Oregon Books

Tip-Off: How the 1984 NBA Draft Changed Basketball Forever

Filip Bondy

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Subjects -> Sports -> Basketball -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The 1984 NBA draft is one of the most controversial in NBA history. Teams were losing games very suspiciously during the regular season to enhance their draft position. And who wouldn’t, when the draft featured four future members of the Top 50 NBA Players of All Time team-Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, John Stockton, and Michael Jordan. But this draft is most often remembered as the one where Michael Jordan slipped to third and was a reason the lottery system was introduced the next year. How could the experts have been so wrong and, even more astoundingly, how could the Portland Trailblazers, who held the second pick, pass on Jordan and choose the injury-prone Sam Bowie? Filip Bondy sets out to answer that question and many more. Talking to general managers, coaches, and players, Bondy provides the entire back story of the draft: trades that were never made; wrong-headed assessments of players like Charles Barkley and John Stockton, and how Bobby Knight, coach of the 1984 U.S. Olympic team, played a major role in advising certain teams about key players.

Chief Joseph & the Flight of the Nez Perce: The Untold Story of an American Tragedy

Kent Nerburn

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Total reviews: 30 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Hidden in the shadow cast by the great western expeditions of Lewis and Clark lies another journey every bit as poignant, every bit as dramatic, and every bit as essential to an understanding of who we are as a nation -- the 1,800-mile journey made by Chief Joseph and eight hundred Nez Perce men, women, and children from their homelands in what is now eastern Oregon through the most difficult, mountainous country in western America to the high, wintry plains of Montana. There, only forty miles from the Canadian border and freedom, Chief Joseph, convinced that the wounded and elders could go no farther, walked across the snowy battlefield, handed his rifle to the U.S. military commander who had been pursuing them, and spoke his now-famous words, "From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever."

The story has been told many times, but never before in its entirety or with such narrative richness. Drawing on four years of research, interviews, and 20,000 miles of travel, Nerburn takes us beyond the surrender to the captives' unlikely welcome in Bismarck, North Dakota, their tragic eight-year exile in Indian Territory, and their ultimate return to the Northwest. Nerburn reveals the true, complex character of Joseph, showing how the man was transformed into a myth by a public hungry for an image of the noble Indian and how Joseph exploited the myth in order to achieve his single goal of returning his people to their homeland.

Chief Joseph & the Flight of the Nez Perce is far more than the story of a man and a people. It is a grand saga of a pivotal time in our nation's history. Its pages are alive with the presence of Lewis and Clark, General William Tecumseh Sherman, General George Armstrong Custer, and Sitting Bull. Its events brush against the California Gold Rush, the Civil War, the great western pioneer migration, and the building of the telegraph and the transcontinental railroad. Once you have read this groundbreaking work, you will never look at Chief Joseph, the American Indian, or our nation's westward journey in the same way again.

Bowerman and the Men of Oregon: The Story of Oregon's Legendary Coach and Nike's Co-founder

Kenny Moore

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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Exercise & Fitness -> Running & Jogging

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The first biography of the legendary track coach, and founder of Nike, who had an unparalleled impact on the sport of running

During his tenure as track coach at the University of Oregon from 1949 through 1972, Bill Bowerman won 4 national team titles, trained dozens of milers to break the 4-minute barrier, and his athletes set 13 world and 22 American records. Single-handedly he helped turn the college town of Eugene, Oregon, into the running capital of the world.

In Bowerman: The Wings of Nike, Kenny Moore, a world-class marathon runner and one of Bowerman’s Oregon men, tells the story of his mentor and hero, drawing on years of taped interviews and the full cooperation of the Bowerman family and Nike, the company that Bowerman helped to found through his invention of the waffle-soled running shoe.

Whether providing a fresh look at the tragic siege at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, where Bowerman coached the track and field team; offering a close-up view of the coach’s relationship with runner Steve Prefontaine (subject of the movie Without Limits, co-written and co-produced by Moore); or exploring Bowerman’s role as a Nike innovator, this illuminating portrait is compelling reading throughout—ample evidence of why Bowerman’s widow, noting how well the author understood her husband, said: "If anyone should write Bill’s life story, it’s Kenny Moore."

The Oregon Trail (Dover Value Editions)

Francis Parkman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

An Excellent Book - but misnamed 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is an excellent book giving the reader a first person view of the Frontier in the 1840s. The details make the reader feel as if they were living the adventure themselves.

If you are looking for a book that tells of a journey on the Oregon Trail, this is NOT the book for you. A better for the book title might have been "A Summer On The Frontier: Life Among The Indians and Explorers." The author follows the Oregon Trail until he reaches Fort Laramie, and then spends the rest of his time among the indians who inhabited the plains and badlands at the time.

If you are looking for vivid picture of life among the indians, buffaloes, and explorers, this IS the book for you!

Editorial Review:

Keen observations and a graphic style characterize the author's remarkable record of a vanishing frontier. Detailed accounts of the hardships experienced while traveling across mountains and prairies; vibrant portraits of emigrants and Western wildlife; and vivid descriptions of Indian life and culture. A classic of American frontier literature.

Black Velvet Masterpieces: Highlights from the Collection of the Velveteria Museum

Caren Anderson, Carl Baldwin

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Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Gorgeous Photos 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

The full color photographs - approx. 200 - are gorgeous and are almost tactile in the way they convey the lush texture and rich color of the velvet paintings. I also enjoyed the authors' writing style: chatty and interesting, covering everything from the history of velvet painting and painters to the authors' personal collecting stories. So...great photos, great writing, and a front cover artfully decorated with black velvet - makes the book itself a bit of a Black Velvet Masterpiece!

I was also lucky enough to visit the authors' Velveteria Museum in Portland and can attest it's well worth the trip.

Editorial Review:

Though beloved by millions around the world, black velvet paintings have too long been relegated to the shadowy backrooms of art history. Black Velvet Masterpieces celebrates the best and worst of this kitschy yet sought-after artform, showcasing the most mind-blowing paintings from the Velveteria museum, home to a rotating collection of more than 1,200 crying Elvises, troubling clowns, naked ladies, dogs playing poker, celebrity and presidential portraits, black light psych-outs, and the just plain weird. Complementing 300 reproductions of these tactile masterpieces are a unique history of the medium tracing its roots from ancient China and Japan through Victorian England, the South Seas, Southeast Asia, and the Americas, and a step-by-step exploration of the tricky art of painting on this luxurious fabric.

Oregon's Dry Side: Exploring East of the Cascade Crest

Alan D. St. John

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Outstanding guidebook 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 8 people found this review helpful.

The varied wonderlands of Oregon East of the Cascades are largely unknown, even to many Oregonians, who think of it as "the desert". This book finally offers glimpse after glimpse of the diversity of scenery, ecosystems, and satisfying landscapes that exist here.
The photography is absolutely outstanding, and the images are accompanied by accurate captions. The choices of human history photographs and quotes are great. The natural history sections are readable, unlike a field guide, and there is an excellent balance of "charismatic species" coverage. As one of those who prefers places to people, I found the balance between obsession with our own species and appreciation for the others to be perfect.
As far as I can tell, it is extraordinarily accurate - and I learned a few things even after Skylar and I have been exploring the subtleties of these places for over 20 years. There are some excellent perspectives; for example, St. John probably wins the prize for the best way to frame the Columbia River dam "controversy" (see page 177). He is unafraid of "deep time" to explain modern ecosystems and weaves the fossil record throughout the text.
My only concern is purely selfish = he describes some of our favorite haunts so eloquently, readers are going to flock to them and the desert solitaire he praises will change. Oh, well. Maybe those readers will be moved to protect these special places as a result. I just hope the editors of Outside never get a copy...
I plan to buy a few dozen as gifts for friends who wonder "Why are you guys living out there in the frontier instead of in _____ (insert city, bay, whatever)?"

This is on the top of my list of "Books that Work".

Ted Fremd
Paleontologist
John Day Basin

Editorial Review:

Come explore the sights, sounds, scents, and stories of Oregon's dry side, the stunning, vast, arid East, which is the state's true West. Here are the volcanic mountains and mysterious fossils, vanilla-scented ponderosa pines, painted desert colors, wild creatures large and small, rugged wildflowers, remote outposts, and rich history reaching back to prehistoric times. Your expert guide is Alan D. St. John, naturalist, photographer, native Oregonian, and lifetime dry-side explorer who shares it all, including - and this is generous indeed - some of his own little-known favorite places. Also a broad field guide to eastern Oregon, this treasure of a book shows the region's flora and fauna and dramatic geology in gorgeous photographs.

In Search of Ancient Oregon: A Geological and Natural History

Ellen Morris Bishop

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Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Earth Sciences -> Geology

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Geology is an extremely visual subject, and In Search of Ancient Oregon is a beautifully photographed, expertly written account of Oregon's fascinating geological story. Written by a passionate and professional geologist who has spent countless hours in the field exploring and photographing the state, In Search of Ancient Oregon is a book for all those interested in Oregon's landscapes and environments. It presents fine-art-quality color photographs of well-known features such as Mount Hood, Crater Lake, Smith Rock, Steens Mountain, the Columbia River Gorge, and Cannon Beach, and scenic, not so well known places such as Jordan Craters, Leslie Gulch, Abert Rim, Hells Canyon, Elkhorn Mountains, and Three Fingered Jack. Each of the more than 220 stunning photographs is accompanied by readable text, presenting the story of how Oregon's diverse landscapes evolved --- and what we may expect in the future. Until now, no book has presented this dynamic story in a way that everyone interested in Oregon's natural history can easily understand. The combination of extraordinary photographs and the author's lucid explanations make this book both unique and essential for those curious about our own contemporary landscape.

Oregon Story: 1850-2000

Oregonian

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Outstanding 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 11 people found this review helpful.

Being a former Oregon resident and to this day occasional Oregon visitor, I was fascinated by this book, which is a history of the Beaver State, and one that is done quite well. From the chronology of the state, to recording historic events, and sidebars about influential people in its history, this book takes a wonderful look back over the past 150 years.

Since the book was written by staff members of the Oregonian, it reads like a "newspaper account" of the days leading from Oregon's inception to the present. But what an entertaining account. From the early days, through the "turn of the century, the roaring 20's, the Depression, wartime, the fifties, turbulent 60s, up to the year 2000, all events are well-documented.

I never knew for example that Tom McCall when he was governor in 1970 staged the only ever state-run rock concert. I only saw him years later when I lived in Oregon and saw him deliver commentary on the evening news. I knew of course about Vanport and its horrendous end. I also remembered the bad flooding in 1996, having been in Portland the weekend before it happened. And of course, who could ever forget Mt. St. Helens erupting in 1980? These of course are just a few of the events that have occured in Oregon's history

I mentioned sidebars about influential people. People like McCall, Artie Wilson (a famous Pacific Coast League baseball player now living in Portland), Beverly Cleary (who wrote the Henry books I loved as a kid), Neil Goldschmitt, and the current Portland mayor Vera Katz, among others.

I have always loved the state of Oregon and its people, even if I'm a dreaded "Californian." This book reinforces my love and admiration of the state to the north of me.

Editorial Review:

Based on an intriguing illustrated series of articles in The Oregonian, this book offers a fascinating look at a remarkable state.

The Arts and Crafts Movement in the Pacific Northwest

Lawrence Kreisman, Glenn Mason

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

This magnificent compendium is the first comprehensive exploration of the Arts and Crafts legacy in the Pacific Northwest. It traces the movement from its nineteenth-century English beginnings to its flowering in Washington and Oregon through the 1920s and beyond, weaving into a tale of idealism and devotion everything from iconic masterpieces to recent discoveries.

You will meet the architects, artists, craftspeople, and entrepreneurs in Seattle, Spokane, Portland, and smaller communities throughout the region in their own words in journal entries, letters, articles, and promotional materials of the period. Included are public and private architecture, furniture, pottery and tile, metalwork, lighting, leaded and stained glass, jewelry, textiles, basketry and the influence of Native American arts, painting and printmaking, photography, graphic arts, and book design.

The ideals of the Arts and Crafts movement—a celebration of craftsmanship and the creative process; an appreciation of sound construction, pleasing proportion, grace, and simplicity; and a comfortable rusticity that sees beauty in nature and honors indigenous materials—found fertile ground in Washington and Oregon. The inspired handiwork of anonymous amateurs and significant regional artists alike yielded a remarkable variety of progressive architect-designed residences, bungalows for everyone, and all manner of artistic and practical furnishings and accessories.

Beautifully illustrated with nearly 400 photographs and period graphics, including rare images published here for the first time, this groundbreaking volume is an authoritative reference, a provocative story, and an irresistible treasure trove for Arts and Crafts collectors and enthusiasts everywhere.

Field Guide to the Sedges of the Pacific Northwest

Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Danna Lytjen, Bruce Newhouse, Nick Otting

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Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Biological Sciences -> Botany
Subjects -> Science -> Biological Sciences -> Botany -> General

Editorial Review:

Sedges are key members of many Northwest ecosystems, performing critical roles in wetlands, prairies, savannas, steppes, and forests. They are often the dominant ground cover in flood plains, along stream banks, and in wet meadows and marshes. Their extensive, fibrous root systems prevent erosion by binding soils, while their dense foliage traps sediment, making them critical elements in the restoration of wetland and riparian systems. Field Guide to the Sedges of the Pacific Northwest is the first illustrated guide to all 164 species, subspecies, and varieties in the genus Carex that occur in Oregon and Washington and throughout the Pacific Northwest. Sedges can be challenging to identify with differences between species based on small, technical characters. After nearly fifteen years of research, Oregon botanists of the Carex Working Group have written this comprehensive guide, complete with identification keys, descriptions, color photographs, and distribution maps for each species, providing users with helpful tools and tips for identifying the plants in this challenging group. Information about sedge ecology, habitat management and restoration, ethnobotanical uses, and propagation enhances the guide’s utility. The Field Guide provides a comprehensive and essential resource for botanists, land managers, restoration ecologists, and plant enthusiasts. And, as the genus Carex becomes increasingly important amongst landscapers, nurseries, and gardeners, the guide will serve as a handy tool for choosing Northwest natives for the garden.