Washington Travel Guide West Centric

Daniel Jack Chasan, Matthew Chasan and John Doerper are all Washington residents whose book “Washington” (Compass American Guides, 331 pages, $17.95) is part of the Fodor’s Travel Publications series.

And if you didn’t know the three authors lived on the West Side, a quick look at the book would tell you so.

The book features all the standard tourist spots, along with a brief bit of state history. And the photos by Bruce Hands, another West Sider, are predictably pretty.

But the Spokane section is slim to the extreme, and the attitude of the writer is clearly condescending toward “a city that once upon a time had a rather grandiose view of its future (but that now)… likes to think of itself as a community of neighborhoods and friendly people.”

The book, divided into geographic areas, includes Lake Chelan in the Northeast Washington chapter, and Yakima’s part of Southeast Washington.

To be fair, the book doesn’t completely ignore the geography east of the Cascades. And Doerper, who doubles as publisher of something called Pacific Epicure, lists Dayton’s Patit Creek Restaurant as one of his 12 favorite eateries.

But there are a lot of guidebooks on the market. This is merely one and hardly the best.

On the shelf

“War Against the Wolf: America’s Campaign to Exterminate the Wolf” (Voyager Press, 495 pages, $24.95) is a collection of official documents and various articles that study the ways Americans have treated the wolf since 1630.

Edited by Rick McIntyre, a writer who has worked for 20 years as a seasonal ranger in several U.S. parks, the book is a worthy addition to the growing mass of literature involving the legendary predator.

The reader board

Seattle mystery writer J.A. Jance will read from her latest book, “Shoot, Don’t Shoot,” at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Auntie’s Bookstore, Main and Washington.

Margaret Coel, author of “The Eagle Catcher,” will read from her Native Americanthemed mystery novel at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Auntie’s Bookstore.

Spokane religion writer Mitch Finley will read from his latest book, “The Gospel Truth,” at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Auntie’s Bookstore.

, DataTimes