Book Description
Pattie was a young fur trapper from Kentucky, vainly seeking his fortune in the American southwest. The Narrative describes his sometimes outrageous exploits in New Mexico, along the Gila River, and in California from 1824 to 1830. He traps beaver, fights Indians, digs for gold, and saves thousands of Mexicans during a smallpox epidemic. This is a sweeping and generally accurate saga of the southwest and California of the time. A classic, and rightfully so. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

What's true and what's not?
I can't recommend this book because its partly or mostly untrue. Pattie, is one is to believe him, traversed nearly every corner of the old West from 1824 to 1830, participated in countless battles with Indians, rescued Mexican maidens, was one of the first Mountain Men to reach California, became a hero when he vaccinated 18,000 Californians against smallpox, explored large parts of the Rocky Mountains, and ended up in a Mexican jail from whence he made his way back to the United States and dictated his story to a journalist.

Pattie tells a good tale and there is an air of authenticity in many of his travels. He probably saw some country out West, and his descriptions are no doubt valuable, but it appears he vastly exaggerated his exploits. The problem with reading the book is that you can't be sure what is truth and what is fiction.

Well, telling whoppers was a tradition among the Mountain Men and Pattie seems to have been a master teller of tall tales -- and smart enough not to make them so tall that they are manifestly untrue. There's enough authentic material about the Mountain Men in the 1820s to ignore this book without loss. If you're captivated by Pattie, the editor, Richard Batman, has written "James Pattie's West" which tries to unravel the truth in this story.

Smallchief ... Read more

Amazon.com
In 1973, affection-starved Jennifer Several takes two lovers: Judd Axelrod, shy prepubescent son of a Hollywood starlet, and Joel Kluge, an ex-Hasidic math genius. As Judd becomes a supernaturally gifted gambler, escaping the bungling of his psychoanalyst, Joel's search for meaning leads him to create a computerized golem, to repair the world of evil. Meanwhile, in Jennifer's womb a genetic anomaly takes root--a child bearing the DNA of its two fathers. Above them all circles the serenely conscious figure of Laika, first dog in space, feeding on the outpourings of the digital age.

Habitus teems with ideas. As if in mimicry of the global village, we spark from one location to another, as the author boldly captures their essence: L.A., Cambridge, Stratford-upon-Avon, even Dachau and Sobibor. The prose leads stimulating forays into a wealth of disparate subjects, deftly illuminating their connections. There's a smattering of kabbalah, some advanced mathematics, even a tract on gambling. Unfortunately, this often occurs at the expense of story. Complex scientific segues frequently force us to disengage and switch drives from "audience" to "student," just as we begin to care about Flint's characters. A book with humor and heart, certainly, but one slightly too concerned about proving its cleverness. --Matthew Baylis, Amazon.co.ukBook Description
James flint lives in London, where he has worked as an editor for Wired UK and mute magazine. This is his first novel. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

a worthy read, but he should have done better research
If you don't mind sifting through all the tedious and pretentious biology and science too much, the little gold nugget passages of wordy ingenuity you will stumble across at one or the other point will make it worth it.

What I have to reproach is that, while his science might be flashily correct, the guy knows nothing about shop-lifting or drugs. The ways he depicts department store thieving and amphetamine consumption are the typically quasi realistic ones of someone who has never done any of it!

Crapitus - Me no Laika
'This book should not be tossed aside lightly, it should be thrown with great force', and there were many times when I felt like doing just that.I don't normally struggle to finish a book, but I did with this one.Apart from the haphazard, disjointed plot, lurching from scene to scene for no apparent reason, the subject matter didn't really appeal, littered as it was with tawdry sexual couplings (and singlings - there was a fair bit of wanking going on, by both the characters and the author).The mystery to me was how Habitus got such uniformly good reviews from likes of New Scientist and Time Out.New Scientist said it was a 'witty often erudite stylish commentary on our pre-millenial condition'.It barely raised a smile with me, and the commentary was more on the state of the author's pot addled grey matter than the human condition, pre-millenial or otherwise.

There were some genuinely good passages from time to time, but all too often we would be zooming off somewhere else to ponder some other bodily function, in dispassionate scientific terms of course, but tasteless nonetheless.This was the problem, the science was generally accurate, but seemed to be designed not to inform or educate, but to show off. All in all, a disappointing read which could only be measurably improved by reducing the constituent pages to their original chemical elements, preferably at a temperature of a thousand degrees Centigrade.

Go Laika!
I haven't even finished the book and I already feel I have to share with you that I really, really love it! Habitus mixes space travel, genetics and the comming of age of the computer with Hollywood and the Holocaust --- and in doing so, it doesn't even seem farfetched. Some of the sentences are mere jewels, I can hardly put this book down (although it is easy to do so, since the chapters are pretty short). It is right up there with Tim Powers' Expiration Date!

Disjointed, poor plot construction and narrative structure
He boasts on his website about not bothering about his studies and being more concerned with "smoking dope" whilst at Oxford. You can see the way it's warped his mind, because 'Habitus' is an incomprehensible read, scripted in a pretentious way which says "hey, look how clever a writer I am".

a review about a book that really messed with my head
James Flints depth of knowledge astounded me in his debut, which upon reading gave me a thorough insight into many different areas of modern humanity, that previously I would have shrugged off as too complicated formy humble brain to comprehend(eg chaos theories,astounding mathematicalproblems and things which will leave your head in a state of thoroughconfusion for weeks afterwards). Althougth the tempo is slow to begin with,the pieces of the book slowly start to fall into place but the events inthe book are widely open to differing personal interpretation which leavesthe reader confused on what the hell the author is trying to get at. Thisodd factor to the book causes it to rise in my opinions as it fits innicely with the direction the book as it has information coming from somany differing fields thus bringing no monotony to its content. Flint'sfresh angle on modern day society gives the reader a rare yet freshperspective to consider as it is so varied but the extra thought that isrequired to comprehend the book might prove to be too much for those notused to this more informative style of book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Introduces Will james to a whole new genertion of readers
Flint wants to be the best cowboy on the rodeo circuit, and this classic Will James western tells the story of a young man determined to try. Flint Spears first appeared in 1938 and this superb reprint will introduce Will james to a whole new genertion of readers! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

It staggers!It weaves like a drunkard! And oh! the lunacy! Plus pedantry!A Rabelaisian homage well worth the while!
Combining prequel and aspects of similarity with The Philosophical Strangler, "Forward the Mage" is full of Rabelaisian nonsense that is certain to confuse and befuddle the average reader, who will likely then put down the book and exclaim "what nonsense! This is a terrible book! what is it even ABOUT!?!" and that is where their problem arises!The book really isn't ABOUT anything, outside of a loosely held overall plot about the Rap Sheet, that winds its way through the book like a single glinting thread of gold through a cliff of limestone being washed by the ocean.Why do books always have to be "about" something?Why not just sit back and enjoy the lunacy?

The focus bounces back and forth between Zulkeh, sorcerer and pedant, and his apprentice, the dwarf Sheylid; and Benvenuti Sfondrati-Piccolomini, an artist, as he meets, travels with and falls in love with Gwendolyn Greyboard - THE Greyboar's sister, of whom we hear in "The Philosophical Strangler" and even meet there toward the end of that book.And, to make matters yet more entertaining, the book is purportedly written by a louse - yes, a humble louse!Living upon none other than Sheylid himself.

As is obvious from the above, I rather liked the book.I think it will appeal to anyone with a good sense of nonsensical humour (those who enjoy Monty Python, Terry Pratchett, etc.) and who are willing to suspend reality to a fine breaking point and just have fun.Don't miss it, if I have just described you!

A Lesser, but Worthwhile, Effort
This piece is a companion to THE PHILOSPHICAL STRANGLER. It is a sequel in that it was written after the original but the story line takes place before that of the original book. It is also a collaboration and differences can be seen.

The biggest difference to me was the higher level of buffoonery. The characters seem less intelligent than in the original as they wander their way through this magical universe.

The wandering in this story is on the part of two principal characters. One is the mage who was called in to interpret the dream of a king. The king goes mad right after hearing what the mage has to say and said mage embarks on a quest to find out who is trying to thwart him.

The second wanderer is the artist, Benvenuti, from the original book. Since he was supposed to be hired by the mad king, he now has nothing better to do than wander around looking for the wizard who drove his patron mad. Eventually the two link up and set off on a greater quest.

This story is not as interesting as the original nor are the characters as likeable. Still, it is an enjoyable read and well worth the time.

Strange but true
Like one reviewer mentioned below, this book is not for the squeamish. My friend and I got a kick out of it and we are both die-hard fantasy lovers (and not very old, either.) However, those to whom Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Princess Bride do not appeal completely may wish to avoid this book.

That being said, this book contains what every good book does: truth. A whole lot of it. Without spoiling anything, the lunatic's advice to Benvenuti in the last line? "Things change." How often does our modern society wish that things didn't change and get washed over by it?

Along the same lines, verbosity is the bane of many readers, and yet the writers go at length to use it (so effectively, I think) to parody the notion itself.

In store for dedicated readers are an uproarious Civil War (in the Dog House,a super-"socialist" city), the completely crazy wizard, and the very human and sane lunatic. (Don't ask me how they did it: the lunatic, Wolfgang, has better insight into the world than most so-called philosophical books do.)

Great, great fun. My friend and I still stage Civil Wars every now and again. (We actually invented a form of government where every other state in the nation controls every state's affairs but its own, inspired by Forward the Mage)

This is the book that got me to really love Flint
I actually read this before I read "The Philosophical Strangler," and I liked it more. This was probably the book that got me to realize I should start collecting Flint books.

This was also the book that had me laughing out loud in the library. And again. And again. Perhaps it's because I have the background to appreciate it, as another reviewer mentioned, but the points of view are remarkably well done throughout the whole book and the various historical, social, etc references hilarious in context.

I firmly believe that if you are a big fan of dry humor, meta-humor, and absurdist humor, this will be one of your favorite books.

Pretentious , tries too hard to be funny
Boring tripe. Tries much too hard to be ‘cute’.
Plot is non existent. Characters are much too
thin to be even one dimensional. You can
read this piece of c**p free online at BAEN
and that’s too much of a price to pay. AVOID
this at all costs. Read:
“The Compleat Enchanter:
The Magical Misadventures of Harold Shea”
by L. Sprague de Camp, Fletcher Pratt

Tales of the Dying Earth by Jack Vance

Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat by Ernest Bramah

The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance by E. R. Eddison ... Read more

Book Description
The Flint Hills are my home country, the land that nurtured my life and nourished my soul. My roots here are as deep as those of bluestem grass in black-soil bottomland. . . . I was reared among cattle and horses, ranchers and cowboys, pasture work and rodeos, and that is the Hills that I know and these are the stories I've heard.--Jim Hoy, from the Introduction

The Flint Hills are America's last tallgrass prairie, a green enclave set in the midst of the farmland of eastern Kansas. Known as the home of the Big Beef Steer, these rugged hills have produced exemplary cowboys-both the ranch and rodeo varieties-whose hard work has given them plenty of material for equally good stories.

Jim Hoy grew up in the Flint Hills on a ranch at Cassoday that's been in his family for five generations and boasts roots "as deep as those of bluestem grass in black-soil bottomland." He now draws on this area's rich cowboy lore-as well as on his own experience working cattle, breaking horses, and rodeoing-to write a folk history of the Flint Hills spanning a century and a half.

Hoy blends history, folklore, and memoir to conjure for readers the tallgrass prairies of his boyhood in a book that richly recalls the ranching life and the people who lived it. Here are cowboys and outlaws, rodeo stars and runaway horses, ordinary folks and the stuff of legends. Hoy introduces readers to the likes of Lou Hart, a top hand with the Crocker Brothers from 1906 to1910, whose poetic paean to ranch life circulated orally for fifty years before seeing print. And he tracks down the legend of Bud Gillette, considered by his neighbors the world's fastest man until he fell in with an unscrupulous promoter. He even unravels the mystery of a lone grave supposed to be that of the first cowboy in the Flint Hills.

Hoy also explains why a good horse makes up for having to work with exasperating cattle-and why not all horses are created (or trained) equal. And he traces Flint Hills cattle culture from the days of the trail drive through the railroad years to today's trucking era, with most railroad stockyards torn down and only one section house left standing.

Writes Hoy, "I feed on the stories of the Hills and the characters who tell them as the cattle feed on the grasses." His love of the land shines throughout a book so real that readers will swear they hear the clickof horseshoes on flint rock with every turn of the page. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Truly Authentic Writing
Flint Hills Cowboys by James F. Hoy places you on the saddle of a horse loping through the historic Flint Hills of Kansas.Mr. Hoy himself grew up in the Hills and was raised working cattle alongside some of the best cowboys the region has reared.Chock-full of authentic and personal stories, the reader continually feels like one of the cowboys living the exciting, and difficult, life of a Flint Hills Cowboy.
The book both informs and delights.Mr. Hoy lacks pretentiousness and his writing is accessible.After completing the book, it was obvious to me that he desires only one thing: to share his love and passion for the Flint Hills of Kansas and all the colorful and honorable people who dwell there.

A superbly presented compendium of action, humor, lore, and history
Flint Hills Cowboys: Tales Of The Tallgrass Prairie by Jim Hoy (Professor of English and Director of the Center for Great Plains Studies at Emporia State University) is the engaging combination of personal memories, frontier history, and folklore tales about the prairie lands of the Flint Hills country of eastern Kansas. A remarkable and inherently fascinating anthology of stories and anecdotes of the rodeo, ranching, ranch hands, and working with stubborn cattle and contrary horses, Flint Hills Cowboys reflects upon a half-century of life and times in the Flint Hills. As a superbly presented compendium of action, humor, lore, and history, Jim Hoy's Flint Hills Cowboys is very strongly recommended and entertaining reading for all anyone with an interest in the landscape, people and history of the Flint Hills country.
... Read more

Book Description
An Englishman writes letters home describing America as he sees it, traveling from the East Coast into the Ohio River Valley. Discusses American life: the Constitution; slavery; business and manufacturing; character in general. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Gripping, funny, interesting
I love this book. Very unusual & hard to categorise.It is a sort of non-fictional novel.It is structured like a quest, like a computer adventure, a search for father. It has a who-done-it feel. It even has a love interest that leaves me wanting to shout advice as the Asperers protagonist is clumsily devoid of skills in this area. It has touching moments. Great turns of phrase in a Tim Robbins way.

I also liked Habitus, Flint's forst novel.I imagine it would appeal to people who like nery novels like Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. ... Read more

Product Description
Classic Western Tales by Will James. TITLES INCLUDED In the Saddle with Uncle Bill; Look-See with Unble Bill; Uncle Bill, A Tale of Two Kids and a Cowboy;Flint Spears, Cowboy Rodeo Contestant Will James was born Joseph Ernest Nephtali Dufault in the province of Quebec on June 6, 1892. He left home as a teenager to live out his dream of becoming a cowboy in the American West. James went on to write and illustrate twenty-four books and numerous magazine articles about horses, cowboying, and the West. His works consistently captured the imagination of the public, earning him the nickname "the Pied Piper of the West." He died in 1942 at the age of fifty. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Don't Write Off This Book So Quickly!
Indeed, much of this tale is apparently not true. The editor (Richard Batman) makes this clear from the get-go, and points out the most obvious whoppers with plenty of footnotes and clarifications. He also tells you that the publisher, Timothy Flint, admitted to adding some "topographical illustrations," whatever that means. As you read it, you can inherently sense when the authorship changes, since Pattie's writing style seems to involve an excessive use of commas.

So, what is the value of this book? Regardless of historical accuracy, this is still a reprint of a book that came out in 1831. That in itself gives it historical value, whether fact or fiction. The scenery, the sentiments, the lifestyle - they are all authentic to their time, and offer a window to the past from some primary source, whomever that may be. The relationships between the whites and the Indians are typical of any of the "mountain man" books you may choose to read, which may be more true than this. However I found the interactions between the Americans and the Spanish-Mexicans much more revealing and intriguing.The last third of the book, which depicts Pattie's experiences in California (with many events confirmed by other sources), is more personal, and at times heartbreaking. Whether or not he "saved" the population with smallpox vaccine is not half as interesting as his descriptions of the California missions he visited up the coast. As a Californian, I was pleased to read references to the La Brea Tar Pits, and amused to learn that two priests had robbed the St. Buenaventura mission of silver and gold prior to Pattie's arrival.

I would recommend this book for readers who enjoy Mountain Man lore, Southwest/California history, or 19th century "historical" literature. (This book also contains several delightful original illustrations of a somewhat primitive style, reminiscent of Revolutionary Era artwork.)

What's true and what's not?
I can't recommend this book because its partly or mostly untrue. Pattie, is one is to believe him, traversed nearly every corner of the old West from 1824 to 1830, participated in countless battles with Indians, rescued Mexican maidens, was one of the first Mountain Men to reach California, became a hero when he vaccinated 18,000 Californians against smallpox, explored large parts of the Rocky Mountains, and ended up in a Mexican jail from whence he made his way back to the United States and dictated his story to a journalist.

Pattie tells a good tale and there is an air of authenticity in many of his travels.He probably saw some country out West, and some of his descriptions are no doubt valuable, but it appears he vastly exaggerated his exploits.The problem with reading the book is that you can't be sure what is truth and what is fiction.

Well, telling whoppers was a tradition among the Mountain Men and Pattie seems to have been a master teller of tall tales -- and smart enough not to make them so tall that they are manifestly untrue. There's enough authentic material about the Mountain Men in the 1820s to ignore this book without loss. If you're captivated by Pattie, the editor, Richard Batman, has written "James Pattie's West" which tries to unravel the truth in this story.

Smallchief ... Read more

Book Description
In an effort to understand British-Papal relations during the nineteenth century, James Flint examines the diplomatic relations between Great Britain and the Holy See during the first Russell ministry of 1846-1852.Earlier studies often blame the ministry's failure to establish relations with Pope Pius IX on assorted British blunders, either by ministers or (in a crucial instance) by the House of Lords. But Flint's extensive research in the Vatican archives finds that even the most skillful British campaign would have found it difficult to set up diplomatic relations that, for the most part, the Papal government did not want.

This book is the first complete study of this diplomatic incident and of its implications for understanding the long history of unease between Great Britain and the Holy See. Flint explains that the Roman Curia rightly feared that an accredited British diplomat might demand unwelcome reforms within the Papal States, or even act in a way inimical to the Pope's temporal power. Of great concern was that a British mission in Rome might pressure the Holy See to use its authority to make Catholic Ireland more amenable to British rule.

Throughout the book, Flint is careful to define Ireland's role as the unspoken third party in the discussion. Determined not to see their church used as a bargaining chip, the more nationalistic bishops and the officials of the Irish College in Rome both kept a wary eye upon British activity and made their views known to the Roman authorities. The Potato Famine, the 1848 Revolutions, and the Papal Aggression uproar all contributed to a growing impasse that left the Papal and British governments further apart when the Russell ministry left office than when it entered. ... Read more

Book Description
This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature. ... Read more