Customer Reviews

Lizards on the Mantel, Burros at the Door: A Big Bend Memoir

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was entertaining and fun to read. It was very well written and I found it difficult to put down. I would recommend it to everyone. A delightful story!

This book is a great read about the conditions in the Big Bend region of West Texas. Full of anecdotes and stories, the book is entertaining and amusing, as well as historical. I enjoyed the book enough to give it as a gift.

This was an very nicely written book. A fun read

This book was a delightful walk through the past. It was a very enjoyable read and a wonderful opportunity to understand and appreciate life in the Big Bend during the 1940's. It was refreshing to read about the experiences of a family as average as my own,living in such unique circumstances. Their struggles and triumphs give a special insight into the lives of those who pioneered West Texas.

I could imagine myself walking alongside them as they went through some of their experiences. A great read!

What a surprise, this little book! I live near the Park, and have visited 100's of times. Etta's memoirs have etched insightful information on a newly cut facet that I had not before appreciated. Staying in the Basin and driving to all the places she has mentioned will now have a much deeper meaning for me. It is an easy read for the most part, and then there are those occasional philosophical bombs that go much deeper, making the book a true gem. Being an avid Edward Abbey fan and lifetime desert rat, I highly recommend this book for the wisdom and joy it shares.

It was interesting to experience the early Big Bend daysthrough one of the original pioneers. I altogether enjoyed it.

The adventure of the entirely different life style than what the family came from was very interesting. It reflects how much more accepting of the husbands choice the wife was sixty years ago. It also pointed out how we do not recognize benefits until we do not have them.

I haven't started this book yet, but I have been coming to this area for over 30 years and have had my own place here for five years. I love the area and the pull of this place makes you want to know more about the people who first came here. It can be a rough place even now but to those who were here in the 30's and before, I give my sincere admiration.

This book was written about a pioneering woman named Etta Koch who lived in Big Bend and West Texas most of her adult life. Written by her and her daughter from diaries and faded memories, the book describes the West Texas life after World War II.

Unfortunately, the book contains mostly mundane anecdotes about day-to-day frontier life. While a little of this is essential, you never really get an understanding for the land and culture in Big Bend. Just when you encounter a poignant passage about say, flooding arroyos, it's interrupted by an immediate unrelated occurrence such as "I stopped to scratch an itch" or "Betsy started fidgeting in her seat".

Absent were the author's opinions such as "Big Bend could really use more protection/residents/industry/whatever". Instead you're given, "I'm afraid to have my kids wade in the water hole". It was frustrating.