Story Line: Exploring the Literature of the Appalachian Trail

Amazon.com

The Appalachian Trail's story begins in 1921, when Benton McKaye first suggested creating a long-distance hiking trail to his friend, Harris Whitaker, editor of the influential Journal of the American Institute of Architects. The idea was picked up by several regional hiking clubs who formed a committee with the intention of building a trail from New England to North Carolina; eventually the dream became a reality when a hiking enthusiast named Myron Avery joined the project in 1930. By 1937, America boasted a trail that runs (depending on who you talk to) anywhere between 2,100 and 2,200 miles. Whatever the exact mileage, you'd have to agree that it's a long, long way from Springer Mountain (Georgia) to Mt. Katahdin (Maine); anyone walking the trail, either in parts or in its entirety would have a lot of time on their hands.

And what better way to spend it than to read, suggests Ian Marshall, professor of English, avid hiker, and author of Story Line: Exploring the Literature of the Appalachian Trail. Marshall's pleasures are simple ones: he likes to walk, he likes to read, and he likes to think. In Story Line, he's managed to meld all three into a charming and thought-provoking meditation on both the beauties of nature and the artistic inspiration the wilderness provides. In addition to chronicling his own adventures along the trail over the past two decades, Marshall also discusses the literature that evokes what the trail symbolizes for him. There is Thomas Jefferson's "Notes on the State of Virginia" and Walt Whitman's "Song of the Open Road." Annie Dillard, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and more all make welcome appearances in Marshall's narrative, as he seeks to find that point of convergence where wilderness and literature meet to create what he calls "ecocriticism," an "ecology of reading." At the very least, Ian Marshall has reintroduced several great American classics to the reading public's consciousness; and who knows--Story Line might persuade some readers to spend the next sunny day on a hiking trail--preferably with a copy of Hawthorne or Whitman in hand.

Customer Reviews:

Literature meets the great outdoors.......2000-03-30

One of my favorite pasttimes is hiking, and I have always wanted to try the whole Appalachian Trail . . . I also have a degree in English from Penn State, so when I heard that a PSU professor had written a book on my two favorite subjects, I just had to have it. Anybody who has hiked the old mountains of the mid-atlantic can appreciate the vivid descriptions and thoughtful insights that Story Line offers. One of my favorite parts of the book postulates a meeting between Thoreau and Melville, noting how the shapes of the mountain near Melville's home looked like a whale, noting similarities of otherworks, and knowing that the two men did, indeed, hike the same path. If you like the outdoors and have a passion for literature, this is money well spent!

Book Description

Cruising Fundamentals provides the tools necessary to make the transition from basic sailing to competent coastal cruising. Sailors interested in learning how to sail and live aboard a 30 foot to 50 foot auxiliary-powered sailboat will find a wealth of practical skills in this book, from simple instruction on plumbing, electrical, and mechanical systems to navigation, weather prediction, and anchoring techniques.

Cruising Fundamentals is the official American Sailing Association guide to intermediate coastal cruising and bareboat chartering. Sailing schools, yacht clubs, and other educational institutions throughout North America use this book as a text and indispensable resource in their teaching. Unlike other books on similar subjects, Cruising Fundamentals presents material in a chronology that has proven effective with thousands of developing sailors. Readers progress from "Getting Acquainted" to "Getting Familiar," "The Voyage," "Arrival and Living Aboard," and finally "Emergencies and Trouble Shooting." Each of the first four sections has review questions to help sailors evaluate their comprehension. Cruising Fundamentals is more than a book; it is a complete course that can benefit any sailor who desires to enter the exciting world of sailboat cruising.

Customer Reviews:

A sailing instructor's view.......2003-09-13

It is a big step for an intermediate sailor to go to the Caribbean and bareboat charter a 40' vessel. We use this book to take the intermediate sailor to this level. Cruising Fundamentals contains a vast amount of detailed information and yet it is organized in logical steps to bring students to the desired level of competance without overwhelming them. This book contains many excellent photographs and sketches. The basic navigation information is excellent without going too deep and the review questions are good for self evaluation (am I really getting it?)
I particularly like the way systems are presented and compared. For example, the House DC system vs the shore power AC system, diesel engines vs gasoline engines featuring the differences and types of cooking fuels discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each.
This is an all round excellent book that can be read straight through or used as a reference. I understand the second edition is in the works and I look forward to getting it.

Very Beginning Level- Not all that great.......2003-06-28

I have never been cruising and really did not find this book to be very enlightening. It was VERY basic. You can expect things like "This is the hull, this is the sail" kind of stuff. I was really looking for more advanced topics like weather, emergency situations, planning a long distance cruise, etc.
This book is really for those of you thinking about buying a sailboat for cruising and have absolutely no boating experience. It touches on basic troubleshooting (and I mean basic) but does not really go in depth. I also purchased SAILING FUNDAMENTALS by Gary Jobson (Author), and found this book to be worth every penny. I would only recommend Cruising Fundamentals to those of you dreaming of cruising in the future, not very useful for anyone actually doing it.
I would rate this book at a high-school reading level.

Outstanding Followup to Sailing Fundamentals book........2000-08-04

This is American Sailing Association textbook for more advanced sailing topics and the the second of a series. The major plus of this book is that it teaches you how to sail with all the information you need to learn in the proper order you should learn it.

There is an advantage in learning the material in a time tested manner. Every time an instructor like the author, Harry Munns, teaches a course it gets better. This book gets the benefit of his tried and true, tested methods of sailing instruction. It works well.

This book follows "Sailing Fundamentals : The Official Learn-To-Sail Manual of the American Sailing Association and the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary"

Get them both.

Each book follows the ASA Basic Keelboat, Basic Cruising, and Bareboat charter courses.

Reading the books and then taking the courses will give you a jump start on your sailing skills.

Most sailors have knowledge like swiss cheeze--with lots of holes. The books will give you knowledge like American Cheeze--no holes.

Buy both books--you won't regret it. Read them and then take the courses for maximum effectiveness.

Book Description

Multihulls offer sailors expansive comfort, impressive speed, precise maneuverability, and, in the case of trailerables, easy storage and transportability. No wonder boat buyers and charter clients have begun migrating toward cats and tris in unprecedented numbers.

Multihull Cruising Fundamentals taps into the essence of multihull sailing and gives readers a clear and concise analysis of these largely unfamiliar boats. Chapters one through four provide the skills sailors need to get trailerable multihulls safely into the water, rigged and sailing. Larger, cruising catamarans and their unique sailing and handling needs are addressed in chapters five through eight.

The material in this book was developed by the American Sailing Association's Multihull Committee for use in classes throughout North America. Students will learn quickly and efficiently from Multihull Cruising Fundamentals' "no nonsense," step-by-step format. The knowledge and skills found in this text will prepare sailors to more fully enjoy the most forward-looking boats on today's pleasure boat market.

Customer Reviews:

Text Book for Catamaran Class.......2005-09-21

I purchased this book as the required text for a two day catamaran class I am taking. It is well written and an easy read with some good tips and suggestions. It covers both trailerable size trimarans, catmarans and cruising sized Cats. As it's title says, it is a fundamentals book.

Multihull Cruising Fundamentals: The Official American Saili.......2003-09-06

Multihull Cruising Fundamentals is a nice book to get sailors familiar with the idiosyncracies of handling mid- to large size multihulls. CATAMARANS OFFSHORE,a new book by Gregor Tarjan, which will be published in 2004, will continue where Rick White has left off.

Too fundamental, better choices out there........2002-12-12

This book was a complete let down for me. A very shallow and thin book with not a lot of useful information in it. It is simply too watered down and should be renamed "beginers basics for learning to sail your folding trimaran" rather than trying to pretend it tackles the much deeper subjects of cruising. For someone looking to learn the basics I would suggest a better combination of reading Royce's Sailing Illustrated, and then take a look at The Cruising Multihull by Chris White. You will get a lot more useful information both on the beginner and advanced end from that combination than this very weak book gives.

Experienced multihull fan review.......2001-11-26

This book is intended for people who know very little about sailing, and even less about multihulls.

If you have sailing and multihull experience this book is not for you.

Get this!.......2000-06-11

At last an intelligible multihull book that you can read & understand almost instantly . Full of practical knowledge and clearly written - you don't need to be a 5-10 yrs skipper or have a PhD in astrophysics to understand this lucid book. There are plenty of clear diagrams, safety aspects are well covered but the authors remain enthusiastic and balanced re multi vs monohull. Thouroughly recommended as an introductory text and for existing catamaran owners!

Fundamentals of Sailing, Cruising, and Racing

Average customer rating:

Excellent, comprehensive coverage of topics

Fundamentals of Sailing, Cruising, and Racing
Stephen Colgate
Manufacturer: W W Norton & Co Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Water Sports | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books
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Steve Colgate on Sailing
Fast Track to Cruising
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The Annapolis Book of Seamanship: Third Edition, Completely Revised, Expanded and Updated
Sailing For Dummies (For Dummies (Sports & Hobbies))

ASIN: 0393032159

Customer Reviews:

Excellent, comprehensive coverage of topics.......2000-07-16

This is one of the best books on general sailing that I have ever read. It comes in second only to 'Sailing For Dummies' and that is just by a very slim margin. I have both books in my sailing library and between them, I have more than enough reference material to cover almost any sailing situation. This book should satisfy both beginning and experienced sailors alike. Good job...

Chartering Fundamentals/the Official American Sailing Association Guide to Chartering and Cruising for Pleasure

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Chartering Fundamentals/the Official American Sailing Association Guide to Chartering and Cruising for Pleasure
Brian Fagan
Manufacturer: Intl Marine Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

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Sailing Fundamentals
Cruising Fundamentals

ASIN: 0877429553

Average customer rating:

Cruising Fundamentals

Manufacturer: International Marine Pub.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GX6RCQ

Average customer rating:

Cruising Fundamentals
Harry Munns
Manufacturer: International Marine Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N6BRJE

Average customer rating:

Cruising Fundamentals
Munns
Manufacturer: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEZQZG

Average customer rating:

Fundamentals of Sailing, Cruising and Racing
Stephen Colgate
Manufacturer: New York W. W. Norton 1978.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000P79QIU

Book Description

Now with full-color topographic maps and featuring the latest on electronic navigation, The Essential Wilderness Navigator is the clearest and most up-to-date route-finding primer available. Providing readers with exercises for developing a directional ‘sixth sense,’ tips on mastering the art of map- and compass-reading, and comprehensive updates on a range of technological advances, this perennially popular guide is more indispensable than ever.

Customer Reviews:

The Essential Wilderness Navigator.......2007-10-09

The relaxed, conversational pace of this book may appeal to some readers. It strikes me otherwise, and feels wordy, and in places little more than fluff. If the writing were tighter, the details would stand out better. Those details are there and worth getting. It is a good introduction in that sense. For some readers this may be enough. If you are inclined to read more than one book on any subject you're interested in, then this may be helpful as one of the first books on navigation you might read. But it is unlikely it'd be your last.

Very informitive.......2007-08-19

Great book. Read it before I went on a backpacking trip to Colorado. It taught me a lot about map reading, how to use a compass, and also how to be more aware of my surroundings. I would suggest this book to anyone who backpacks or does day trips.

Good Book.......2007-05-13

This is a excellent book if you do not have a knowledge of the wilderness. I would recommend it highly

Difficult to get lost with this one..........2005-09-05

An excellent book for those starting out on orienteering. Very good conversational wording. Doesn't use too much jargon. The practical exercises are easily understood. The combination of the written word and neat diagrams and pictures make the information easily digestable.

Excellent Map and Compass Instruction Book.......2004-12-04

You want to learn how to use a map and compass? For hiking or backpacking, especially remote wilderness? This is the best comprehensive book I've found on the subject, bar none. Reasons:

1. It gets to the point quickly in teaching you map & compass fundamentals. No fluff, no wasted time on esoteric principles of magnetism or the rules of orienteering competitions (a fine sport, but one bearing little resemblance to actual wilderness navigation with its special large-scale magnetic-north maps and simplified compasses etc.) Instead, this book concentrates on one objective: accurate land navigation in a wilderness environment.

2. It teaches realistic methods, and does not emphasize the unrealistic ones (one glaring example: penciling a lot of inaccurate magnetic declination lines all over your map the night before your trip (because the author used the method once for an adventure race with a special large-scale map and thinks it's cool) instead of just buying a compass with adjustable declination or pasting a pointer indicating a true bearing on your compass baseplate! Hey, sitting atop a windblown mountain is no place to attempt to draw magnetic lines of declination with a three-inch compass baseplate when you walk off your pre-marked map or have to use a friend's copy!

3. It has large, clear, easy-to-follow illustrations. Believe me, this is a rarity in most map/compass books.

4. It teaches BOTH compass dead reckoning (compass only) AND terrain association (map priority) navigation principles and shows the advantages and weaknesses of each in a given situation. Some orienteering-biased books would have you believe the compass is only good for aligning a map to magnetic north!

5. It has nice large pages and lies flat while you refer to various sections and practice using your map & compass in the field. Don't laugh. Remember, you will learn land navigation by practicing outdoors what you're reading. One session of trying to refer to the tiny pocket paperback pages and dingy photos of competing books will make you a believer in a large-paged instruction book with clear illustrations.

6. It covers more advanced map/compass skills (resection, finding position from a baseline and landmark, etc.) as well as beginner exercises, and does so in the same clear, practical way without excessive verbiage or attempts to be clever. One competing book spent 3 entire pages on how to use a 1902 compass design!

7. It warns you of the great inaccuracies of some improvised 'navigational' methods (like telling directions from a wristwatch and the sun) while still giving you useful information on finding direction from Polaris and other methods that do work well enough for emergency navigation.

8. While it has the mandatory chapter on GPS and the development of computer-generated waypoints, it does not attempt to be a 'all-method navigation' book. Such a book does not exist. Either the GPS material will be inadequate (because no general GPS book can cover each model of GPS and their widely varying operational characteristics in different outdoor environments) or the map/compass material is too abbreviated. Learn to use a map & compass before all else - this book makes it simple.

Basic Essentials Using GPS, 2nd (Basic Essentials Series)

Average customer rating:

Short and To-The-Point

Basic Essentials Using GPS, 2nd (Basic Essentials Series)
Bruce Grubbs
Manufacturer: Falcon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Instructional | Hiking & Camping | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

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GPS For Dummies
Outdoor Navigation with GPS
Outdoor Guide to Using Your GPS
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How to Do Everything with Your GPS

ASIN: 0762734213

Book Description

A guide to practical field use of the Global Positioning System, including information on using GPS with the latest mapping software.

Customer Reviews:

Short and To-The-Point.......2005-08-20

I don't have a GPS but intend to buy one in the near future. This inexpensive little book provided me with the basic information that I will need in order to make an informed purchasing decision. This book also includes several examples on the different uses of a GPS, i.e., different circumstances. These examples will likely prove more useful to me when I actually have a GPS in my possession to play with. I believe that the less knowledgeable a person is in this field, the more useful this book will be. The writing is clear and the information is well presented.

Basic Essentials GPS (Basic Essentials Series)

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Basic Essentials GPS (Basic Essentials Series)
Scottie Barnes
Manufacturer: Falcon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Transportation | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Guidebooks | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books

Cartography | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 076270635X

Book Description

It covers everything you need to know when first choosing a GPS receiver, including how to select a unit that is best suited for your intended use.

The Crazyladies of Pearl Street: A Novel
Average customer rating:

Step back in time..

Nostalgic

Rough Childhood in the 30s

Disappointing last effort

One star too many

The Crazyladies of Pearl Street: A Novel
Trevanian
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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Death Dance

The Summer of Katya: A Novel

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The Eiger Sanction: A Novel

ASIN: 1400080371
Release Date: 2006-06-06

Book Description

“Nostalgic, richly textured. Sweetly evokes an innocent if hardscrabble lost age.”
—Publishers Weekly

Six-year-old Jean-Luc LaPointe, his little sister, and his spirited but vulnerable young mother have been abandoned—again—by his father, a charming con artist. With no money and nowhere else to go, the LaPointes create a fragile nest in a tenement building at 238 North Pearl Street in Albany, New York. For the next eight years, through the Great Depression and Second World War, they live in the heart of the Irish slum, surrounded by ward heelers, unemployment, and grinding poverty. Pearl Street is also home to a variety of “crazyladies”: Miss Cox, the feared and ridiculed teacher who ignites Jean-Luc’s imagination; Mrs. Kane, who runs a beauty parlor/
fortune-telling salon in the back of her husband’s grocery store; Mrs. Meehan, the desperate, harried matriarch of a thuggish family across the street; lonely Mrs. McGivney, who spends every day tending to her catatonic husband, a veteran of the Great War; and Jean-Luc’s own unconventional, vivacious mother. Colorful though it is, Jean-Luc never stops dreaming of a way out of the slum, and his mother’s impossible expectations are both his driving force and his burden.
As legendary writer Trevanian lovingly re-creates the neighborhood of his youth in this funny, deeply moving coming-of-age novel, he also paints a vivid portrait of a neighborhood, a city, a nation in turmoil, and the people waiting for a better life to begin.

“Literary time travel, meticulously remembered and set down. . . . This book is in some ways a key to our country; America was made by people like this.” —Washington Post

TREVANIAN is the author of Shibumi, The Eiger Sanction,
The Loo Sanction, The Main, The Summer of Katya, Incident at Twenty-Mile, and Hot Night in the City. Visit www.trevanian.com for the Crazyladies cybernotes, Trevanian’s commentaries, items from the author’s desk, and more.

Download Description

Trevanian lives in the French Basque region. He is the author of Shibumi, The Eiger Sanction, The Loo Sanction, The Main, The Summer of Katya, Incident at Twenty-Mile, and Hot Night in the City.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Step back in time.........2007-09-27

This book was just like listening to my Grandfather tell a story. He is the same age as the author and also from New York. The author does a wonderful job of engaging all your senses as he describes the memories of the past.

Nostalgic.......2007-03-30

I must admit that this story brought back my childhood in the South Bronx. The accuracy of life during the depression could only have been described from personal experience, and I wanted to write to Trevanian to tell him how much I enjoyed his autobiography, for it could not have been anything else. Later I learned that this was so, but that he had died in 2006.

I have purchased several copies and sent them to family and friends who also experienced the 1930s when they and their families struggled to simply put food, any food, on the table; and children worked at any menial job that paid a few cents to assist.

When Travanian talked of shining shoes, delivering newspapers, carrying parcels, hiding and reading in the public library, all was familiar to me and my brothers.

The book is also very readable and enjoyable... as most of his are.

Rough Childhood in the 30s.......2007-03-23

Although this is listed as fiction, the details of Jean-Luc Lapointe's rough childhood in an Irish slum in Albany ring too true to be imaginary. The boy's escape came through hours of solitary story games where he plotted and acted all the characters. The responsibilities of helping his often-ill mother and vulnerable little sister weighed heavily on him during the depression years and the outbreak of WWII.
A nitty gritty bio that draws you in the way Angela's Ashes does. I became mesmerized by the flow of words and the pictures he evoked.
I've not read Trevanian's highly touted novels (Shibumi, The Eiger Sanction, etc.), but think I should give them a try after seeing his wonderful effort here.

Disappointing last effort.......2006-10-03

Trevanian has been one of my favorite authors for a number of years, so when I learned of his death it felt as if an old friend had left me. As soon as his last book - Crazyladies of Pearl Street - was available, I purchased a copy, and the first half of the book kept me spellbound.

Unfortunately, as the book progressed, I began to see Trevanian as a bitter, angry socialist, possibly because of his own failures in early life, possibly because of his mother's poverty, who knows? At any rate, the Trevanian who I had grown to love became a stranger to me - I just never perceived him to be so un-American, his previous books certainly didn't give any hint of that.

Quite a bit of the anti-American, anti-Republican, anti-Bush, anti-business sentiment is expressed in the "cybernotes" that are published on Trevanian's website. I wish I'd never begun to read those notes, and indeed stopped reading them about 3/4 through them - it was just too much to read how he hated my country and its leaders.

I guess Trevanian felt that he was safe in letting the cat out of the bag in his final book, since he was already in very poor health at the time. I only hope that his illness affected his mind, and that the author I enjoyed so much in "Summer of Katya" and "Incident at Twenty Mile" had left long before "Crazyladies" was written.

One star too many.......2006-09-24

There seemed to be no beginning or middle. No idea if there was an end because I couldn't finish it. I kept nodding off until one of those "cybernotes" numbers popped up, the ones us gentle readers were superciliously instructed to download early in the book, or have "a friend" download them if we didn't have internet access nor particularly cared.

I got no real sense of time and place despite all the references to clothing, food and what came over Mr. Kane's short-wave. There was little real content and way too many bloated words. I couldn't like any of the characters at all-- the ones that had any development. Ruby LaPointe is a self-centered, vain whiner and Jean-Luc is an insufferable know-it-all stuck parenting her. Anne-Marie barely exists unless she's taking tap-dance lessons or Ruby gets aggravated at her for having the nerve to be sleepy at midnight because Ruby just had to drag the kids to a "dish night" movie on a school night. Does Anne-Marie even go to school and if so, where? I probably missed that somewhere in the cloud of bloated words that showed me little.

I glanced at the cybernotes. I don't recommend reading them unless you want to be textually condescended to and don't mind multiple spelling errors (H.L. Menkin and the Barring Land Bridge?).

Average customer rating:

The Crazyladies of Pearl Street
Trvanian
Manufacturer: Crown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000ME71RO

Average customer rating:

The Crazyladies of Pearl Street

Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
ASIN: B0009WF9IM

The Crazyladies of Pearl Street (Unabridged)

Average customer rating:

The Crazyladies of Pearl Street (Unabridged)

Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
ASIN: B0009WF9FK

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