Mountain Man: A Novel of Male and Female in the Early American West

Book Description

Tailored after the actual "Crow Killer" John Johnson, Sam Minard is a mountain man who seeks the freedom that the Rocky Mountains offers trappers. After his beloved Indian wife is murdered, Sam Minard becomes obsessed with vengeance, and his fortunes become intertwined with those of Kate Bowden, a widow who faces madness. This remarkable frontier fiction captures that brief season when the romantic myth of the far West became a fact.

Customer Reviews:

An all time favorite.......2007-03-27

I didn't read this book until after I had seen 'Jeremiah Johnson', and was pleased that the movie and book were so different. I enjoyed the movie very much, but with Fisher's story I felt as though I had put on my huntin' clothes, laced up my boots, grabbed my Hawken Rifle, and joined in on the adventure. Coming from a family of outdoorsmen, some of us certainly fantasized about leaving it all behind from time to time, and making our way in the remote wilderness. In fact my two brothers moved to the Pacific Northwest after college and still spend much of their free time wandering the Cascades. Anyone who loves the wild west will find this one to be a real gem, and simply by reading it, will be richly rewarded. It is a diamond in the rough, but not one to be missed, and has inspired much of my own writing. This one comes highly recommended.

James Hart Isley
Author of The Bear Hunter

A RENAISSANCE MAN IN THE AMERICAN WEST.......2004-02-14

MOUNTAIN MAN continues to be a classic in American Western literature. The major foundation for the movie, Jeremiah Johnson, MOUNTAIN MAN tells the story of Samuel John Minard, a mountain man known for his physical prowess and for his quick and educated intellect. A renaissance man who has chosen the life of the great American West.

In his adventures Sam meets up with Indians of various tribes, other mountain men and a crazy pilgrim woman. HIs marriage to an Indian maiden leads him into a one-man war with sweeping consequences for himself and for his enemies.

MOUNTAIN MAN, as is the case with most books upon which movies are based, considerably outshines JEREMIAH JOHNSON in its story and characterizations. But, hey, I love the movie as well. I guess that says a lot about what I think of the book.

THE HORSEMAN

THE ONE THAT STARTED IT ALL.......2003-08-25

Mountain Man

Interestingly Larry McMurtry has written three books of late that invite the reader back to the time of the Mountain Men. I've read all of them and while I love McMurtry's writing and the stories presented in Boone's Lick and in volumes 1 and 2 of the new Berry bender series, there is nothing like going back to the source for the real experience.

I first read Mountain Man by Vardis Fisher as a teenager. I read it in conjunction with the release of Jeremiah Johnson upon which the book is loosely based. At that time I was captured by this genre and have made a regular reading of Mountain Man a part of my program.

While I can enthusiastically recommend the newer editions to the Mountain Man genre, I would encourage interested parties in taking a look at Mountain Man first. While you're at it, rent or buy Jeremiah Johnson starring Robert Redford. The experience will be one that you don't regret.

interesting but has flaws.......2003-06-22

Quite interesting book, whose literary value I won't judge, but it has every rumor about Indians and every lie about Supermountainmen incorporated into it. I read it because of the movie, and the movie was better. If you ask me, Thorp's "Crow Killer" is more concise and more realistic. But if you are a West fan, guess you will want to read Fischer too.

Poetry and Beauty.......2003-05-22

This was the first book I had read by Vardis Fisher. He is a very colorful writer. His descriptions of every thing he sees and everything he thinks is wonderful. His knowledge of classical music is warming. I personally love classical music. Even though I enjoyed the book very much I did not like the continual repeat of his describing the scenry over and over.

MOUNTAIN MAN, A Novel of Male and Female in the Early American West

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MOUNTAIN MAN, A Novel of Male and Female in the Early American West
Vardis Fisher
Manufacturer: Morrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000VB8FXM

Mountain Man - Novel Of Male And Female In The Early American West

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Mountain Man - Novel Of Male And Female In The Early American West
Vardis Fisher
Manufacturer: Univ. Of Idaho Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000U0R55S

Book Description

HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE

Noble Britton had suffered greatly at the hands of his first wife, and he refused to fall into the same trap again. This time he intended to marry a quiet, biddable woman who would not draw attention to herself or cause scandal. Gillian Leigh's honest manner and spontaneous laughter attracted him immediately. It mattered little that she was accident-prone; he could provide the structure necessary to guide her. But unconventional to the tips of her half-American toes--toes that one of them was constantly tripping over--his new bride turned the tables on him, wreaking havoc on his orderly life. And worse, demanding he surrender his heart. Perpetually one step behind his beguiling spouse, Noble suffered a banged up head, a black eye, and a broken nose before he realized Gillian had healed his soul and proved that their union was no heedless tumble, but the swoon of true love.

Customer Reviews:

Just plain silly........2007-07-26

Noble Intentions quickly crosses the line from from humorous to ridiculous. The plot is not well defined and serves more as a loosely drawn backdrop to the lunacy running rampant through the story. The hero has no depth, the heroine is a joke and the secondary characters do nothing to redeem the story. There are a few steamy scences, but unfortunately in the author's attempt to be "all funny all the time", they come across as silly rather than sensual. While admittedly, the second half was a bit better than the first, it was still way out there on the madcap scale. I really had a hard time staying with this one.

Funny, light-hearted historical romance.............4 1/2 stars.......2007-01-26

The handsome and notorious 'Black Earl', Noble Britton, has decided to come out of rustication and into London society in search of a bride to provide an heir and be a mother to his illegitimate son. Accident-prone and frank-talking spinster Gillian Leigh doesn't exactly fit his criteria, but nonetheless something attracts him to her and soon a wedding is in the works. Gillian is aware of Noble's shady past (the fact that society believes he murdered his first wife), but after meeting the Earl she's convinced of his innocence and soon makes it her mission to prove it. The bulk of the book revolves around a blackmail plot, murder investigation, kidnapping, and of course, the growing attraction between the H/H. Mixed in is the heroine's antics which have her, among other things, setting fire to curtains, knocking out her fiance accidently, falling into a waterfall and having tea with Noble's former mistresses. And lets not forget her dogs, who travel everywhere with her, and their certain odorous problem.

I liked this book, but its not for everyone. Its really a romantic comedy of sorts (not exactly a deep emotional read -although there are moments). The writing to me was very funny and ridiculous at the same time. You can't take a book like this too seriously, Gillian is .....well.....Gillian. Maybe a bit naive, silly, outrageous, but definitely not stupid. Everything she does is for the love of her family and her determination that they truly become one. Noble is a hero thats in serious need of some good lovin'. He's had a difficult few years after his disasterous first marriage and is practically shunned by polite society. So he needs Gillian (although he doesn't realize it at first) to bring back the light and love into his life.

If you like Lynsay Sands writings then you'll probably like this one. But if your a big fan of complex plots that contain heart-wrenching romance, then you should probably skip this one.

Just a light-hearted romantic comedy thats full of many ridiculous/not-so-believable scenes and will leave you either laughing and begging for more or disgusted with its own stupidity. And yes, there are serveral loves scenes and they are humorous too.

Don't Waste Your Money or Time !.......2004-11-29

The only thing that made me feel glad about this book is that I didn't spend any money to buy it.This is the worst of the worst. The heroine made me grit my teeth -- a total moron behaving more like a nymphomaniac than a Regency Miss. I can put up with a screwball comedy of manners but not something so stupid and witless.It is beyond the suspension of disbelief.

Dear lord.......2004-07-12

I wanted to like this book but I found I just could not. I'm sure there are some people out there who don't mind an idiot for a heroin but this is beyound that. If you are like me and want the heroin *not* to act like a twit half the time skip this book!!!
Gillian is a to put it nicely a moron. I mean my god the part when Nobel is tied to the bed well I think it was supposed to be funny I found muself emberessed on her behalf.
Not to be fait the book was in some parts funny, but I feel that it dose not make up for Gillians stupidity. So if you want a book that has a idotic, vapid, moron of a heroin this book is for you. But if you want a book where you actually feel like the heorin could think her way out of a paper bag STAY FAR FAR AWYAY FROM THIS BOOK!!

Wonderful.......2004-05-19

This was my first Katie MacAlister book, and one of my favorites. The characters are well thought out and the secondary characters just add sparkle to the book. This is a funny, laugh out loud book. The heroine is smart and spunky and the hero perfectly brooding. A very enjoyable read.

Taking Philanthropy Seriously: Beyond Noble Intentions to Responsible Giving (Philanthropic and Nonprofit Studies)

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Taking Philanthropy Seriously: Beyond Noble Intentions to Responsible Giving (Philanthropic and Nonprofit Studies)

Manufacturer: Indiana University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Nonprofit Organizations & Charities | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Philanthropy & Charity | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0253218608

Book Description

Many acts of charitable giving fail in their stated goals and some are actually harmful. In Taking Philanthropy Seriously, the authors explain why this state of affairs exists. They outline solutions, ranging from those that equip philanthropists to do good work to those that build a domain of philanthropic knowledge, ethical codes, and best practices. Attention is also given to considering recipients' needs, frustrations, and hopes for support. Philanthropic leaders disclose instances of both good and compromised work, show how ethical concerns are secondary to "success" in philanthropy, and reveal strategies to promote effective and ethical conduct.

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Regulation, published by Cato Institute on December 22, 2004. The length of the article is 2482 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The collapse of a noble idea: the failure of the L.A. Community Development Bank epitomizes how good intentions often become bad policy.(Banking & Finance)
Author: Robert Krol
Publication: Regulation (Refereed)
Date: December 22, 2004
Publisher: Cato Institute
Volume: 27 Issue: 4 Page: 30(4)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

In the conclusion to this epic interstellar adventure by Nebula Award nominee Wil McCarthy, humanity stands at a crossroads as the heroes who fashioned a man-made heaven must rescue their descendants from eternal damnation….

TO CRUSH THE MOON

Once the Queendom of Sol was a glowing monument to humankind’s loftiest dreams. Ageless and immortal, its citizens lived in peaceful splendor. But as Sol buckled under the swell of an immorbid population, space itself literally ran out….

Conrad Mursk has returned to Sol on the crippled starship Newhope. His crew are the frozen refugees of a failed colony known as Barnard’s Star. A thousand years older, Mursk finds Sol on the brink of rebellion, while a fanatic necro cult is reviving death itself. Now Mursk and his lover, Captain Xiomara “Xmary” Li Weng, are sent on a final, desperate mission by King Bruno de Towaji–one of the greatest terraformers of the ages–to literally crush the moon. If they succeed, they’ll save
billions of lost souls. If they fail, they’ll strand humanity between death–and something unimaginably worse….

Download Description

Wil McCarthy, after ten years of rocket science with Lockheed Martin, traded the hectic limelight of the space program for the peace and quiet (ha!) of commercial robotics at Omnitech, where he works as a research and development hack.

He writes a monthly column for the SciFi Channel's news magazine (www.scifi.com/sfw), and his less truthful writings have appeared in Aboriginal SF, Analog, Interzone, Asimov's Science Fiction, Science Fiction Age, and various anthologies. His novel, Bloom, was selected as a New York Times Notable Book. Further biographical and bibliographic information at: www.sff.net/people/wmccarth

From the Paperback edition.

Customer Reviews:

So ends the tale.......2007-01-12

Let's not dwell too much on what others have already said too many times over: this book and this entire series is rich in future science that is both relevant and philosophically consequential. A solid "A" for that effort, even if some of Mccarty's stuff is rather implausible.

As far as the novel's literary qualities go, it is perhaps the best book of the series. All 3 books (not counting Collapsium) read like tales - somewhat reminiscent of Larry Niven's Ringworld with the adventures that the characters are involved in. It is effortlessly captivating and does a great job of instilling that sense of wonder that (in my opinion) all good science fiction is supposed to do. We marvel not only at the stuff we've encountered before - faxes, wellstone, collapsium, etc. - but also at the way the crushed moon was engineered, from its collapsed core to its strange biosphere.

The novel's main strengths are thus twofold: 1) storytelling: see above; 2) details: they are what makes science fiction convincing. Think of Herbert's Dune: it was the details such as the water-saving suits and city-wide systems that made life on a parched planet plausible; think of McDevitt's best tales of extraterrestrial archaeology: again, detail is what makes those alien worlds so eerily familiar and so believable. The same holds true here: read the novel and you'll feel like you've seen the crushed Moon and the glow of the murdered Earth. Above all, do read the novel!

Close to one of the best, and most overlooked, recent Hard SF series.......2006-05-14

With To Crush the Moon Wil McCarthy brings one of the most satisfying recent series of Hard SF novels to a close. This series, collectively called, perhaps, The History of the Queendom of Sol, began in 2001 with The Collapsium (itself an expansion of a 1999 novella). That novel told of brilliant scientist Bruno de Towaji, who saves the Solar System three times from the dangers of super high-tech combined with a jealous rival. The Collapsium introduced the key technologies of the series: various types of programmable matter, and matter transmission. The latter technology, combined with an editing process, allowed for practical immortality. This first book was cheeky and playful and rather Tom Swift-like in ways.

The subsequent three novels are more closely linked, and quite a bit darker in tone. By the end of The Collapsium, Bruno had married the Queen of Sol. In The Wellstone (2003) his son, Bascal, was the ringleader of a group of young people frustrated by their lack of opportunity in a world of immortals. The main character is Bascal's friend Conrad Mursk. The two of them and a large group of rebellious youngsters are exiled to Barnard's Star at the end of the book, and Lost in Transmission (2004) tells of the establishment and ultimate failure of the Barnard's Star colony. Conrad chooses to return to Sol, and To Crush the Moon is the story of what happens after his return.

The Wellstone and Lost in Transmission both had sections set thousands of years in the future, with Conrad (now called Radmer) retrieving Bruno de Towaji from self-imposed exile and returning with him to an altered Moon (now called Lune), where the last significant remnants of humanity are fighting a war with emancipated robots. Earth and the other major planets have been "Murdered". To Crush the Moon tells first of the crisis in Solar System politics that led both to the alteration and terraforming of Luna into Lune, and then to the tragic missteps resulting in the "Murder" of Earth. Conrad and Bruno are central to these events, and so are their wives, Queen Tamra and Xiomary Li Weng (Xmary). Much of this section is savvy portrayal of what seems like inevitable political problems - particularly problems dealing with fanatics who wish to restore death to society, and with the impatient returnees from various failed star colonies. Then the conclusion continues the story of the far future war on Lune, with Radmer leading Bruno de Towaji on a desperate mission to, quite literally, save humanity.

The story is satisfying on multiple levels. The scientific (and politico-economic) speculation remains scintillating. The pure adventure aspects are thrilling. The prose is clever, sardonic, successfully darkly funny even in the shadow of the deaths of billions. Conrad and Bruno are very well realized characters, though most of the remaining characters are a bit flatter. (In particular the leading women, Tamra and Xmary, never really come to life.) Lines like "Bruno was elbow-deep in wormholes. Not literally, of course - he'd lost more than one arm that way already -" are simply delights. The ultimate scope of the story is really impressive, in space, time, and theme. The ending is perhaps a mild disappointment - it's logical enough, and the reader is not cheated, but it seems just a touch off tonally.

I've truly enjoyed this series of novels, and I confess to slight puzzlement that it hasn't received more notice. For my taste, this is what 21st Century SF ought to be. (Of course there are other recent SF stories that are also "what 21st Century SF ought to be", such as Charles Stross's Accelerando stories.) The latter three novels have all been mass market originals - perhaps their failure to appear between hard covers has told against them. If so, that's a shame - I urge readers to seek out these first rate novels.

Sad, elegaic, almost heartbreaking end to the Queendom of Sol.......2006-03-15

_______________________________________________________________________________
This is a sad book, an elegaic book, in some ways a heartbreaking book. McCarthy kicks out all the props from under his magnificent, glittering Queendom of Sol, and it falls like, well, a megaton of brickmail. Not a pretty sight. I suppose the author intends this as a cautionary tale. The series is structured as a classical tragedy: the sad consequences of human hubris.

My problem? Let me quote the perspicacious James Nicoll, over at rec.arts.sf.written: "My specific complaint is that the precise technological limitations introduced in _Lost in Transmission_ felt as though they did not arise from the logic of the technology but because the author had a particular direction he wanted to force the plot in." Ayup. In particular, the inexplicable (but, sadly, not unprecedented) error of not designing the Nescog [1] to fail safe -- since the alternative was Murdered Earth, and hundreds of billions of deaths. But, in this case, this is a severe WSOD-breaker: the designer had to face (and fix) a very similar disaster in book #1. Good engineers learn from their mistakes.

The ending? I first thought it was going to be the obligatory Hollywood happy-ever-after, but McCarthy likes to play with our expectations. So it's bittersweet and quite effective, if manipulative. There's a hook for a sequel [2], and a great (nearly) last line: "Live a little. Have some fun."

The "Queendom of Sol" future history is a remarkable literary achievement, one that will repay rereading. The series opened with 2000's universally-praised The Collapsium, a spectacular future technothriller, overplayed (imo) for laughs, but with as dazzling a set of bleeding-edge technogoodies as any hard-sf fan could imagine. The middle two volumes are understated, overlong and weren't as well-received [3]. The third, Lost in Transmission, is something of a downer. Well, so is the windup(?) fourth volume, but it does make you think. I'll be rereading it.

If you've missed the series, by all means start with vol. 1, The Collapsium. From there, you may want to consider jumping to this volume.
_______________________
[1] The New Systemwide Collapsar Grid, for rapid transit (etc.)
[2] --though the author's website does describe this as the final volume.
[3] McCarthy could have strenghened the series (imo) by judicious editing of vols 2 & 3 into a single volume.

Happy reading--
Peter D. Tillman

My reviews of previous books were wrong(sort of).......2005-10-22

I can admit it. this book is just plain good. I had said that I bought the entire series after reading the Collapsium (which was great) and was disappointed through the next two books. I was not looking forward to this book, but this was as good as the first book. Excellent in fact, and I discovered the difference. In both the first and last book, which are good, the plot is characterized by man versus man (or robot) and in the other two books (the second and third) the plot is mostly man vs society (yawn) and man vs nature (yawn). Now there are elements of each in all four books but the main plots are thos I just listed. Let me tell you man vs nature/society just is not that entertaining. It was intelligent and thoughtful but not that fun. The first and last books are also intelligent (which the author has obviously) but enjoyable. Read through the second and third novels (which should be combined into one shorter book) and find the light at the end of the tunnel. The series is saved.

The mediocre immorbid's impressive resume.......2005-09-04

While I like Wil McCarthy's vision of the capabilities of future technologies to reshape man's tools and environment, his view of the psychology of the radically life-extended or "immorbid" individual doesn't quite satisfy me. McCarthy seems to suffer from the anxiety of Robert Heinlein's influence, in that he portrays insenescent characters who, like Lazarus Long, live a succession of recognizably human lives, with a few medical enhancements along the way, instead of using their technologies to become something radically different from human, if only to see how it feels. Maybe I expect too much from science fiction from my long involvement in cryonics and my exploration of Transhumanist ideas, but I feel disappointed that the Queendom of Sol lacks room for truly "posthuman" entities.

On the other hand, McCarthy does convey a sense of how an ordinary person in that kind of society could over the centuries and millennia accumulate a respectable record of accomplishments just from learning and applying normal human skills. It reminds me of Leon Trotsky's fantasy in "Literature and Revolution" that under a utopian communism, where people had the freedom and the means to explore their biological potentials, the run-of-the-mill individual would display abilities comparable to Aristotle's, Goethe's and Marx's, while the superior individual would go way beyond the geniuses of the past. Maybe the ordinary guy does have that kind of potential within him, if he didn't age or get sick and he had the centuries to develop those kinds of cognitive powers from having to solve a much wider range of practical problems than he would have encountered in a "normal" human lifespan.

McCarthy does end his novel with a way for civilization to rebuild, so I look forward to more sequels where his ultramature hero Radmer can show once again what he has within him.

The crush files.: An article from: New Moon

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The crush files.: An article from: New Moon
Andrea Good
Manufacturer: New Moon Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from New Moon, published by New Moon Publishing on January 1, 2004. The length of the article is 674 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The crush files.
Author: Andrea Good
Publication: New Moon (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2004
Publisher: New Moon Publishing
Volume: 11 Issue: 3 Page: 26(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

What if you could use sacred sound syllables to bring love into your life? On Mantra Meditation for Attracting and Healing Relationships, Thomas Ashley-Farrand teaches how to use mantras to discover intimacy, create spiritual partnerships, and either repair existing relationships or open up to new ones. Try these simple chants just once or twice a day, and see how powerfully this ancient practice can change the way you connect with others.

Customer Reviews:

This really works!!!.......2004-11-15

I was initially looking for more financial abundance, but decided to also do the mantra for abundance of relationships with family and friends, abundance of energy and patients. This really worked for me . I felt so calm and peaceful. My relations with everyone were great. And yes I had more than I expected for financial abundance. I'm very pleased with this. This is not a "magic spell". This re-directs energy in the right places and opens up doors of opportunity. It is up to you to walk through them. Listening to this CD was facinating. Never a dull moment. Really opened my eyes.

This is a great investment that truly delivers.......2004-05-25

This is a great investment that truly delivers on its promise. I started using both (Shri Anandi Ma's "Mantras for Abundance" and Farrads CD) at the same time and you know what! its been about 20 days and I just landed a new job paying $11,000 a year above what my former job paid. In my opinion Farrad's is a must have if your wanting to tune into abundance. There are some type-o's in the printing of his CD jacket however, (you should just follow his instructions given on the CD). Even so, I still highly recommend it, how could I not.

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