Sherry Monahan

I've been trying to figure out who the target audience for this book is--'tis really not obvious. It's got fairly good endnotes, but clearly (and explicitly) isn't intended as Serious History. But I can't imagine any casual reader reading this effort. So I guess the target is folks, like me, who have some interest in either the Earps or the stories surrounding them. But for that crew, it's a pretty weak effort.

That's not to say there's nothing of interest. I learned a few stray facts. But the book's pretty uneven, which is mostly not the author's fault. The problem is that the source material's uneven--so the section on Virge's Allie's really quite good, while the section on Wyatt's Sadie/Josie is mostly a complaint about the subject's efforts to obscure her biography. Most of the others are generally weak, including a couple wives whose documentation barely exists. The main exception is Morg's widow, Louisa, whose letters to her family are quoted at great length; I can't say I enjoyed 'em.

==========

An ebook note: The Kindle edition's annoying. The reader has little control of the formatting--you can change the font size--and someone chose not to build a Kindle-useful index. Darned amateurs. Gigged the book half a star for that.… (más)

This recipe collection includes a brief recipe introduction telling a story or associated memory for each contribution. Readers will likely be disappointed no photographs of the foods grace the pages. Photographs and brief biographies of contributing authors appear after the recipe section and before the credits and index. Many recipes are similar to recipes already in my collection, but there are a few "new-to-me" recipes that sound interesting enough to try. I recognized Sandra Dallas, Stephen Bly, Anne Hillerman, and a couple other contributors, but most recipes came from unknown-to-me authors. Writing tips from some authors are interspersed throughout the book. Western readers who enjoy cooking as well as cookbook collectors will enjoy this volume. I won a copy of the book through a GoodReads giveaway. Winners are encouraged but not required to write reviews.… (más)