Product Description
Veteran nature photographer Tim Fitzharris presents 250 breathtaking photographs of landscapes and wildlife in the top wilderness parks in North America. Tips for taking equally stunning shots accompany each photograph. This book includes detailed descriptions of 21 national parks, maps pinpointing photogenic hot spots, and clearly explained professional techniques about equipment, lighting, composition, and film type - everything the amateur or experienced shooter needs to capture the best of each park, from spring wildflowers in Great Smoky Mountains National Park to bugling elk in Rocky Mountain National Park. National Parks Photography appeals to photographers of all experience levels as well as nature enthusiasts and frequent national park visitors. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Great to travel with
I love this book.I will take it with me when I visit these spots, as it has all the information I need, such as locations to get the best shots and many suggestions for getting the best shot.I look forward to adding additional books by Tim Fitzharris to my library.

Makes me want to go to these places
If you're a photography enthusiast aspiring to visit the beautiful places in this world, this is a wonderful book. I'm a big fan of Tim Fitzharris books and this is another example of his excellent contribution to the field. After reading this book (and referencing it numerous times), I find myself wanting to go to every one of these national parks.

A Great Tool for Nature Photography Enthusiasts
This book is so beautiful and so inspiring that, after reading it, I made a plan to visit 24 national parks over the next four years. (So far I have been to Yosemite... but I still have hope to get to the other 23).

Bottom line, Tim is a truly amazing nature and wildlife photographer. His images alone will inspire and motivate you to make a travel plan like I did. What's more, his ability to write far outshines the competition. The book contains useful instruction on general technique, as well as specific advice on when and where to go in each park. His text is filled with practical, helpful tips - the kind of information you would really use. I found myself jotting down notes again and again as I read through his advice and instructions.

If you are a nature lover and photography enthusiast... if you findyourself at your greatest place of peace and tranquility when you visit our national parks, you'll love this book. It's a true gem.

A Pleasant Surprise
I was prepared not to like this book.I mean, what could an automobile club teach me about photography?Then I saw that the author was Tom Fitzharris, a noted nature photographer, so I decided to give it a try.I was pleasantly surprised.

The book starts out with a chapter on photographic equipment and technique , and then proceeds with separate chapters on 22 of the major national parks.The book claims that it is aimed at both beginners and experts, but I'm always skeptical of such claims.Once again, I was wrong.

Consider the first chapter on Photography Essentials.The techniques described are indeed essential if one expects to take better than average pictures in the national parks.The beginner may indeed be a little awed by what the author considers essential, but he will learn where there are holes in his knowledge.I would recommend reading John Shaw's "Nature Photography Field Guide" if you want to get a better understanding of technique.More advanced photographers will use the first chapter as a checklist.

The author recognizes that many of the shots are classic shots that appear on calendars and postcards but says that the individual photographer's variations will make the pictures worth taking.He also suggests that the reader study the author's photographs for ideas on how to handle different subjects and I think that's good advice.

I was very interested inthe chapters on parks where I had photographed.I found that not only was Fitzharris quite comprehensive, but he even suggested some places to go to that I had not visited, and some approaches I had not tried, even in parks I thought I knew well.I wish I had had this book before visiting some of those parks.I also know I may visit a few parks because they are in Fitzharris' book.

I have a few minor quibbles.Fitzharris suggested visiting Yosemite before June and shooting early in the morning and late in the afternoon to avoid crowds.It's good advice but the last time I was there in May at 6:30 PM at Tunnel View, there were fourteen tripods set up with crossed legs by photographers making an homage to Ansel Adams.I suppose that's better than it would be at 3:00 PM on a July day, but some of the hot spots suggested by the author will always be crowded.

The author makes no reference to digital photography, but I don't consider that much of a problem.The book is aimed at getting you to the best spots in the major national parks, and creating the best composition.That doesn't change very much with digital photography.

My biggest complaint about this book was that it only covers 22 of the national parks.I wanted more coverage.

Bring this book with you on your national park trip
This is not a book to learn about photography.If you already know the basic of nature photography and plan to take photograph in national parks, this is what you need.It covers most of the more popular national parks.It shows you what to expect and what to photograph in each national park listed in the book, including best tripod locations and best time.Very organized and clear.The pictures and print quality are superb. ... Read more

Product Description
* This comprehensive tutorial and reference covers all the basics of PHP 5, a popular open source Web scripting language, and MySQL 4.012, the most popular open source database engine
* Explores why users need PHP and MySQL, how to get started, how to add PHP to HTML, and how to connect HTML Web pages to MySQL
* Offers an extensive tutorial for developing applications with PHP and MySQL
* Includes coverage of how to install, administer, and design MySQL databases independently of PHP; exception and error handling; debugging techniques; PostgreSQL database system; and PEAR database functions
* The authors provide unique case studies of how and where to use PHP drawn from their own extensive Web experience ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Great deal
The book was in great shape and great price!Thanks for a great experience.

Frustrating
This book is full of faulty grammar - spelling and style -but no matter how annoying, you'll find out that's not the worst that can happenwhen trying to learn PHP from a book. Far worse is that even some of the most basic, three lined examples of code contain fatal errors.

Unfortunately, most examples of code are unnecessary long and complicated and seem to be chosen randomly. I agree with other reviewers that the first few chapters about the history and variables are OK but from then on it gets really hairy.

I can't believe this book still gets 3 out of 5 stars. I would never buy this book again, or recommend it to others. In fact, I'm on Amazon to order a different book on learning PHP. I have bought other books from this 'bible' series in the past but after this one I will think twice before picking up another 'Wiley bible'.

Great Book
The book was exactly as described. Is in great condition and saved me a bunch of money instead of buying it through my campus bookstore. Delivery was fast. Will order from them again.

Help - I'm in Purgatory reading this Bible
This book doesn't give the nuts and bolts.There are no real examples, it's all a bit esoteric for me.I have web experience and database experience, but this book hasn't put it together.

I should have bought a "For Dummies" book.

Worth every penny
Most of the Bible series of books are worth the money you pay for them, and this one is no exception.

Good informative book, great for the beginner and a good read for the advanced.

Not good for reference, but then it isn't supposed to be.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Favorite Books
The deprecated article on garbage is absolutely one of my favorites and a reason that I include this book on my short list of memorable books, even ahead of Invisible Cities or Six Memos for the Next Millennium!To each his own, I guess.

Downhill
This collections starts off with a bang--the title essay BLEW ME AWAY.It was beautiful.Unfortunately, subsequent essays shrivled in it's shadow.I crapped out before finishing the whole book, second to last essay I think, the one about garbage.If you buy this, do yourself a favor--read it backwards.Probably the way it should have been organized in the first place.If you don't buy this book, do yourself a favor--find the title essay somewhere else.

surprise
Hmmm, reading the editorial reviews, I had to wonder if it might be timeto go back and read this one again.As I consumate Calvino fan, I have tosay I was completely dissapointed by the title essay the editors are ravingabout here; the one about Calvino's old-school agragarian father trying tospark cinema-going Calvino's interest in hauling veggies.The same storyis told under the guise of fiction in Difficult Loves under the title ofLazy Sons, and, in my opinion, it was ten times better.I never thoughtI'd say it, but I was bored.Bored reading Calvino?Can you imagine? Neither could I.The other four essays were delightful and charming. (Personally I was rather fond of the one about the trash.)Thewriting/memory excercizes reminded me of work that Calvino's long-timefriend George Perec put forth in Species of Spaces.They made me think, orrethink, or be intentional about thinking about, memory and space andexistence.That's the sort of thing I want and expect from Calvino.MaybeI'm just sulking about that first essay, but I wanted something better,something more like the other essays there.Maybe, since this book was acompilation of Calvino's unpublished work that was printed posthumasly itwas merely and editing mistake that allowed such disparate pieces to appeartogether.Maybe I would have liked that title essay better on it's own.Idunno.While I certainly wouldn't say don't read The Road to San Giovanni,I might caution Calvino fans to let go of some of their expectations beforedelving in. ... Read more

Product Description

This edition is out-of-print.Please order the new second edition (ISBN: 978-0-89997-500-9 )

Hike, Backpack, Horseback

Whatever you're looking for, there's a trail for you in Yellowstone and the Tetons. Make the most of a trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks by exploring the absolute best trails that the parks have to offer. The latest in the Top Trails series covers the most exciting dayhikes and overnight/backcountry trips in these two popular parks, from the roaring geysers of Yellowstone to the singular mountain scenery of Grand Teton. Top Trails Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks covers every corner of Yellowstone, including the Mammoth, Tower, Canyon, and Lake regions, and Old Faithful, plus Bechler and the Cascade Corner, as well as the premier trails throughout Grand Teton National Park.

Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks offer the ultimate in natural and geothermal wonders: untouched backcountry lakes, panoramic alpine summits. glacier-carved canyons, steaming geyser basins, and vast meadows teeming with charismatic wildlife.

With 45 "must-do" hikes from Mammoth Hot Springs to Old Faithful, from the Absarokas to the Gallatin Range, and from Jackson Hole to the Teton Crest Trail, this is your guide.

Whether you're a lucky year-round resident or a happy visitor for a day, week, or an entire season, in this guide you will find: "Don't get lost" trail milestones, innovative trail-feature tables and elevation profiles, a detailed map of every trail and region, and detailed driving directions to every trailhead.

Customer Reviews (23)

Must-have book if you are going to hike anywhere in Yellowstone
This is a super useful book. We used it every day of our 6 day trip to Yellowstone. And we went on 9 of the hikes (from easy to hard) he suggested in different parts of the park; and ALL were completely accurate in every way.In fact, one of the trails he suggested didn't appear on the official park map, but it was marked when we got there and was as described in the book. The only thing I'd mention is that the ratings of difficulty might be a little overstated. (i.e. easier than rated) if you are more fit than me.My daughter who is 21 (who is a big hiker and camper) felt that.I on the other hand (hadn't hiked in decades) felt the degree of difficulty was dead on!

Not Very Accurate
My fiance and I just got back from a trip to Yellowstone.Luckily we brought 2 guidebooks because this guidebook definitely needs a backup.

Pros:

I like how the author finds various types of trails in each area of the park.
The summary chart in the beginning makes it so easy to navigate the book.
Some of the trails I really liked - like the Cascade Canyon and Jenny Lake trail in the Grand Tetons and the South Rim trail in Yellowstone.

Cons:

We found some mistakes that I would consider quite misleading:

Concerning Huckleberry Springs - which is according to the author a well-known swimming hole in the Grand Tetons, the description in the book needs some work.Crossing Polecat Creek was extremely difficult - very high, rapidly-flowing water.Then when we get to the end of the trail we searched around for 15 minutes trying to find exactly what the author was describing as the "five star soak".I think I might have found it, but it was right next to the hot spring itself.If you go into Yellowstone, there are so many warnings about NEVER EVER going into the hot spring because the water temperature could rise unexpectedly, so I'm surprised anyone would actually soak here.There certainly wasn't anyone there when we were there last week (the week of July 4th).Needless to say, we did not get in the water.

Concerning the Boiling River - the book states the trail opens in mid-June.The other guidebook we had states mid-July.Guess which one is right.

Concerning the Tower Fall trail - The book states that you can walk all the way to the bottom of the canyon.However, the trail down to the bottom of the canyon was destroyed in 2004.It's a long way to go down only to stop halfway.

Maybe these updates are on the book website... I don't know because I didn't notice that the book had a website until AFTER the trip.

Nice and useful book
Detailed review for every hike with good maps and a lot of useful symbols. exactly what I was looking for. Just be advised that the book is in black and white only, no color at all but that's not a big deal.

Exactly what we wanted
We purchased this book based on the great reviews and it didn't disappoint.The details are accuate and helpful, often moreso than the signage on the trails.One of the more memorable hints was to take a short side trip up a hillside on the Fairy Falls trail to view the Grand Prismatic Spring.We certainly had a much better view than those standing right on top of it on the boardwalks, especially with the sun shining.Bravo Andrew!

A Review of the 2cd Edition
Wilderness Press made its name in outdoor publishing by focusing on the High Sierra of California and later the rest of the Golden State.Their "Top Trails" series similarly is focused almost entirely on California.But if any wilderness area is deserving of coverage in the Top Trails series, the greater Yellowstone ecosystem has to be included.Now in its second edition and with a single author, this book gives you a quick overview of some of the best hikes in both Yellowstone and neighboring Grand Teton National Parks.

The Top Trails series does not aim to be comprehensive.Rather, this book is designed to list the best trails from short "family friendly" day hikes to longer overnight excursions.In the category of the former, almost all of the really popular hikes in the park are included here:Mammoth Hot Springs, Observation Point view of Old Faithful, Artist Paint Pots, Tower Falls and the fossil forest all get full write ups.If you hike any of these trails, you will also share them with hundreds of others on any given summer afternoon.This is not necessarily a bad thing: these places are popular for a reason.Slightly longer treks up Washburn peak, and hikes to various waterfalls also appear in this book and several very long day hikes (or overnight backpack trips) are featured.In all, it is a good selection.Distances, natural features, and wildlife viewing are all equally balanced.

My only complaints about the book are that several of the hikes are one way affairs requiring a shuttle.Shuttle hikes are fine, but if you are traveling any great distance to Yellowstone you will not be bringing two cars and hitch hiking is not all that easy.Also, the hike selection discusses fishing a lot.I'm good with that.Indeed, during my three summers in Yellowstone, I went fishing every chance I could.But I would have included the hike to Cascade and Grebe lake in this volume because of the opportunity to catch (and release) a unique Grayling found only in these lakes in the park.Still, this is a fine book.Reading it, I found myself remembering adventures from years ago and wondering when I would be able to schedule another visit. ... Read more

Product Description
An autobiographical account of a young woman from Turin's Jewish intellectual community who was deported to Birkenau concentration camp in April 1944. This book is a description of the nightmare she experienced there. ... Read more

Product Description
Word count: 5992. ... Read more

Product Description
This book investigates the motif of spectralmourning in John Banville's The Sea, Tim Parks'Destiny, and Ian McEwan's The Child in Time andsheds new light on the conjunction of mourning,mystery and ghosts in English literature. While theFreudian position of mourning is taken as atheoretical point of departure, the main focus is onJacques Derrida's ethics of mourning and othercontemporary mourning theories which conceive ofmourning as an interminable and irresolvableprocess. These theories centre on ethicalresponsibility to the Other, a discourse in criticaltheory that is known as the ethics of alterity, andinsist that ethical mourning involves maintainingthe relationship between self and other rather thanbreaking the bonds between the living and the dead.The motif of the spectre looms large in thisdiscourse, highlighting the liminal aspect ofrelations between self and other and the ethicalprinciple of openness. The author argues thatspectral mourning is transformative andhumanizing and it is through ghostly experiencesthat the bereaved protagonists find meaning again inlife, not in spite of loss but because of loss. ... Read more

Product Description
This topographic map features the locations of over 150 monuments and over 550 position markers and tablets. Also featured are historic fields, modern and historic roads, and all other information needed for today's visitor to explore this 1862 battlefield. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

First Class Product
This map (and all in the series) are absolute no-brainers for enthusiasts.They are superbly made, extremely sturdy and make other map options seem pitiful by comparison.I love the topographic information -- gives quite a feel of the ground (rather important for any battlefield study.)

Don't question the price -- just get it.It is well worth it, and I want to encourage everyone to support great American companies like this one.They met an important need and did it with absolute class and quality.Good job Trailhead Graphics!

Great Map Series
These maps are a must have for the battlefield walker.They locate all the monuments, buildings, trails and roads within the park.This is in addition to a quality contour map designed for outdoors use.I have used the Shiloh map both on the battlefield and during talks about the battle.In addition, they make a great souvenir or battle map when reading about the battle. ... Read more

Product Description
When the body of an unidentified young man is brought into a mortuary, an investigation is begun into his background. However his past seems to be a complete blank. The author also wrote "Little Misunderstandings of No Importance" and "Indian Nocturne" which won the Prix Medicis Etranger in 1988. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Parks & Recreation, published by National Recreation and Park Association on March 1, 2002. The length of the article is 3618 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: ORRRC at 40! The outdoors and the classroom; forty years is both a lifetime and the blink of an eye.(Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission; outdoor education)
Author: Marcella Wells
Publication: Parks & Recreation (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2002
Publisher: National Recreation and Park Association
Volume: 37Issue: 3Page: 94(8)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
Published for Oak Park IL Farmer's Market, oblong spiral bound cookbook. ... Read more

Product Description
Peculiar, hilarious, odd, beautiful-all these words describe the remarkable art of Parks Reece of Livingston, Montana. Peter Fonda, Jim Harrison, Russell Chatham and many others have praised Reece's extraordinary artistic talent and his slightly skewed vision of the natural world. This book-the first collection of Reece's artwork-is destined to become an instant classic! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Highly recommended and uniquely memorable
Call Of The Wild: The Art Of Parks Reece is a most remarkable, 124-page showcase of the warm and often whimsical colored artwork of Parks Reece. Centered around the double themes of nature and wry commentaries or puns, Reece's paintings include "Hazards of Hunting" featuring a racoon using deer antlers to string its bow targeting an orange-vested hunter; "The One Who Learned the Words" representing a particularly exceptional hummingbird among hummingbirds; "Alien Abduction" showing a fish's point of view at being plucked out of the water, and much, much more. Highly recommended and uniquely memorable, Call Of The Wild is enhanced with essays by Tim Cahill and sonnets by Greg Keeler. ... Read more

Product Description
On September 24, 1906, Devils Tower was established as our nation's first National Monument by President Theodore Roosevelt, who proclaimed that it was a "natural wonder and object of great scientific interest," and thus should be protected. The Tower is the most prominent landmark in norhteast Wyoming, and in recent centuries has served as a gathering place for such diverse groups as fur traders, early settlers, and modernsight-seers. But long before the coming of the Europeans, Plains Indian peoples worshiped at this awe-inspiring natural formation. Known as "Bear Lodge" to many Northern Plains tribes, the Tower figures prominently in their belief systems and sacred narratives. It is important for its historical place in their spiritual life, and also as a contemporary sacred site where traditional Indian people of today make prayer offerings, seek visions, conduct sweat lodge ceremonies, and perform the annual Sun Dance. For this reason, the Tower Places as a Traditional Cultural Property. Devils Tower also is renowned as a premier "crack-climbing" site with over 100 years of climbing history. The first climb took place on July 4, 1893 amid great fanfare, with over 1,000 spectators. Nearly 5,000 technical climbers from all over the world now scale the Tower each year. ... Read more

Product Description
(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)

Giorgio Bassani’s acclaimed novel of unrequited love and the plight of the Italian Jews on the brink of World War II has become a classic of modern Italian literature.

Made into an Academy Award—winning film in 1970, The Garden of the Finzi—Continis is a richly evocative and nostalgic depiction of prewar Italy. The narrator, a young middle-class Jew in the Italian city of Ferrara, has long been fascinated from afar by the Finzi-Continis, a wealthy and aristocratic Jewish family, and especially by their daughter Micol. But it is not until 1938 that he is invited behind the walls of their lavish estate, as local Jews begin to gather there to avoid the racial laws of the Fascists, and the garden of the Finzi-Continis becomes an idyllic sanctuary in an increasingly brutal world. Years after the war, the narrator returns in memory to his doomed relationship with the lovely Micol, and to the predicament that faced all the Ferrarese Jews, in this unforgettably wrenching portrait of a community about to be destroyed by the world outside the garden walls.Amazon.com Review
Giorgio Bassani's masterwork has Vittorio de Sica's 1971 filmadaptation to thank for its dual success and obscurity. Not enoughpeople know that this tale of a middle-class Jewish youth's obsessionwith the far more aristocratic Micol Finzi-Contini stems from a novel,not a novelization. Bassani's doom- and tomb-ridden examination ofone-sided love is far more complex--about individuals' inability tocontend with personal and political annihilation. Events call forheroism, yet it seems "downright absurd that now, all of a sudden,exceptional behavior was demanded of us." The narrator writes inretrospect, 13 years after World War II's end, and reveals theFinzi-Continis' 1943 deportation to Germany right from the start: "Whocould say if they found any sort of burial at all?"

As Fascist racial laws go from strength to strength, the family, whichhad long isolated itself from the other inhabitants of Ferrara, opensits walled grounds and tennis court to other young Jews and evenreturns to the local temple. Unfortunately, the situation encouragesthe narrator's dream that Micol will return his love, and she isforced into cruel honesty. "She looked into my eyes, and her gazeentered me, straight, sure, hard: with the limpid inexorability of asword."

The author has re-created a tragic era in which even nobility couldnot outrun events, let alone admit they needed to. (For a nonfictionaccount of the fates of five Italian Jewish families under fascism,see Alexander Stille's Benevolence andBetrayal.) Bassani's elision of historical and personal agonyis furthermore superbly translated by William Weaver. All is foretoldin the novel's Manzonian epigraph, "The heart, to be sure, always has somethingto say about what is to come, to him who heeds it. But what does theheart know? Only a little of what has already happened." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis
The novella by Giorgio Bassani, The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, should be a must read for everyone with a serious appetite for literature.
Also, enjoy the film, by Vittorio di Sicia (sp), but read the novel first, sine the director has taken some liberties with story line. It is an excellent read and a good English translation.

The unforgettable Finzi-Continis
Giorgio Bassani's autobiographical novel, "The Garden of the Finzi Continis" is a remarkable novel for its insight into the lives of an Italian Jewish family and their friends in Ferrara,a city in north Italy and the tragedy that befalls the family during WW II.

Not to give too much away, the story is told by the narrator, Giorgio, who had a close relationship with the Finzi-Continis since childhood, especially with the two Finzi-Contini children, Alberto and his sister Micol. As they grow up, Giorgio falls for Micol but the relationship is brief and fades soon after which leaves him devastated. Amidst this personal crisis, Fascism is on the rise in Italy, and when Italy enters the war, it spells doom for the Jewish populace in Italy. Even the seemingly impenetrable Finzi-Continis, who live behind a huge wall barricading themselves against the rest of the world are not spared.

This is a poignant historical novel that delves into the relationships between the main characters and also, more importantly, shows the reader how Fascism and Nazism slowly alienate the Jews from others in society and eventually persecute them on a larger scale that led to deportations and death. Highly recommended!

Powerful, Subtle, Unforgettable
This is simply one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, one of a group of Italian novels that stand at the pinnacle of literary achievement.This is a meditation on a place, a time, a family and the events that surround all that is neither still nor solipsistic.Bassani manages the extraordinary tasks of writing a novel that is also, seamlessly, a memoir, a 'true life novel' beyond any of the experiments of Norman Mailer.The style is quiet, ruminative and clear.The novel looks at tremendous, personal, social, historical, and tries to understand how it all happened.It's extraordinary - and if you've only seen the movie, the book is far more ambiguous and far more powerful.

A Solemn, solid read...
For anyone who has experienced unrequited love, the very human theme of this book will definitely appeal to many readers. It is both timeless and timely. The narrator begins his narrative after the war, reflecting on the cemeteries and tombs of Italy. He then returns to the time of his boyhood, progressing from his early teens to early twenties. He is in love with a girl out of reach in a time of harsh prejudices and impending war.

This book is solemn, solid, moving at an even pace towards its conclusion. The horrors of the world rest in the background of the narrative, the lives of these individuals are pained but real. The movie is a great introduction but I much preferred the book for the varying layers and the subtlety.

If you are into Italian literature, this book is essential.

The Garden is lush
Bassani's Garden is a book worth reading.I enjoyed it because it seemed to capture a world about which I knew little before:aristocratic and middle class Italian Jewish society before the second world war.It is a melancholy world to be sure, but not unpleasant. Tim Parks' introduction to the always well-produced Everyman edition was well done, and shed light on aspects of the novel of which I was not aware.Readers of Lampedusa's The Leopard will likely enjoy The Garden, as both take a literarily mature and nostalgic look at a society which no longer exists.For myself, I enjoyed The Leopard better, but this is to take nothing away from The Garden, which is fine in its own right. ... Read more