Book Description
Winner of the John Burroughs Medal for Nature Writing, the Commonwealth Club Silver Medal for Literature 1984, and named one of the twentieth century's best nonfiction books by the San Francisco Chronicle, The Klamath Knot, originally published by Sierra Club Books in 1983, is a personal vision of wilderness in the Klamath Mountains of northwest California and southwest Oregon, seen through the lens of "evolutionary mythology." David Rains Wallace uses his explorations of the diverse ecosystems in this region to ponder the role of evolution and myth in our culture. The author's new epilogue makes a case for the creation of a new park to safeguard this exceptionally rich storehouse of relict species and evolutionary stories, which has largely been bypassed by conservationists since John Muir.
Customer Reviews:
Crawling out of the Ooze in Nor Carl.......2007-01-17
From one special corner of the biosphere, David Wallace explores the evolution of life on earth. Before you say, "not another treatise on evolution," The Klamath Knot is a different animal.
Even though Wallace's knowledge of the Klamath ecosystems and the dynamics of evolution are fundamentally sound, he's grasping for much more in this book. As the smaller print under the title states, it's an "exploration of myth and evolution." The Klamath Knot represents the rare blend of hard science of the world we can observe and measure with that of the world we can only imagine or dream. That's quite a subject-matter-bridge to cross, but Wallace puts it off. Once I got a couple of chapters into the book, the distinction between science and myth began to blur (i.e., Do giants really exist? Not sure).
Wallace doles out each chapter as the creator planned it. He introduces us to rock, primal ooze, water, and ultimately life. And the backdrop for each major step of life evolving on this planet is the Klamath Mountains. A truly magical and diverse region along the California and Oregon border that stretches from the Rogue River south to the Eel River. A place that is home to old growth forests, runs of salmon and steelhead, and high deserts. Wallace takes us into some of the more remote places of the Klamath and masterfully focuses on the biological importance of each ecosystem.
The book goes well beyond the physical world and ponders some interesting questions. Like where is life on our planet headed? Is it possible to know where it's headed? What can we learn from evolution? Does life evolve from cooperation or competition or both? What is the role of myth? Does Big-Foot really exist? Could he exist? Is this creature another branch along life's tree?
I admire the author for both his skill and courage in addressing such diverse subject matter. Reading the Klamath Know will leave you with a renewed sense of wonder about the natural world.
See for yourself.......2005-12-20
This is an essay -- for lack of a better term -- that combines natural science, mythology, philosophy, even some anthropology, in a moving discourse centered around the Pacific Northwest's Klamath Mountains.
It's deeply (though not overtly) spiritual, discussing life with a sense of wonder we often leave behind. It's also as intelligent, and as important, as any good academic work on ecology, but unlike most of those, it'll draw you in, pulling so subtly you won't even feel its power until suddenly you've finished a chapter and realized your perceptions have changed.
Until you've picked it up, you won't know what I mean, but it won't take long to see that THE KLAMATH KNOT can make the Mystery that is life more accessible to all of us. For this reason, it isn't just a philosophical toy you'll be able to discard; instead, you'll find it informs the way you live in the world.
Overlooked gem of natural philosophy.......2004-03-31
Nature writing always carries something of the romantic with it, and this is its greatest strength and greatest curse. As a strength, it provides a window into the sublime limit which nature opens for her human observers. Such romanticism is a weakness, however, if it devolves into a reified hymn to an imagined nature which is as unreal as the imagined un-nature from which one hopes to fly. Nature is not a paradigm, is not a given. One has to meet it, encounter it, realize one's place in it, hear what it has to say, say something back to it, wonder about it, and allow it to remain mystery. The best nature writing has does this -- think of Walden, and how Thoreau allows the pond to retain its power and dignity while plumbing its depths, measuring its boundaries, cataloging its flora and fauna, and descibing his own very human comings and goings around its then mostly deforested banks. In the end, we know a lot about the pond, and even more about Thoreau, but Walden remains Walden, the myth, the legend. Having been lucky enough to have lived close to Walden for several years, I can tell you that no amount of reading about Walden, even at Walden, can capture the life of the pond. Thoreau's book takes the measure of the pond, and makes it real in a way that the real Walden always has been, yet never quite is.
Wallace's book accomplishes this for the Klamath mountains of northern California, home of great trees, deep lakes, and sasquatch. His book never holds the Klamath at arm's length, as the romantic impulse al too often wants to do, but rather gives an account of the terrain, measures it out, proposes a history and a taxonomy of the land and the fields and the rivers which captures so much about the place, but never pretends to total knowledge. He writes (as did Aristotle about his fish, and Thoreau about his flowers) as a scientist with the soul of a poet, or perhaps a poet with a scientist's eye. Of course, Wallace is neither a scientist nor a poet (neither were Aristotle or Thoreau), and so what we see is Wallace's experience of the Kalamath, not Klamath poetry and Klamath science. And of course, that is all we can see, just as all we can see in Walden the book is Thoreau's experience of Walden the pond. Such places cannot be captured by a single perspective, but will not be seen at all unless a single perspective widens the vision for the rest of us. There are many small ponds around Concord, Mass, but Thoreau went to live at Walden. And there are many wild knots of mountains and rivers still scattered around this nation, and the world. Each one needs a Thoreau, or a Wallace, or an Ed Abbey, or Aldo Leopold, or Muir, or Whitman, to bring it to our vision in a way we may have never seen it before. I daresay the lumbermen who cut the trees on Walden's shores saw the same water and sky as Thoreau -- but it was Thoreau's way of seeing it that lasted. Wallace's view is the one that needs to last, to stick in the mind, concerning the Klamath region.
Wallace's theme in the book is an "evolutionary myth," one that tells a story about the land which provides a key to meaning. He writes, "Moses forced his society to accept a unifying law; Jesus forced his to accept the unity of all of humanity; Darwin forced his to accept the unity of all of life" (8). He acknowledges that placing Darwin in league with Moses and Jesus will strike some as odd, but Wallace is a man with a vision. He points out that "both religion and science are mythologies, in the sense that each provides the individual with an account of the origins and meanings of life. It seems to me irrelevant, in this mythological sense, whether such accounts are facts or fictions. They need only to provide their believers with a workable key to life, an invisible world of origins and meanings to help them make sense of an often confusing, sometimes frightening, physical world" (8). Following this idea, he presents his explorations of the Klamath as a playing-out of an evolutionary mythology, a story about how the land came to be, what it might mean, and how the story fits in with the rest of life. It is a powerful and original story he tells, and bound to last. More than a memoir of a love-affair with a place, and more than a naturalist's account of a fragile and vanishing ecosystem, Wallace's book is a testament to the power of a place to transform one's very understanding of the world, and what it means to be human in that world after the knot has been unraveled, and then re-tied. It is a powerful and meaningful vision of lost wild places which avoids romanticism and doomsaying, and which holds as much hope as horror about the loss and preservation of the American wilderness.
Average customer rating:
- One of the best wilderness books ever
- The Best Study of Evolution I've Read.
- A Fascinating Read!!!
- Interesting but sometimes pedantic
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The Klamath Knot
David Rains Wallace
Manufacturer: Sierra Club Books for Children
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
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ASIN: 0871568179 |
Customer Reviews:
One of the best wilderness books ever.......2000-12-31
Wallace is first an explorer, then a writer. He explores the wild places of the Kalamath Mountains, from the "wonder of dreams" of the upper canyons of the Chetco River, to the scrubby peaks of the Siskiyou and fits it all together in a fasinating evolutionary story. I have explored many of these same areas and found this work to best capture that feeling of being in truely wild places. Read it, then go explore!
The Best Study of Evolution I've Read........1999-08-07
Wallace takes on evolution (and the way we were taught about it) the way Annie Dillard lifted the veil over nature in "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek": you are forced to replace the myths with a newer, even more mysterious understanding. Ironically, the theory of Sasquatch is retold as common-sensical, scientific fact. The steelhead trout, in fact, comes across as the greater nystery!
I count this book among my all-time favorites, a sort of heir apparent to "Walden."
A Fascinating Read!!!.......1998-12-03
Inviting book that made you want to visit the Klamath Mountains and learn about the wild plants of any forest system.
Interesting but sometimes pedantic.......1997-01-31
Interesting book that explores the ecologically unique world of the Klamath Mountains of northern California and southern Oregon. Author travels from one ecosystem to the next and moves from one taxon to another while exploring evolutionary theory. Wallace also discusses whether Sasquatch might exist, and why humans are so fascinated with the idea. Tone is rather pedantic at times. Sometimes one wonders how many of the ideas and theories expounded here are fairly well accepted in current (i.e. 1983) evolutionary thought, and how many are strictly those of the author's. However, he makes a good case for most of the ideas and seems to know his subject well. Overall an interesting read that makes you want to explore the area on your own...while looking over your shoulder for Sasquatch
Book Description
Eric Harr has an astounding ability to motivate practically anyone, wrote Shape magazine editor Alexa Joy Sherman about Harrs Triathlon Training in Four Hours a Week. In his newest book Harr demonstrates his exceptional gift for inspiring even the most sedentary couch potato to want to get into shape. By following Harrs easy-to-implement 10-week program, cyclists will build their speed level by level, until they reach the goal of 25 miles per hour. And along the way they will recapture their passion for bike riding. Here cyclists will find: 25 action-oriented strategies to get moving directions to help climb, descend, and corner better advice on what to eat before and after workouts tips for riding smart and safe a list of the 7 best foods for longevity The book shows readers how to reach their goal in just three key workouts each weekthe long ride, the tempo ride, and the interval sessionand it will soon have them riding faster, with more fluid grace, and with more enjoyment than ever before.
Customer Reviews:
Good program works at many levels.......2006-08-01
I really like this program. It is a nice mix of on bike exercises, off bike exercises, diet and inspiration. I have not completed the program as yet but I am sure that it will deliver the results promised if followed faithfully.
Getting re-acquainted with my bike.......2006-07-23
After buying a new fast bike, I wanted to be able to ride it fast. I'm half way through the 10 week program and I have found this book practical and motivating. Well worth reading and following the plan.
Ideal Cycling Training Manual for Working Professionals.......2006-03-21
If you're attempting to balance your work, family and a desire to "ride fast" for the first time or just simply to ride fast again, then this is the book for you! It's affordable and provides meaningful tips you can share / enjoy with local club rides. Harr has intelligently written a quick-read that's filled with realistic suggestions and guidance to reach athletic conditioning needed to 'ride fast.'
WONDERFUL.......2006-03-20
My boyfriend bought this book for me as a gift. We both watch Eric Harr every week on CBS in San Francisco and we think he's great. We bought his triathlon book and completed our first triathlon together last summer, so we'd thought we'd give this book a try. Eric Harr is motivating, inspiring and he delivers a lot of good information in this book. I've been "on the program" for 3 weeks now and I am feeling strong and confident on my bike. Most of all, it's fun. I'm just having fun riding my bike and that, to me, is the best part of what Eric Harr delivers. Thank you for a great read.
"Re-cycling".......2006-03-16
Mr Harr has done it again! He has created a "how to" step-by-step manual/guide that is able to communicate not just a knowledge of the mechanics but also the PASSION of the sport and the experience involved in mastering it. Excellent job!!
Book Description
INTRODUCTION This is the fourth edition of First-Time Europe, the first two editions of which were very kindly received by travelers in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia and most recently South Africa. Somewhere around two hundred thousand people have used this book to plan their Europe trip, and I sincerely hope that you are number two hundred thousand and one. I've been back to Europe ten times since writing this book, and it still hasn't lost the magic I felt on my first trip.
First-Time Europe is a planning guide, and is designed to help the first (or second, or third) time European traveler plan and complete a safe, rewarding, enjoyable, and affordable trip. It truly is: "What you need to know before you go." So, as you read these words and consider going to Europe and buying this book, I can say two things with confidence: (1) Go to Europe; you will have the most broadening, rewarding, and educational experience of your life. (2) This little book can help you tremendously, both before and during your trip. If you can come up with about two thousand dollars, I can get you to Europe for a month or more. You won't regret buying this book, I promise. See you in Europe.
DEDICATION John Wesley Hardin was an outlaw, thief, and gunslinger in the American Old West. Whatever his other failings, Mr. Hardin performed one act which every budget traveler has dreamed of doing: he shot a man for snoring too loudly. In many a crowded hostel dorm room, and in many a thin-walled pension, many a desperate, bleary-eyed traveler has found solace in the memory of Mr. Hardin's act. In recognition of John Wesley Hardin's role as patron spirit of the snore-oppressed, this book is dedicated to his memory.
Customer Reviews:
THE book to read if you backpack.......2005-12-07
This book covers everything, it is the kind of book you read before going to Europe for your 10th time. This book has so much information it helps every kind of traveler. It's just a great read. Buy this book before you leave, and treat it like your bible.
pretty good.......2005-06-29
This doesn't have as much practical how-to info. as Rick Steves' Backdoor book. But it has tons of details about different countries & cities. I think those two books together will really help me on my first trip to Europe this fall.
Great for getting started.......2005-05-30
This book is great to help you plan your trip before you've even bought your tickets. It gives great tips and advise on packing and traveling. It doesn't discuss different countries...you'll need to get a "Let's Go" type of book for that. This book is strictly for preparation for people on a budget.
Required for First Time Travelers to Europe..........2005-05-03
If you have never been to Europe and are thinking of traveling there independently (or, perhaps even with a tour, although tour guides tend to dislike "educated" tourists...) you NEED this book! I only wish I had such a book to guide me when I began traveling many years ago.
As the book itself states, it is NOT a guidebook for sites to see, lodging, specific costs, etc. What it DOES do (and rather well...) is outline the skills and tools you need to travel successfully--and not just in Europe, as the skills Mr. Casablanca relates are applicable in any travel situation.
Being a well-traveled person myself, anytime someone asks me how I "do it", or if I hear of someone planning a trip to Europe for the first time, I ask them if they have read this book. If not, I tell them it is REQUIRED reading if you want your independent trip to go smoothly. Many of the tips and ideas laid-out in the book I had to learn by experience--not always a joyful thing when traveling. While I value experience in travel, if you can save yourself a few headaches, why not??
As I mentioned eariler, the skills outlined in this book are fully transferable across continents and local regions. The book gives you practical ways of dealing with almost any situation you will encounter--anywhere in the world. The information given is well-researched, easy to follow, and never goes out of style...it's always useful.
Great book for your trip to Europe.......2004-03-28
What I like best about the Rough Guides is that they give critical reviews. They will point out the tourist traps and will give negative reviews. I find that Frommer's and Fodor's rarely point out the negatives to a particular... The rough guide is very critical and is a great balance to these other guides.
If you aren't interested in "roughing" it and staying in lower priced hotels.. the guides are still very useful in rating attractions, and areas in which to stay... but you will need another book to look at more moderate and luxury hotels.
I would definitely read this book before going to Europe.
Average customer rating:
- Invaluable
- Rough Guides at their best
- Extremely helpful
- Good info for veterans and beginners
- Has some nice content
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Rough Guide First-time Europe : Special (3rd Edition)
Louis CasaBianca
Manufacturer: Rough Guides
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1858283817 |
Book Description
INTRODUCTION
This is the third edition of First-Time Europe, the first two editions of which were very kindly received by travelers in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand and Australia. Somewhere around fifty thousand people have used this book to plan a Europe trip, and I sincerely hope that you are number fifty thousand and one. I've been back to Europe five times since writing this book, and it still hasn't lost the magic I felt on my first trip. First-Time Europe is a planning guide, and is designed to help the first (or second, or third) time European traveler plan and complete a safe, rewarding, enjoyable, and affordable trip. It truly is: "What you need to know before you go." So, as you read these words and consider going to Europe and buying this book, I can say two things with confidence: (1) Go to Europe; you will have the most broadening, rewarding, and educational experience of your life. (2) This little book can help you tremendously, both before and during your trip. If you can come up with about two thousand dollars, I can get you to Europe for a month or more. You won't regret buying this book, I promise. See you in Europe.
Dedication John Wesley Hardin was an outlaw, thief, and gunslinger in the American Old West. Whatever his other failings, Mr. Hardin performed one act which every budget traveler has dreamed of doing: he shot a man for snoring too loudly. In many a crowded hostel dorm room, and in many a thin-walled pension, many a desperate, bleary-eyed traveler has found solace in the memory of Mr. Hardin's act. In recognition of John Wesley Hardin's role as patron spirit of the snore- oppressed, this book is dedicated to his memory.
Customer Reviews:
Invaluable.......2006-04-11
I picked up this book when I was preparing for a five-week solo trip around Europe. The advice was SO helpful and really contributed to the success of my journey. One small thing that really came in handy was the advice to bring along earplugs for sleeping in noisy hostels! I think he also advised purchasing a compass which I did (one that fits onto my watchband) and I never got lost no matter which strange big city I was in. Well, okay there was that one time in Venice, but I found some friendly locals to help me find my way! I highly recommend this book if you are preparing for your first trip to Europe.
Rough Guides at their best.......2001-03-05
I've been to Europe before, but I still found a lot of valuable advice in this book. Many of Louis CasaBianca's tips are about things you just might not think about unless they're pointed out to you. His book is also a cheaper and, in a way, more condensed form of Rick Steves' excellent "Europe Through the Back Door." If you're on a budget and can't find either book at your library, give "First Time Europe" a shot.
CasaBianca tackles travel in a colloquial, Seinfeld-kind of way, but without getting off track. For instance, he clarifies that great facet (or faucet?) of European civilization -- the bidet -- that has inevitably puzzled and fascinated foreign travelers: "A bidet is that funny-looking oval porcelain thing with the faucet that shoots straight up. In the words of Crocodile Dundee, it is for 'washing off your backside.' It is not for laundry, nor is it for washing dishes, nor is it normally used for an ice tub to cool off beers and grapes, although I have seen it used for all of those things."
In the arena of human relations, here's some of the author's sage advice: "Greeting a storekeeper on entry, and saying good-bye on exit, is a standard all over Europe." "In my experience, Americans (and Australians) are perceived in Europe as friendly, monolingual, a bit loud, and usually in a hurry. There are reasons for all of these perceptions. Try to blend in wherever you happen to be. Try not to change the place you are visiting with your presence, as with, for example, a loud conversation in English in a cathedral or museum." And "if you are holding a conversation in English, it is a nice gesture to thank the person for speaking your language, and thereby making the conversation possible. Whenever I have done this it has been appreciated greatly by the person I thanked."
CasaBianca, of course, covers a lot more mundane matters than these, as well, like rail passes, what kind of a train to take, finding a room, what kind of a room to find, what to do if you've been robbed, what NOT to do if you've been robbed (like running after a Spanish pick-pocket and calling him a "putamadre," a sure invitation to get stabbed), etc. The author gives great tips, too, about places not to visit, or at least not to dwell on -- like Prague and the Louvre -- and suggestions about the best times to see places, like early in the morning.
My final verdict: an unbeatable guide for the person uneasy about traveling to Europe, and a valuable refresher course even for the returning devoté. Billions and billions of stars.
Extremely helpful.......2001-02-10
This is the book to take on your trip. One of the best things about it is that its like talking to a friend that has already gone. Definately read this before going, it has everything you need to know from the time you wake up in europe to the time you go to bed there. Its just great.
Good info for veterans and beginners.......2000-10-28
This book (the 2000 edition) contains many good points for beginning travelers, especially backpackers, and for experienced travelers, too. Although I tend to spend my journeys in one city and live in hotels, I found the advice to travel light, be aware of thieves, and to telephone in advance to prearrange reservations for visits to popular tourist attractions good reminders. Especially the possibility of reserving time at museums in order to be admitted ahead of the line, an idea that never occurred to me before. One quibble: the lists of useful agencies and addresses that begin on page 219 are set in a sans-serif type that makes the numeral one indistinguishable from the letter l and, I guess, capital I. This makes some of the mailing codes, especially in London, easy to misread. I hope future editions will feature a typeface that eliminates this problem.
Has some nice content.......2000-10-26
This is not one of the reference works which are 98% useless. Does have some very good hints and is readable. Also, it's not so huge as to be daunting.
Average customer rating:
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First-time Europe (A Rough guide special)
Lou CasaBianca
Manufacturer: Rough Guides
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
History
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| Africa
| Americas
| Ancient
| Arctic & Antarctica
| Asia
| Audiobooks
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| Large Print
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ASIN: B0006F9WEY |
Book Description
When Calypso returns from Los Angeles to her English boarding school for the summer term, she is determined to fit in with the popular crowd. Her plan is to pretend her mother's gay assistant back home is her boyfriend. And to her surprise, the trick works...at least at first. She makes a whole batch of new friends, and even finds herself winning the unwritten contest to woo the prince at the boys' school next door. But one girl, Honey, undermines all her efforts. When Calypso and Prince Freddy end up in the tabloids and everything seems set to go down the drain, it's Calypso's parents and sense of humor that save her from utter humiliation.
A fast-paced, laugh-out-loud-funny look at fitting in while still standing out...
Customer Reviews:
Pulling Princes.......2006-05-21
I really loved this book. I thought it gave good insight as to how boarding school really is. It was funny and cute, adding quirky bits like with the nuns, and the character's main friend being a girl named star who is the daughter of a rock star. And yet, it also had empowering parts too, like when the main character, Calypso, becomes friends with the more popular girls, and gains a place for herself, as well as some new friends she never would have expected.
Teen chick lit.......2005-11-15
I've read some of Tyne O'Connell's Red Dress Ink (adult chick lit) books and they were enjoyable. I thought I'd give this book a try thinking it might be as good or maybe even better.
I thought wrong. I didn't enjoy this boko as much as the many other teen books I've read in the past. This was fun, but boring also.
My suggestion... pass it up and read a book by another author, such as Sarah Mlynowski's 'Bras & Broomsticks' or any of Meg Cabot's teen reads.
Books:
- The Lost Notebooks of Loren Eiseley
- The Man of Her Dreams The Woman of His!
- The Mercury Labels: A Discography Five Volumes (Discographies)
- The Nuclear Imperative: A Critical Look at the Approaching Energy Crisis (TOPICS IN SAFETY RISK RELIABILITY & QUALITY)
- The Smithsonian Guides to Natural America: The Great Lakes: Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin (Smithsonian Guides to Natural America)
- The Ultimate Labrador Retriever, Second Edition
- The Wabash River Ecosystem
- The World Is Flat [Updated and Expanded]: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
- Theoretical Ecology: Principles and Applications
- This Land: A Guide to Eastern National Forests
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