Pacific Northwest Books - Page 12

Classic Houses of Seattle: High Style to Vernacular, 1870-1950 (The Classic Houses Series)

Caroline T. Swope

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Home owners, history and architecture buffs, and visitors to the Pacific Northwest will all find a treasure trove of information within these pages. With 300 photographs and illustrations, both historic and contemporary, this text provides a comprehensive overview of the city’s major residential architectural styles, including Victorian, Craftsman, Tudor Revival, and Modern. The homes featured range from the showplaces of the wealthy to humble cottages and bungalows in residential neighborhoods. Beginning with a historical overview and continuing through descriptions of the 120 featured houses, organized by chronological era, this is the first-ever comprehensive guide to Seattle’s historic homes. Checklists of houses by neighborhood and style make this useful for walking tours by residents and visitors alike. Anyone interested in preserving Seattle’s architectural treasures will find this an essential resource. "Classic Houses of Seattle" is a vibrant portrait of the city’s development, an important chapter in the story of American residential architecture.

S'abadeb, The Gifts: Pacific Coast Salish Art and Artists

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Editorial Review:

S'abadeb, The Gifts captures the essence of Coast Salish culture through its artistry, oral traditions, and history. Developed in conjunction with the first extensive exhibition of the art and culture of the Coast Salish peoples of Washington State and British Columbia, the book traces the development of Salish art from prehistory to the present. Sculpture in wood, stone, and bone-including monumental house posts-as well as expertly crafted basketry, woven regalia, and contemporary works in glass, print media, and painting showcase a sweeping artistic tradition and its contemporary vibrant manifestations.

S'abadeb is the Lushootseed term for "gifts" and invokes a principle at the heart of Salish sculpture: reciprocity, both in the public and spiritual domains. This richly symbolic word expresses the importance of giving gifts at potlatches, of giving thanks during first food ceremonies, of the creativity bestowed upon artists and other leaders, and of the roles of the master artists, oral historians, and cultural leaders in passing vital cultural information to the next generations. The theme of S'abadeb and practices of reciprocal exchange in Salish society are illuminated here through the intersection of art with ceremony, oral traditions, the land, and contemporary realities.

The Navaho: Revised Edition (Harvard Paperbacks)

Clyde Kluckhohn, Dorothea Leighton

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Editorial Review:

What are the Navaho today? How do they live together and with other races? What is their philosophy of life? Both the general reader and the student will look to this authoritative study for the answers to such questions. The authors review Navaho history from archaeological times to the present, and then present Navaho life today. They show the people's problems in coping with their physical environment; their social life among their own people; their contacts with whites and other Indians and especially with the Government; their economy; their religious beliefs and practices; their language and the problems this raises in their education and their relationships to whites; and their explicit and implicit philosophy.

This book presents not only a study of Navaho life, however: it is an impartial discussion of an interesting experiment in Government administration of a dependent people, a discussion which is significant for contemporary problems of a wider scope; colonial questions; the whole issue of the contact of different races and peoples. It will appeal to every one interested in the Indians, in the Southwest, in anthropology, in sociology, and to many general readers.

This work forms the most thorough-going study ever made of the Navaho Indians, and perhaps of any Indian group. The book was written as a part of the Indian Education Research project undertaken jointly by the Committee on Human Development of the University of Chicago and the United States Office of Indian Affairs. The cooperation of a psychiatrist and anthropologist both in the research for, and in the writing of, this study is noteworthy--as is the fusion of methods and points of view derived from medicine, psychology, and anthropology. Probably no anthropological study has ever been based upon so many years of field work by so many different persons.

Days of Obligation: An Argument with My Mexican Father

Richard Rodriguez

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Not For Everyone, Not As It Seems, Better Than You Think. 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Richard Rodriguez, is, to say the least, a dense writer. His prose overflows with allusions to the demonic Romantic founder William Blake, work ethic orientated Victorian philosopher Thomas Carlyle, with small dash of natural theologian St. Thomas Aquinas, among others. And these are only the obvious references to me. Add that to classical literature, Roman Catholic philosophy, pre and post lapsearian filters on the role of Mexican Americans in the United States, and you have a philosophical self examination that rivals Dante Alighieri. "Days of Obligation" is a purposely dense, complex, at times conciliatory and confusing allegory of examination of self via international relations. Rodriguez attempts to unravel the relationship between Mexico and California as he unravels his own relationship with the native land of his parents.

He opens his collection with his travels with a BBC crew to find his roots. He feels alienated in a place where everyone assumes he would feel most comfortable. This feeling of alienation continues throughout the collection, and extends to his observations of alienation of those around him. Father Huerta is alienated from others because of his yearning to reunite the body and head of Joaquín Murrieta. The disillusion between the tú and usted forms in Mexico. The alienation that he feels from his family. More optimistic about his life's potential than his fathers cynicism, more comfortable than his mother who dreams about better days in Mexico.

What I found most interesting about this collection is that it seemed, whether intentional or not, to follow basic Blakean philosophy. He makes a reference to a "Blakean angel" in "Late Victorians", which to me implies that he had some conscience effort go into that. One of the tenets of William Blakes philosophy is often misunderstood as duality, but its actually the opposite. In a simplified sense, Blake believed that people are neither good or bad, but both good and bad at the same time. And I think that is how Rodriguez sees himself in this collection. He is neither American nor is Mexican, he is both, living in both worlds, unable to fully commit to one or the either.

Another interesting thing that I noticed was an emphasis on work. Thomas Carlyle wrote that work was therapeutic, purification process, that made people more focused. Rodriguez seems to play on that idea in a satirical tone in `Late Victorians' when he writes that "Body building is a parody of labor, a useless accumulation of the laborer's bulk and strength" Rodriguez seems to believe that there should a reason for work, but this is such an obscure allusion that I'm not sure what to do with it. The book seems to continue with this theme also, but there is nothing specifically that I can point out that seems to obviously fit with that model.

I brought up Thomas Aquinas because Rodriguez is a Catholic apologist. As well as a gay man. I thought that tied up into the Blakean philosophy quiet well. Two forces that are generally seen as opposing forces coexisting in one being at the same time in the same place. He is constantly defending the Church, something that I'm sure many people would find perplexing giving the Church's position on homosexuality.

I greatly enjoyed the book. It was unlike any other non fiction that I have read. It doesn't concern itself with the typical "I feel--" statements that generally profusely overflow in contemporary non fiction. His style is reminiscent of Alexander Pope in a way--dense and literal at the same time; pretentious and personal. There is no doubt that his postulations will cause some people to walk away puzzled. He has no yearning to return to Mexico, as some people may assume, but is more than willing to admit that he does not understand the country as much as he would like. He's more than willing to, and does, to write above the average readers head. This alone is what most likely turn readers off. Unless one has a background in ethnic studies, theology, or English literature, the metaphors, references and allusions will go over the everyday readers head. But research into whatever questions the reader has will ultimately make reading the collection a richer experience.

Over all, I enjoyed the book, and when my next pay period comes in, I know that I will make a few purchases of his other works to get a greater understanding of his writing. And that is one of the greatest compliment I think that any writer can receive.

Editorial Review:

Spurred by the memory of an argument with his father, a controversial thinker relates his views on topics that range from the conquest of Mexico to the AIDS epidemic. 35,000 first printing. $35,000 ad/promo. Tour. First serial, Harper's.

Point Reyes Visions

Kathleen Goodwin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Point Reyes Visions 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 10 people found this review helpful.

MaryKae and I saw this book at the Olema Inn this afternoon when we stopped for a latte' and a mocha. It was on the coffee table in the lobby. The photographs are wonderful. Marin County is a treasure, and this book captures its beauty exquisitely. It will be a number one selection for us to send to friends for Christmas so we can share with them the beauty of our beloved Marin County...

Editorial Review:

Stark white cliffs dissolve into smooth beaches, lush forests descend to open coast, spring wildflowers color windswept headlands, and pods of seals sprawl on rocky points--the Point Reyes peninsula is a land of striking beauty. The small towns and thriving ranches in close proximity to these wild places reflect a rich cultural heritage.

In Point Reyes Vision, photographer Richard Blair and writer Kathleen Goodwin share their passion for this land. In a museum-quality book, they combine photos and essays that capture the landmarks, wildlife, people, and rugged spirit of the Point Reyes peninsula.

#1 bestseller in Marin County for two years (Marin Independent Journal)

Bay Area Bestseller (San Francisco Chronicle)

Roaring Camp: The Social World of the California Gold Rush

Susan Lee Johnson

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Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

With the alchemy of great history, Susan Johnson transforms the familiar story of the Gold Rush into one that is sparkling and new. You know about the Gold Rush: out West, sometime around '49, unshaven men named Stumpy and Kentuck raising hell and panning for gold. Stories like Bret Harte's "The Luck of Roaring Camp" set the mold. But that's not it, at least not all of it. Harte's Roaring Camp also features characters named French Pete and Cherokee Sal, hinting at a social vortex, multiracial, multiethnic, often homosocial, in which French men live alongside Anglos from the east and Cherokee women from Indian territory. Susan Johnson's Roaring Camp explores the dynamic social world created by the Gold Rush in the Sierra Nevada foothills around Stockton. In it we find Mexican families like the Murrietas who worked the mines, did the wash, and rose up against Anglo rule. There are the Miwok Indians who tried to maintain their traditions even while constructing the sawmill at Sutter's fort where gold was discovered in 1848. We enter the all-male households of the diggings, the mines where the men worked, the fandango houses where they played. With a keen eye for character and story, Johnson shows us how this peculiar world evolved into a more stable society, and how our cultural memory of the Gold Rush took root.

Thunder Over The Ochoco: Rain of Tears (Thunder Over the Ochoco)

Gale Ontko

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Editorial Review:

Volume IV covers the thirteen-year interval between 1866 and 1879 that would witness monumental changes in the Ochoco. With the Surrender of Has No Horse's battered army, western Oregon had free rein to exploit the Ochoco as it saw fit. In a blind daze, the Shoshoni would witness frontier towns spring up where their ancestral hunting grounds to dust, the proud warriors of a by-gone year again rebelled. And, for a fleeting moment, shook the state of Oregon to its very foundations. Then it was over. Stripped even of reservation rights, the few survivors drifted between the four winds on their final journey into the bitter rain of tears.

Sources of the River: Tracking David Thompson Across Western North America

Jack Nisbet

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Sources of the River 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

As we reach the bicentennial of David Thompson's crossing of the Rocky Mountains, it appears that "Sources of the River" is becoming the definitive popular reference. The book deserves it. Like all of Nisbet's books, this one is very well written and enjoyable to read. The book covers Thompson's entire life but focuses on the five years he spent in the Rocky Mountain region of Canada and the United States. That period includes his exploration of the entire length of the Columbia River, the first non-Indian to do so.

Because David Thompson was a contemporary of Lewis and Clark, reviewers are inclined to compare them. This is only partially valid. The latter was a military expedition sent on a mission of exploration. David Thompson was a fur trader working for a commercial company. He had the desire and talent to explore, but trading had to come first. Thompson was the point person for expanding the fur trade across the Rocky Mountains and into the Columbia River drainage. As he advanced his trading territory, his journals recorded an expanding knowledge of the territory and its inhabitants, plants, and animals. Thompson was a geographer and surveyor; his maps are much more accurate than those developed by Lewis and Clark.

Thompson was a rugged individual and this book covers the challenges and hardships of the fur trade. The Indians were an important element in both his trading and his exploration. This book chronicles those relationships. Thompson took a Cree wife who bore him thirteen children and they were together until his death at age eighty-seven.

In addition to the well-researched historical account of David Thompson, we are treated to an occasional aside from Jack Nisbet, often describing his visit to one of the sites important to the history. This book deserves its wide acceptance.

Editorial Review:

From 1784 to 1812, fur trader, surveyor, and mapmaker David Thompson explored western North America. His field journals provide the earliest written accounts of the natural history and indigenous cultures of what is now British Columbia, Alberta, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. Thompson was the first person to fully chart the Columbia River, and his wilderness expeditions have become legendary. Jack Nisbet tracks the explorer across the continent, interweaving his own sharp observations with Thompson’s historical writings.

Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin (California Studies in Critical Human Geography)

Gray Brechin

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Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

San Francisco is a city clouded in myth. This urban biography provides an entirely new vision of the city's history, laying bare the inner dynamics of the regional civilization centered in San Francisco. Imperial San Francisco examines the far-reaching environmental impact that one city and the elite families that hold power in it have had on the Pacific Basin for over a century and a half. The book provides a literate, myth-shattering interpretation of the hidden costs that the growth of San Francisco has exacted on its surrounding regions, presenting along the way a revolutionary new theory of urban development. Written in a lively, accessible style, the narrative is filled with vivid characters, engrossing stories, and a rich variety of illustrations.

As he uncovers the true costs of building an imperial city, Gray Brechin addresses the dynastic ambitions of frontier oligarchies, the environmental and social effects of the mining industry, the creation of two universities, the choice of imperial architecture to symbolize the aspirations of San Franciscans in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, manipulation of public thought by the city's media, and more. He traces the exploitation of both local and distant regions by prominent families-the Hearsts, de Youngs, Spreckelses, and others-who gained wealth and power through mining, control of ranching, water and energy, transportation, real estate, and weapons.

This broad history of San Francisco is a story of greed and ambition on an epic scale. Imperial San Francisco incorporates rare period illustrations, personal correspondence, and public statements to show how a little-known power elite has used the city as a tool to increase its own wealth and power. Brechin's story advances a new way of understanding urban history as he traces the links among environment, economy, and technology that led, ultimately, to the creation of the atomic bomb and the nuclear arms race.

Los Angeles Times Best Nonfiction Book of 2000

Mormon country

Wallace Earle Stegner

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Too much tension 2 out of 5 stars.
11 of 39 people found this review helpful.

Yes, Stegner has a beautiful gift of words. His love for the area is very well described in fun folk lore and historical legends that form Utah's rich heritage and history. Stegner claims to be a historian, giving credit to several other great Utahan and Western historians like Bernard De Voto.

But in his presentation of an attempt to explain the area and its unique people, he conveniently leaves out facts about historical events, like polygamy or tragedies like the Mountain Meadow Massacre.

Stegner is not a member of the church but pretends to be an expert or an authority. This view is misleading and the reader needs to be cautioned to view the book as opinion and satire. Stegner's growing up in the Salt Lake City area, but not being a member of the majority has led to many tensions. His commentary or tensions include his being against the LDS Church organization, which he uses only its nickname, "Mormon," against his love and admiration for what the people in the church have overcome, adjusted to, and have achieved.

Stegner loves the land and unique stories describing the culture, but he is not an authority, knowing everything. He is just one man trying to represent hundreds of thousands, not to mention it was written about 60 years ago, he writes well, but not objectively at all.

This is a collection of stories, which if one know the definition of story knows it isn't always fact, it's stretched. It seems he has taken the most far-fetched or extreme stories to represent a whole of religion and society. The area is unique in many ways, with many tensions in its history. My main point in writing is to point out Stegner's personal bias and tension with the people in the area.

Editorial Review:

Where others saw only sage, a salt lake, and a great desert, the Mormons saw their "lovely Deseret," a land of lilacs, honeycombs, poplars, and fruit trees. Unwelcome in Illinois and Missouri, they migrated to the dry lands between the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada to establish Mormon country, a wasteland made green. Like the land they settled, the Mormons' habits stood in stark contrast to the frenzied recklessness of the American West. Opposed to the often prodigal individualism of the West, Mormons lived in closely knit—some say ironclad—communities. The story of Mormon country is one of self-sacrifice and labor spent in the search for an ideal in the most forbidding territory of the American West.