of the road and set off on foot to take readers on an exploration of time and space, landscape and history in the Flint Hills of central Kansas.

The Mafia and the Machine: The Story of the Kansas City Mob

Frank R. Hayde

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Mob activity was a daily part of Kansas City life for decades. 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Law enforcement officer Frank R. Hayde presents The Mafia and the Machine: The Story of the Kansas City Mob, the mesmerizing true story of the Mafia's influence in Kansas City politics during the course of the twentieth century. Mob infiltration in the police department, the Democratic Party, the Teamsters Union, and more manifested as terror spread on election days, "licensed" and "protected" criminal rackets, and eruptions of violence. Mob activity was a daily part of Kansas City life for decades. Efficiently researched and told with a sense of excitement sure to intrigue readers of all backgrounds, The Mafia and the Machine is a highly recommended contribution to American history and criminal history shelves.

Editorial Review:

The story of the American Mafia is not complete without a chapter on Kansas City. The City of Fountains has appeared in The Godfather, Casino, and The Sopranos, but many Midwesterners are not aware that Kansas City has affected the fortunes of the entire underworld. In The Mafia and the Machine, author Frank Hayde ties in every major name in organized crime-Luciano, Bugsy, Lansky-as well as the city's corrupt police force.

Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam

Pope Brock

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Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In 1917, after years of selling worthless patent remedies throughout the Southeast, John R. Brinkley–America’s most brazen young con man–arrived in the tiny town of Milford, Kansas. He set up a medical practice and introduced an outlandish surgical method using goat glands to restore the fading virility of local farmers.

It was all nonsense, of course, but thousands of paying customers quickly turned “Dr.” Brinkley into America’s richest and most famous surgeon. His notoriety captured the attention of the great quackbuster Morris Fishbein, who vowed to put the country’s “most daring and dangerous” charlatan out of business.

Their cat-and-mouse game lasted throughout the 1920s and ’30s, but despite Fishbein’s efforts Brinkley prospered wildly. When he ran for governor of Kansas, he invented campaigning techniques still used in modern politics. Thumbing his nose at American regulators, he built the world’s most powerful radio transmitter just across the Rio Grande to offer sundry cures, and killed or maimed patients by the score, yet his warped genius produced innovations in broadcasting that endure to this day. By introducing country music and blues to the nation, Brinkley also became a seminal force in rock ’n’ roll. In short, he is the most creative criminal this country has ever produced.

Culminating in a decisive courtroom confrontation that pit Brinkley against his nemesis Fishbein, Charlatan is a marvelous portrait of a boundlessly audacious rogue on the loose in an America that was ripe for the bamboozling.

Pioneer Women

Joanna Stratton

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Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

From a rediscovered collection of priceless autobiographical accounts written by hundreds of pioneer women, Joanna Stratton has made a remarkable and widely celebrated book. Never before has there been such a detailed record of women's courage, such a living portrait of the women who civilized the American frontier. Here are their stories: wilderness mothers, schoolmarms, Indian squaws, immigrants, homesteaders, and circuit riders. Their personal recollections of prairie fires, locust plagues, cowboy shootouts, Indian raids, and blizzards on the plains vividly reveal the drama, danger and excitement of the pioneer experience.

These were women of relentless determination, whose tenacity helped them to conquer loneliness and privation. Their work was the work of survival, it demanded as much from them as from their men -- and at last that partnership has been recognized. "These voices are haunting" (New York Times Book Review), and they reveal the special heroism and industriousness of pioneer women as never before.

Oceans Of Kansas: A Natural History Of The Western Interior Sea (Life of the Past)

Michael J. Everhart

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Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Although Kansas is now high and dry, at one time the state, like most of the Midwest, was under water. Until the land finally rose above sea level during the final years of the Late Cretaceous, the area was covered by a succession of oceans whose geologic record is preserved in the sedimentary rock that covers the Great Plains. "Oceans of Kansas" tells the story of the five million years when giant sharks, marine reptiles called mosasaurs, pteranodons, and birds with teeth flourished in and around this shallow sea. The abundant and well-preserved remains of these prehistoric animals were the source of great excitement in the scientific community of the day when they were first discovered in the 1860s.Two of the best-known fossil hunters of the time, E. D. Cope and O. C. Marsh, competed vigorously to recover the best specimens. During the past 130 years, thousands have been collected and sent to museums around the world. Michael J. Everhart tells the fascinating story of their discovery, re-creates the animals and the world in which they lived, and presents the fruits of the latest research into the natural history of America's ancient inland sea. Michael J.Everhart, Adjunct Curator of Paleontology at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, Kansas, is an expert on the Late Cretaceous of western Kansas. He is the creator of the award-winning "Oceans of Kansas" paleontology website. He lives in Derby, Kansas.

What It Means to Be a Jayhawk: Bill Self and Kansas's Greatest Players (What It Means to Be...) (What It Means to Be ...)

Jeff Bollig, Doug Vance

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great book that makes your proud to be a Jayhawk 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Whether it is the preface by Bill Self or the countless stories from athletes who have graced the fields at KU, any fan of college sports will enjoy reading about Kansas sports history. Most interesting for me was the early days of KU and the athletes who loved KU just as much as the recent athletes. This book is a great trip down memory lane and clearly makes any Kansas grad or fan proud of OUR school. Rock Chalk.

Editorial Review:

Maybe you heard about Gale Sayers's graceful elegance on the football field from your father. Perhaps the larger-than-life presence of Wilt Chamberlain on the basketball court was mentioned by a television commentator. It could have been that you saw Jim Ryun's famous stride on the track in person. Regardless of your vantage point, you'll learn firsthand the stories of these and other University of Kansas greats in What It Means to Be a Jayhawk.

Kansas City Then and Now (Then & Now Thunder Bay)

Darlene Isaacson

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Editorial Review:

After rejecting proposed names like "Rabbitville" and "Possum Trot," civic leaders of Missouri's biggest trading post named their settlement the "Town of Kansas" in honor of the native Kansa Indians. That was then; today, Kansas City is said to have more fountains than any city in the world except for Rome.
See for yourself how much Kansas City's changed over the years in the latest title from the best-selling series, Then and Now.
Seventy-nine pairs of photographs illustrate then-and-now images of popular locations like the Harry S. Truman Residence, the Hannibal Bridge, and the Coates House Hotel.
Stop by Dick's Down Home Cook Shop back then and today and you'll witness major inner city renovations.
A magnificent panoramic view of landmark sculpture "The Scout" overlooking the city skyline and Penn Valley Park gives you a tremendous glimpse into the history of KC.
The Liberty Memorial, erected to honor the heroes of WWI, towers over the city at 217 feet tall. Discover how Kansas City looked when the monument was dedicated, and see how it looks today.
This is a tour you won't want to miss!

Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop--A History

Frank Driggs, Chuck Haddix

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

There were but four major galaxies in the early jazz universe, and three of them--New Orleans, Chicago, and New York--have been well documented in print. But there has never been a serious history of the fourth, Kansas City, until now.
In this colorful history, Frank Driggs and Chuck Haddix range from ragtime to bebop and from Bennie Moten to Charlie Parker to capture the golden age of Kansas City jazz. Readers will find a colorful portrait of old Kaycee itself, back then a neon riot of bars, gambling dens and taxi dance halls, all ruled over by Boss Tom Pendergast, who had transformed a dusty cowtown into the Paris of the Plains. We see how this wide-open, gin-soaked town gave birth to a music that was more basic and more viscerally exciting than other styles of jazz, its singers belting out a rough-and-tumble urban style of blues, its piano players pounding out a style later known as "boogie-woogie." We visit the great landmarks, like the Reno Club, the "Biggest Little Club in the World," where Lester Young and Count Basie made jazz history, and Charlie Parker began his musical education in the alley out back. And of course the authors illuminate the lives of the great musicians who made Kansas City swing, with colorful profiles of jazz figures such as Mary Lou Williams, Big Joe Turner, Jimmy Rushing, and Andy Kirk and his "Clouds of Joy."
Here is the definitive account of the raw, hard-driving style that put Kansas City on the musical map. It is a must read for everyone who loves jazz or American music history.