5 comments about The Kingmaker: How Northern Dancer Founded a Racing Dynasty.

1. The book is a fine piece of research by Hunter and does a good job of telling the story of Northern Dancer's life and how his connections contributed to the game. While it is a fairly quick read, it's not a page turner on the level with some of the classics such as Nack's "Secretariat" or Schwartz's "Ruffian". The book does do a wonderful job of conveying the importance of Northern Dancer immeasurable contribution to the breed through his numerous offspring. It really is quite a remarkable legacy that the little colt from Canada has left behind.



2. Avalyn Hunter brings to life the outstanding racing career of Northern Dancer and his legacy through his sons of establishing a royal dynasty in the Thoroughbred industry.
   
   There is enough information packed into the tight 200 pages of writing for those interested in an insider's look at history or for the casual fan wanting to learn about the life of Northern Dancer.
   
   The book is about equally split on Northern Dancer's racing and breeding careers. The opening pages trace ND's bloodline, which may drag for some readers who don't have a background/appreciation in such research. But it is the past matings - along with a little luck - that set the foundation for ND to launch the spiralling prices obtained in the auction ring for his progeny.
   
   Especially interesting are the features on the people surrounding ND, including his owner, Canadian industrialist E.P. Taylor, trainer Horatio Luro and the jockeys that were aboard the multiple-stakes winner. And talk about luck, Luro had wanted young ND gelded as a means to bring better results in training and racing.
   
   There are infrequent times where a book on Thoroughbreds can deliver so much to a wide audience. The Kingmaker is a classic read.



3. Beautifully and sensitively written history of this most influential thorougbred, probably never another like him. His line still features strongly in both hemispheres. (American readers may be interested to know that our Australian Horse of the Year for 2006 - Makybe Diva - yes a filly! - won our Melbourne Cup 3 consecutive years (the first horse to do so) and amassed over US$10 million dollars, the all-time leading Australasian money-earner. Her grandsire was Danehill (USA), and his grandsire was Northern Dancer.
   Great collection of photographs, but would have loved to have seen more of the King at various stages of his career/life. AND there is an index!
   A must-have for anyone only vaguely interested in thoroughbred racing.



4. Great book and fast service. New condition that was just what I needed for gift-giving. Thanks!



5. Good insight into the impact Northern Dancer had on racing in... a lot of detail on lineage ... Enjoyed Stud a pretty good offering for pedigree enthusiasts

No comments about Champlain's Dream.

5 comments about Canoeing With the Cree (Publications of the Minnesota Historical Society).

1. Walter Port and (Arnold) Eric Sevareid took an amazing trip that they started by skipping some of their high school finals so they could get the boat they could afford. Though the project appeared to have been Port's pet, it was Sevareid who came up with the way to fund it: writing about it for the Minneapolis Star. It was clear that once the project began both of them were truly enthralled by it and could not be put off. The tale is told simply, but with a clear affection for all of the people who helped them try to reach their goal, even though few of the people who helped were confident that these young men could make it or were even very encouraging.
   
   The book is written from the journals that were kept along the trip. It is clear that this is a book of its times written by a man who was still quite young. While I would strongly encourage any teens to read this book to realize that they too can give themselves a goal that is worthwhile if only for being difficult, I would also encourage their parents to be ready to answer some questions about the wisdom and risks of such adventures and about some of the attitudes of the past. There is a casual acceptance of the bigotry against Native Americans that was common at the time and Sevareid was not yet the mature thoughtful man that we may remember from the CBS Evening News.
   
   Still, the fact that a reasonably literate student was able to take, and appreciate, such a grand adventure while trying his best to bring it alive for us was a remarkable feat. Twain, at his best, gave us better feel for river adventure, but he had the advantage that he could embroider the story whenever necessary, while Sevareid was already writing and thinking as a journalist. This is a quick read that almost anyone, from a child in middle school to an adult whose days of imagined adventure are long past, can enjoy.



2. There's really only two things worth doing in Minnesota: One, canoeing the Boundary Waters/Quetico during Spring, Summer, and Fall; Two, THINKING about canoeing the Boundary Waters/Quetico during Winter. For the latter, this book is the gateway to paradise. Sevareid and Port have the true spirit of adventurers, the love-bug for the North Woods and her bevy of streams, rivers, and lakes, and Sevareid effectively tells his now-classic tale of how he and his friend drank deeply of all her treasures--complete with the axiomatic mistakes, mishaps, surfiet of discomfitures, and, alas, irresistible beauty that she provides to all who avail themselves of her wonders. Like St. Augustine, let us "Take up and read."



3. Enough youthful daring and preparation on a wonderful journey which showed the better nature of people for the exploits of two tough and bright young men. A wonderful journey, with some historical photo's that help illustrate the accomplishment. A wonderful quick read.



4. 2250 miles in a canoe - a great adventure and a book worth reading. I can't add much that isn't already perfectly described in this book.
   
   At the start of the trip during a brief stay in Fargo, North Dakota, a friend and doctor named Frederick Gronvold sets the boys on their journey in a proper frame of mind. "Don't let anyone, no matter who he is, convince you that your trip can't be completed. You have youth and strength, and courage too, I hope, and with a little common sense you can do it."
   
   When the journey finally ends and the boys share their tale with the adults at York Factory, they are asked why? Bud responds simply, "Oh, for pleasure, I guess." A journey simply for the sake of the adventure. It is an idea lost on some of the adults listening to the boys. "Pleasure! What a jolly funny kind of pleasure!" Better yet, maybe the idea isn't lost. Colonel Reid continues, "Oh well, that's youth. Things look different when you're young, I suppose. My word, I almost believe I envy you."
   
   Enjoy the beginning and the end; enjoy the pineapples and everything in between. Enjoy the journey simply for the journey; it's an adventure that is perfect for any reader of any age!



5. "Eric Sevareid made his name as a CBS news correspondent. But at a young age, Sevareid experienced an adventure most only dream of. Sevareid detailed the journey in his book "Canoeing with the Cree". Now to mark the 75th anniversary of Sevareid's journey, two Minnesota men plan to make the same trip." Tim Post
   
   In 1930 two young men paddled their way from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay in Canada. A trip of 2200 miles. Everyone told them it could not be done. Eric Sevareid, then a 17 year old, fresh graduate of high school, and his best buddy, Walter Port, planned the entire trip. They garnered financial support, collected supplies and a canoe and paddles and off they went. Five months later after trials and tribulations, they made it to Hudson Bay. Their journey is documented by Eric Sevareid, who gathered the weekly diaries he sent to their local Minneapolis paper, and in 1935, he wrote this book.
   
   I stepped back in time to the 1930's when life seemed to be more innocent and the world a safer place to be. Sevareid who went on to become one of the most revered journalists of our time, wrote in an unpretentious manner, and we can feel the excitement of their adventures. They traversed unknown land and water. No one, it seems, had ever accomplished this trek. Even the best canoeists in the country failed. How then, did these two young lads accomplish this journey? Intelligence and good luck, I'd say. They questioned everyone they met, took upon themselves to digest all of the information and made decisions based on their best judgement. And, most of the time they were correct. They had no radio, no maps( this was uncharted country), little preserved food except for hardtack, but they had their ingenuity and the assistance of all of the people they met.
   
   The North Country was mostly woods. Camps, small towns and two larger towns had been established for hunting and trapping. Most of the humans they met were Indians who were kind and generous. As a matter of fact, most of the people they met were in awe of their journey and shared whatever food, equipment and conversation they were capable. The trip was amazing when we look at the obstacles they faced. Water, roaring cold water, sometimes rapids, sometimes falls, no maps, only the word of mouth of strangers, and cold brutal weather at times. Or hot humid weather with flies and gnats. They discovered all sorts of wild animals but were never in real danger. They had their tent, two paddles, food, water, ponchos and several blankets. This seems like a story of new adventurers discovering a new world, and in fact this is what they were. Two 17 year old lads set out on an adventure and one day after another they found one. Extraordinary when you think about it.
   
   Since the time of Eric and Walter, several other duos have made the trip by canoe. However, they had maps, food that could be kept for months and the best of camping equipment. This is not to lessen these young men's courage, but to think 78 years ago, this was accomplished with such primitive arrangments and care.
   
   This was an exciting read and one page after another flew by. The book was difficult to put down. Easy, simplistic writing. but some of the most important writing I have found. The boys parents and friends did not hear from them often and at times, I am sure the parents were worried. But the two lads persevered and the trip was taken.
   
   Highly Recommended. prisrob 06-26-08
   
   Not So Wild a Dream
   
   The Eleanor Roosevelt Story

1 comments about High Latitudes: An Arctic Journey.

1. A sad book. High Latitudes focuses on the disintegrating culture of North Canadian Natives. Much of the book is transcription of the natives in their own words and gives excellent insight into their plight. An overriding theme of the book is the devastating effect bureaucratic decisions of government and big business has had on these Inuits (Eskimos) and others.

   This wasn't the adventure story I was expecting from Farley Mowat like "People of the Deer" in which he lived with an arctic community. This trip, taken in 1966, he travels by plane. Still none the less an adventure, he keenly describes a variety of northern communities including: Churchill ("a ...collection of mostly wooden structures between taiga and open tundra"), Povungnituk (the place that stinks), Old Crow (where "people catch lots of rats, won't let you go hungry there"), and many others. In typical fashion, Farley Mowat creates a gripping pathos about past cultures and events never to return, and often includes rich historical background for places he explores.

   If you're a Farley Mowat fan, I would rate this as important but not as engaging as some of his other books (I've read four others: "People of the Deer", "And No Birds Sang", "Never Cry Wolf", and "The Boat Who Wouldn't Float"). The book ends somewhat abruptly but he saves a great anecdote from the Yukon Territory for the end. A frustrating aspect about the events you read about in this book is that they took place in the sixties. I'd like to know how these settlements he visited have done since then. I'll probably never know.

4 comments about The Voyageur.

1. Our census returns published in 2001 indicate that the population of the United States is increasingly of mixed race and ethnic identity. If I had a dollar for every pundit who claimed that this is a revolutionary situation that has never happened before in America, I could buy my own fleet of birchbark canoes. Of course, there have been many subsets of North American society that have been characterized by a mixing and blurring of ethnic identity. Some of these subsets arose centuries ago. One of them is that group of French-Canadian-Indian men and women known as the "metis" or "voyageurs." The social customs of this group, their values, their strengths, their love of life, are recounted here by an enthusiast. Miss Nute was a pioneer. She wrote before her time. I heartily recommend this book to everyone.



2. Grace Lee Nute's The Voyageur depicts significant figures in American and Canadian history who have received little attention. Indeed, Nute has written what many consider the classic exploration of the subject in this book that dates back to 1935. The book is divided into nine specific categories on such subjects as the voyageur's canoe, his journey, his songs, his life as explorer etc. Each section is compact, well-researched and fascinating.
   
   The section on voyaging is especially astounding when we consider these men would carry hundreds of pounds on their back when reaching a portage or place where they had to carry their canoes and accessories overland to the next river or lake for their voyage. It is astonishing for me to think, as a resident of the Lake Superior region, what it would have been like to traverse that great lake 300 years ago, to pass through the rapids at Sault Sainte Marie when there were no locks, to sleep under your canoe, to winter inland above the Great Lakes in the dead of winter when the temperature was forty degrees below zero. Nute's book is a true tale of human courage, endurance, and determination, and she makes it clear the voyageur deserves much of the credit for many of the discoveries and explorations which are credited to other men, who never would have reached those places of discovery without their voyageurs' help.
   
   My only criticism of the book is that most of Nute's research is based in the early eighteen hundreds, and I would have preferred to hear more about voyageurs from the earlier years of the seventeenth and eighteenth century. She does explore how important the voyageurs were even long after the United States was founded, in helping John Jacob Astor's American Fur Trade Company, and their roles in early American events, especially the War of 1812. The book is a must read for anyone who lives in the Great Lakes Region or is interested in the early exploration and settlement of North America.
   
   - Tyler R. Tichelaar, author of Iron Pioneers and The Queen City, available on Amazon



3. Read this before, during, and after your Boundary Waters canoe trip and enjoy finding the places past and present intersect.



4. I purchased this book shortly after returning from a week in northern Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe area, the general area of my birthplace, many relatives and my french canadian ancestors. After visiting the historic site of the NW trading company at Grand Portage, I was ashamed to admit how little I knew of the this important and colorful part of early american history. I found the book not only informative but very entertaining as well. The first half of the book focuses on the origins, life and culture of the voyageur and then expands into their additional roles as explorers, early settlers etc. Accompanying the story of the voyageur, there is much necessary early 19th century NW history included and required, as The voyageurs served a vast expanse of present day US and Canadian territory both before and during the period described in the book and their contributions go far beyond those of Master Paddlers.

5 comments about People of the Deer (Death of a People).

1. A truly insightful story of the inland eskimo people of the Canadian Arctic. It details not only their day to day survival in a harsh land, but also tells of their myths, legends, and history. It also tells of the whiteman's interference with their culture and how that affect may ultimately lead to their extinction. The book sincerely takes the reader into the lives of the People of the Deer.



2. First published in 1947 and available in a wide variety of editions since then, Farley Mowat's first and most distant book is still remarkably readable in the world of the 21st century. It concerns one of the stranger human sagas of the last century, that of the discovery and destruction of a remote Inuit society, the Ihalmiut, in Canada's north. The setting of the book is far enough away in time for us to marvel at how little things have changed since. The contemptuous attitude of European man for the aborigine seems hardly to have altered over the years. We are still hard put to understand the needs of the first peoples and how to answer them.

   Farley Mowat has combined a fine sensitivity for the natural environment with a sharp eye for the details of man's place within it. It must be exceedingly rare in the history of anthropology that such an inexperienced investigator has taken such pains to get to the source of his information. Mowat lived among the Ihalmiut for over a year to write the book. During that time he witnessed the rapid deterioration of the small group which remained, and tried to examine the causes of their decline. With very deft prose for such a young writer, he points out the difference between the intentions and the actions of the European discoverers of The People (as they refer to themselves) and the consequences of such disparity. The Ihalmiut were exploited in much the same way as any other tribal band found wandering by the early explorers. However, as Mowat points out, this was an exceptional group which had survived the extreme rigours of a barren land (known to us simply as The Barrens) for so many generations, only to be felled by contact with the very race which might have provided them with so much assistance.

   The Ihalmiut are long gone from their homeland but their story serves to remind us of our often difficult relationship with the land and the people on it. Perhaps, as a race of city-dwellers, we need to consider our place in the natural environment more than ever. Mowat's work is a just accounting of where we stand in relationship to nature. Nor does he suggest that we should all go and live in the tundra. Yet People of the Deer is a source of considerable inspiration for those now ready to reflect on the unbalancing effect of contemporary values.




3. This book is magic. You will never think about a small band of Indians as statistics again. This book does volumes to make people of our society really feel what goes on in traditional societies. To feel jealous of their solidarity. To feel unloved by our own. It's great! READ IT.



4. What ever you do, do not waste your precious life reading this book...



5. The concept is correct anyway. These people were led to their demise by three factors: the church, commercialization (HBC), and the Canadian government. Mowat claims he spent two years living among these people. This is doubted by some. I've traveled in some of the areas that this book takes place. Not everyone has great things to say about this author. One person I talked to called him a historical novelist. He has other nicknames.
   
   But while it is questionable that all the events described in this book and its' successor (The Desperate People) actually took place, at least he got the main theme correct.

5 comments about Barren Lands: An Epic Search for Diamonds in the North American Arctic.

1. Barren Lands is one of the great adventure reads. A bit slower and less gripping than Krakauer, but a great read.



2. A really well crafted book with some flowing prose but... there is an element of 'faction' about this book. The author takes literary license to the extreme by describing in detail events he never witnessed and although it might make for great fiction, it made me wonder just how much of the book's narrative is at best exaggeration, at worse pure fabrication.
   
   But I thought the geological details in the book were well explained and the one lasting impression that I was left with was just how boringly methodical, time consuming and repetitive prospecting for diamonds really is, no matter how colorful and larger than life you make the people doing it.



3. It has been a number of years since I bought and read Barren Lands. Although I greatly enjoyed the book while I read it, I appreciate it even more now because it has left me with many vivid memories of tales told in the book and with knowledge about diamonds and geology that I would not have known otherwise. The book is more multi-dimensional, and works on more levels than almost any other book touching on Geology that I have read. In this multi-dim respect, I think it actually exceeds John McPhee's Rising from the Plains - which is quite a feat. What do I mean by multi-dimensional? Here are some examples that are still bouncing around in my mind years after reading Barren Lands:
   1.) The impression that is left of the Australian Mining Company BHP Billiton: I am left impressed by the way they kept their feelers out in this fringe community of explorers, and nutured a relationship with Fipke and Blusson until they found the first paydirt. (Way to go Hugo!) If one bought stock in BHP soon after this book came out, one would have probably recovered hundreds of times the books price in appreciation.
   2.) Fipke: I suspect that if he were growing up today in USA public schools, he would be first diagnosed with some kind of attention-deficit disorder, pumped full of Ritalin and then finally jailed when he would inevitably fail to be successfully hammered into servile, abject mediocrity. I think there is a huge lesson here for academia: STOP measuring people with standardized tests, and figure out a way to help each person find his or her own, particular intellectual fire the way Fipke did.
   3.) The endgame just before the discovery of the first pipe under the frozen lake. The cash is gone, winter is closing in, competitors with megabucks are catching on, and Canadian laws require you to divulge your secret the moment you make your discovery.... Such unlikely reality and so wonderfully told.
   4.) Death in the wilderness: lightning bolts and helo crashes. If it were fiction, people would criticise it for being unbelievable.
   5.) Black flies.
   6.) Shooting stars and prophecies.
   
   Much more. What a great and memorable book.



4. Very well written and informative. I learned alot about both the diamond business and the great Canadian North by reading this book. Very entertaning.



5. This is a true story, but reads like a novel. It is about the search for diamonds in northern Canada on a low budget. They follow one lead, that doesn't work, they follow another lead. They spy on the competition, the competition spies on them. They play tricks to mislead the competition, and eventually succeed in their quest. Parts of the book are hilarious.

5 comments about Get a Life! (Star Trek).

1. The man who popularized the phrase, "Get a life!" writes a book to deal the dirt on those people for whom the expression most applies. It sounds like a wacky idea, but it actually turned out quite well. William Shatner and his co-author Chris Kreski have a pleasant, enjoyable, breezy prose style and what they're talking about it actually interesting. There's an entire strange sub-culture that goes on in science fiction fandom and it's fascinating to get a peek at it. Unfortunately, since this comes from William Shatner, it's not going to get at the darker side (through no fault of the author), but for what it is, it succeeds.
   
   First of all, I should state that while I'm a fan of (a few of) the Star Trek series, I'm not terribly big into fandom. So while I'm certainly not ignorant of the vocabulary, I was a bit fuzzy on the details. But once the stories and the backstage secrets are revealed, well, it turns out there aren't that many big surprises. Shatner may have been astonished to learn that fans were as interested in hanging out with each as with the "stars", but it shouldn't come as a shock to most other people.
   
   The book is more a journey of exploration than a straightforward journalistic look at fandom. The journey belongs to William Shatner. Apparently at one time he was famous among fan-circles for arriving shortly before his appearances, saying a few quick words and then counting his money on the next flight out of town. But after his character was killed off in one of the Star Trek movies, he decided to take a closer look at what went on at the convention scene.
   
   GET A LIFE! begins with a potted history of organized Star Trek fandom. Given that Shatner freely admits to have had nothing at all to do with that, I can only assume that this portion of the book was researched by either Shatner or Kreski. Although the progression isn't exactly unexpected, I enjoyed reading about how it came about.
   
   The book then moves into Shatner's relationship with fandom. Moving from his aforementioned "take the money and run" approach to gradual curiosity to understanding, reading his journey is quite interesting to see how someone from outside looks in.
   
   Now, human nature being what it is, we can gather that not everything is warm hugs and embraces within fandom. I'm no fool; a quick look around the Internet can bring up thousands of flame-wars, feuds, angry grudges, various "he said / she said" battles and, in some extreme cases, lawsuits and restraining orders between various members of fandom. The book never gets into this topic, which I found a bit of a disappointment.
   
   The portrayal of fandom is almost overwhelmingly positive. Lip service is paid to the looniest aspects - the folks who dress in Star Trek uniforms to inappropriate venues - but for the most part, anything negative is glossed over. The reasons for this rest on the author. I imagine it must be virtually impossible for William Shatner to go to a convention and not be greeted by a venerable wall of yes-men who happily tell him that everything is running fine, everyone connected with the organization is well liked and that there's nothing bad going on at all.
   
   Still, despite possible inaccuracies and/or omissions, I did enjoy reading this one. It's funny, amusing and quick to read. There are numerous unrelated anecdotes, but I didn't find them at all distracting. Overall, I liked reading this. It's not the deepest sociological study you'll ever read, but the look it takes at certain individual fans is especially interesting. The thought of William Shatner donning a latex match and wandering through the dealers room to do research is certainly an amusing idea.



2. This book is part biography & part the history of the "Star Trek" fans. Throughout you see Mr. Shatner as a driven & often anxious man who is in the pursuit of both critical & commercial success.
   
   The first chapter where he describes the death of Kirk's character and the author's interviews were the most entertaining. The author using plenty of humor admits that for ages he was clueless about what "Star Trek" truly meant to the shows fans. This part gets a little erratic. But, he gives numerous examples of how he learned to appreciate both the fans and the show that made him famous.



3. The book title comes from a bit William Shatner performed on Saturday Night Live where he bellows out the line when the audience at a Star Trek convention gets a little....well, out of the galaxy.
   
   It started an oftentimes silly debate on whether Shatner actually meant what he said, with fans lining up in several camps of thought. Shatner had avoided appearing at the ever-popular conventions and books by other castmembers were none-to-kind at times to the fine captain.
   
   But as anything in the entertainment business, never means never doubt that things can change. Shatner agreed to promote Star Trek Generations through a series a speaking engagements. And this is where his humor takes over.
   
   Shatner takes a basic premise - chronicling the phenomena of Star Trek through fans, castmembers, memorabilia dealers and convention promoters - and turns it into an event shrouded in mystery; he dons a monster outfit and sets out to interview folks at the conventions.
   
   The pictures are priceless and the text not only gives the reader a true appreciation on what the series has meant to so many people, but how the research gave Shatner a vehicle to come to terms with the legacy he left through the TV series and movies.
   



4. Funny, witty, creative, insightful, deep hearted, informative..etc. So many differnet terms you can use to describe this very enjoyable write up by the former Admiral Kirk himself.
   
   This late 1990's book takes the reader through a wide variety of emotions, knowledge and underground information when dealing with all things that go on at the various and too many to count "Star Trek Conventions" around the country and even the world. William Shatner has always been facinated by the type of people that show up at the various conventions, dressed up like characters on the show and worshipping every word he has to say as if it was from the mighty ship captain himself. But one thing Mr. Shatner never did, was actually focus on what was going on around him. He would fly into the location, quickly be escorted in right before he was to speak, do his 45 minute talk to the crowd quickly, wave goodbye and get his pay check and head back home and do it again when he was up to it. That was all it was to him. But suddenly the Captain was killed off in Star Trek: Generations and had no more TV shows to do. Now he was being booked to more conventions then ever, and thats when he realized, that he had never even understood the people that he was addressing all of these times. That was until he decided to write this book and quite a book it is.
   
   You will go through the entire gambit of emotions with this book. It is never nasty or spiteful. If anything William is very humble and seems to be genuine in his hopes to learn about the fans and the conventions that he has always thought was just full of crazy fans who need to "Get a Life" as he famously said on the just as famous Saturday Night Live skit so many years ago. Mr. Shatner has a way of being friendly, down to Earth and talks in this book not as a serious author, but as the same William Shatner we have always seen and heard everytime we see him. He learns everything there is to learn about the people who go to these conventions. The types of things they buy. The types of costumes they wear. The history of how the conventions started in the first place. Talks a lot about things that he himself has to deal with when associating with the fans. Answers a lot of questions he has been asked over the years. And even has some very touching and deep moments when some of the fans are explaining why they love Star Trek so much. It is quite surprising when you hear some of the answers they give and how much the show and entire series really means to them.
   
   This is a must read to anyone who is into Star Trek, gone to a convention or just enjoys learning more about the Star Trek fan base and history. It is quite informative and just very interesting. William even goes undercover in a mask at various points so no one will know that thier beloved captain is walking amongst them and has some interesting revelations as he observes first hand what is going on at the various tables, shows and speaker sessions that each convention is made up of. I really couldn't put this book down. The moment I started reading it I was hooked and I'm not even that big a Trekie. I never even been to a convention and still haven't even seen every episode. But something drew me into this book which really just had a very high intrest level that won't bore you for a moment. The interviews are short and sweet and the humor constant and even gets in a few moments to poke fun at a certain Mr. Nemoy who Shatner has kept close contact with over the years.
   
   I really was quite surprised in all honesty at how good this book was. We all know the image we have of Shatner. Being a hammy, over acting so and so who steals lines, talks in huge pauses and seems to eat up the screen time. And he freely admits to or even tries to explain all of these views people have on him without holding back any shame of admiting truths or non-truths to us. But after reading this book you are almost humbled and regretful that you even thought of him in that way. He truly shows a new side of him that you never expected. It is not often that actors on a TV show would even care to learn more about their fans or the people that worship them so dearly. I will definitely be reading this book again soon enough just to see what I missed and to laugh yet again. Some of the stories and situations are just laugh out loud moments that you can't believe you are reading. He doesn't hold anything back and you really get a new respect for the man we had watched in various movies and television episodes over the years. Most of all he has always cherished and loved the fact that he played Captain Kirk and doesn't run away from the fact of what people percieve him as any longer.
   
   Anyone who is into Star Trek or even those non-Trek fans who want just a nice light read when they have read all the deep Non-Fiction pieces out there.. has to read this book. I can promise you, it will be a pure enjoyment and enlightening experience that will break some of the images and stereotypes the majority of people have had over the fanatic fans who frequent these conventions. The only complaint I had was I wanted even more. It just never seemed enough. The captain may have died in the movies but this book is proof enough he isn't going anywhere any time soon. He will be with the Trek fans for a very long time to come. And I think we should all be very nervous for that fact as he will be watching from now on.



5. You can tell that a lot of research and time was put into making this book and it really shows because it is so hard to put down once it gets going. If you have ever wanted to know the workings of and behind the scenes stories of Star Trek conventions, then this is for you.
   
   In "Get A Life!", William Shatner gives the history of the end of Star Trek (which is just a retelling of the story that is in his other book "Star Trek Memories") but it sets up the story of how the conventions began beautifully. Not only that, but Shatner interviews cast members as well as those who worked behind the scenes of the series, fans and conventioneers who run the conventions. Needless to say, you get an insight into this world.
   
   If you loved other books that he has written on Trek, then this is no exception. I'm telling you, it is just a real page turner because you can relate to these people in the interviews if you are a Trekkie. Shatner literally goes undercover in make-up at a convention to get the true feel of a Star Trek convention, so this is also first hand experience speaking the entire time. The best thing is that by the books end, you get the feeling that Shatner (finally!) understands the fans and knows why we love it so much. Overalll, really fun! Definitely a must have in your Star Trek library

No comments about Frank Barr: Bush Pilot in Alaska and the Yukon (Caribou Classics).

No comments about Stones, Bones and Stitches: Storytelling through Inuit Art (A Lord Museum Book).