Edge Effects wins
Independent Publisher Book Award!
May 25, 2010 --- Silver Medal "IPPY" Winner --- 3,890 entries
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Whether the border be Kansas and Colorado, or California and Mexico, there’s something special to be found. Edge Effects: The Border-Name Places is a travel guide for readers outlining the unique cultures and experiences, as well as stuff you can get away with on crossing the many border lines throughout North America.
(Assigned five-star rating on Amazon.com)
– Midwest Book Review – MBR Bookwatch, October 2009
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Solitary Traveler with Car
I just want to tell you that over the past few days I’ve been dipping into Edge Effects more assiduously than I’ve had a chance to do before. The experience has been so much fun and so deeply rewarding that I have to write and tell you.
Among other things, reading your book is like traveling over roads I’ll never get to bump down myself. Your descriptions are so full of detail that I really do feel like I’m making the journey myself. After an hour or so, I find myself looking up from the page and out the window for a hotel that doesn’t have a single digit in its name.
There is so much to praise. Your erudition is great, but worn lightly – what an immense amount of research and care this project inspired. Your use of language, always elegant, is illuminating in its precision: “driftmouth,” now that's a word I didn’t know. Lemon Fair River – how perfect that it’s a degradation of Les Monts Verts. (A lot of your throwaway stuff, like Lemon Fair River, is the stuff of poetry, in my opinion.) The language is part, but only a part, of what makes the book so interesting to me. One of the other aspects of the book that is attractive is the persona of the solitary traveler.
Thank you for sharing this monumental task and work of art with the world.
(Assigned five-star rating on Amazon.com)
– Reader G.A., Berkeley CA
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I want to express my astonishment upon my read so far – this book is fabulous! I’ve never seen anything that ties together the geologic, political, social, and economic histories of a place better than this book. It’s informative, honest, funny, and unpredictable in that it paints pictures well beyond the stated topic of bordertowns. The info on Alaga far exceeded my knowledge even though I grew up in the area, and your description of Dothan was harsh, depressing, and completely accurate. What I found for “my” bordertown and others I was compelled to continue reading about was a wide-ranging, almost novel-like portrait of not just a dot on a map but a place formed from all kinds of much less obvious influences that have caused it to be what it is (or was, in some cases). The author weaves in so many unexpected angles that explain much better the “why” a place came to be what it was, and is, than a casual reader would have ever expected from the title of the book. Sometimes the descriptions began at a macro level and dial in; others start local and then add the influence of larger perspectives. Anyone who has been curious about bordertowns would enjoy this book, but that's not a necessary prerequisite. The stories and backgrounds are fascinating all by themselves, and include turns and perspectives completely unexpected yet absolutely pertinent. I appreciate the time, effort, and obvious passion the author put into the work. Now. I’ll just say Thank You and look forward to what he has in store next!
(Assigned five-star rating on Amazon.com)
– Reader T.C. Titusville FL
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An Amazing Trip Around The Country
Dr. Robert Temple has written an amazing story of border towns throughout the United States. His interesting style of writing makes the reading, not only very informative, but also fun to read. This is a must read for anyone interested in knowing about our many border towns throughout our wonderful country.
The price is well worth this large book with all of its valuable information and data. Take this journey with Dr. Temple. You, like I was, will be glad you did.
(Assigned five-star rating on Amazon.com)
– Reader J.K., Cincinnati OH
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In addition to reflecting deep research, direct involvement in his investigations, and the author’s obvious delight in pursuing each town or city he visited, the literary quality of these beautifully written pages is especially attractive. My congratulations on a delightful tour de force.
– Reader S.F., Alexandria VA
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You have a very interesting book and I wish you many sales. “Missala” will add to our list of mysterious neighborhoods in the area.
– Reader B.R., Moss Point MS
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An Old Friend
As I finished Edge Effects I felt like an old friend had moved away. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, usually reading one to three episodes at a time. The book intertwines history with the human part of the story very well.
It would be very hard to pick one story over another but if pressed to choose I would pick the Carotenn story. I could put myself in the author's shoes as he hugged the walls as those two trains swept past. And the mystery involved was another eye catcher.
A most fascinating book!
(Assigned five-star rating on Amazon.com)
– Reader D.B., Townsend TN
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The author provides a fascinating and entertaining look at more than eighty North American border towns in Edge Effects. … With an outstanding chapter on Sylmar, it’s a title I’ve ordered for my personal library.
– Historian Michael Dixon, Elkton MD
blog: http://cecilcounty.wordpress.com/2009/07
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I just finished reading your book, Edge Effects, and think it's totally wonderful.
I kept seeing the book used as a reference and just had to buy it for myself. It was fantastic.
– Reader D.T., Beaverton OR
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This is a remarkable book and a clear labor of love. Terrific!
– Reader R.C., Traverse City MI
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Your chapter pretty much quenches my ambition to do the same sort of treatment about Naco; your account is definitive. I begin -- in conjunction with the University of Arizona and Cochise College -- a museum of Alta Frontera culture, "the border," but you have done the ground work, and I hope that many others appreciate your success.
– Reader D.L., Naco AZ
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I am doing some research on lost towns and this helped me a lot -- thanks.
(Assigned five-star rating on Amazon.com)
-- Reader K.
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I just wanted to express my appreciation for your book. I’ve always been a fan of border towns. Anybody who quotes Wallace Stevens and Ambrose Bierce must be on the right page. Thanks!
-- Reader C. S., Sharon MA
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