Average customer rating:
- Good vs. Evil in Copland
- 5 STAR IS TOO LOW GIVE IT A 10
- Great book
- Renegade ex-cops take on drug queen
- disappointing
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Apaches
Lorenzo Carcaterra
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
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Binding: Hardcover
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Sleepers
ASIN: 0345401018
Release Date: 1997-07-21 |
Book Description
Remember these names: Boomer. Dead-Eye. Pins. Geronimo. Reverend Jim. Mrs. Columbo. They were great cops. The best cops. But they are cops no more.
Now they are apaches--a renegade unit working on their own.
With this novel, the author of the stunning #1 bestseller
Sleepers returns to the mean streets he knows so well. And in doing so, he has written his most explosive, electrifying, and startling book yet. It is the early 1980s. Crack cocaine has made its devastating appearance. Violence is escalating and so is an unnerving lack of morality. Things are happening that have never happened before.
One of those things is the brutal kidnapping of an innocent 12-year-old girl. But the kidnapper has made a deadly mistake. He has brought Boomer Frontierie back to life, back to the streets. And back into action. A New York City detective forced to retire after being wounded in a drug bust, Boomer thirsts to return to the life he loved--the life of a cop. When an old friend turns to him for help, Boomer has the excuse he needs. And when the simple kidnapping turns into something more, something much more evil, even more horrifying, Boomer realizes that he can once again find a way to serve justice.
There are others like Boomer. Cops who can no longer be cops. He brings them together, bringing them back to life as well. Even as they face almost certain death.
Apaches is the story of an extraordinary band of cops. Some might call them criminals. Some might call them heroes. But theirs is a world where good is always shadowed by bad, where right is almost indecipherable from wrong, and where the living can, within mere moments, cross over to the world of the dead.
Lorenzo Carcaterra has written the most exciting novel of the year. Like
Sleepers, it is a book that will never be forgotten.
Customer Reviews:
Good vs. Evil in Copland.......2007-01-19
This is one of the few books I've read that actually could have been longer and would have been a much better book for it. The premise of the story is quite simple and one that has been done in the movies and TV before, but Lorenzo Carcaterra does it quite well.
The book focuses on six ex-cops,Boomer,Dead-Eye, Pins, Geronimo,Reverand Jim, and Mrs. Columbo. All six had different areas of expertise in the police department and all are retired from the police force because of injuries or trauma suffered from their going above and beyond the call of duty.
This group is brought together in their attempt to halt a drug-smuggling ring that uses dead babies (ugh-talk about evil) to transport illicit narcotics.
The action in this book is rapid-fire,and Lorenzo Carcaterra describes the police procedures and the streets with surfire certainty. My only complaint with this novel was the lack of effort put into developing what should have been very memorable characters. The backbone of this novel is the group of renegade ex-cops who christian themselves Apaches and they just were not fleshed out enough. As one reviewer stated, I found myself having to flip back through the book to remember which person had which specialty.
However by the end of this book, it all comes together with a bang-and you will find yourself tearing through the last 50 or so pages at breakneck speed. As other reviewers have stated the writing is not first class and the characters are a bit cliched but you really don't care. If Lorenzo Caracterra had put a little more development into the characters in the first part of the book it would have been a four to five star novel. With the tremendous climax though I find myself anxiously awaiting the sequel.
5 STAR IS TOO LOW GIVE IT A 10.......2006-01-03
Do you ever wish that the scumbags of this world would disappear or you could get rid of them. The child molestors of this world. This book tells it all my thanks to the officers and policemen and women who keep them off the street. I loved this book. If it is wrote for movie can't wait to see it. i probably will watch it 5 times just like i did Rambo. i had no trouble with the characters are there roles in the book. I have the hardback edition it will go on my bookshelves for a reread. it is good!!!!
Great book .......2005-02-17
This is an above average book that keeps readers on the edge of their seats until they're done, then makes them want more! Mr. Carcaterra did an outstanding job on this book. This book puts you into the eyes of a group of renegade retired cops that are going up against the biggest drug Queen in the US. This nailbiting adventure should be required reading in English classes.
Renegade ex-cops take on drug queen.......2003-04-20
The plot is simple and yet exciting. A gang--cadre--team--of six of NYPD's best cops, all disabled in the course of duty, come together with a restraunteur who has links to the mob in order to bring down the Queen Bee of all drug lords (ladies?).
Each of the six protagonists has a rich and detailed past, and we are introduced to them individually in depth before the main action begins. Then Boomer and Dead-Eye (yes, everybody has a nickname) take on a hopeless case and emerge, not only victorious, but feeling alive because they are COPS again. The rest of the group joins them, and Boomer outlines the plan. They will defeat the Empress of evil, a drug dealer so bad, her only good point is that she pays her gym bill on time.
From the moment our team forms, the plot moves lightening fast to its conclusion. The action is great, the detail is satisfying, the dialogue snappy. The characters have their own story, each credulous, each powerful.
Why only three stars? I had to keep flipping back to the beginning chapters to see which of the six former cops had which specialty. Who was the bomb specialist? Flip back and look. Who's the electronics expert? Flip. You get the picture. I loved them all individually, but I would have loved the novel more if only two or three of the characters had been detailed, and the rest just outlined for me.
Even so, the drama unfolds so swiftly, I still recommend this book to anyone who loves a dark, action-filled tale of good versus evil. Do your friends read romances? Okay, don't tell them what happens, they won't sleep at night. But get out the flashlight--you'll be up reading.
disappointing.......2002-12-12
This is a big disappointment coming from the author of Sleepers. The characters are too broadly drawn, and the situations are all too familiar, making it pale in comparison to Brian Garfield's Death Wish or Andrew Vachss' Burke novels.
Amazon.com
Nearly a decade after leaving professional basketball, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar decided to return to the sport he loved by becoming the assistant coach of the Alchesay Falcons--a high school team composed mostly of White Mountain Apaches. But in A Season on the Reservation, he may have actually learned more than he taught.
An outsider at the beginning, Abdul-Jabbar found ways to learn more about his athletes and the tribe. He discovered cultural traditions that made it difficult to coach the team (discomfort at being singled out for criticism, for example) and became more sensitive to the special challenges faced by young Native Americans. As Abdul-Jabbar notes, by working with the students he moved from a historical appreciation for the White Mountain Apaches as a people to an understanding of them as individuals. That said, Abdul-Jabbar can't quite seem to shake his romantic image of the young Apaches: "Sometimes I would glance his way and imagine him sitting astride a paint pony two hundred years earlier, ready to ride off into the mountains and hunt."
Through his players, Abdul-Jabbar finds himself getting caught up in the competition--his passion for basketball obviously rekindled. Readers may find the end of the Falcons' season rather abrupt, but perhaps that's the nature of high school sports. They also may be a bit put off by Abdul-Jabbar's occasional arrogance, especially when talking about his professional days ("The 1985 Lakers would have taken [Jordan's Bulls] in a championship series.") or when dissing later NBA stars such as Shaq ("He's publicly referred to the way I used to play as 'old man's basketball,' which it may have been, but it earned me six more rings than he's got so far."). Overall, however, A Season on the Reservation is infused with an obvious love of the White Mountain Apaches, their land, and the sport of basketball. --Sunny Delaney
Book Description
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has always been fascinated by history-nineteenth-century American history in particular. Tired of L.A., restless and looking for new adventure, challenge, and discovery, he decides to go live among the Apaches he's read about.
He encounters a complex reality. The kids on the Alchesay Falcons team don't easily embrace what he's trying to teach them on the court. Gradually they begin to learn from him as he begins to learn from them. He teaches them to push out of their comfort zone and try new things, both in sports and in life. They give him something he didn't quite expect: a way to reconnect with his passion for basketball.
This is a story about the qualities we have in common and the things that still divide us in terms of race, culture, and history. Along the way, we get to know the kids, the coaches, the town of Whiteriver and Alchesay High, the tribe-but most of all, we get closer to Kareem, a man well into middle age who wants to pass along his knowledge and experience in basketball and life. Kareem gives something back, and in so doing receives more than he ever imagined.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting Story.......2004-12-29
This book is a record of Abdul-Jabbar's first season as a basketball coach. When Abdul-Jabbar's mother died, he became quite distraught and didn't know what to do with himself. One of his friends at the White Mountain Apache reservation in Arizona invited him to come to the reservation to try out coaching by working with the high school basketball team on the reservation for a season. Abdul-Jabbar found the invitation attractive for a number of reasons, and decided to give it a go. Once on the reservation, he had to learn not only how to coach rather than play basketball, but he also found himself trying to lead teenagers who weren't always looking for his directions, all while operating in an unfamiliar culture.
After reading the first chapter of the book, I stopped to re-examine the title and cover page to find out who the ghost writer was. After all, most books by sports figures are "told to" rather than written, especially books whose prose flows as well as this one. I was surprised to find that this volume had no ghost writer listed at all. As I read further along in the book, the reason became clear-unlike many other sports figures, Abdul-Jabbar has a number of academic interests and writes quite well. In reading this book, one finds that Abdul-Jabbar is a thinker, a person who brings his analytical skills to problems and new situations. He tries hard to get kids to appreciate the mental aspects of playing basketball. He is quick to pick up on the cultural characteristics that make the Apache kids react differently than other kids in mainstream America. He is occasionally carried away with emotion at games, but afterwards analyzes his inappropriate actions and chalks them up to lessons learned about coaching. Abdul-Jabbar explains how he happened to make a connection with the reservation, describes the kids on the team and the other coaches, and recounts hoop-by-hoop stories of several key games. In a few places, the tale bogs down a little in detail, but overall, it's well written and very enjoyable to read.
An Honest Look at the Man and his Passions.......2002-02-05
The honesty with which Kareem Abdul-Jabar's "A Season On The Reservation" is written is quite refreshing. In this age of spin control, especially when it comes to athletes and other public figures, it's nice to see a high-profile individual such as Mr. Abdul-Jabar share his insights and interactions with no noticeable smoke or mirrors. He begins his journey to an Apache reservation with hopes of uncovering some history (Mr. Abdul-Jabar has a fascination with Native-American history) and of sharing his wealth of basketball knowledge with the resident high school basketball squad. There are many bumps in the road, though, and "A Season On The Reservation" speaks eloquently about the cultural differences Mr. Abdul-Jabar encounters when dealing with the Native-American basketball players. They are not comfortable being singled out for criticism and they are not necesarily open to learning techniques that may make them better players. Over the course of the book, however, they learn from Mr. Abdul-Jabar and he, in turn, learns from them. One scene in particular, a confrontation with a player named Tony, is amazingly honest. "A Season On The Reservation" paints Mr. Abul-Jabar as a fellow human being, not a sculpture standing on a pedestal. The history lessons in the book, often drawing a parallel between Native Americans and African Americans, get a bit cumbersome occassionally, but "A Season On The Reservation" is well worth the cover price thank to its honest approach.
Very good book!.......2002-02-03
This book was very interesting and was filled with a lot of information in many ways. Abdul-Jabbar told us the history of the surroundings, the Apache tribe, and also told of his daily challenges and joys.
Call Him Coach.......2000-08-07
After being frustrated in his attempts at beginning a coaching career at either the collegiate or professional level, circumstances led the NBA's all-time leading scorer to an Apache reservation in Arizona where he became the assistant coach of the boys high school basketball team. In addition to relating the chronology of that season, Kareem also provides a fair amount of history while he's at it, and offers more of himself than he typically did during interviews throughout his playing career. As might be expected, Kareem gained as much from his year on the reservation as his players did.
Excellent, thoughtful book.......2000-08-04
Kareem tries to impart the difficulties of introducing a western cultural ideal to a group of young men that are trying to keep their own cultural ideals intact while at the same time competing within the majority culture. This book reflects Kareem's own difficulties in aculturation, and his conflicts in trying to impart his basketball culture on another group. This is a thoughtful though imperfect work, less about basketball than about the difficulties of blending different people in the world today.
Book Description
Originally published over 100 years ago, LIFE AMONG THE APACHES is John Cremony?s absorbing eyewitness description of pre-reservation Apache life and culture. Through his years in the military Cremony fought in the war with Mexico and participated in many Indian campaigns in the southwest deserts. In 1848 he served as Spanish interpreter for the U. S. ? Mexico Boundary Commission where he learned to speak Apache and subsequently wrote a glossary and grammar of the language. Although he wrote this book with the intent to encourage more effective military suppression of the intimidating Apaches, this historical document has all of the fast-paced action and excitement of a Wild West novel.
Customer Reviews:
Obviously Biased.......2006-01-04
Cremony was known to gloat and fictionalize his stories. And as noted in the book description, Cremony's main intent was to further suppress those who were here in America before himself, in particular the Apaches. If you read this book, also read Cochise by Ed Sweeney and Mangas Coloradas to get a view from both sides of the fence.
Superb .......2005-12-10
Here is what I would call the perfect antidote to the rampant and insane Politically Correct Dogma that is now being relentlessly promoted as "FACT" concerning the history of the Western Frontier. Cremony dealt with the Apache during their "guerilla phase" ( a time when their numbers had been reduced too low due to being slaughtered by Comanches for them to offer any head-to-head battle with enemy forces ). The author, a member of the famed California Volunteers, dealth with ( and knew ) chiefs like Delgadito, Mangas Coloradas, Cochise, and other notables personally. He gives great details of his struggles with them and of their habits in war and in confinement BEFORE reservations were actually established.
Furthermore, he gives good details concerning his friendships with some Apaches and of their psychological make-up and motivations, as well as their advancement over other tribes in terms of understanding a decimal system in their concept of mathematics. Cremony offers details on their hunting and food-gathering tactics and habits, and he TRUTHFULLY AND ACCURATELY recommends actions be taken against them in order to spare the settlers of the region harm and distress AT A TIME BEFORE SETTLERS BEGAN MOVING INTO THE SOUTHWEST. If Cremony's recomendations had been taken seriously by Washington, the entire Southwest would have been spared the wide-spread and tragic events that took place long after Cremony had retired to California. Countless lives could have been spared. The economic picture of New Mexico, Arizona, and west Texas would have been much brighter much sooner. The whole sorry, sordid, winding series of events filled with brutality, torture, mutilation, and butchery could have been avoided.
This is an absolutely wonderful book of the "couldn't put it down" variety. It utterly destroys the Politically Correct ideal which holds the American Indian as some sort of Red Aristocrat or Feathered Philosopher/Sage who was so hard done by. A perfect antidote to the drek spewed out by leftist "educators" and pseudo-historians by an eye-witness who was THERE.
Get this book whatever you do! Also, get THREE YEARS AMONG THE COMANCHES and SCALP DANCE. They're also available right here at amazon.com and they're just as good as this one is!
Apache Through the Eyes of a Calvary Man.......2005-12-01
Though this book was written well over a hundred year ago by a dedicated American calvary man, I couldn't help but be struck by the amazing relevance of fighting terror to today's current events!
Many of Mr. Cremony's accounts of Indian terror are very similiar to the war we are fighting today. Including his lamenting of the huge cost the American government was spending to fight the Indian wars! Sound familiar about the war on terror today???
Unbeknownst to Mr. Cremony at that time also, the character of the Apaches as he described them are in many ways very similiar to the tactics and character of terrorist today. (This is not to say the Apache were terrorist, I just find the similiarities remarkable). One would think some of the things learned in his book could certainly be applied today.
There is also much praise of the physical prowess, preserverance, and cunning of the Apache. If what he writes is true, I have come to respect the prowess of the Apache as nearly unmatched! There is even one amazing story of an Apache who took on a rampaging buffalo armed only with his large knife.
My only regret with this book is he did not dwelve into the Apache diet enough. It was the perfect time to take a scientific look at their diet from this fading, but very active tribe. One gets the sense that he really didn't care, or didn't bother to write much more about it. He was after all, a tactical soldier, not a dietician. And what he writes about their diet certainly reflects that. I believe much precious knowledge was lost.
One may not always have to read Spartan-Greek wars book to learn about fighting wars. (As if reading classics alludes one to some kind of sophistication.) A good simple cowboy-indian book may be all you need.
I might add his story is also a good Western read when most of America's West was a no-man's land. Like any good life story it tells much more than the title suggest. It truly was another era that we will never see again.
Fascinating and Authentic.......2002-01-15
Life Among The Apaches is one of the most interesting and fascinating historical nonfiction works that I have ever come across. It's a first-hand account of John C. Cremony's personal adventures with Apache indians in the latter part of the 19th century, in particular the Chiricahua Apaches. I've never come across a better or more explanatory or descriptive account of Apache peoples, culture, or way of life in the 1800's than in Life Among The Apaches.
This book was given to me as a present some years ago, and it has proven to be one of the most authentic Native American historical pieces of literature that has ever been abridged.
A Mixture of Fact & Fiction.......2001-03-27
Cremony's book inspired many a Hollywood screenwriter, and for years his words have been taken as gospel. As a writer who lives in the Southwest, I have visited some of the important locations and began to doubt his veracity. Scholars have since shown that Cremony was habitually inflating his own importance and his knowledge of Apache ways and history. Of particular note are his highly fictionalized accounts of the life of Mangas Coloradas -- a man far more important to history than Cremony. But this work remains an extremely telling document of a time and place -- and all the strange attitudes that made up "white" perceptions.
Customer Reviews:
Victorio and the Mimbres Apaches.......2006-02-24
As an interested reader and student of Apache history, I couldn't pass up reading the reviews on books by Dan L. Thrapp. One that caught my attention was that written by Kosto Barry Granlund of New York. Where is this guy coming from? Dan Thrapp's works are a MUST for anyone interested in a solid understanding of the Apaches and their wars. Mr. Granlund's diatribe is without basis and so off the mark that it is not worth discussing. For an accurate assessment, one must read Ed Sweeney's balanced response.
Dan Thrapp broke new ground and set the standard in researching the Indian wars. In doing so, he spawned a new generation of researcher/writers who will readily acknowledge the man's greatness. Dan Thrapp not only wrote about Apaches, but also compiled and authored the highly touted and indispensable four-volume, Encyclopedia Of Frontier Biography. I highly recommend all of Mr. Thrapp's books.
Classic biography of a great Apache chief.......2006-02-21
Dan Thrapp, who passed away in 1994, remains the preeminent Apache historian of the twentieth century. The former religious editor of the Los Angeles Times, Dan became interested in the American West, particularly the Apaches, in the early 1950s. He faced a daunting challenge. Unlike other Indian tribes, the Apache story had not been told. What was known looked like a puzzle with its frame formed but without the interlocking pieces. Thrapp quickly realized there was a treasure chest of unpublished material from Western historical societies and the National Archives that no one had mined. The fruits of this research led to books that advanced our knowledge by light years over what had been written: Al Sieber: Chief of Scouts (1964), Conquest of Apacheria, (1967), and Victorio and the Mimbres Apaches, (1974). These peerless works provided interested readers with new information about the Apaches' struggle to survive against overwhelming odds. And, although in print for over forty years, each has stood the test of time.
Dan Thrapp was honest and objective about the frontier characters whom he wrote about-whether Indian, American, or Mexican. Ethnicity did not matter. He sympathized with Apaches who fought to preserve their cultural identity and ancestral homelands. And he was partial to men of integrity and honor. He was not an Apache "wanna-be," though he obviously admired many of the Chiricahua Apache leaders during the period he wrote about. He clearly respected Cochise, Victorio, and Juh; he had little respect, however, for Geronimo, who has become the symbolic leader of the small band that surrendered in 1886. He made no apologies for his opinion.
One critic sites Dan's treatment of Geronimo to disparage his entire body of works. He claims that comments made by Asa Daklugie, a relative of Geronimo, who was the main source of Eve Ball in her book Indeh, as proof that the Chiricahuas take issue with Thrapp's view of Geronimo. Yet Asa Daklugie does not speak for all Chiricahuas in his remarks that glorify and exaggerate Geronimo's skills, and influence. In fact, the majority of those Apaches who knew and rode with Geronimo did not share Daklugie's sentiments. Many blamed him for their twenty-eight years as Prisoners-of-War.
It might be appropriate to point out that Morris Opler, the foremost Apache anthropologist of the twentieth century, agreed wholeheartedly with Thrapp. Opler had interviewed two hundred Chiricahuas on the Mescalero Reservation in the early 1930s. Of these, many had served as scouts against Geronimo during the final outbreak, and thus had little sympathy for him. Opler concluded that "no Chiricahua of his general age group who had been in engagements with him, represented him to me as a particularly able or effective fighter." In an article that Opler published in 1948, he expanded on his feelings: "Geronimo was not a tribal chief or leader. Moreover, he was not a particularly outstanding warrior." Two of Opler's principal informants were Perico (Geronimo's second cousin who was with him at the final surrender) and Chatto. Perico is quoted as saying that "he and the other warriors did all the fighting while Geronimo stayed behind." And Chatto, who led the Chiricahua scouts against Geronimo in the 1885-86 campaign, said: "I have known Geronimo my whole life and I can't say anything good about him." Even Chihuahua and Ulzana, two fearless Chiricahua warriors, had vowed to kill Geronimo because he "had told [us] so many lies" to persuade them to leave the reservation in the final outbreak. Geronimo avoided their wrath by fleeing before they got to his camp. Lt. Britton Davis, the Chiricahuas' agent in 1884-85, saw Geronimo often during this time. He characterized him as a "thoroughly vicious, intractable, and treacherous man. His only redeeming traits were courage and determination. His word, no matter how earnestly pledged, was worthless."
Here we have the opinions of the foremost Apache anthropologist, the American military officer who knew Geronimo the best, and the statements of four prominent Chiricahuas of the 1880s (associates of Geronimo) who agreed completely with Dan Thrapp. Their views certainly deserve the same consideration as Daklugie, who was a teenager at the time of the last outbreak. He was with Geronimo for less than three of the eighteen months of hostilities. Daklugie was too young to have fought during the Apache Wars. During the reservation years, he was not a chief in the traditional manner and never had much of a following.
Like all of Dan Thrapp's books, Victorio and the Mimbres Apaches is a well researched study of one of America's greatest Native American leader--Victorio. In 1877 Apache Indian Agent John Clum removed Victorio and his people from their ancestral homelands in New Mexico to the barren San Carlos Reservation in Arizona. Victorio vowed to return to his country as soon as possible. He made good on that vow, then waged a guerrilla war against Americans and Mexicans while the government debated setting aside a reservation in Victorio's homeland. Unfortunately for all concerned, the bureaucracy in Washington had no idea what was best for the Apaches. Thrapp recites the forces and events that drove Victorio to fight for a reservation in his country. Though he tells the story from both sides, he clearly sympathizes with Victorio as he faced the challenges, obstacles, and forces that eventually drove him to his fate. This is one of the finest biographies of an Indian leader.
Ed Sweeney, author of Cochise: Chiricahua Apache Chief, and Mangas Coloradas: Chief of the Chiricahua Apaches.
Classic.......2006-02-10
The late Dan Thrapp wrote many books on Southwestern U.S. and Apache history (and a wonderful novel about Fletcher Christian, the chief mutineer of the H.M.S. Bounty), all of which have the rare distinction of being modern classics. Thrapp was a meticulous researcher and a fine prose stylist -- another rare combination. VICTORIO is among his best books.
Classic Works.......2006-02-06
I have all of Dan Thrapp's books in hardcover, purchasing them as they were published, yes I'm that old. I'm not going to go into any depth on this at all, but I refuse to accept the opinion of one reviewer after reading a few books setting himself up as the know-it-all where the field of study in the Apache is concerned.
The books from Mr. Thrapp were mainly published by the University of Oklahoma, a very distinguished university and one of the oldest publishing institutions on the western plains. By stating that Mr. Thrapp writes "trash" that also states that the U of Ok publishes trash. That is not the case and never has been the case.
For a self opinionated review such as the one below, it would appear the more he reads, the less he truly understands. When discussing Geronimo one needs to recall: he was a destroyer, a warrior, he never built anything for his people; and eventually General Crook refused to deal with him, having had enough of Geronimo's bad faith lies. Even the great chief Cochise chased Geronimo away all due to Geronimo's intransigence. Another legacy from Geronimo to his people was causing them to be shipped in mass to Florida, never to return to their home country of Arizona. And the closest Geronimo ever got was back to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Some leader, some legacy. No matter how bad the situation, Geronimo could always make it worse. For my reading, Dan Thrapp had Geronimo pegged correctly: there were many better leaders among the Apaches. And he also, in the book written about Victorio, has Victorio well described as well. Anyone not hysterical, can trust Dan Thrapp the man, and the writer.
I would advise any prospective reader to read Dan's books before accepting a self appointed "expert" to direct just what they may or may not find acceptable to read. Dan Thrapp's reputation is safe due to both the lasting acclaim and merit of his many books. A single discrediting review aside, Mr. Thrapp's respected and well deserved reputation is as secure as ever.
I don't know about all of the "political correctness" bandied about, but during my college days in anthropology the word never existed. A word not in use in the 1960's can have no logical meaning or bearing on what Mr. Thrapp wrote or thought. It just doesn't apply. Words such as "political correctness" or "wanna be", for example, were not a part of our vocabulary 40 years ago. As such, it is far from being chronologic, and simply cannot be applicable. And while there may be "trash" on these pages, it doesn't originate from Dan Thrapp or his writings.
Semper Fi.
Trash - deserves LESS than one star ! .......2006-01-23
The works of Dan L. Thrapp which in any way deal with the Apache Indians are both absurd and annoying in the extreme. Of course, the non-critical and casual reader of books on the Apache may go through Thrapp's garbage-dump collection of titles and actually think they've gotten a superbly accurate amount of information about these Indians from a very capable author on the subject. Unfortunately for them, this is far from the truth.
You see, unless the reader is already aware of a significant amount of details concerning the Apache in general AND individual Indians within that tribe, they simply won't pick up on what I would call Thrapp's infantile adoration, his seemingly "I-secretly-wanna-be-an-Indian" love affair with these Indians and several of their leaders (which he relentlessly attempts to glorify through Politically Correct maneuvers of "writing in" or exagerating their personality traits and qualities of leadership, warfare skills, etc).
To the reader who has a good deal of knowledge about the Apache of frontier times, Thrapp's enthralled, school girl-like fixation with their various leaders almost oozes from the pages of his books. EVERY APACHE LEADER OF THE FRONTIER PERIOD (with the exception of one)was (if Thrapp's writings are to be believed) something of a superhuman individual with superior mental capacities as well as utra-high toned morals and ethics, - Tragic Heroes of the Southwest who were victimized by members of Thrapp's own race.
Well, after reading "Conquest of Apacheria", "Juh, An Incredible Indian", and "Victorio and the Mimbres Apaches", I became so sick of this childish, Politically Correct type of distortion, that I decided to come on here and write a few reviews. In these, I'll use just ONE example out of many I could draw upon to show the potential purchaser of Thrapp's books just how "out to lunch" this "author" actually is.
You'll recall that I just mentioned that I consider Thrapp to be in love with the Apache Indians of frontier times to such a bizarre extent that he has been glorifying various Apache leaders through blatant and highly biased distortion of facts connected to the personalities and capabilities of these individual Indians. You'll also recall that I just mentioned that there is ONE EXCEPTION to this adoring crush-like fixation Thrapp exhibits, and I'm going to use this one exception to prove how biased and how distorted Thrapp's information really is.
Now then; in his books dealing with the Apache, Thrapp can't say enough ( in the most positive and the most emotionally sympathetic way )about Cochise, Mangas Coloradas, Juh, Victorio, etc. However, Thrapp rarely loses an opportunity to denegrate Geronimo. To Thrapp, Geronimo seems barely worthy of mention in terms of the Apache leadership. Also, Thrapp seems to desire to leave his readers with the view that Geronimo was grossly inferior to all other Apache leaders in every way.
I now quote from Thrapp's Forward to "Indeh - An Apache Odyssey, by Eve Ball:
"A goodly share of this important book concerns Juh, the ablest of the militant Apaches after Victorio, although his fame was mainly among his own people, while for his enemies it lay submerged beneath the flood of reports, and ballyhoo, surrounding his subordinate, Geronimo, in every way a lesser man."
Here is another quote taken from Thrapp's own work, "Juh, An Incredible Indian":
"With [Juh's death], power of the Apaches to make massive war virtually died, for his successor, Geronimo, never became more than a minor guerrilla chieftain."
Well, concerning my second quote from Thrapp's "Juh, An Incredible Indian", the Apaches NEVER had the capability to "make massive war" against Europeans in their entire tribal history. I could be generous here and say that Thrapp's idea of what "massive war" might mean could be different from mine and he is entitled to his opinion, but as an author dealing with historic fact in detail, Thrapp SHOULD be able to comprehend the obvious. But by wording his comment about the leadership passing from Juh to Geronimo, Thrapp reveals his desire to distort fact in order to paint individuals in a favorable light (or unfavorable light, in the case of Geronimo)according to his (Thrapp's)own taste!
To describe Geronimo as becoming "nothing more than a guerrilla chieftain", indicates Thrapp's bizarre bias and his seeming love affair with all Apache leaders EXCEPT Geronimo.
Now, I am no fan of the Apache Indians. I do not venerate Geronimo or any other Apache leader, for that matter. And I detest Politically Correct slanting of frontier history, so when I read something on frontier history, I want FACTS not someone's personal tastes slathered over facts in an attempt to color my conclusions concerning what or whom I am reading about. I desire correct information and to prove that Thrapp is incapable of providing correct information concerning Apache leaders, I offer the following quotes from "Indeh, An Apache Odyssey" by Eve Ball ( which has a Forward written by Thrapp!) This book contains accounts provided by Apaches who knew all the leaders and who spoke directly to Eve Ball and dictated their renditions of life during frontier times to her person-to-person. Here are some quotes about Geronimo from ASA DAKLUGIE, the YOUNGEST SON OF JUH and Kanseah, who was a young warrior with Geronimo:
"It took a man to lead the Chiricahua. Geronimo was of middle age, a well-known fighter and a superb leader, and he was also a Medicine Man. No White Eyes seem to understand the importance of that in controlling Apaches."
Daklugie (son of Juh)
page 101
"Indeh, An Apache Odyssey"
"Even in his [Geronimo's] delerium, he [Geronimo] talked of those seventeen men who had eluded five thousand men of the army of the United States for many years; and eluded not only them, but also twenty-five hundred Mexican soldiers - seventy-five hundred men, well armed, well trained, and well equipped against seventeen whom they regarded as naked savages. The odds were only five hundred to one against Geronimo, but they still could not whip him nor could they capture him."
Daklugie (son of Juh)
page 101
"Indeh, An Apache Odyssey"
"We talked it over. Geronimo was shrewed and cautious. Also he had great Power, much greater Power than I.
As you know, Geronimo could foresee what would happen. I relied upon that and upon his habitual caution to keep us out of trouble."
Daklugie (son of Juh)
page 173
"Indeh, An Apache Odyssey"
"Death is not new to me. I had seen hundreds of people die. But Geronimo's death hurt me as had those of my mother, father [Juh], and brothers. As I sat beside my uncle [Geronimo] I thought that he would never speak to me again and that the Apaches were losing the best they had. ****Even though he was old he had more influence than any since Cochise. "
Daklugie (son of Juh)
page 181
"Indeh, An Apache Odyssey"
"Although Geronimo had never brought attention to it, all Apaches, including the scouts, believed that his [Geronimo's] medicine gave him great Power, and they were awed by it."
Kaseahs (warrior with Geronimo)
"Indeh, An Apache Odyssey"
"...but of all living men I respected Geronimo. He was the embodiment of the Apache spirit, of the fighting Chiricahua."
Daklugie (son of Juh)
page 134
"Indeh, An Apache Odyssey"
"He [Geronimo] had never been one, but he had weilded more authority than did any chief."
Daklugie (son of Juh)
page 181
"Indeh, An Apache Odyssey"
"We stood guard over his [Geronimo's] grave every night for months. Not one of his warriors, including Eyelash, failed to volunteer to take his turn guarding that grave. Many who had never been with him on the warpath joined in the lonely vigil. There were so many that we usually had at least two every night."
Daklugie (son of Juh)
page 182
"Indeh, An Apache Odyssey"
So, there are quotes directly from Apache Indians, INCLUDING THE YOUNGEST SON OF JUH, about Geronimo - the "lesser man" who was nothing more in the Apache scheme of things than a "minor guerrilla chieftain" according to Thrapp!
I ask the reader of this post who is considering the purchase of Thrapp's "Victorio and the Mimbres Apaches", if he or she thinks that Thrapp's ability to distort and "color" information on Indian personalities could extend to all other areas of his writtings? If Thrapp could distort the reader's final view of a single highly significant individual like Geronimo into something totally unrealistic in relation to actual FACTS, what else could Thrapp mislead the reader with in his biased information?
There are several good books about the Apache available. One is "Indeh, An Apache Odyssey" by Eve Ball. Another is "Life Among the Apaches" by John Cremony. Still another is "Nine Years Among The Indians" by Herman Lehmann.
In my view, each of these contains far more authentic and accurate information than anything Thrapp has churned out. There is no gushing, crush-like fixations camouflaged by actual facts that serve to distort the reader's view of what actually happened and what any particular individual (at least among the Apache) was really like.
Forget about the Apache wanna-be, Dan L. Thrapp and his slanted slop concerning Apaches and their leaders and wars. Go elsewhere for much better information on these subjects.
Book Description
Revising the standard narrative of European-Indian relations in America, Juliana Barr reconstructs a world in which Indians were the dominant power and Europeans were the ones forced to accommodate, resist, and persevere.
Customer Reviews:
All Racism Aside.......2007-04-12
The review below is historically baseless with the reviewer only considers exceptionally biased sources as valid. 'Politically correct' or not, using biased sources will lead you to biased results and have NO place in serious examination, except as a side note showing prevailing attitudes behind the shameful actions taken by the US against the indigenous population.
That said, the book is so so and there are better books out there on the subject.
Don't Purchase This Book Until You Read This Review !.......2005-12-07
Beware of STORY TELLERS = present-day authors who take details connected to subjects long passed, and weave their own version of history ( their own fantasies and whims ) into a printed stew in order to lead the reader into a completely false, uttlery distorted point of view.
Sweeney, like Dan L. Thrapp, David Roberts, and others today, offers readers an assortment of long-hashed over details with a good amount of personal TASTE, WHIM, and FANTASY mixed in. Why do I say this? A number of reasons - most of which you can read about if you look at my reviews of Sweeney's "Cochise"; Thrapp's "Juh: An Incredible Indian"; and my article on Thrapp's "Victorio and the Mimbres Apaches" at amapedia.com.
Furthermore, Sweeney lives TODAY, not in the day of Mangas Coloradas, therefore he is utilizing only CERTAIN KINDS of information long available, and within this he liberally sprinkles his own tastes and biases to produce a book containing nothing new, but with his "stamp" on it. This book is just another case of a present-day writer with no connection to anyone who lived during the time he writes about, churning out books on subjects and personalities so remote that he cannot possibly have anything significant to say - just more of the same. But you may then wonder why these various authors like Sweeney, Dan L. Thrapp, and David Roberts produce books like these at all? What is motivating them? My personal theory is that they have a time-spanning love affair with these long-dead Indians, and even more so with the trumped-up and totally false image these Indians have been given by other people of their day. Here are just two of the main originating sources responsible for the false image hung onto the Apache of the late frontier era:
. Eastern Liberal "intellectuals" and philanthropists who never set eyes on a wild Indian in their entire lives, but who sought to romanticize them and make them appear noble, high-minded, innocent victims of European imperialism. In other words, the James Fennimore Cooper variety of Easterner who lived in a fantasy world holding the American Indian in the same absurd light as knights on noble chargers from their own culture's past.
. Grand-standing Army Officers who sought to enhance their own reputations by making untrue statements concerning the dangers they faced against enemy Apaches whom they eventually conquered. Their many hyped-up statements seemed to hold the not-so-subtle insinuation that "If these Indians were so great and terrible, but my men and I conquered them, then my men and I must be even more terrible and wonderful and great! Therefore, shouldn't you look at me as a savior-hero of the Wild Frontier?
People like Sweeney, Thrapp, Roberts, and others have not reseached the tribal history of the Apache extensively enough or far enough back to be able to make any sort of a logical, near-truthful conclusion of ANY ASPECT connected to these Indians! Instead, these authors are all guilty of accepting whatever statements were made about certain Apaches in the mid to late 1800's - taking this information mostly without question if it casts Europeans in a bad light, and if it makes the Apaches seem in any way "larger than life" and SUPERIOR. These authors do not appear to fall for the grand-standing of different Army commanders intended to make these commanders "look good", instead these authors have made a sort of Politically Correct mental switch so that the Apaches take on impossible characteristics making them into something far more wonderful and super-human than they ever were.
Sweeney, Thrapp, Roberts, and other present-day authors appear to be people who love an under dog. They have fallen in love with the image of the Apaches which holds that these Indians were noble, knightly warriors who were hunted, persecuted, and destroyed by enemies who were vastly inferior, but far greater in number. Which, as I have been saying, is an image that has no historic accuracy connected to it whatsoever. It is as ridiculous as the present image of the Sioux as promoted by the motion picture, "Dances With Wolves", and this can be verified by examining information available which goes much further back than simple Army records and various statments made by Europeans about the Apache between 1830 - 1886!
I will not detain the reader of this post much longer, but I will say that the following propositions concerning the Apache Indians are completely FALSE:
. The Apaches lived in their mountain "homelands" for ages and they valliantly defended these against invading Europeans regardless of being severely out-numbered.
. The Apaches were brilliant, fearsome warriors with wonderful courage and superb mental capacities, which enabled them to make fools out of their European enemies on a regular basis. Their leaders could out-think, out-fight, and out-maneuver the incompetent, weak, and blundering Europeans at every turn.
. The Apaches had to surrender or make treaties simply because they didn't have the warriors to continue fighting. But IF THEY HAD EXISTED IN GREATER NUMBERS, THEY WOULD HAVE CONTINUED THEIR STRUGGLE INDEFINITELY.
. The Apaches were a noble, but tragic people who suffered greatly at the hands of unreasonable and inhumane European enemies and they deserve our respect, our sympathy, and out never-ending tributes to their memories.
These propositions ( relentlessly promoted by authors such as Sweeney, Thrapp, Roberts, and others ) are utterly false. They are mere fantasy. They have no basis in fact whatsoever. To find out why, begin by reading my reviews of Sweeney's "Cochise", Thrapp's "Juh: An Incredible Indian", my article on Thrapp's "Victorio and the Mimbres Apaches" at amapedia.com, and then look into the following titles. They will tell you more about the history and the century-spanning trends in the Southwest which explain a very great deal about the Apaches.
Comanches (Pimlico Wild West)
The Kiowas (Civilization of the American Indian Series)
The Indians of Texas: From Prehistoric to Modern Times (Texas History Paperbacks)
Life among the Apaches (Bison Book)
Nine Years Among the Indians, 1870-1879: The Story of the Captivity and Life of a Texan Among the Indians
These will provide a very good base from which you can piece together a reasonable, logical, and truthful perspective on the Apaches. There are also very obscure texts avaiable ( but extremely hard to find ) which originate among the Officials and Spanish colonials who dealt with the Apaches long before Anglos ever saw them. These texts are very revealing, and blast to pieces the popular views of the Apaches which are promoted by these history-distorting, Politically Correct authors. However, if you rely on mere STORY BOOKS from the likes of Sweeney, Thrapp, Roberts, and other present-day writers who have stars in their eyes concerning the Apaches, you will be severely misled and you will have nothing to show for all the time spent reviewing their literature except a conception of these Indians that is pure fantasy.
The only primer on Mr., Coloradas.......2003-09-14
Mangas COloradas led his people for many years in New Mexico and on raids in Mexico and Arizona. He was related to Cochise, who sweeney has also written a book about. This is a wonderful read, fully researched and vivdly portrays the Apache chief in all his splender, letting you feel the southwest as well as detailing the minute negotiations and military conflicts that raged about him.
Well researched and founded history.......2002-04-03
Some of us go to the bookstore and seek out the history section and browse the displayed titles. History entice us, it shows our past and tells about the mistakes repeated time and again. Maybe, for some of us it is able to tell a warning or two.
History seems to me a most dangerous field to write in. Especially when in the case of this material, the concrete facts are so small and insignificant and what may or may not be the real answers to a lot of questions are buried by time and dust. One will perhaps never know what Mangas Coloradas did in his first life-years, historian Sweeney means he has found a good answer and presents it to the reader but he doesn't claim it to be the sole answer, he says it's possible. This is the respect every historian should have to his/her audience.
Of course, it's not only Mangas' first years that are lost in obscurity. Official mexican and spanish papers tell only half the story of his people, but Sweeney is extraordinary in his ability to sow a thorough and well founded history of this remarkable and gargantuan statesman. It also seems from the book's voluminous notes that Sweeney has been everywhere to find the tinyest bits of information.
All this makes noone wonder he has written his finest piece yet on the Apachean-Mexican/American relations.
The Greatest Chief.......2000-12-28
Before Geronimo, before Cochise, there was Mangas. Mangas Coloradas "red sleeves" is a facinating read. Having grown up in Apacheria I knew of Mangas. In fact I lived, and have relatives, at Apache Tejo, where he met his demise. If you want to truly understand what led up to the American/Indian wars of the late 1800's, and why they occurred, then this is a must read. It is written exquisitely. My only regret is that there weren't more maps to help show where the various battle sites were. A 5-star rating for a wonderful book. This one I'm keeping.
Book Description
The impressive four-day and four-night Mescalero Apache girls puberty ceremonial provides the structure for Farrer's consideration of the ways in which old myths and legends inform contemporary actions and beliefs. Why people behave as they do is as much a focus as is their actual behavior. Through instructions given to Farrer by Bernard Second, her Apache teacher for fourteen years, readers gain insight into the importance of narrative, not just in ceremony but especially in everyday living on a contemporary Indian reservation in the American Southwest. Sights and smells are almost palpable as the author provides the best in reflexive ethnography by allowing readers to see her as a person rather than an all-knowing anthropologist. She neither romanticizes nor patronizes the Apachean people, who are presented as people with foibles as well as possessing much worthy of admiration.
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