Product Description

Complete with beautiful black-and-white photographs of the pristine Northwest.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1267898 in Books
• Published on: 2004-07-01
• Format: Bargain Price
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From Library Journal
Holt has written numerous articles and authored 11 works of nonfiction and two novels. His latest is a captivating travel narrative that reveals his passion for fishing and his love of the rugged rural beauty of the West. Recounting his extensive travels through the Northwest, mainly Montana and the area around Canada's Great Slave Lake, Holt provides an interesting look at the history and uniqueness of the area while commenting on the effects of modernization and the rise and fall of populations. His writing style blends humor, suspense, facts, and anecdotes, and his descriptive prose reveals the diverse beauty of the northern high plains, plateaus, and mountains. Holt also details the way of life of its people, captured through research, interviews, and random encounters. Much of Holt's writing delves into the art of fishing, but readers will also get an essence of this particular region of North America. An enjoyable read.DJo-Anne Mary Benson, Osgoode, Ont.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Reviewed with Benjamin Long's Backtracking.

Holt and Long, two Montana writers who set out to find America's Old West buried beneath its twenty-first-century trappings, have produced remarkably entertaining books, effectively combining memoir, travelogue, and history.Holt, the author of 13 previous books (mostly about fishing in Montana), set out with his partner, photographer Ginny Diers, to peel back the modern age and reveal the remnants of the Old West. He found what he was looking for in the lives of a handful of ranchers, Native Americans, and fisherman, all of whom are living like their ancestors might have lived a century and a half ago. He constantly contrasts the West he loves with the West being invaded by vacationers, recreational-vehicle owners, and others who seem determined to destroy what precious little remains of the glorious Wild West. This is a moving book and a heartfelt plea to keep the West alive. Although perhaps not quite so aggressive (Holt's prose is full of scathing remarks about people who thoughtlessly trample over the remnants of the Old West), Long's book is just as passionate. A former newspaper journalist who specialized in natural history and environmental issues related to the western states, Long took to the road with his wife, Karen Nichols (who, like Holt's companion, is a photographer), to retrace the steps of Lewis and Clark from the Missouri River to the Pacific. Like Holt, Long wanted to rediscover the past, to recapture the excitement Lewis and Clark must have felt when they saw grizzlies and beautiful vistas and tall, ancient trees for the first time.These books, separately or together, are sure to appeal to readers with an interest in travel or the American West. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Holt's books are witty and winsome, full of apt descriptions which carry the reader along vicariously as the author's partner...Another of his appeals is that conservation concerns, primarily a glowing anger with those who worship at the alter of materialism and who would gladly destroy trout streams for the almighty dollar, that burn brightly in his books. Foremost, however, is that Holt's stories are fun, and if you haven't read his work yet (all his books are still in print, in formats ranging from inexpensive paperbacks to specially bound limited editions), you have a treat waiting for you."
--Sporting Classics

"Coyote Nowhere is a road bum's dream come true: 26,000 miles of light and color, freedom, and the joy of movement through open country, studded with interesting characters both male and female--a sunburnt book with the wind and sand howling through it. It's cold water over clear gravel, trout finning above their shadows in the sun, big-shouldered mountains ghosting blue in the distance, antelope flagging away through the sage, coyote song against a star-bellied midnight; it's honky-tonks and coffeepots. It's the best of what's left in the West, and John Holt's finest book."
--Robert F. Jones, author of The Run to Gitche Gumee, The Hunter in my Heart and Blood Sport.

"Holt is one of those roamers, and Coyote Nowhere is his richly told memoir of traveling into some of the most remote parts of the continent. It's a journey worth taking with him because of his skill in making the country and its people come alive."
--John Glisch, Florida Today

"Call it a road trip-often sans what ordinarily qualifies for roads--filled with heart, heat and trout, a journey through paradise with serious weather. The country is vast and beautiful, often bitter, almost always breathtaking. The author identifies so closely with the land that he's alternately transported by exquisite visions and tortured by his discovery of its open wounds."
--Seth Norman, Fly Rod & Reel

"Coyote Nowhere is a delight. Holt careens around the hidden West in a joyous rage, remarking on the land, the fishing, and the people, good and bad. There are many books written about the West these days, but damn few good ones. And this truly is."
--Peter Bowen, author of Badlands, Long Son and The Stick Game
-- Review

Customer Reviews

A Road Trip like no other
I have to admit, I thought I was a pretty seasoned traveler on the back roads of America. I have 4-wheeled to the summits of fourteen thousand peaks in Colorado; explored the canyons and slick rock country in and around Moab, UT; and traveled over the Mojave Road, not once but twice, in the east Mojave Desert. I have traveled from coast to coast and border to border, logging many miles on what William Least Heat Moon called Blue Highways, in his first, and in my opinion, best book. But, dear reader, after reading Coyote Nowhere, I now know that I am just a beginner on the journey. Coyote Nowhere is a road trip like no other you have ever been on. It is 26,000 miles in one yeaar in the northern high plains of the North American West that few have seen as up-close and personal as John Holt. The journey stretches from Montana to the plains of northern Alberta, from Wyoming to the Dakotas and the Missouri Breaks. The Purpose of the trip? "Coyote Nowhere will explore and examine the northern high plains from an extemporaneous and contemporary perspective through our eyes and translated into our words and photographs. We're looking for the true west, not the shortsighted vision myopically viewed by most as they whiz here and there along the interstate rarely seeing anything. The west-what we see in the Coors commercials and the SUV ads on television-has been bastardized by too many drive-in espresso kiosks, glitzy ski lodges, swank dude rances and flyfishing guides in pastel waders who serve champagne and caviar in their drift boats. In a word 'Californicated.'" And explore the area he does. Holt, along with photographer Ginny Diers, leave from Livingston, Montana, and travel the back roads, which is a charitable term in many cases, through eastern Montans, Wyoming, and Canada's Northwest Territories, with stops to fish and visit and meditate in some of the most out-of-the way locations imaginable. Travel with Holt and you will visit such towns as Clyde Park, Winsall, Pryor (pop.50), to the Pryor and Big Horn Mountains, the Powder River Country of Wyoming and the town of Ekalaka and the Badlands of South Dakota. The east and west of Alberta is dissected along the way to the Blackfeet Reservation, the Sweet Grass Hills, the Sun River Country to the Solid Sea Islands and back to Livingston. I will not describe in detail how to reach these places because, well, I suspect Holt would never forgive me for telling folks how to find his last frontier. Holt is a witty; biting; sometimes curmudgeon that set out to explore what he believes is America's last frontier. He ultimately believes that our high-tech, high-speed world will not spoil this rugged region. At least that's what he says. In reading the book I wondered if perhaps he made the journey to see this awesome splendor one last time before... This may well be the best road book on the market today. The title is taken from Jack Derouac's classic On The Road. This book may well become for the 21st century what Kerouca's book was for the 60's. If you like Ivan Doig, Norman Maclean, or Wallace Stegner you will treasure this book. Don't look for a travel book for this trip. It's one of a kind.

The dark side of the West
If your idea of a great family vacation is to travel to the great outdoors and spend your whole time in overcrowded campsights, ski resorts or tourist towns, then you may want to take a pass on "Coyote Nowhere." Author John Holt won't mind since he doesn't like your kind anyway. Holt spends most of the book extolling the virtures of the pristine and empty West while lamenting that so much of it is being ruined by housing developments, strip mines and golf courses. Of course, economic development is always a double edged sword, but Holt confines his comments to merely ranting impotently against it.

That said, Holt captures some great images and moments in his book. Most of these are his descriptions of the land and the joys of getting back to nature. As a storyteller, he doesn't have the touch of a Bill Bryson, and his narrative wanders unfocussed at times and not in chronological order. Nevertheless, he creates a strong sense of place that is worthwhile for anyone interested in his subject matter.

The Real West
I can't express how much I loved this book. I bought it on clearence at Wall Drug on the way home from a backpacking trip in Wyoming, and I had it finnished the week i got back. It is an amazing book that really brings you to the beautiful land of the west. If you love the west and if you love the land, then you must read this book!