Forgotten Highways

Traversing the historic trails of the Rockies today is done in much the same manner as it was two centuries ago—primarily on foot with heavy packs, with little better defence against mosquitoes or the elements. Although accurate maps are available, and modern technology such as global positioning systems stand as a bulwark to a complete wilderness experience, in many cases it is as difficult and challenging to cross these mountain passes, or even more so, than it was two centuries ago. Routes such as Athabasca Pass are far less travelled today than they were in the golden era of the fur trade. If our society has become so rich that we continually seek out physical and mental challenges in the wilderness—adventure and eco-travel—perhaps it would be a sign of respect to follow at least for a while in the footsteps of those who in many ways paved the way for gernerations to come. We began to form the idea of hiking all the significant historical trails to see what we could learn from the early pathfinders, about the difficulty of wilderness life and travel. What window would be opened to times past in a land where the terrain has remained essentially unchanged? —from the authors' introduction

Brink and Bown share their personal accounts as they traveled through the first trade routes across the Rocky Mountains, woven with tales of historic pathfinders who preceded them: George Simpson, John Palliser, Mary Schaffer and David Thompson.

What is the relationship between the road movie, American experimental filmmaking and the body?

Through a series of detailed, illustrated essays,on key flms within the genre, Lost Highways,explores the history of the road movei.Bringin in,other, until now neglected, genres such as the,western, film noir, horror, and even science,fiction, this is the definitive guide to a diverse,body of film that incorporates some fo the most,dominant themes and most popular films of this,century.

As her mother always said, nothing happens by coincidence… Meet Rainey Valentine: thirty-five, twice divorced, a woman with broken dreams but irrepressible hope.When her mother dies, she inherits a truck, an old barrel-racing mare named Lulu and a lifetime supply of Mary Kay cosmetics. So taking a page from her mother's life, Rainey packs it all up and heads off, leaving Valentine, Oklahoma, in her rearview mirror. Then, somewhere outside Abilene, she finds him. Dazed and wandering after a car accident, Harry Furneaux is a man as lost as she is.With nowhere else to go, he joins Rainey on her travels. But when their journey leads them back to Valentine, Harry and Rainey find an unexpected new direction…. Straight out of the heartland of the South, Lost Highways is a novel to gently rock the heart and soul…the story of a woman traveling too long on an endless stretch of lonesome road who finds her way home at last.

"[The author] turns his penetrating eye on the cycle of crime movies that succeeded the classic genre [film noir]. Orson Welles film, Touch of Evil (1958), recently re-released, is generally cited as the end of that line or, in Hirsch's words, "noir's rococo tombstone." But in its themes, techniques and attitudes, the genre has not only survived but in the 90's flourishes as never before. Its retro edge has given it postmodern chic, to the point where "noir," no longer simply the name of a film genre, is also the name of a literary genre, a pop album and a perfume. So noir "lives," but like any genre that endures, it has had to continually reinvent itself. While its defining subjects - violence, sex, greed, loss of innocence - remain, as do its dominant character types - the femme fatale, her vulnerable male victim and the private eye burdened with his own code of honor - these ingredients have been blended in strikingly new ways ... [Hirsch] demonstrates how neo-noir has reflected changes in contemporary life from film technology to social values. Relentlessly mobile camerawork, multilayered soundtracks and lush colors now work to create dark stories that tell of growing cynicism about government, distrust of the press, tensions in gender politics and in race relations. In his map of neo-noir, Hirsch revisits scores of films released over the last four decades: Odds Against Tomorrow, Chinatown, The Manchurian Candidate, Cape Fear, Klute, Body Heat, The Last Seduction, The Grifters, The Usual Suspects, L.A. Confidential and Pulp Fiction, among many others."--Back cover.