Jack Ruby's Kitchen Sink by Tom Miller Reviewed by Steve Rudd

I have long longed to visit the South-Western states of the USA, and the beautifully majestic Arizona in particular. In this fascinating and factual book, Tom - who himself lives in Tucson, Arizona - recounts all sorts of weird and wonderful tales from the region, and also presents tall tales from California and the border with Mexico. Structuring his tales into chapters of their own, one of the most interesting niches of this book comes when the author discusses cult novelist Edward Abbey, a great man who wrote such fantastic books as The Monkey Wrench Gang - a book that openly inspired a whole generation of Eco-loving people who weren't afraid to fight big business, such as house-building companies that were destroying land of pure beauty in the Californian mountains (for example), and dam-builders such as those who built the hugely controversial Glen Canyon Dam.

Tom also spends time researching the origins of the worldwide dance craze, La Bamba. Sure, the Ritchie Valens rock 'n' roll version of the song did spread like wildfire across the world in due course, but the roots of the song itself go far deeper than that - and have been maturing for far longer.

To cut a long - but nevertheless thoroughly engrossing - chapter short, to trace La Bamba is to reveal a sweep of history and culture that began with Spanish slavers and ends with an aisle seat in a multiplex. Prior to this book, Tom had already written six books, and the majority of those too were imbued with his passion for the South-West. Through having visited a whole host of amazing places in the area, and having met a plethora of interesting people along the way, Tom's writing is a joy to behold and savour.

So, if you too have a fondness for the area, or if indeed you know very little about this arid corner of the USA, Jack Ruby's Kitchen Sink is sure to be an education in itself on many levels, not least when Tom heads to the Mexican border and learns all about the many thousands of desperate Mexicans who vainly attempt to get into the USA every year, and who very often pay dearly for their cross-borderline dashes... So just you take care out there. ISBN 0-7922-7959-X (first published in 2000; Adventure Press)

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