Sweetgrass (Mira Hardbacks)

Sweetgrass (Mira Hardbacks)
Average customer rating:

MUST READ

Sweet & Endearing ....

A Lyrical Tale of Reconciliation and Redemption Set in the South

Sweetgrass

Simple country life and lessons to be learned.

Sweetgrass (Mira Hardbacks)
Mary Alice Monroe
Manufacturer: Mira
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Romance | Subjects | Books
General | Contemporary | Romance | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0778321878

Book Description

"Mary Alice Monroe is helping to redefine the beauty and magic of the Carolina Lowcountry. Every book she has written has felt like a homecoming to me." - Pat Conroy, author of The Prince of Tides and Beach Music

Customer Reviews:

MUST READ.......2007-07-17

ANOTHER WONDERFUL BOOK FROM MARY ALICE MONROE! I HOPE SHE KEEPS THEM COMING.
ENDEARING,MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE YOU REALLY KNOW THE PEOPLE.

Sweet & Endearing ...........2007-07-06

I must be on a Southern Lit kick because I read this one in one day ~~ since it was too hot to be outside, it seems logical to sit and read a book ... which is what I did. I found this book in a rummage sale also and since I have read one of her earlier works, I've been searching for more of her titles. I found this one and didn't regret it. It is the perfect summer read!

This novel is based on a family riddled with secrets that continued to haunt them to the present. There's Mama June, there's her husband, Preston, who was befelled by a horrible stroke. There's Nan, their daughter, married to an ambitious businessman, and mom to two teenage sons. There's Morgan, the prodigal son, home from Montana where he had lived for ten years, fighting to preserve the bison there. They all come back together when Preston had a severe stroke. The story weaves between past and present, with other characters involved, like Nona, the housekeeper/cook whose family has strong and long ties with the Blakely family over the centuries. She is also a sweetgrass basket weaver. There's Kristina, the therapist who became very involved with the entire family and there's Adele, Preston's sister, who wants nothing more than to get rid of Sweetgrass and all it holds.

This book is about family relationships, love and death, and rediscovering love all over again ~~ going back into memory lane and fighting for what is important. It is an endearing book. It is sweet and sentimental. It will keep you thumbing through the pages to find out how it ends (even if it is more predictable than you expected ... but all ends well is a happy novel, right?), and it's the perfect summer read ~~ so if you're going to the beach or to the lake or even to the pool, be sure to grab a copy of this novel. It's perfect for the plane ride too ~~ so kick back with a glass of iced tea and enjoy!

7-6-07

A Lyrical Tale of Reconciliation and Redemption Set in the South.......2007-03-30

In a small southern town, a family must fight against rising taxes, encroaching developers, devastating illness and their own demons to face themselves - and each other - and find long-needed forgiveness.

Acclaimed bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe ("Skyward," "The Beach House"), an active conservationist, also weaves into her tender plot and deftly-drawn characters a gentle message about preservation. A lyrical tale of reconciliation and redemption, set against the backdrop of South Carolina's lowcountry.

Sweetgrass.......2007-01-05

Interesting information about making sweetgrass baskets in South Carolina was beautifully woven into the storyline of this book. Anyone who visits Charleston after reading this book would look for the open-air market where the baskets are woven and sold. Excellent,easy to read low-country story in the author's style.

Simple country life and lessons to be learned........2006-09-05

Excellent beach read ! This is one book you do not want to put down. Lessons learned in life, love and racism. Writer brought characters and images to life. Reading this on the beach IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, you will see why.......

Sweetgrass Baskets and the Gullah Tradition (SC) (Images of America)

Average customer rating:

a bargain
Great Pictorial Essay
a nice book

Sweetgrass Baskets and the Gullah Tradition (SC) (Images of America)
Joyce V. Coakley
Manufacturer: Arcadia Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Baskets | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0738518301
Release Date: 2006-01-11

Book Description

The ancient African art of sweetgrass basket making has been practiced for more than 300 years in the Christ Church Parish of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Seen on the roadways of Charleston County and in museums and galleries worldwide, these unique handmade baskets are crafted from sweetgrass, bullrush, pine needles, and palm leaves. Traditionally, artisans use a piece of the rib bone of a cow and a pair of scissors as their only tools for construction. When English settlers founded Christ Church Parish in the late 1600s, they saw a place rich in natural beauty and ideal for harvesting rice, cotton, and indigo. Skilled agricultural laborers were needed, and consequently, South Carolina became the top importer of enslaved West Africans. Finding a landscape similar to their homeland, those who came kept many of their traditional practices. Today, the richness of the West African presence can be seen in Charleston's architecture, basketry, and ironworks.

Customer Reviews:

a bargain.......2007-08-13

"Sweetgrass Baskets and the Gullah Tradition" may suffer from being misnamed (a faulty title) because it is much more of a sociological and anthropological investigation of Gullah culture than a close study of sweetgrass basketry itself. For that reason though I consider it a bargain. Anyone who visits the Charleston area and Mt. Pleasant (Rt. 17 or the Charleston Market) in particular will be pulled into the beauty of the sweetgrass baskets. This book takes you into the complex lives lead by those creating the baskets and those around them living in Mt. Pleasant in a particular time of the past, giving a well-rounded view of a disappearing culture. Still, you see the people through the eyes of one of their own, not romanticized but as real flesh and blood people. I really appreciate what Joyce Coakley shared in these pages and I think you will too.

Great Pictorial Essay.......2007-08-09

I really appreciate Joyce Coakley's very personal photo essay book on Gullah culture. Many authors of books like this just go to resource centers like historical libraries for photographs but you can tell by the names that many of these people are her own family members and people from her neighborhood. "Sweetgrass Baskets and the Gullah Tradition," goes right into the heart of a particular neighborhood where sweetgrass baskets flourish but also shows so many other facets of the Gullah culture you won't find anywhere else. Well done Ms. Coakley!! I highly recommend this book for those not only interested in sweetgrass basket history but those seeking a more indepth visual analysis of Gullah people.

a nice book.......2007-01-04

This book was interesting, but not quite as interesting as I hoped. The writing could have had a little more flair. I am interested in Gullah culture, but it was only so so in promoting ongoing interest. Pictures would be better. Good resource though for information.

Average customer rating:

Sweetgrass Basket

Sweetgrass Basket
Marlene Carvell
Manufacturer: Dutton Juvenile
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

School | Issues | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0525475478

Book Description

In prose poetry and alternating voices, Marlene Carvell weaves a heartbreakingly beautiful story based on the real-life experiences of Native American children. Mattie and Sarah are two Mohawk sisters who are sent to an off-reservation school after the death of their mother. Subject to intimidation and corporal punishment, with little hope of contact with their father, the girls are taught menial tasks to prepare them for life as domestics. How Mattie and Sarah protect their culture, memories of their family life, and their love for each other makes for a powerful, unforgettable historical novel.

Customer Reviews:

Sweetgrass Basket .......2006-10-13

Sweetgrass Basket is a contagious book that captivates you into its cruel world. Once I started reading, I could not put the book down. The pages turn rapidly alternating between the two sisters' point of view. Mattie and Sarah are shipped off to the Carlisle Indian Boarding School by their father after their mother dies. Together they struggle to survive harsh working and living conditions and ruthless belittling while the school attempts to strip their culture away from them to "prepare them to survive in the white world". I think this is an accurate portrayal of the vicious abuse and forced assimilation that took place in the Carlisle Indian School and other boarding schools because it did not have a happy ending. The two sisters' close bond and love for their culture is never taken away from them and proof of this is their continued use of the Mohawk language and attachment to objects they snuck in from home. It goes to show you that ones' culture can never be taken away, no matter what conditions you put them through. This book would be a great book to use in the classroom setting because its example of a relentless struggle to remain proud of whom you are.

Circle Unbroken (Booklist Editor's Choice. Books for Youth (Awards))

Average customer rating:

Beautiful book
beautiful book
DR. Beck's Class
The best children's book on Charleston
A moving history of a dying art

Circle Unbroken (Booklist Editor's Choice. Books for Youth (Awards))
Margot Theis Raven
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0374312893

Book Description

Keeping the African heritage alive

As she teaches her granddaughter to sew a traditional sweetgrass basket, a grandmother weaves a story, going back generations to her old-timey grandfather's village in faraway Africa. There, as a boy, he learned to make baskets so tightly woven they could hold the rain. Even after being stolen away to a slave ship bound for America, he remembers what he learned and passes these memories on to his children - as they do theirs, so that

. . . when your fingers talk just right
that circle will go out and out again -
past slavery and freedom, old ways and new,
and your basket will hold the past . . .

This powerful picture book, with its rhythmic text and evocative paintings, spirals through time, becoming a triumphant song - a rich story of a craft, a culture, and a people.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful book.......2007-06-13

This is a great way for young and old to lean about sweet grass basket making! Perfect for late elementary school students.

beautiful book.......2006-11-10

This book was very nice: lovely pictures, gentle storyline that was also informative. I enjoyed it very much.

DR. Beck's Class.......2006-01-25

The book's illustrations were very interesting and creative. The story line was an accurate dipiction of slavery and the history behind it. It connected strong family ties from generation to generation with the beautiful basket weaves and family customs. Those who are associated with the geography of the book can make a strong personal connection to the atmosphere of the book. For teaching purposes, it relates the importance of family history and bonds throught the generations. It also shows how far we've developed as a society. It would be part of our text set for slavery in our classroom.

The best children's book on Charleston.......2004-08-29

If I were making a very short list of books to remember Charleston by, this would be on it. The language is lyrical and wonderful to read aloud. The illustrations are gorgeous. Both Raven and Lewis do a superb job of sharing the meaning of family ties across generations, as well as sharing the Gullah culture. I'm a newcomer to the Low Country, and I don't have any African heritage, but still, something in this story really resonated with me. Highly recommended!

A moving history of a dying art.......2004-06-20

We love the South Carolina Low Country, and are proud to own a number of sweetgrass baskets, most made by the same lady. This book was a wonderful find to share with my daughter, who is almost 4. The pictures are lovely, and the history is honest without being too brutal for younger listeners. Older readers will certainly get the depth of the slave history, while it serves as a good introduction for the younger. I found it to be a poetic and lyrical read, and a good explanation of how the art of Low Country coil basket weaving (also known as Charleston sweetgrass basket weaving) has been passed down.

Average customer rating:

More like 3.75 stars...
I loved Essie Mae
A wonderful and spiritual read
Educational introduction to the Gullah-Creole way of life
Grab a Hammock and Glass of Sweet Tea.

The Spirit of Sweetgrass
Nicole Seitz
Manufacturer: Integrity/Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Domestic Life | Women's Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1591455065

Book Description

Essie Mae Laveau Jenkins is a 78-year-old sweetgrass basket weaver who sits on the side of Hwy. 17 in the company of her dead husband, Daddy Jim. Inspired by her Auntie Leona, Essie Mae finally discovers her calling in life and weaves powerful "love baskets," praying fervently over them to affect the lives of those who visit her roadside stand. When she's faced with losing her home and her stand and being put in a nursing home, Daddy Jim talks her into coming on up to Heaven to meet sweet Jesus-something she's always wanted to do. Once there, she reunites with Gullahs and African ancestors; but soon, her heavenly peace is disrupted, for she still has work to do. Now Essie Mae, who once felt powerless and invisible, must find the strength within her to keep her South Carolina family from falling apart.

Customer Reviews:

More like 3.75 stars..........2007-09-10

Publisher's Description:

Essie Mae Laveau Jenkins is a 78-year-old sweetgrass basket weaver who sits on the side of Hwy. 17 in the company of her dead husband, Daddy Jim. Inspired by her Auntie Leona, Essie Mae finally discovers her calling in life and weaves powerful "love baskets," praying fervently over them to affect the lives of those who visit her roadside stand. When she's faced with losing her home and her stand and being put in a nursing home, Daddy Jim talks her into coming on up to Heaven to meet sweet Jesus-something she's always wanted to do. Once there, she reunites with Gullahs and African ancestors; but soon, her heavenly peace is disrupted, for she still has work to do. Now Essie Mae, who once felt powerless and invisible, must find the strength within her to keep her South Carolina family from falling apart.

My review:

Well here is another book that makes me go hmmmm... because it's supposed to be a Christian book yet there is so much contained in this story that is simply not Biblical. However, the fictionalized character of Essie Mae is a delight to read. I think it's important to note that what the above description from the publisher doesn't mention is that the love baskets that Essie Mae "powerfully prays over" also has voodoo rituals attached, only she calls it hoodoo. Essie would weave the hair of people into the basket in hopes of matchmaking. And in this story the hoodoo techniques always worked.

While I found some of her thoughts hilarious and her culture entertaining, this story contained quite a few weird theological moments...like when Essie thought they needed to help Jesus out when they were in heaven, and some of the things they did in heaven were "way out there". But this is a fictional story. So if you don't take it seriously and read it for mere entertainment you will enjoy the book. I'd love to believe that I will look young, beautiful, and get to make love to my husband in heaven, too, but that simply isn't so. And I found it odd that her voodoo practicing aunt was in heaven along with some other folks that practiced similar things. Like somehow that was irrelevant to their faith in Jesus? Hmmmm...I dunno.

The writing and characterization of the story was excellent, however, and I commend the author for her creativity and ability to engage the reader, but I don't think it should've been marketed as Christian fiction by a Christian publisher. But I'm only one opinion. If you can get past the warped theology and you are seeking a book that is compulsively readable, you'll like this story.

I loved Essie Mae.......2007-08-10

I just fell in love with Essie Mae. She was very real. At first I was put off when I read there was "dialect", which usually distracts from my reading enjoyment, but Seitz's written Gullah is beautifully done and sprinkled throughout in small, jewel-like doses. Can't wait for the next book!

A wonderful and spiritual read.......2007-07-12

The Spirit of Sweetgrass by Nicole Seitz was so enjoyable that I found it difficult to stop reading. I have reommended this book to all my friends who share my love of the Charleston area and its rich history. I absolutely hated for this story to end and cannot wait until the new novel is released.

Thank you Nicole for such a heart-warming and witty book.

Educational introduction to the Gullah-Creole way of life.......2007-06-06

In her engaging debut novel, THE SPIRIT OF SWEETGRASS, Nicole Seitz introduces readers to the rich and diverse world of South Carolina's Lowcountry Gullah culture, interspersing themes of faith, forgiveness and the importance of family throughout.

Using first-person narrative, Seitz introduces readers to 78-year-old Essie Mae Jenkins, a widow who sells her hand-woven sweetgrass baskets at a highway roadstand. Essie misses "Daddy Jim," her husband who died in three short months from lung cancer: "When Daddy Jim died, my whole life just flip-flopped like a catfish dying on the dock. Right about then's when I took up basket making again." But with her husband gone and income sporadic at best, Essie is in trouble. She owes $10,000 in taxes on her home, and selling baskets won't even begin to cover it.

The known world and the supernatural mingle throughout the novel. In the first half, this mostly consists of Essie talking to Daddy Jim as if he is alive. "Jim, what I'm gonna do? Things is fallin' in all over me." Essie's daughter, the unlikable Henrietta, believes that the answer is for Essie to move into a retirement center. But Essie clings to her home, and to a way of life in the Gullah culture that seems on the verge of vanishing.

She has other disappointments as well. Essie's beloved grandson, EJ, seems intent on marrying a white girl. And Essie's matchmaking talents are seemingly wasted on the good-looking Jeffrey, who doesn't appear interested in women. Most challenging is her relationship with the bitter Henrietta, whose angry spirit widens the deep divide between her and her mother.

Not all writers can handle regional dialect well, but Seitz does an exceptional job here. Although the dialect is heavy, it reads smoothly and enhances rather than detracts from the narrative.

Those readers who enjoy a supernatural, suspend-disbelief component to their fiction will enjoy the second half of the novel, in which Essie dreams that she has died and gone to heaven. There, she meets her ancestors and reunites with those loved ones who have passed on. Seitz paints this heavenly reunion with delightful imagination: "In the Lowcountry, when we would have family reunions, we'd pull everybody together and have a big ol' oyster roast with lots of drawn butter and fried shrimp caught fresh that day. Folks I ain't never seen before from all over would come out the woodwork.... Well, now take that and multiply it by a hundred. That's how crazy it is here in heaven."

Heaven, she finds, is "like everythin' I ever `magined and then some." Essie's "mama" makes her okra soup and cornbread, and Essie and her husband, Daddy Jim, even engage in a little lovemaking. (Is there sex in heaven? Seitz says yes!) And in the afterlife, Daddy Jim says "...ain't no such thing as black and white folks. If somebody's done made it up to heaven, they get to glowin' like a rainbow full of all sorts of colors."

Heaven holds more surprises, as when (in a subtle and poignant pro-life theme) Essie discovers she has a granddaughter who Henrietta aborted and no one else knew about. Although this second half of the novel is less absorbing than the first, it will still hold readers' interest. The weakest portion of the novel may be when Essie and her ancestors return to earth to crash the Sweetgrass Soiree and try to save the basket-weaving culture from the evil spirits conjured up by Henrietta's "hoodoo" or voodoo that threatens to destroy it.

Despite this, Seitz's imaginative story is an absorbing and even educational introduction to the Gullah-Creole way of life. Readers will hope to hear more from this promising novelist.

--- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

Grab a Hammock and Glass of Sweet Tea........2007-06-02

"The Spirit of Sweetgrass" is a beautiful tribute to southern traditions and lifestyle as well as a disappearing art. The history and Gullah details in "Sweetgrass" makes it a must read for anyone fascinated with the culture of the Lowcountry.

Nicole Seitz writes beautifully, weaving and crafting, not unlike the baskets so diligently and painstakingly woven by her protagonist's loving fingers.

Those who expect a specific genre basket hook on which to hang "Sweetgrass" will find a touch of sweet romance with women's fiction depth, chock full of history and fantasy. "Sweetgrass" stretches beyond one genre and seeps into other categories. If forced to choose, I'd call it literary because of Nicole's style. I got caught up is Essie Mae's life from the beginning, and though there were a couple of chapters that dragged a bit for me, the end satisfied.

Jesus is mentioned throughout, but those who only read clear "how to be saved" Christian fiction aren't likely to feel comfortable reading "Sweetgrass." Nicole has managed to bust open the God box, maybe replacing it with a woven basket so He bursts out all over. Heaven sequences are thoughtful, speculative and may frustrate theologians. Serious jot and tittle Christian fiction readers may want to avoid reading "Sweetgrass," especially if they tend to read with a microscope. Voodoo and "ghosts" are tossed into the mix now and again, too.

If you love to ask God questions and like to ponder heaven, or if you curl up with lazy, literary fiction, quirky characters, cultural details and stories that wrap around your thoughts and your heart, I think you'll enjoy "Sweetgrass."

Average customer rating:

A wonderfull book
Sweetgrass
A Book For Anyone
LOVE AND ACTION!
Sweetgrass; the book I enjoyed

Sweetgrass (Paperstar Book)
Jan Hudson
Manufacturer: Putnam Juvenile
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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Being a Teen | Social Issues | Teens | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0698117638

Book Description

Sweetgrass, a 15-year-old Blackfoot girl, longs to be married like the other girls her age, and she has a young warrior in mind, Eagle-Sun. Her father feels she is too young for marriage, but over a difficult year for their tribe, which include natural disasters, encounters with white settlers, fights with other tribes, and a smallpox epidemic, she proves her courage, intelligence, and maturity. "Vivid characters bring the culture of the Dakota Indians in the 1830s to life through this richly patterned historical novelAn unusually fine first novel." — Booklist (starred review) "A masterpiece combining elements of an historical novel, a native American, a survival, and a coming-of-age novel.Will invite re-reading." — School Library Journal (starred review)

Customer Reviews:

A wonderfull book .......2007-02-22

This book tells a wonderfull tale of a young Blackfoot girl who falls in love and learns what growing up means. It gives an insight into the world of the Blackfoot indians. And it shares a few lessons about responsibility as well.
I loved this book when I was younger and now I'm very happy to read it again. The language is simple (I'm not a native speaker so this is important) without lessening the strength and beauty of the story itself. I'm sure any teenage girl will enjoy this story! (And perhaps boys will love it too, but I can't speak for them :-) ) Having an interest in native american culture is a bonus. So enjoy!

Sweetgrass.......2006-10-24

Sweetgrass is inlove with this boy but her father said she mature enough to get married. So she has to show her father that she is mature enough to get married. While all this happens her best friend is getting married. She is said because she is not marring the man she wants. Her famiy picked him out. She got married to an old guy that has a lot of money. At the end she prove to her father that she mature and she gets to married him. I love this book. I couldn't put it down for one second. It was exiting and interesting all in the same time.

A Book For Anyone.......2004-12-01

Sweetgrass is a wonderful story about a young Native American girl named Sweetgrass. Sweetgrass feels that no one in her Blackfoot tribe takes her seriously. She wants to prove her to father and her almost-mother that she is ready to get married. Her father and her almost-mother do not feel she is mature enough. However, during the hard winter Sweetgrass is forced to become a woman. Smallpox becomes a severe threat to her family and her tribe. Sweetgrass helps to nurse her family and helps them to overcome death. I recommend this book because it describes Native American culture in a way that is beneficial to the reader. It is full of excitement and suspense, which allows the reader to become fully involved. It is a great book for anyone!

LOVE AND ACTION!.......2001-04-05

We had to read 4 books for English, one of my choices was SWEETGRASS! When my teacher explained it to my class she said there was just enough romance for the girls and enough action for the guys! I recommend this book to everyone!!!

Sweetgrass; the book I enjoyed.......2001-01-06

Sweetgrass, a phenomenal book, by Jan Hudson is a suspenseful and informative book. Sweetgrass, a Native American teenager, describes her everyday life in such a way that you learn a lot about Native American lifestyle. All through the book, Sweetgrass experiences difficulties, which she deals with in different ways. When Sweetgrass's mother falls into a depression over her dead baby, Sweetgrass has to "grow up" and become the new mother in a matter of hours. While acting as "mother", the disease, smallpox hits her tribe and Sweetgrass has to help those with smallpox, while caring for the rest of her family and proving to her father that she is mature enough to marry.

I recommend this book because it teaches you a lot about Native American culture and because it is very exciting! Sweetgrass tells about her everyday life, so it is easy to learn about life as a Native American teenager. I hadn't known that Native American men usually had more than one wife. The book also taught me that young girls were usually married to men, almost twice their age. The book was suspenseful, because while Sweetgrass's mother is in a depression, her brother catches the disease smallpox, and Sweetgrass is forced to take over the household. Sweetgrass also has to find ways to prove to her father that she is mature enough to become a wife. These are just two of the many aspects of the book any reader can take away from this book! Though I thoroughly enjoyed the book, others might not because it is slow to start. The book is slow to start which makes reading the beginning difficult to enjoy. Even thought the book takes a while to get going, the information you learn and the agony you feel for Sweetgrass makes it a wonderful book! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and feel that it would be a great read for anyone!

Vigilante Days and Ways (Sweetgrass Books Reprint Series)
Average customer rating:

Archaic wording

A thrilling primary source!

First person account of Vigilante justice in MT.

Vigilante Days and Ways (Sweetgrass Books Reprint Series)
Nathaniel Pitt Langford
Manufacturer: Farcountry Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1560370386

Download Description

The result, for the instant, upon the colonel is described by himself as being very peculiar. He said he could count each particular hair in his head, and that it felt like the quill of a porcupine. Not enjoying the situation, he made a quick movement, getting his head out of range of Gallagher's revolver, and springing to his feet, in an instant was behind the bar, where "Red" was standing. Sanders seized the shot-gun which was used by Yager in admitting his guests in the night, and levelled it across the bar directly at Gallagher.

Customer Reviews:

Archaic wording.......2005-08-19

The archaic wording and archaic style of writing I found distracting. The information is there, but you must wade thru a lot of self glorification and archaic writing nonsense, to find the meat. Fortunately there is an index. I would not recommend this book to the casual reader.

A thrilling primary source!.......2001-08-09

This account of one of the most fascinating eras and places in Old West history thrills the reader more than fiction could possibly do. I read this book as a kid and it remains one of my all time favorites. (Studying the Old West is my hobby, and I teach high school history.) The characters Mr. Langford presents from his own observations are more colorful than any invented by Zane Gray, for example. I'm surprised that no feature film has be made on Henry Plummer. His duel role as sheriff and bad man has been depicted several times stereotypically in Western movies, but no actual account of his life in the early gold-rush towns of western Montana has yet been done. Dimsdale's "The Vigilantes of Montana" is the most well-known primary source of vigilante action in Montana, but his was written much later after the fact. Mr. Langford's book came fresh from his memory of his own participation in the dealings of vigilante justice to "clean up" the commonplace violence in old Virginia City and Bannock, Montana.

First person account of Vigilante justice in MT........1999-05-26

If you want to read about the rise and demise Henry Plummer and his band of cutthroats, this is the best book I can recommend to you. Langford was the executive secretary of the Virginia City MT vigilence committee and he "tells it like it was". This book's dust jacket says in effect the book's victorian prose is worth wading through to hear a stirring first person account of the MT vigilante's activity - and that comment is nonsense. Langford's tale may ramble on occasion and his prose may be stilted on occasion. However, you will probably feel your sphincter tighten as the good guys start kicking dry goods boxes out from under cutthroats who, unlike today's criminals, knew justice was being served with dispatch. It's history, but a moving story told like no one else could.

Women of Sweetgrass, Cedar and Sage: Contemporary Art by Native American Women

Average customer rating:

Women of Sweetgrass, Cedar and Sage: Contemporary Art by Native American Women
Harmony Hammond , and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith
Manufacturer: Gallery American Indian Community House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0934305005

Wide Open Town: A Novel (Sweetgrass Books)

Average customer rating:

Wide Open Town: A Novel (Sweetgrass Books)
Myron Brinig
Manufacturer: Farcountry Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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A Day on Crocus Hill with Sweetgrass
Sharon Williams Franzin
Manufacturer: Laughing Water Arts
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0973246707

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