Life in Pictures

Photographer Jerry Mader lived with the Northern Cheyennes in Lame Deer, Mont., during the early 1970s, a period he chronicles in The Road to Lame Deer, a deeply felt memoir. Henry Tall Bull, a medicine man, plays a pivotal role for Mader; after a long period of conditional friendship, Tall Bull ascertains that the photographer's intentions are honorable and introduces him to the more private life of the tribe, including peyote meetings and other spiritual practices intimately connected to the earth. The leader's trust of the photographer also made it possible for Mader to take photographs of tribe members (many reproduced here) that illustrate the complicated personal histories he records. Along the way, Mader discusses such sociological issues as the history of the rise of alcoholism on reservations, and how patterns of sexual behavior have changed in response to Christianity. (Univ. of Nebraska, $25 216p ISBN 0-8032-3103-2; Oct.)

The first artist ever to have a one-man retrospective at the National Bird Dog Museum (Grand Junction, Tenn.), Eldridge Hardie paints oil and watercolor scenes of hunters chasing grouse and ducks; trout in Colorado's South Platte River; fly fishermen; noble-looking Labradors and pointers; and other sporting scenes. The Paintings of Eldridge Hardie: Art of a Life in Sport gathers many of these works—which showcase some of America's most beautiful wilderness spots, from South Carolina to Wyoming—along with drawings and notes from Hardie's sketchpad and some extensive captions by Hardie with background information on the scenes in the paintings. (Stackpole, $60 144p ISBN 0-8117-1429-2; Aug.)

Music Greats

A companion to the CD and ABC documentary of the same name, Wingspan: Paul McCartney's Band on the Run is a photographic tribute to the ex-Beatle's 1970s band Wings, which also included the late Linda McCartney. The lush color and b&w photographs show the band on the road and in the studio, with plenty of shots of Paul and Linda working together, making eyes at each other and frolicking en famille. The pictures are interspersed with copious quotes from Paul. "My fridge had half a bottle of sour milk and a bit of dried cheese. Linda took the mickey out of me for that. The house was a bit of a tip, really, just a place to sleep, but when she arrived it became a place to live in." (Bulfinch, $24.95 paper 176p ISBN 0-8212-2793-9; Sept.)

"Beethoven's Overture to Egmont is a classic hors d'oeuvre. Nobody's digestion was ever spoiled by it, and no late comer has ever lost much by missing it." Thus waxed composer and music critic Virgil Thomson (1896—1989) about a 1940 season-opener of the Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York, and there's more where that came from: Virgil Thomson: A Reader—Selected Writings, 1924—1984 gathers the best of the writer's brilliantly acerbic criticism. The volume, edited by Richard Kostelanetz (Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes), includes Thomson's musings on such subjects as "Mozart's Leftism," his relationship with contemporaries such as Kurt Weill and Aaron Copland, the staging of opera, and the careers of everyone from John Cage to Gertrude Stein. (Routledge, $35 304p ISBN 0-415-93795-7; Aug. 1)

Exploration: Past and Future

Paleontologist Peter Larson recalls the discovery that made him and his colleagues at the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research instant stars—and in trouble with the law—in his memoir Rex Appeal: The Amazing Story of Sue, the Dinosaur That Changed Science, the Law, and My Life. In 1990, his team discovered the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton that the world had seen. Almost immediately, however, the team (which is unaffiliated with any university) became embroiled in a dispute with the U.S. government about who owns the fossil, during which the skeleton was seized by the National Guard. Co-written with his wife, journalist Kristin Donan, the book recounts the heated legal battles but focuses primarily on Larson's adventures in South Dakota, where his group eventually found six more T. rex fossils. (Invisible Cities [IPG, dist.], $26.95 400p ISBN 1-931229-07-4; Aug.)

After the triumphant Apollo 11 moon landing, NASA issued a complete post-flight mission report that included the observations of the crew and technical details of the flight. This report is now being published as a series for the general public, and the latest entry is Apollo 11: The NASA Mission Reports, Volume Three. Edited by Robert Goodwin (who is compiling all the mission reports from Apollos 8 through 17), the book contains diagrams showing the descent of the lunar module, photos of the lunar surface, medical observations about the human body on the moon and much more. It also comes with a DVD of lunar footage. Though it may be hard for those without an engineering or physics background to parse much of the text, astronomy enthusiasts will enjoy having this historical record nonetheless. (Collector's Guide Publishing/Apogee, $24.95 paper 312p ISBN 1-896522-85-8; Aug.)