A beautiful and heartbreaking story of Luz, the keeper of the stories and reader of tea leaves, and she and her family/friends try and survive in the A beautiful and heartbreaking story of Luz, the keeper of the stories and reader of tea leaves, and she and her family/friends try and survive in the 20th century in Denver, New Mexico, and elsewhere....more
3.5 stars. Reading this on the tail of the overturn of Roe v. Wade just reinforced for me how VITALLY IMPORTANT IT IS for women to be able to make the3.5 stars. Reading this on the tail of the overturn of Roe v. Wade just reinforced for me how VITALLY IMPORTANT IT IS for women to be able to make their own decisions when it comes to their lives, their bodies, and their futures. ...more
This whole book was about an era of Native history that I knew very little about: fur trapping and the families who brought that industry to the rest This whole book was about an era of Native history that I knew very little about: fur trapping and the families who brought that industry to the rest of the world. I learned so much from this book, about mixed families and the reasons for Indigenous and settler alliances and the blatant racism that (white) US government policies built to prevent mixed descent families from full citizenship, because OF COURSE THE GOVERNMENT DID THAT. ...more
A Chinese-American and an escaped slave make their way west, running from their past and looking for a future. These two teenage girls must learn to sA Chinese-American and an escaped slave make their way west, running from their past and looking for a future. These two teenage girls must learn to survive, learn to trust each other, and along the way keep hidden from lawmen and burly western cowboys who may mean them harm. I had no idea what I was getting in to when I downloaded this, and it was such a pleasant surprise! This was a great companion to Prairie Lotus....more
A memoir of Abbey and Stegner, I'm glad I've read both (and, tbh, I super prefer Stegner to Abbey).A memoir of Abbey and Stegner, I'm glad I've read both (and, tbh, I super prefer Stegner to Abbey)....more
Ooouff, this book will break your heart open and truly justifies my healthy fear of the blazing deserts of the Southwest. Written in 2001, it follows Ooouff, this book will break your heart open and truly justifies my healthy fear of the blazing deserts of the Southwest. Written in 2001, it follows the story of a coyote (guide for border crossings) who takes a large group of men from Mexico to the United States, and they get lost, walking in endless circles in the deserts of Arizona, looking for water, a town, anything. It covers the Border Patrol but ICE is not yet invented (not until 2003) and the main job of Border Patrol on the US side was to find folks who were dying in the desert, give them water, and help them. What a completely different world, just 20 years ago, ya'll. I checked, and the author hasn't published any more recent books about the US-Mexico border, or immigration non-fiction, but I hope he's written some articles somewhere. His writing style is gutting, and truly captures the fear and unimaginable heat of the Arizona desert....more
This is my second book from Marshall about Little Bighorn, the other was a biography, The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History, which also coveredThis is my second book from Marshall about Little Bighorn, the other was a biography, The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History, which also covered much of the same content but with a lot more in-depth info on the leader. I will say, this is probably most enjoyable for someone who likes historical non-fiction about battles and strategy. I'm glad I already knew a lot of the details of Little Bighorn from Marshall's other book, reading the Lakota history instead of the American history of this battle are two very different stories....more
The author details a wide range of tribes and communities for hundreds of years, giving both history ancient and less ancient, and a lot of context ofThe author details a wide range of tribes and communities for hundreds of years, giving both history ancient and less ancient, and a lot of context of the plight of Native Americans throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, and facts and examples of Native life in the 20th century, their fight for citizenship, the necessity of dual citizenship, boarding schools, the right to vote, the right to hold and manage their own property and finances instead of essentially being infantilized wards of the federal government or state. I think I say this every time I read another non-fiction account written by a Native American: the white, US government has wronged the Indigenous people of North America over and over and over, in every possible horrendous way. And while SOME attemps at reparations have been made in some areas towards some tribes, overall, the First Peoples of this country have fought and thrived in spite of generations of persecution, extortion, lies, blackmailing, and slaughter. They are here, they have retained and reclaimed parts of their culture and they continue to carve out space. Collectively, we need to support and elevate their voices and issues....more
The story of the Comanche tribe is a 5-star story, but Gwynne's storytelling ability is smothered by his own racist perspective so much it's hardly reThe story of the Comanche tribe is a 5-star story, but Gwynne's storytelling ability is smothered by his own racist perspective so much it's hardly readable. One star for the research, negative one million stars for 385 pages of racist trope about Natives, starting in the very first chapter. Do not recommend.
ETA: HOW THE F*CK DID THIS BOOK GET SHORT LISTED FOR A PULITZER?! Hi, Racism, nice to see you're alive and well and infiltrating every level of American society. ...more
2.5 stars. I really struggled with this book, in is a comprehensive history of many aspects of white settlers in the American West and I learned a ton2.5 stars. I really struggled with this book, in is a comprehensive history of many aspects of white settlers in the American West and I learned a ton about the history of New Mexico, the Plains, California, and the PNW....but it's also pretty biased. Ok, *really* biased. I listened to the audio, so I'm unsure of what sources and citing was used--although I have no doubts this was heavily researched--but it seemed so one-sided, and anti-Native. Were Native people consulted? Cited? Are Native histories used at any kind of an equal rate as others? (My guess? Not even close.) Sides did give many accounts of atrocities committed by whites, Mexicans, and Spanish against the Natives...but it is still pretty clear he sides with the settlers and colonizers, and not the Native people who were systematically destroyed for decades at the behest of the Spanish, Mexican, and US Governments. At one point mid-read I had the thought that this book reads as if a general in the 1940's Germany army was writing a book about the Holocaust in his later years, where he may recognize that the treatment of the Jews was bad, but still sided with the Germans overall and their glorious Reich.
I was uncomfortable throughout the book with the benevolent racism (and some overt racism). Blergh. ...more
1.5 stars. Alternate Title: Mining and Mormons in California, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado
This book has not aged well, if it was ever well-written in th1.5 stars. Alternate Title: Mining and Mormons in California, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado
This book has not aged well, if it was ever well-written in the first place. Stone cannot get past his own biases to tell a complete story, which is unfortunate. I was PARTICULARLY frustrated with his treatment of Native Americans in his work, the death knell for me was when he was discussing mining in Colorado and white settlers/federal government trying to negotiate with the Ute tribe; the US wanted to give the Utes $25k in exchange for millions of acres of their homeland, when the tribe refused Stone claims the Utes were "just being difficult" in not wanting to agree. In the same chapter he touts white mining investors as making millions each in gold and silver pulled out of the ground. $25k for the ground, worth millions upon millions. But sure, the Ute tribe is just "being difficult" in not wanting to a) sign over yet another swath of their home to white miners and b) have the audacity to be less than thrilled with a paltry $25k for the entire tribe.
Do not recommend. This is my second Irving Stone book and will be my last, he takes on these works of enormous scope, but is so single-minded in his approach that the end result is, well, kinda shitty work, imho....more
Willa Cather is a beautiful writer, but truly the only part of this book I particularly enjoyed was the section towards the end about Tom Overland's tWilla Cather is a beautiful writer, but truly the only part of this book I particularly enjoyed was the section towards the end about Tom Overland's time in the West. The rest was just a little too....slow. Seemingly pointless. And yes, I get the comparison between how Overland wanted his discoveries and research of the Native American tribe handled, vs how his fortune for whatever natural gas equation he came up with was used...but I still just didn't really care about the Professor or his daughters or his wife. Like, at all. So, there's that....more
Once again, when you get right down to it, white people treated Native Americans in the worst possible ways, and got away with it for generations. ThiOnce again, when you get right down to it, white people treated Native Americans in the worst possible ways, and got away with it for generations. This story focuses on the Osage tribe in Oklahoma who became wealthy when oil was found on land in their reservation, as part of terms of their removal from their native lands to the Oklahoma reservation the Osage had negotiated with the US Government to have mineral rights on their land which made this small tribe among the wealthiest people in America. Of course, they weren't allowed to manage their own money, white "guardians" were assigned to each Osage who had to ask for money for everything from businesses or automobiles to tea and gloves.
During the 1920's and 30's there were MANY Osage who died under suspicious circumstances, poisoning, disappearance, "suicide" that was really cold blooded murder. The numbers are hard to track, but dozens have been confirmed and hundreds are suspected. HUNDREDS. Hundreds of Osage were killed for their inherited oil and mineral rights, their "headright." Some were killed by their financial guardians, some by business associates, and others by their white spouses and in-laws, children were kidnapped or adopted for their headright. Young women were kidnapped and married, then killed, for their headright. HUNDREDS of cases. It is sickening.
J. Edgar Hoover's brand new FBI began investigating these murders in the 1920's, some of which were solved, many were not connected to each other, and there is quite a bit of info in this book about the primary investigator and his process. However, it wasn't a single mass murderer to track down, try, and imprison (although, there were a few of those as well), it was a widespread habit of white greed, white people slaughtering Osage because they hated the idea of Native Americans living with wealth and thought--after they had already removed them to a reservation--that the Osage deserved even less and the white people deserved everything. Ugh. I am just heartsick over this....more
I'm not quite sure why there is a cult of idol worship for selfish young men who tramp off into the wilderness on their own. Everett Ruess disappearedI'm not quite sure why there is a cult of idol worship for selfish young men who tramp off into the wilderness on their own. Everett Ruess disappeared in the 1930's in the red rock country of Southern Utah after spending several years popping around the West, completely financially supported by his parents (in the midst of the Great Depression, mind you), and considering himself an artist. He *regularly* destroys Native artifacts and sites, breaking into ancient hogans, carving his name on artifacts and walls, and all the while applauding himself for "discovering" them when, in actuality, he most likely did no such thing. Of course, he wasn't intent on mapping the places he visited, but wanted to claim them all the same. As a well-off white boy in the 1930's he may not be expected to understand the Navajo and other tribal way of life, but he certainly makes very little attempt to learn, despite a few forays into "becoming friends" he still can't fathom Native life prior to the white invasion of their territory, and can't understand how said invasion might have altered their customs, culture, and very existence.
Honestly, Ruess just isn't that interesting. (And, frankly, neither is Chris McCandless of "Into the Wild" fame.) He's another entitled white teenager who got lost on purpose and thinks he's a wilderness king, despite being unable to survive without support from his parents (who regularly send money and supplies, and who he regularly lashes out at for not sending enough money) and the ranchers of the Southwest who take him in more than once. I'm so done with this genre, I'm done with turning these self-centered wannabe explorers into some kind of legend or larger-than-life personality. ...more
This is primarily the story of young Chris McCandless who walked into the Alaskan Wild and didn't come back out, but Krakauer also highlights a numberThis is primarily the story of young Chris McCandless who walked into the Alaskan Wild and didn't come back out, but Krakauer also highlights a number of other young men who try to take on Nature, with various levels of success, but with similar levels of hubris and feelings of invincibility. I struggle with the idea that humans can conquer the wild, I really struggle with people who head into the wild places expecting to be just fine, with a lack of planning, a lack of supplies, and a lack of basic understanding of survival in that particular climate or area. And I struggle with the general population considering these people heroes. For every story that becomes a best seller there are dozens more that feature an expensive search and rescue, funds that could probably be better used for conservation instead of saving the bacon of a stupid wannabe survivalist. Krakauer is an excellent writer, the story is certainly compelling, but it mostly just makes me roll my eyes. Shrug. (Carine McCandless's memoir, The Wild Truth, has a lot more about Chris himself, and I'd definitely recommend it.)...more
I really enjoyed this, there were a few threads that remained irritatingly shallow (the family history, can someone please catch me up on that FASCINAI really enjoyed this, there were a few threads that remained irritatingly shallow (the family history, can someone please catch me up on that FASCINATING family history?! Ditto the genetics at work!), but for the most part I really liked this read. Some "classic Kingsolver" elements are here that also appear in her other work, but this story was beautifully written....more
This story was so fascinating and also so full of holes, pieces that are probably forever erased and irretrievable because of how long it's been sinceThis story was so fascinating and also so full of holes, pieces that are probably forever erased and irretrievable because of how long it's been since Olive Oatman lived (mid 1800's). Olive wasn't ever really given freedom to tell her own story, it has always been censored by men, by society, and by the reaction by white people towards anyone who has positive things to say about Native Americans.
Olive's family was killed by marauding Yavapai outside Yuma, AZ and she and her younger sister were taken as slave/hostages. A yearish later they were sold to a friendly tribe of Mohave who treated them well and accepted them as full members of their tribe. Olive got a tattoo on her chin that matches the style of many Mohave women of the time. A few years later, a group of white soldiers from Fort Yuma heard about her and demanded the Mohave return her, but it seems like she didn't particularly want to leave her new family.
Once back in white society, her story was censored and changed dramatically over the years, by a white preacher who kind of adopted her, and her husband who tried to keep any potential scandal from being public. Olive did a public speaking circuit for a while, but eventually settled down and lived what appears to be a pretty sad life. She had been torn from her family and watched them be killed, then she'd found a new family with the Mohave during her formative years, only to be ripped from them. She couldn't fully assimilate back into white society because of her very visible chin tattoo. She was Other no matter where she went.
And, again, the way that Native Americans are treated by white people is horrific. Both in actions from private citizens, the military, and the US government during Olive's lifetime, but also by the way these Native peoples were written about, obscuring almost all of the kindness they showed Olive and replacing it with hostility and fear that better suited the men who were writing and publishing (and making money in the process) the story of Olive Oatman....more
I wish the author would just be okay with the fact that Teddy Roosevelt did not begin his political, military, or scientific career as an actual naturI wish the author would just be okay with the fact that Teddy Roosevelt did not begin his political, military, or scientific career as an actual naturalist, but it was something that he grew in to as he aged and as the wild places of the American West were trampled. Trying to justify his excessive sport-hunting as scientific is ridiculous, he killed FAR more animals that he would ever need for study, and he did it for fun. Also, Roosevelt's personal brand of machismo and it's direct tie to Christianity is insufferable and certainly lent itself to his career as a hunter and a soldier, also his Daddy issues. Lunde seems to have a huge historic crush on Roosevelt and his book comes across as written through rose-colored glasses/ignoring some pretty basic personality flaws in Roosevelt, the book would have been much better had they been acknowledged more openly and more consistently....more
Part love letter to the National Park system, part memoir, and part political statement on climate change, land use, and the oil and gas industry...soPart love letter to the National Park system, part memoir, and part political statement on climate change, land use, and the oil and gas industry...so, pretty standard Terry Tempest Williams stuff. This was probably 3.5 stars, I agree with most of TTW's political statements, however she does get a little more woo-woo about the land than I am, I think part of that is her, and part of that is the way she chooses to write about it, deliberately poetic and, as a friend aptly said, self-consciously beautiful. And sometimes that gets on my nerves. Overall, a lovely book about saving our public lands, supporting National Parks, and living a life deeply connected to the mountains, prairies and red rock canyons of the West (and a little bit about Gettysburg, the Mississippi Delta, and Maine thrown in for good measure)....more
I had a hard time getting into this book, it started pretty slow for me, although Cather's language and writing is superb I wasn't really drawn to theI had a hard time getting into this book, it started pretty slow for me, although Cather's language and writing is superb I wasn't really drawn to the story. However, as Thea Kronberg becomes a successful singer and artist I LOVED the story, I kind of wanted an extra chapter or two at the end, the epilogue wraps up one of the biggest plot points as a bit of an aside, but I wanted more information on what happened to Thea and the other characters after 25 years. Overall, a beautifully written book, I underlined many passages on art, artistry, and relationships. And several more just because I loved the writing....more
Feisty Harriet
>
Books:
american-west
(38)
Loading...
