I chose this book for my final project in geology class because I was interested in Yellowstone National parks though I have never been to, and this book was very good not only to read but also to review my studying in the class. Yellowstone and Grand Teton ground systems such as ground movements and heating systems are covered and also advanced my studying. Actually, I had totally no knowledge about geologic activities before I studied in the class, so this book was also really good to review my studying. In addition, this book introduces these parks view points with beautiful and colored pictures, so this book also can be used for a tourbook. It is no doubt that I will go to these parks with this book!

A friend loaned me this book two months ago. I haven't returned it yet. It is simply the best book on these two parks that I have ever read. The authors accurately portray the very considerable geological power present in each park, and yet do not manage to make either park a fearful place to be avoided. Instead, their writing is a persuasive invitation to visit these wonderful manifestations of nature for an extended period. I was particularly impressed by the visitor's tour set out near the end of the book. I took a part of that tour in 1994, and the narrative is very accurate. I will certainly use my OWN copy of the book when I go back again this autumn. (I don't want anyone to think I don't return borrowed books!) This book is an absolute musthave-mustread for anyone going to the parks or interested in the geological processes that have made the West. Enjoy.

This treasure will turn "topography" into a household word. Dedicated to a fellow geologist recently killed by an avalance while conducting fieldwork, "Windows" is a slick and dramatic feature presentation of volcanism, earthquakes, and geysers. Superb maps and graphs colorfully illustrate variable stratae formed through the eons. An informal and friendly text is scholarly without being stuffy. The writers establish a tone of substance and humor as they discuss multiple upheavals that created Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. This is the kind of book that will impress early rock-ologists and even be hoarded by their more secretive, sedimental parents. The writing never "dumbs down" but is lucid with factual attention to landscape formation without snubbing the human astonishment that continually witnesses it. Thanks to geologist Smith and naturalist journalist Seigel, the book is threaded with lively accounts from park rangers, tourists, and waitresses at the Old Faithful Inn. Appeals to romantics and literalists alike. Studded with beautiful, full-color photographs. Every page is hefty and sleek to the touch, a feast for the eye as well as the brain. Kind of a wonder-book for anyone who seeks the phenomenal in terra firma.

I came to this book knowing something, but not a lot, about literary theory; and something, but not a lot, about India. To enjoy this book you need at least a bit of background in each. Those who complain about the tepid plot and wooden characters, I think, miss the point; the story is not much more than a device Siegel uses for his very clever, and often hilarious, commentary on orientalism, on academia, and especially on the relationship between author, character, and reader. I found the book slow going at first but once I understood this I had a great time!

I just finished Love in a Dead Language and pulled up the reviews to see the superlatives used to describe it. I was blown away at the poor reviews! Based upon the other reviews, it is clear that this book clearly isn't for everyone, but I found it erudite, challenging, engaging, laugh-out-loud funny and very entertaining. I couldn't put it down. With the weaving together of all the different authors/commentaries/texts/footnotes -- I kept asking myself if this was really fiction. Prof. Siegel should be praised and encouraged to do it again! I especially loved Saighal's scarcasm. Literary Reader: Do not be put off by the negatives. A fantasy world awaits you!

One of the most striking things about Love in a Dead Language is that it has, not one, but five, dedications. This is the first indication that this book is going to be something completely out of the ordinary. And it is.

The first dedication is from Lee Siegel, a professor of Indian religions at the University of Hawaii, the author of this very unusual book. The second is from the Hindu sage Vatsyayana, author the classic (and silly) treatise on love, the Kamasutra. Then there are also dedications from the novel's own cast of characters: Leopold Roth, a fictional professor of linguistics who attempted to translate the Kamasutra; Pralayananga Lilaraja, a medieval scholar; and Anang Saighal, and Indo-Jewish graduate student, who, according to this story, has just put the entire volume together.

After this rather unorthodox beginning, Love in a Dead Language just keeps getting better and better and more and more inventive. It is, reportedly, Roth's failed attempt at translation, along with his commentary. Together they form, not his own view of the Kamasutra, but rather his obsession with, and seduction of, a beautiful Indo-American girl, Lalita Gupta. (Yes, this is an allusion to Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, and it is not the only Nabokov allusion in this novel, all to the good.)

These two texts are accompanied by comments and footnotes from Pralayananga, also autobiographical, and Saighal, who completes the narrative after Roth is murdered when an unknown assailant hurls a Sanskrit-English dictionary squarely at his head.

Interspersed among this madness are extracts of Hollywood movie scripts about India, posters of Mira Nair's film, Kamasutra, a term paper complete with the teacher's notes and pages from a comic book Kamasutra (as if the original isn't comic enough). Then we have the real and imagined quotes from the real and imagined writers on India from various centuries, letters, including one from Siegel, and, most hilarious of all, bits and pieces from the memoirs of a ninety-five year old movie star which are, amazingly, dedicated to a porn actress. The above are already more surprises than almost any book packs, but Love in a Dead Language packs even more. A little more than halfway through, we must turn the book upside down, since one of the chapters is printed that way. Deliberately, of course.

Siegel's inventiveness and originality of style are not the only thing that distinguishes this book. His use of language is nothing if it is not brilliant and creative. Siegel masters so many styles and voices it's difficult to believe he created them all. There is the erudite academic, the barely-literate jock, the silly campus newspaper, the just-average student. Amazingly, Siegel writes parodic Hinglish, American slang and flowery Victoriana with equal style, wit and aplomb. The result is both hilarious and hysterical.

The book ends with a bibliography that is so convincing you will be tempted to take it seriously. Don't. It would only spoil the fun. And fun, above all else, is what this book is about. There are more jokes, puns, asides and riddles in this book than any one person can possibly mine. It is virtuoso feat of the highest order. A sweet, methodical madness that will leave you laughing so hard you'll find it difficult to keep on reading.

This is a dreadful book, no story, no dialog. There are so many adjectives that you can use it as a theasuras. The author wasn't interested in telling a story, his main goal is to show off --whatever it is.

This was one of the best novels I've read within recent memory. For anyone interested in India, this novel will stimulate you intellectually and recall for you the sights, sounds and smells of India. The structure of the novel is fascinatingly postmodern and the writing is itself lush and literate. There is much to think about as the author examines the allure of horror and the macabre within story telling.