Muench is the Master. This amazing book presents his vision of the Americas before the arrival of man. Stunning, masterful, etc. etc. Sure, I can pile on the adjectives, but simply stated, this is one of my favorite Muench books just because it is so uncompromised - not having to pander to a specific area, it is plain and simple magnificent nature.

David Muench is one of the best landscape photographers I've ever come across. If you can find this book the pictures will blow you away. It is worth the price. I'm an okay photographer, this guy is so good it's hard to believe. These are literally some of the most beautiful pictures I've ever seen. If you see this book on one of the clearance racks at a book shop, get it quick

This book deserves more than five stars, and is clearly one of the finest color landscape photography books ever published. Go to whatever lengths you must to acquire this amazingly wonderful volume!

Ancient America "celebrates the ancient threads that connect our momentary existence to a universal continuum and bind us to larger meaning." Imagine yourself as one of the first people to arrive in the Americas, having traveled across the land bridge from Siberia or across the Pacific by raft or canoe. There is no smog. There are no buildings. You simply see the grandeur of nature in its most pristine and awesome form. The world is a cathedral to you. That is the vision that Mr. Muench shares with us in this great collection.

The book begins with several stunning photographs that capture the range of the whole book. There is a brief introduction about the photography, then a superb discussion of American anthropology by Brian Fagan that creates a poetic vision of the book's subject. You will learn much about the settling of the Americas in the process. Did you know that humans arrived here only around 12,000 years ago and that populations were quite small until 350 years ago when the European immigrants began to arrive in substantial numbers?

The photographs are subdivided into the following sections: light; earth, rock, water, trees, ruins, and growth. Mr. Muench has a few final words at the end. "Timeless moments of ancient light are for me an expansion of the spirit . . . ."

Mr. Muench has many skills as a photographer. Like Ansel Adams, he is brilliant in using dawn, dusk, and moonlight to capture unusual moments and moods. Also like Mr. Adams, he has an unerring sense of composition that captures the interconnections of nature's patterns in fascinating and rewarding ways. But he exceeds Mr. Adams in his ability to use color. And all of these images are in gorgeous color. The color creates an emotional climate of spiritual peacefulness that will help you regain your sense of wonder, as you shed the distractions of "civilization."

I was particularly impressed to find that many of the images came from parts of North America that I had never seen before. In many ways, this was like exploring a new land to me. That characteristic added to my ability to let go of my preconceptions and existing emotions, and simply drink in the visual manna here.

Here are my favorite images in the book:

Moonrise, Mono Lake, California; Ancient Spruce-Fir-Hemlock Forest, Eagle Creek Gorge, Oregon; White Sands Evening, White Sands, New Mexico; Oregon Seastacks Cannon Beach, Ecola State Park, Oregon; Autumn Dawn, Millpond State Park, North Carolina; Cadiz Valley, Mohave Desert, California; Cypress Dawn, Realfoot Lake State Park, Tennessee; White Canyon Sandstone Labyrinth, Utah; Mendocino Tidal Pool, California; Dead Horse Point, Utah; Delicate Arch, Moonrise, Arches National Park, Utah; Eagle Creek Punchbowl, Oregon Cascades; Atchafalaya, Louisiana; Pinus Aristata, White Mountains, California; Birth at Puu'loa, Hawaii; Anasazi Cliff Dwelling, Utah; Cahokia Mounds, Illinois; and Sand Reed, Minnesota.

Perhaps the phrase that best captures this book is that it contains "some harmony to contemplate in beauty and ancient light the measured pace of the universe."

Having seen what the proper light and setting can do for your spirit, I suggest that you launch a search for places that evoke similar emotions in you and times when you can experience those feelings in private. Then set a regular schedule of visitations, to add a "living meditation" to whatever else you do to get in touch with yourself and the universe.

Shed the unimportant to step into the permanent grandeur of nature, and be refreshed in your humanity!

The Author's style is a little like "What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School" By Mark H. McCormick and it is superbly layed out carefully just for Pharmaceutical Sales.

This text is an excellent easy read (read it in one day); in one word I describe it as a 'pleasant read'; not too involved but just enough; in other words this a well written and carefully balanced book IMHO.

I particulary enjoyed the explanation of industry buzzwords and acronyms. Mostly, I like how the author ties in the whole process of where the territory sales rep 'fits' into the Pharmacutical-MCO-PBM areas as a whole; this really puts everything in great perspective. I think its called "synergistic approach".

In addition, this work helped me appreciate all the hardwork that goes into becoming a pharm rep. It describes things as a process and what the positives/negatives are. It essentially takes you through a "day-in-the-life" so to speak of what its like to be a pharm rep.

This sucker should be in every college career center library for sure. If you are interested or even thinking about wanting to know what it is that Pharm reps do (and to see if you might have what it takes) then this book is for you.

;-)

This book gives you insight into the day-to-day challenges, obstacles and joys of being a pharm sales rep. I strongly encourage anyone considering this field as an occupation to read this book before beginning their interview process. Many of the things I learned from this book I was able to refer to during my job interview with a Fortune 25 company. It helped me land this job very quickly because I was aware of the day-to-day aspects of being successful as a Pharm Sales Rep.

Over the past 20 years, I have had experience with the pharmaceutical industry as an employee, customer, and vendor. Of all the books out there, this book provides the best overview on a pharmaceutical sales career for someone considering this profession. This includes college students interested in pharmaceutical sales, anyone considering a career change, and job applicants or newly hired representatives.

The book is clearly written and fast-paced and does a great job of capturing the ups and downs of pharmaceutical selling, how to get a job, and the everyday tasks of the rep. It has some good suggestions for how to generate sales, including a Top Ten Tips list in the last chapter. I also liked the attention to the customer's (doctor's) wants and needs, as this is really
what selling is all about.

"Verses, however masterly, cannot be translated literally from one language into another without losing much of their beauty and dignity." (Bede, English writer and historian, AD 673-735)

For the translator of poetry, and Chinese poetry in particular, the question is: shall I be true to the letter or to the spirit? Usually the answer lies somewhere in the middle. The best translations aim to be true to the spirit without violating the letter more than necessary.

David Young, a poet himself, hopes to be true to the spirit of the five poets from the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-906) while at the same time trying to create poetry in a different language and period. The impulse that lies behind his book is to rescue the poets "from the often wooden and dogged versions of the scholars" and to recreate the beauty and dignity of the poetry in a language used by an American poet at the end of the 20th century. The results are marvelously readable, beautiful translations that I enjoyed more than any other translations of Chinese poetry I have read before or since.

Preceding the translations, Young has written a short introduction to each of the poets. These include a discussion of the special qualities of the poets' works and a selection of recommended translations by other English authors.

The five poets represented in this book are (1) Wang Wei, a devout Buddhist and the Chinese poet of landscape par excellence who wrote poems of a deeply religious sensibility; (2) Li Po, the Chinese archetype of the "bohemian artist and puckish wanderer," a poet beloved for his Taoist unconventionality; (3) Tu Fu, China's greatest poet according to a widely held view because of his technical brilliance and "vigorous poetry that manages to transcend unhappiness and melancholy by its enormous range and immense humanity"; (4) Li Ho, a poet usually not ranked with the Big Three because he is too innovative and defies classification; and (5) Li Shang-yin, who has a reputation as a decadent versifier but, as Young shows, is a "human and humane artist who feels deeply and sees deeply into mysteries of our common existence."

One of my favorite poems in this collection is "Returning to my cottage." It is a good example of Wang Wei's ability to capture stillness and movement in a landscape, to balance observations of things distant and close by, and to create from these images an atmosphere of serenity tinged with sadness. It is a good example for David Young's style of translation, too:

A bell in the distance
the sound floats
down the valley

one by one
woodcutters and fishermen
stop work, start home

the mountains move off
into darkness

alone, I turn home
as great clouds beckon
from the horizon

the wind stirs delicate vines
and water chestnut shoots
catkin fluff sails past

in the marsh to the east
new growth
vibrates with color

it's sad
to walk in the house
and shut the door.

Bottom line: This is one of the few anthologies of classical Chinese poetry in which the English versions of the poems really sound like poetry. There is nothing of the stiff formality and awkwardness of most other translations that disable the lyric voice of the verses. These translations are full of the beauty and dignity of the Chinese originals.

I first read David Young's amazing translations of these great T'ang poets seventeen years ago, when I was one of his students at Oberlin College in Ohio, and they started me on a lifetime of reading and loving these astonishingly ancient and contemporary sounding poets. There is something vibrantly alive, immediate, and inspiring about these 8th century words and the personalities of their wise, striking authors. In reading many translations, you won't find many as clear and right.

This is THE book of translated Chinese poems which opened my eyes to the art of poetry. I've since searched for and read many others, but this remains the best. The translations are masterful - lucid, transparent, simple, and, in English, stand as wonderful poems in their own right.

Buy this book. Buy it new, buy it used, buy it for your friends, buy it for your enemies. Petersen has written a thoughtful and thorough examination of recent grizzly bear management policies (or lack thereof) in the San Juans of Colorado. The book is a pleasure to read.

As someone who occasionally sees grizzers on his property, I can't conceive of living in an environment that doesn't have a population of apex predators to keep things interesting. Petersen masterfully chronicles how government funded assassins with the support of short-sighted local ranching communities and clumsy land managers, managed to kill virtually every grizzly in Colorado. He also accurately details how Western ranchers have come to view public lands with more than a sense of ownership but rather with a sense of absolute entitlement. This has led them to run their stock on federal land at ridiculously cheap rates, ignore even the most commonsense principles of husbandry, and push bears and wolves into the zoos and picture books while trying to keep everyone else out. Also to blame are the Baby Huey-like semi-rich, who hack 20 acre ranchettes out of the diminishing habitat and in the process are strangling the thing they profess to love most.

Petersen manages to stay somewhat balanced, using an essay by the outspoken and bearlike Doug Peacock to say what is probably really on his mind regarding sheep ranchers and development dingbats. In the course of researching the book, Peterson also forges unlikely friendships with former (but not reformed) professional and amateur bearslayers , including Ed Wiseman, who killed the last known Colorado grizz in hand to hand combat in 1979.

There is the general belief in the book that the great bear still lives in the San Juans but has become more nocturnal and reclusive as it adapts to its shrinking habitat. There are certainly drainages wild enough to support a grizz but I personally don't believe there are any left. My heart tells me that any state with a wildlife management policy as pathetic and dumbheaded as Colorado's can't have allowed for even a single surviving great bear. Also, I am reminded of a story in Scott Weidensaul's recent (and excellent) book on vanishing species entitled "The Ghost With Trembling Wings." Weidensaul tells the story of an animal who escapes from a European zoo and whose likeness is posted on the news. Consequently, hundreds of eyewitness calls come flooding in from all over the country, each caller claiming to have personally seen the critter. It turns out that the koala had actually been run over by a train several hundred yards from the zoo immediately after escaping. Weidensaul's point is that people WANT to believe something so badly, they convince themselves of its existence. And I'm afraid that is what we are doing with the Colorado grizzly.

My copy of this book is dog-eared and worn-out after all my readings of it and loaning it to others! David Peterson is one interesting writer. I had visited the San Juan Mountains prior to reading this book and explored the area where the Wiseman grizzly was killed. At the time I thought the Wiseman griz was the last in Colorado. This book inspired me to return and do a little searching of my own. Found some bear sign but was really amazed by how spectacular the high San Juans are in July. I think this book needs another postscript wherein "the search for survivors" is updated!

This book is one of the best books I've ever read. David Petersen does a fantastic job of educating the reader while involving them in some exciting adventures. While searching for grizzlies in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, David fills you in on grizzly natural history, the history of the San Juans, and the need for preserving wilderness in North America. This is a must have book for all who are interested in grizzly bears, the Rockies, wilderness, and the outdoors in general.

I checked this book out of the library prior to a trip to London, and now I'm going to buy a copy for my library. This is such a well laid out book, and the perfect size for the field. The information on the covers is particularly nice, with black and white illustrations of members of all the families so that you can quickly determine where in the guide to look for details. This is very helpful because there are many unfamiliar birds there that don't fit into the categories of birds we're used to in the states. And right inside the front cover is a color-coded index to help you quickly get to the section you need. I also liked the interesting facts about the birds that you don't see in many field guides. If you need a guide to birds for this area, this is definitely the one to have!

I ordered this book for a trip to Northern Germany and really lucked out. I read previous reviews, liked the format and size and gave it a shot. It was perfect for my needs. I recommend it highly.

Before our vacation in Denmark this month, I purchased this guide and based my selection on the 2 previous reviews and its small size. Boy, did I get lucky! This is one great field guide! Not only is all the pertinent information for each species located on one page, but that one page is also full of all sorts of interesting items (such as behaviors and flight patterns), written and/or pictured. If the authors would compile a similar guide for our North American species, it would surely replace my almost-worn-out National Geographic (my previous favorite)!

Very well written, includes lots of interesting information, excellent resource. Highly recommended and I'd definitely buy it again. I've learned a lot about our fox neighbots.

Unlike most animal books I have read this one is on the top of my list for best information. David goes into great detail about foxes, his experiments to test hypotheses and the complete follow up of results. David is not like most animal researchers in that he tells about his private thoughts and times out in the field, and makes an emphaze on how he wants other researches to test his theories and hypotheses. This book is great and very inspiring to get out, watch wildlife and observe.

This is an excellent short revision of a Smithsonian publication from ten years hence, which was also highly acclaimed. The text and illustrations are excellent for those intending to understand or study the fox in it's natural environment. While a short 140 pages of text, the book is crammed with exccellent insights and just enough human empathy to explain how the fox conducts it's life.

A good book for nearly anyone. There is plenty of excitement and it is full of sea knowledge. My only complaint is that there are dreary sections filled with the author's life philosophy that I found quite boring, and ended up skipping over.

Books should have a central theme, and the philosophy blurred whatever the theme was supposed to be. A good editor would have removed most of it.

I absolutely loved this book, and am looking forward to reading it again. Carlos' narrations combined with his twist on words paints a picture even the most land locked reader can imagine. As a marine enthusiast and student, it is wonderful to read works from hunters who also appreciate the undersea world and respect its power and importance.

The Blue Edge is Carlos Eyles latest book. It is a pseudo-diary of the authors sixty-five day journey aboard the Nirvana with his friends Jack and Pam. He journeys through the Sea of Cortez to the San Benedicto islands. The journey is on one level a journey from the once bountiful Sea of Cortez to near pristine San Benedicto islands. On another level it is a journey through man's impact on the ocean in the infinitesimal slice of geographic time that man has populated the planet. On an introspective level it is a journey through one man's search for balance and his link to the ocean, and to himself.

The word "mystical" has been used to describe the writing of the book. "Mystical" implies something apart from the human experience. The Blue Edge is experiential. It is about experiences that we all face. It is apropos that the boat is named Nirvana, which is the Buddhist term for "enlightenment." Some of the things that the Buddha realized on the road to enlightenment were, that the world is suffering, all things are impermanent, and that there is no Self. The Blue Edge takes us through part of that journey. It shows us the pain, and the joy, as one man struggles with finding his place in the world. As he tries to balance his love for the ocean, his love for his family, and his love for himself.

Carlos leads the reader through the fragile, and thus transitory, illusion of the permanence of job, family, possessions, and our natural resources. He describes how man's greed, and ego, has affected the balance of the once pristine waters of the Sea of Cortez, and how it also is taking its toll on the San Benedicto islands.

For the spearfishmen this is the journey that some of us go through in our diving careers. Our pictures of full stringers of fish on our desks and walls. Our attempts to give permanence to a moment in time. Our attempts to catch the "most" fish. As our diving careers progress we find we take fewer and fewer shots looking for the "right" fish. The contrast Carlos paints with Jack, who is struggling to find his place in his relationship with Pam and with the ocean, and the spearfishermen aboard the Ambar III that are dumping the carcasses of the filleted fish into the water, to Brian Yoshikawa not taking any shots waiting for the 200 pound tuna.

The Blue Edge may be difficult reading for people who have no ties to the ocean, since the sixty-five day journey is aboard a boat. It, however, is must reading for anyone who spends any time with the ocean. The book encapsulates our life journey in those sixty-five days. It gives us glimpses of Nirvana (enlightenment) through Carlos's eyes. It is this poignant glimpse which is what wraps us up page after page, because we feel from the very beginning of the book that Nirvana is not to be attained for Carlos at this time. The struggles through the grinding teeth of sharks, and lawnmowers, is something the ocean takes us through. The longing to play in the ocean, the longing for wealth, the longing for pleasure, the longing for the kill. The experiences Carlos goes through in The Blue Edge shows us that "Nirvana", on one level, or more simply the struggle to find balance with the ocean, on a lower level, is unattainable as long as we long to possess it.

The title of this book is misleading, I was expecting hundreds of pages on dinosaurs but that's not what I got!! Nevertheless it has good information on the prehistoric life and evolution of : Fish and invertebrates,amphibians and reptiles,dinosaurs and birds and mammals and their ancestors. The reference section in itself is almost half the book; among other things it includes a geological time chart, biographies of geologists and a good glossary. I really do think that this book should have a different title.

"BRILLIANT"......

EVERY THING ABOUT THIS HE LOVED...
DETAIL,PICTURES,INFORMATION..

I BOUGHT THIS FOR MY 7YR OLD. REALLY A VERY GOOD BOOK
FOR ANY CHILD INTERESTED IN DINOSAURS

Our son got this book for his ninth Birthday after showing a steady interest in Dinosaur's since he was old enough to play with toy dinosaur's. He had already memorized all their names and habits etc... but this book has taught him so much more, he is always coming up to his mother and I telling us somehing new he learned about them. On his tenth Birthday Nov 1st of 2002, our house burnt down and his first posession that he asked about was if his Dinosaur book is ok, alone with it's CD-ROM. Unfortunatly, it didn't make it. I'm visiting this site today to looking at the price in order save up to replace it for him, as my wife is a house-mom, and I got laid off of work three weeks before his birthday/the fire. I will be back to buy it again maybe sometime in febuary.

This is a neat little package that gives a wealth of info about slugs. It was a little less technical than I had hoped. If you're looking to answer specific biology questions or have the hopes of a key, this is not the answer.

What on earth am I doing reviewing a book about slugs? Because I live in Slugland & I want to know more about those slithery slimers who mug my lettuces & ravish my sprouts. This little book is a gem, a must for anyone living among gastropods. This book inspired me to write a poem about these critters who have been around far longer than we! Still don't like 'em, I'll tolerate them because David George Gordon has written a funny, informative, charming book about a subject most would rather stomp on! So there!

I found this book to be a concise, thorough discussion of the subject of garden slugs. Every gardener has had to deal with them in some form or another and this little book is the perfect addition to your gardening library on the subject. Excellent artwork and drawings, also.

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!

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."

Inviting book that made you want to visit the Klamath Mountains and learn about the wild plants of any forest system.