Westerns Books

I FOUND THE STORY FULL OF SUSPENSE AND ADVENTURE. THE CHARATERS WERE BELIEVABLE AND I WAS UNABLE TO PUT DOWN UNTIL THE STORY WAS FINISHED.

I agree with the other reviews, the sex scenes are hot. But I got no sense of love or romance between the 3 adult characters. To be honest, I didn't understand why they wanted to be together. In the "Brothers in Arms" books by Samantha Kane, the reader gets a clear sense of the love, committment, and tenderness the female and 2 male characters feel for each other. Devil's Pact was a waste for me. I felt nothing for the characters. If you want love and romance with your erotica, go with Samantha Kane for a loving threesome.

This is one hot hunk of a story!! Devin Spawn is every woman's dream man, and then some! This book was expensive but very thick and worth the price, you will not be disappointed. The only suggestion I will make is turn your air conditioner to high because you will need it. The sex scenes in this story are more than hot! Good story, sexy and hot!! Highly recommend if you like western erotica.

I LOVED THIS BOOK, 2 HOT GUYS, ONE LITTLE MISS PRISS, DONT PASS UP UP ON THIS BOOK, YOU WONT BE SORRY

this is the most erotic book i've ever read...from the first page to the last. the best part? it's got a story that makes sense, no nonsense about it and everything comes together beautifully.

devin spawn is megan's stepson yet sparks fly as soon as they met and everything just builds up from there. caleb is megan's childhood sweetheart but she's staying away from him because she doesn't think she's good enough. who can she choose? can she have one without losing the other?

the little sisters are a great touch and show us the softer side of devin and makes him more humane.

the author did a great job with this book and i'm now a fan. i'll be sure to read her other books when they come out. get this, you won't regret it.

I am a soldier with the US Army who has been deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom twice and Operation Enduring Freedom once. And yes I have lost some close friends to these wars.

I must say this is one of my favorite books on war that I have read next to the Red Badge of Courage. Yes soldiers are opened minded, I do know that this book focuses on the darker side of War and is considered an Anti-War Novel. I do not want to go into specific details of the book; it is something you should experience for yourself.

I will say that it is interesting how this is the German Army in World War I and yet there are many similarities of things that I have gone through that are almost 100 years later in the American Army. These are the same trials and tribulations that a soldier is put through no matter what time period you are in, the interpersonal relationships where the people around you become your family and the tragedy that you experience.
And the fear of being in combat and how after awhile you become numb from it.

"This does not mean that you are war mongers. On the contrary, the soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. But always in our ears ring the ominous words of Plato that wisest of all philosophers, 'Only the dead have seen the end of war." General Douglas MacArthur

'All Quiet on the Western Front' is Remarque's timeless tale of war during WWI. It is trite to refer to it as an 'anti-war' story. It is all of that and much more. It's a story of youth, patriotism, naivete and brutal death in the mud of German trenches. It's a tale of bloody assaults, destructive retreats and the story of brave men facing impenetrable walls of bullets and steel. It is told from the German pespective but the story could have been told, with equal impact, from the British, French or British perspective. Their experiences, despite differences in nationalities, was almost exactly the same--filth, fear, desperation, wounds and death.

To what end? Remarque's answer is simple--none. It's all for nothing. All the heroism, cowardice, greed and sacrifice are, ultimately, for exactly nothing. Boys don't come home to their parents or women. They are built into the walls of trenches or their bloated corpses float in the watery mud of shell craters. In the end, they all--German and Allies--smell the same and the maggots are the only ones to benefit.

Of all the poignant scenes, the one I like best is when the young German soldier, seeking shelter during an enemy counterattack, dives into an open crypt. A French soldier dives in after him with his bayonet. There is a struggle and the Frenchman is killed. Now the young German must live face to face with his guilt. He goes through his victim's wallet and finds pictures of his wife and children and loving letters from his wife, praying that he will return to her safe. The German grieves over the horror of his act.

There is a day of quiet. The war seems far away. A butterfly lights on a flower growing in the muck. The young soldier's hand reaches out to touch it. The sniper takes careful aim...

Not to remarkably, Hitler on coming to power, exiled Remarque. Hitler gloried in the winnowing process of war, regarding the culling the 'unfit' in favor of the most fit as Darwinian progress.


Ron Braithwaite author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico

I received All Quiet In The Western Front but found that the
CD was not recorded in English.

"All Quiet on the Western Front" is a well-known work throughout the western world. "Bloom's Guides: All Quiet on the Western Front" is a complete and comprehensive book on the book. Exploring Remarque's work, looking at the roots and meanings scattered throughout that may not be obvious to a simple reader, it is also enhanced with a collection of critical essays discussing the work's impact on the world of literature and the world in general. This Bloom's Guide to a literary classic is a must for any student or non-specialist general reader wanting better understand the nuances, historical references, character insights, and writing style that created "All Quiet on the Western Front."

Thank you for your timely shipping. This book was for a reading assignment, and it was a great book. I did not really want to read it, but it was an exciting and very informative book. I enjoyed it so much I got an A+ on my report!!!

Sometime in the 1940s, John Grady Cole and Lacey Rawlins, two Texan teens, head off to Mexico on horseback. Their journey is one of laughter and horror, as these two boys are forced to grow up fast and hard.

That's about the best I can give you for a plot summary. It's amazing that "All the Pretty Horses" runs just over 300 pages. It feels more epic in nature. It IS epic, I suppose; just a short one. McCarthy's prose is as rich and vibrant as ever, though it's a bit more restrained here than in other of his works--I can see why this book is among his more commercially successful novels. Indeed, it's an odd companion to his other great Western piece, "Blood Meridian" (which is arguably a superior book; but then, that's like asking which gold medal shines brighter--there's just no reason to contrast two great literary works). Perhaps this makes "All the Pretty Horses" a good starting point for those interested in reading McCarthy's novels (I also recommend "No Country For Old Men," as it is even leaner and than "Horses"). That's not to say, though, that "All the Pretty Horses" doesn't stand up to the rest of McCarthy's catalogue--it does, admirably so. Cole is an interesting and engaging protagonist, and the way McCarthy switches from humorous scenes to tragic ones reflects the patterns of daily life. "Horses" is an amazing, enriching novel, and Cormac McCarthy is without a doubt one of the best writers/storytellers out there today. They don't call his novels "classics" for nothing.

I can read English, French, Italian. This novel ranks with Proust's La Recherche du temps perdu, and Manzoni's Promessi sposi. Breathtaking scenes follow more breathtaking scenes and the whole leaves the reader breathless. Magnificient, none like it.

I found this book an effort to read. Confusing at the start, yet did grab me midway but I was ready to discard with about 1/3 left, but thought better of it and completed. Yes, his writing is very descriptive and captures the essence of every sense the reader needs to be placed within the story. However, it just seemed to skip and jumble along, the ending wasn't anything like the many my mind conjured up, it wasn't really anything special at all...Grady continued on rambling as did the book. I perhaps need to read another of his works to get a better grasp of the talent of this writer, as so many have applauded his style.

'All the Pretty Horses' is a very well written saga of a teenage boy from Texas, circa 1940s, wandering off down to Mexico with his buddy. Both guys are horsemen. Their Mexican adventure turns sour very quickly and they are then thrust into a mix of love, death and everything in between. The author's prose and characterizations are perfect. The only reason I don't give this book five stars is because I found the heavy use of Spanish dialogue to be very distracting. Although oftentimes one can get the gist of what was being said, too many times I was left puzzled. Yes, the use of Spanish did add quite a bit to the feel of the story. I think it would have been helpful if the author supplied translations (in footnotes, for example).


Bottom line: quite an amazing story, .. and I don't even like horses. Recommended.

I have looked at some of the reviews here, and am a bit surprised as the number of people who hated this book. It is a challenge to read, but this is no "Ulysses." The main themes can be understood with a little careful attention. Some have compared McCarthy's style to Hemingway's but this is not a fair comparision. McCarthy's prose is far more complex. Hemingway wrote arresting prose, but at times his minimalist style was cartoonish. McCarthy is simple the way Picasso is simple -- that is to say, only if you do not look hard enough.

McCarthy's skill with language is unequalled among living American authors. It is the language that is the star of this book, and if you cannot appreciate the language itself the story will not bear the weight. Yes, I found myself re-reading passages and puzzling out the construction of some sentences, but I did it with the same pleasure a sports fan looks at a replay of a spectacular play. This is a book for the patient. Not every book pays off like a James Bond novel.

This story has more of a Lonesome Dove kind of feel rather than a standard Louis L'amour novel, and it's great. An aging cowboy wants to go back and fix a mistake in his past, a writer follows along on this last adventure, and a mysterious gunman chases them both to settle an old score. It's the classic ingredients of a great story, and this doesn't disappoint. There aren't a lot of shoot-outs or anything like you'd expect from a regular western. This is more like the movie "Unforgiven", in which you know the lead character had a past and could be something more than he is now if the circumstances forced him to.

I've never read Enger's work before, but this was a great introduction to his writing.

I am always nervous about the 2nd book by an author who has a great first novel. I was with this title, but Enger shows that he is a truly gifted writer. Every character is memorable - especially Sringo - every place is memorable - every meal and so on. I am so glad to have read a book that is suspenseful and realistic about human nature without being crude. Not one vulgarity in these pages. That really says something about Enger's strength as an artist with words.

Leif Enger's "So Brave, Young and Handsome" is a very well-written novel about a novelist who's lost his "mojo," and how he finds it again by taking an interest in the world around him. This novel is set in 1915; the historical research is excellent and the sense of place is profound, but the reason this novel succeeds so well is because Mr. Enger has figured out what makes us all human -- our need for interpersonal relationships, and our even greater need for redemption.

Both the writer, Monte, and the outlaw, Glendon, are searching for redemption. Monte wants to write again and wonders if he's a flash in the pan, while Glendon wants to apologize to the wife he ran out on -- he was a bank robber and killed someone by accident, and ran from his wife because he was running from the law.

At the start of this novel, we're in Minnesota; Monte's working at farming, as is Glendon. No one knows that Glendon is an outlaw, so when Glendon reveals this to Monte and his family, Monte feels a sense of personal responsibility. Monte believes in fair play and wants Glendon to be treated like a man, not like a hunted animal; that's the main reason Monte goes along with Glendon on the journey to find Glendon's former wife and apologize to her. But the secondary reason is that Glendon feels his life has been wasted -- he can't write, he knows writing is his life's work, and he feels terrible about it, so going along with Glendon is something akin to the last straw; Monte hopes this will re-start his writing career in a rather spectacular fashion, and his wife is too kind to shut his dreams down as she knows her husband needs a change.

At any rate, the rest of the plot proceeds quietly, like a river; the inexorable conclusions are drawn early on. People matter, even when they've made huge mistakes. And people can change -- redemption is possible.

And, the biggest and most helpful message of all -- our greatest talents are never completely lost, even if they're occasionally misplaced due to other circumstances.

I highly recommend this novel and believe it's one that everyone will enjoy; please don't allow the fact this novel is a Western to fool you. This is an outstanding work, one of personal growth, life choices, and redemption; also the abiding power of creativity.

Five stars, highly recommended.

"That is how you want to be remembered, my friends. Take a picture in your moment of conquest, when your luck is high and bullets still bounce off. That will do for the ages." - Monte Becket

Monte Becket lives with wife and young son in rural Minnesota along the Cannon River during the second decade of the 20th century. To date, Becket's one claim to wealth and fame is his wildly popular pulp Western, MARTIN BLIGH. His publisher wants more, but, lately, Monte's muse has failed him. Becket is drifting and anticipating failure as a writer, husband and father. Then one day, out of the fog on the river, a white-haired old man paddles his boat past. Enter into Monte's life boat-builder Glendon Hale, formerly Glen Dobie of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang.

Hale was once married to a Mexican girl named Blue. But, sought by the Federales, Glendon deserted her never to return. Now, years later, he desires to go back and apologize to the woman he truly loved. He invites Monte to accompany him on the journey, and the latter, fearing the stagnation in his life, accepts. Along the way appears Charles Siringo, also once of the Hole-in-the-Wall, but now a self-anointed lawman of some legend, mostly constructed from books that he himself has written. Charles, now an old man himself, is in relentless pursuit of Glen Dobie for past crimes.

SO BRAVE, YOUNG AND HANDSOME is a coming-of-maturation story by Leif Enger. Its characterizations and narrative pace are reminiscent of Larry McMurtry's novels of the West, e.g. the superlative Lonesome Dove: A Novel (Simon & Schuster Classics). Here, Becket rediscovers not only himself and the talents within, but also learns something about the nature of honor, friendship, love and public fame.

In the McMurtry style, the plot of Enger's book doesn't evolve to a climactic and dramatic ending. Rather, random and relatively mundane events accumulate over time to give meaning to the protagonist's life, much as they do in the real lives of you and me. Enger's writing talent enables him to tell his tale with sympathy for each of the characters while demonstrating a keen eye for the story's time and place. What results is not a thriller in the popular sense, but still a book that I couldn't put down. Like Lonesome Dove, it could translate to an intelligent and absorbing film of deep emotional impact.

I was so very disappointed with this novel. After reading Enger's debut novel, Peace Like a River, I had high expectations for his new work. Unfortunately, I found it to be a dull read. It was disjointed, the characters were not compelling and the fine craftsmanship evident in his initial novel were simply missing. I slogged my way through the book, hoping for the best, but it actually got worse as I continued. What an incredible disappointment!

These is My Words is filled with wild west high adventure. It is fast paced and reminds me of watching an action movie. Sarah grows from not understanding what is love. How it is demonstrated etc... to a profound understanding of a healthy marriage relationship. Filled with woman's issues: child bearing & rearing, pregnancy, marriage, courage, strength, meekness, life and death. A woman's classic.

This book is great. It has everything ----- humor, sadness, romance, and just pure true grit!! Sarah and Jack are exceptional characters. I couldn't put the book down, but wanted more when it was over.

I loved this book. It was recommended to me by a friend and at first I wondered if this would be something I liked. But I have been absolutely enthralled with it, hardly wanting to put it down. This is a wonderful story about determination, ingenuity, love and loss. Definitely inspiring and endearingly moving. I am ready for the second book in the series.

This book was amazing. It was so hard to put down, I ended up reading it in a day. Very moving story of this girls life and great love. I recommend it to anyone with a love of romance and history.

This is a wonderful book ~ I recommend it to everyone who is interested in pioneer families and how it really was. The author must have done a huge amount of research and she makes it very real on every page. Great deal of humor or sadness as it must have been in those times. I have gotten the sequel and will start that soon too ~ something to look forward to!!!!

This is the greatest book I have ever seen. Please don not miss this book. Full and knowledge and wisdom.

This is a great translation. It is good for reading one or two sutras with translation/comments daily. Spiritually very nourishing. I highly recommend it.

I am not a Sanskrit scholar and I don't read Sanskrit but was interested in learning about the philosophy behind yoga. I got this book and have been happy with it.

Each sutra (aphorism) is written in Sanskrit. Then it is transliterated (phonetically spelled out) into an English so one can get an idea of how it sounds. Next individual words are translated. Then the whole phrase is translated into English so one can know what it means. Below that are a few paragraphs explaining the sutra or giving additional thoughts and insights.

I found this useful for many reasons:

I think the Sanskrit writing is beautiful, so I like seeing it.
The phonetics help me know how to pronounce and follow along when more learned people are chanting or talking about the sutra using the Sanskrit words (as my yoga teacher often does).
The individual word translations give me an idea of what Patanjali had in mind, and the full English gives me an idea of how we might think of it today. (If you speak more than one language you know how things don't always translate directly word for word).

I found the commentaries very insightful and thought provoking.

This book is a great starting point in getting to know the yoga sutras, but also has a lot of substance for those already familiar with them. Even if you never read Sanskrit, with this book you can get an idea of what the sutras are saying and learn the lessons they are trying to teach. the commentaries are insightful and interesting. Highly recommended.

I am a Sanskritist and Vedic scholar. I have seen a number of translations of this classic but this is BY FAR my favorite. This book serves as a stand-alone guide for meditation and yoga.

This book is a wonderful introduction to the yoga sutras. Other interpretations on the sutras should be compared to this in my opinion.

I needed a book before the next class and the bookstore was completely out. Someone suggested that I try Amazon.com and I received the book in a couple of days in new condition and at way below half the cost that I would have paid.

This item was received in the exact condition advertised. The total shipping time took longer than expected, but is not the seller's fault as it was sent out the day after purchase. Overall, it turned out to be fine.

examples in book often have little to do with the subject matter; book couldn't be more boring if it tried.

My purchase arrived very quickly, and was indicated to be a "Used" textbook, yet it appeared as "Brand New". I will definitely continue to purchase future textbooks through Amazon. I saved a lot more money this way than buying books from my college.

George Leonard explains in a short, easy to read book, the simple steps to be come a master of anything. Using his experiences with Aikado he shows you what is necessary to become really good at something. Anyone who thinks there is a quick route to mastery should read this.

I read a lot of nonfiction, spiritual growth, and self-help books. Over the past twenty years I've participated in the "human potential" community and consciousness movement, through workshops, retreats, and support groups. Why have I never heard of this book before I stumbled across it here on Amazon??? This may not be the "best," most profound or life-changing book I ever read (a generalization I generally try not to make), but in terms of that rare combination easy-to-read AND profoundly thought-provoking, this book ranks close to the top. Leonard writes in a refreshingly plain and direct style, without relying on a lot of outside sources and quotes. I found "Mastery" just as provocative as, say, James Hillman's "The Soul's Code," and a lot less complex and redundant.

See other reviews for details. But for me, the most helpful/provocative thesis in this little book (only 150 pp.) is Leonard's emphasis that real growth (mastery, self-fulfillment, englightenment, satisfaction--whatever you want to call it) comes in small spurts/peaks with A LOT of practice, even seeming stagnation, in-between. Recognizing this can avoid a lot of frustration. It also emphasizes that you have to love the practice (what Leonard calls the "plateau") as much as the goal, seeing "practice" as a way of life, not a means to an end. This is one of the best descriptions of "loving what you do/doing what you love" (as Rumi put it) that I have encountered.

I am a Certified Business and Life Coach and I highly recommend the book, "Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment". This book is one that I often suggest to clients who are looking to master different things in their lives and I have only received positive feedback from them.
In this book, Leonard gives us terrific examples and metaphor to explain 'mastery'. He gives us the tools and guidelines we need to achieve it. Drawing from his wisdom, Leonard is a 'master' himself at educating us on the five essential keys to mastery.
The subject matter of the book can be taken from the title and nothing more need be said.
Susan Samakow, CPCC, PCC
Certified Business and Life Coach

This is one of the most simple but profound books on how to Master Your Life. It gives you a simple blueprint for Mastery. I highly recommend it. Very practical and useful.

This book is what you need if you desire to master any skill. I'm a musician - a pianist - with a degree in music. I was "stuck" technically and wanted to go to the next level. George Leonard showed me how to get there. I have shared his principles with many people who also have desired to go to a higher level in other skills.

What's really terrific about this book is the way that it sets the story of Van Meegeren's forgeries within the personal biography of the forger and the history of the period. In fact, I'm starting to think that this is the way that art should always be looked at, because I suddenly saw these fake Vermeers in a completely new light. I've heard people ask how anyone could have been fooled by these pictures, but through really simple side-by-side comparisons, the author makes it totally clear that the paintings really looked like the pictures that people of the time saw around them. So Van Meegeren's early forgeries (which look a LOT like real Vermeers) also resemble movie posters from the 1930s, and his late forgeries (like the famous one he sold to Hermann Goering) resemble Nazi propaganda pictures.

As a side note, I also just want to say how impressed I was with the way that the author clearly did a huge amount of research, but made the book a really engrossing one to read. None of that academic stuff that you find in a lot of books about art. But at the same time, treating the subject in a very serious way. And it's a very serious topic. Van Meegeren held truly despicable fascist beliefs, and his forgeries expressed them.

I found the book totally eye-opening. I definitely recommend it!

I like mysteries, intrigue, politics, and history. I picked up The Man Who Made Vermeers because it was one of the best sellers in my local bookstore. One of the salespeople told me that customers who read crime fiction had been buying it, and I can really see why. The book presents an excellent understanding of Han van Meegeren, the Dutch artist who sold a fake Vermeer to Hermann Goering during World War II.

It turns out that Van Meegeren was a fascinating figure--much more interesting than I would have thought. Because Van Meegeren had fooled Hermann Goering, he became a hero in the Netherlands after the war and he presented himself as kind of a patriot. But it appears that swindling Goering was more or less an accident. Van Meegeren didn't have an axe to grind with Goering. In fact, he had been an admirer of Hitler and fascism since the movement began, and had even painted work on commission for the German occupying forces.

What you really get to see here is the criminal mind at work. While other books about Van Meegeren have taken his story at face value and presented him as a hero, Lopez convinced me that this man was no hero at all. The book offers real insight into the psychology of a fundamentally duplicitous individual who capitalized on one of the darkest moments in world history...

Nicely told, and the story's completely new to me. Gives very nice historical background details and good observations and comments on paintings. Excellent historical photos illustrating the text. Fun book.

I like to read widely in non-fiction, especially in art history and history, but I'm no expert; so I often consult the reviews of other readers. In that spirit, I want to recommend this book I recently finished.

The Man Who Made Vermeers tells the story of an ingenious art forger working in Holland prior to, during and just after World War II. I bought this book because I enjoy reading historical biographies, particularly of "unknown" people living during times of momentous upheaval.

Van Meegeren's life is fascinating and the author of the book gives his readers keen insight on the artist-forger's motivation, mindset and aesthetic savviness. But, reading this book has left me with not only with an interesting biography to consider but also with a far greater appreciation for the political context of life in 1930's-1940's Europe.

For me, it's Lopez's ideas about how forgeries generate their own appeal to their contemporary audiences and how an individual's political ideology pervades his actions and words, regardless of what might seem to be an apolitical activity - painting forgeries for money. The author's analysis provides a lot of meaty food for thought about politics and societies more generally and I look forward to any other books Lopez might write.

Finally, I want to add that the author's congenial writing style made this book a genuine pleasure to read, so even if you aren't sure you are interested in Dutch art history, you will definitely enjoy the experience of reading this book - and come away wiser for it.

Jonathan Lopez presents an insightful look at the mind of Han van Meegeren, as explores his Nazi sympathies, manipulative tendencies, and general deceitfulness. Lopez seamlessly weaves the story of Nazi rule in the Netherlands, and the tale of World War II, into van Meegeren's biography. While Lopez's work is certainly scholarly, I did not find it to be "above my head" (as an individual without a strong background on Vermeer and Dutch painting in general) nor, frankly, was it "dumbed down" for uneducated readers. In short, I highly recommend this book; it is a page turner from beginning to end!