Devoured the beginning, plodded through the middle, & skimmed the last twenty pages just to say I read the whole thing. A very disappointing, unbelievable ending. Read my favorite short scene while you're in the bookstore-- pages 111-114 (the classroom scene with Avery Knowland); if you still have to read it, check it out from the library.

I'm going to try Mr. Carter's non-fiction book, "God's Name in Vain" since I enjoyed his "sideline soapbox passages" more than the dialogue and action. Seems he was trying to reach every possible market with this thriller--rich, poor, middle-class, African-American, white, gay, straight, intellectual, young, happily married, unhappily married, FBI agent, etc. etc. etc.

My worst complaint: didn't like the use of the phrases "paler nation" and "darker nation." Are these the next NEW politically correct ways to describe one's skin color? This verbose "suspense thriller" lost its thrill a page at a time.

Although black influence may be discerned in many strands of modern popular culture, from sports to stand-up comedy, from music to fashion and movies, one couldn't say that this has also been the case for fiction. Professor Carter's book is a welcome first step in populating a compelling plot-driven narrative with characters we haven't heard from before (or at least, not to my knowledge). In "The Emperor of Ocean Park" black university graduates with high-powered jobs and all sorts of material comforts are resolutely center-stage. In Philip Roth's "The Human Stain", the main character must resign his blackness to achieve success and power in the academical world. Carter's characters never resign their race to be successful in the white man's world. The main voice is Talcott Garland's. He is a lawyer in his forties, a professor of law in an ivy-league-ish university, which in spite of Carter's denial in a post-scriptum is a straigth forward rendition of Yale Law School, where the author teaches. Garland is a complex man, not a cypher, surely a cut above the generic "cut-and-paste" renditions typical of modern popular fiction. He is slightly overweight, not very likeable (he is aloof and emotionally remote), very much his father's son. The father, the eponymous "Emperor of Ocean Park", is Oliver Garland, known in the book as "The Judge", a composite of Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Judge Robert Bork and famous intellectual Thomas Sowell. A moderately conservative civil rights lawyer, he is appointed to a federal judgeship in the District of Columbia Appelate Court where he moves increasingly to the right. In the Reagan era he is nominated to the Supreme Court, but he must withdraw his candidacy when certain sordid associations become known to the public. He then joins a Washington D.C. firm as counsel and rakes in fat fees as a very popular public speaker. The Judge has shaped his children sometimes in ways he didn't mean to. The first born, Addison, is a rebel who refuses to be subject to his fathers very exacting standards of emotional self-control. His daughter, Mariah, the cleverest of all, has withdrawn from intellectual life to become wife of a rich white banker and mother of a large brood. Talcott has fled the rough and tumble of political life to become a tenured professor, and is stuck with Kimberley, a woman he adores, although she doesn't love him and may be cheating on him. A third daughter, Abby, died long ago, run over by a car that then fled the scene of the accident. This death is the catalyst of all that happens afterwards. The Judge is dead at the beginning of the book, and Talcott is quickly assailed by all sorts of shady figures who are looking for the Judge's arrangements. Talcott has no idea of what this means, and he struggles till the book's very end to find the arrangements and keep himself and his family alive. There is a complex chess problem (whose relevance is perhaps less clearly conveyed than the author intended) and several sub-plots to keep the reader occupied. Those thinking about buying the book should not be dissuaded by its heft. The book is a page turner and it has the right mixture of plot, action and rumination to keep the reader interested. It is also evidence that a book may be compelling without a single overtly sexual set-piece, without unnecessary profanity and without obsessive concern by fashionable slang or luxury good brands. This book will still be readable in fifty years without a special dictionary.

Many people have commented on the detailed rendition on the specifics of middle class lives. The big surprise is that these lives are similar to those of their white counterparts. Middle class blacks are hard working achievers, sometimes hindered by emotional distance and obsessive self-pondering. Perhaps one key point is that this is not the middle class as such that we are regarding, but the upper-middle class, with their large townhouses in Washington D.C. ("the Gold Coast") and their summer places in the Vineyard and the Hamptons.

We should expect this book to be slaughtered in the movie version, with Denzel Washington as Talcott, Morgan Freeman as the Judge, Hale Berry as Kimberley and Angela Basset as Maxine. Gene Hackman would be a good Justice Worthington. Read the book before you see the inevitable movie. It will only spoil the fun if you do otherwise.

This book is intelligent, complex, and multi-faceted. If you're looking for a quick mystery-read, this isn't the book for you. I had to laugh at the reviews where people have called this book boring, over-written, or "not quite literature yet". If you think Grisham or Patterson is literature, then, well...ignorance is bliss-- so enjoy your lightweight mysteries. This novel is so much more than a mystery yarn. Mr. Carter is obviously an intellectual and keen observer of life for him to have to produced such a complex book. The book twists and turns, making social commentary on many levels simultaneously. He well develops each of his positions such as the morale dilemmas of modern Christianity, the abuse of power, the US justice system, marriage in a 2-career household, money, substance abuse, family complications,friendship and betrayal. Wow. If you haven't read many authors of the "darker nation", to use Mr. Carter's phrase, you might not understand his point of view. However, don't let that restrict your picking up this book and reading it. It was powerfully written, used fabulous prose, and I'm looking forward to his next novel!

Despite there being a plethora of books on the National Parks of the US, there are very few books available which focus on Canada. This book has a good editorial review, so I was very much looking forward to receiving it. However, I was quite disappointed when I received it. Although it is advertised as having "breath-taking" photographs, most of the photos are rather poor. The larger ones are mostly out of focus and look like they've been taken on a cheap compact camera (this may be due to poor printing and not poor photography). In this age of great photographic and printing technology, I can't understand why such poor quality photos are still published. The text is informative and well written, but rather brief. The park-maps are too small and devoid of any detail: they basically only show the location, the rough shape of the boundary, the roads, and sometimes a couple of lakes. After reading this book, I still feel that I do not have a real idea about what most of the National Parks of Canada are like.

I agree with the other commentaries. The book is outdated. Trailheads and trails have changed too much to use this book.

It is good for finding Hikes - but take a hiking map with you (from Appalachian Mountain Club or elsewhere) and have a better day.

This book is currently out of print because it has become so outdated. I'm taking issue with Backcountry Publications and their parent firm, WW Norton, for allowing the book to appear, be sold, reviewed, rated, or in any way passed off as "reliable". This book was contracted in 1982, appeared in 1984, and has been very, very successful until the past few years. A new edition appeared in 1994, but this new edition was not accurately updated. I wrote the Catskill (northern) chapters to this book, while my coauthor(s) wrote the southern sections, which are the most outdated (for one reason or another). I would like to invite all of you to contact me personally if you have any problems with the Catskill chapters in this book (so far, nobody has mentioned any).

If you do purchase it, do so only for historical interest. This book is NO LONGER RELIABLE FOR FIELD USE. Thank you, Peter Kick peterwkick@aol.com

My friend and I have attempted five of the hikes described in Kick's book, and there have always been difficulties. Often, the trail continues accordingly, the scenery reflecting what Kick has described. Once you are deep into the wilderness, quite isolated from civilization, the descriptions in the book no longer match what you are seeing: yellow trails, red trails, blue trails, all disappear, and you find yourself thinking evil thoughts about Peter Kick. I will say this - Mr. Kick is quite the practical joker; lead people deep into the woods, and leave them hanging high and dry. My advice to those courageous enough to use this imaginary hiking guide: bring a week's worth of water and provisions, and a cell phone. Perhaps this book needs serious updating - or termination of publishing. Good luck and God bless.

I'm sure this was a great book when it was published in 1993. However, there have been so many changes since then, this book is obsolete.
I recently purchased a book, Wheelchairs On The Go: Accessible Fun in Florida, that gives very detailed information on the theme parks. It has ride-by-ride access information, lists companion restrooms as well as helpful tips for physically disabled visitors. This guide is a must for anyone visiting Florida!