Audio Books

My husband died suddenly in 2005 and I've done a lot of grief work using all tools available-counseling, guided imagery dvd's, bereavement groups, journaling and LOTS of reading. This is by far the best resource and guide for anyone experiencing such a loss. I've recommended it several times and have given it to friends who have lost spouses. Don't hesitate to buy it.

I gave this as a gift to my cousin's husband after she died. He'd read a number of books on the topic and said this book included helpful information that he'd never read before. He gave it to his step daughters to read next since he felt they could benefit from it as well.

Harper Neeld's book is an incredibly detailed compilation of the author's personal experiences in the sudden loss of her young husband, interviews with other widows/widowers, and discussions of phases of the grieving process. I would rate this book highly, along with one of my favorite grief authors, thanatologist Alan Wolfelt (e.g. Understanding Your Grief books). Harper Neeld seamlessly combines her painful, personal story with factual, helpful guidelines to create one of the best written boooks I have read on widowhood. I used the introspective questions with my grief therapist, who liked the book so much that she borrowed it and used it for a class she taught.

My friends keep telling me I should write a book about my grief, but I think that what Elizabeth Harper Neeld has written is better than anything I could produce. This book is so readable and covers every aspect of grief. My husband died four months ago, and I have found this book exceedingly helpful. Elixabeth put the most important step first "To experience and express grief fully." There are hundreds of ways to run away from grief, but it is necessary "to feel it to heal it." I was given the best advice by a friend who said to "lean into the pain." The second choice "To endure with patience," has helped me be more patient and compassionate with myself. Thank you, Elizabeth for this beautiful book. I will buy it for everyone I know who loses someone dear.

After my husband died suddenly, I was beside myself. My aunt insisted on placing this book in my hands. It has been a lifeline to me. I have purchased well over 20 copies of it for friends and continue to haunt my local bookstore when they don't have it on the shelf for immediate purchase. Having read almost every grief book out there, don't waste your money, just buy this one and learn to live again.

I am reading this book with my class at school. I love it! I look forward to it everyday. This is a story that every American needs to hear because it is living proof of how much we have been given. When you realize that many people in the world have had to deal with the things that Farah did, the everyday dramas in your life are put into a totally new perspective. This book is real. It happened to real people, it teaches real lessons, and that is why it leaves any hollow fiction or fantasy behind.

When seven-year-old Farah Ahmedi stepped on a landmine in her native Afghanistan, she thought her life was over. The hospital in her war-torn city only tried to keep her alive until German doctors made their regular monthly visit, airlifting the most crucial cases to heal in their own country.

Away from her family and culture, Farah fell apart.

Then, as she began to heal, she made friends with a German woman, who informally adopted Farah like one of her own. Gradually, Farah began to learn the language and enjoy the peaceful, beautiful country -- making it just as shocking when she was returned to her family two years later.

Suddenly, nothing Farah's family or country can offer her seems good enough. The little girl had become used to a better life, and she was determined to live it again.

That wish kept her determination driven over the next few years, when war ravaged her family and her home. Left with nothing but a crippled daughter, Farah's mother hovered on the brink of madness and wanted to give up. But Farah, who had had a peek of what life could be, believed the two were destined to live in America through a special program for Afghan widows and orphans.

After numerous obstacles - including 9/11 - the two finally get their wish. But their struggle is far from over, as they find themselves in the midst of a culture clash with the general American public. Farah's mother is still battling mental demons, and Farah herself not only has to learn to speak and read English, but read altogether, as her Afghan education had fallen apart during wartime.

Above all, Farah learns, there is always a higher power out there, willing to help you during your most desperate times, sending relief in the form of a person destined to cross your life's path.

This simply told story is a powerful testament to the atrocities that can be endured without breaking. Farah Ahmedi is one extraordinary teenager, destined to do great things.

I got Farad's audio book because we have been working in relief and development in Afganistan since 1984. It is a well narrated book, an uplifting account the suffering of a child and of people who come into our lives and believe in us, love us and walk with us through the difficulties of life in Afghanistan, Pakistan and in America.

Farad, a young, Hazara girl, has lived an unbelievable life before reaching the age of 15. Her story is a first hand picture of the devastation of a beautiful country destroyed by war and ethnic conflict. She and her family were caught in the middle. She stepped on a landmine as she was going to school in Kabul. She was in the second grade and things went downhill from there.

This is a story of suffering and pain but finding strength to respond when it seemed impossible. This is a story of faith and people practically living out their faith. It is the story of a young girl who has a dream.

This book is great reading for teeens through adults. It is an easy read - can be read in 1-2 days. The story is gripping and suspenseful and really gives one an understanding of life in turbulent Afghanistan and the difficulty refugees encountered to make their way out. My husband and I read the book and enjoyed it as did my daughters, ages 19 and 17.

I personally know the girl who wrote this book. She is an amazing person and has so many stories to tell. She was given the opportunity to share her story because she has gone experienced so many things. This really is a must read for everyone. For such a young person, she has gone through more than most will go through before they are middle aged and yet, she still thrives and lives for each day doing the best she can at everything she does. Enough said...buy this book!

This is an incredible book. Laura Jensen Walker has beautifully and sometimes humorously, written about her breast cancer journey. I read this book in the hospital following my breast cancer surgery (3/01) and have been very inspired by Laura's writing. This is the first book I loan out to others when they are first diagnosed. I highly recommend "Thanks For The Mammogram" !!
Karen Lange, Asst. Mgr., FriendsInTouch.net (an online breast cancer support site)

"Almost everyone - whether it's your friend, neighbor, coworker, wife, mother, or sister ? has been touched by breast cancer. The cancer survivors I've talked to over the years say that what helped them through their ordeal was faith and often humor." ~Laura Jensen Walker

What is more healing than laughter when you are faced with a situation you can't control? Even science has shown the healing power of laughter. Cancer isn't funny, but somehow the author finds a way to heal through her own vibrant wit. Many of the chapters are rather serious until the end when she gives the punch line.

This is a book about courage, hope and humor. Laura Jensen Walker demonstrates her ability to face the challenge of cancer and fight it with faith, hope and "mild/laid back" humor.

I learned a lot about reconstruction, chemo and was amazed at how Laura's husband stood by her through the entire process.

"How to Lose Thirty Pounds in Thirty Days: The Chemo Diet Way. The original Slim-Fast liquid diet. (But not one I'd recommend.)" was an interesting chapter to be sure. This spells it all out, tells you what chemo is all about and it isn't fun especially if your nurse forgets to give you "zofran." Yes somehow Laura finds a way to appreciate the effects of rapid weight loss even when it is the result of chemo.

If you want to understand what a cancer survivor goes through, this is the book. I recently read "Knowing Stephanie" which I can also recommend for the detailed information and pictures.

The last chapter on what really matters was also quite inspirational.

You may also enjoy:

Mental-pause
Through the Rocky Road and into the Rainbow Sherbet: Hope & Laughter for Life's Hard Licks

~The Rebecca Review
Author of Seasoned with Love: A collection of
best-loved recipes inspired by over 40 cultures

i got this book for my mother-in-law after her mastectomy. she went very quickly from finding a lump to getting diagnosed to having surgery. she is a very lively person who is usually very active. being stuck at home recovering from surgery, i bought a bunch of books that i thought might help her pass some of the time. this was her favorite. she laughed so hard her stiches almost popped! she has not stopped talking about this book.

i think this is one of those things you can give someone when you really dont know what to say. it offers a little bit of cheerfulness to an otherwise somber subject. instead of a "thinking of you" card...get this book!!!!!

I have never been diagnosed with breast cancer, but I am certain anyone facing this disease would want a copy of Laura Walker's "Thanks for the Mammogram." Mrs. Walker remarks that this book was the hardest thing she ever had to write. Like any good memoir, it takes in the uncomfortable, even embarrassing moments as well as the lighter and uplifting ones.

Walker includes a lot of detail, from procedures like reconstruction, chemotherapy right down to the day-to-day patient care and how she felt emotionally. But this is not a gruesome story--instead it is intended to help anyone else along the road to recovery. The best chapter "Where do I go from here" gives eight important points (such as taking charge of your treatment, talking to your family, dropping the Wonder Woman cape for women who do it all) and also useful addresses and a list of books.

This book is interesting reading for any woman, but if you have a loved one facing this challenge or if you are a woman who has been diagnosed with breast cancer, you should get this book. Nothing I have read comes close to this book for frankness and assistance.

Breast cancer is a big deal. Serious stuff. Many women die from it. Other women endure masectomies. Why make light of such a heavy topic? Simple: humor is healing.

Laura Jensen Walker has something to say about breast cancer. She's a survivor. She has faced this beast, and now is able to articulately help readers smile in the midst of a tough time.

In "Thanks for the Mammogram!" Jensen tells her story. Most of the book details a narrative of her diagnosis, treatment and how she survived. However, in reflecting through the most difficult of moments, she draws us in ala Erma Bombeck into candid silliness. It is as practical as it is funny.

Boldly bringing humor into a discussion of cancer marks this book as a standout among its peers. Having lost my mother to lung cancer and flipping through too many solemn tomes of pop-psychology, I read through Jensen's book refreshed. I wished my mom could've read this book. At a certain point, cancer is cancer, and anyone with any cancer would enjoy "Thanks for the Mammogram!"

Each page is a different view of her situation. For example, she spends a delightful chapter on the end of her chemo, and how she and her husband (a 'Disnoid') celebrated this landmark at Disneyland. We read of her struggle to find a decent book to read (unless Mickey Mouse's various adventures appealed to an adult woman, that is).

The chapters are in very chewable chunks--none too long.

With chapters like, "To Baldly Go Where I've Never Gone Before" (a consideration of Capt. Jean Paul-Luc Picard, Michael Jordan and other sexy baldies, she looks for the upside of a hairless head), you, like me, might find a new way of seeing what so many people go through.

She admits her fears, but pushes also the benefits of having a realistic, yet positive view of dealing with breast cancer. Jensen explains her husband's point of view in the whole matter (even letting him write a chapter, "Her Body, His Pain"). She walks the reader through the process, citing how she related to people who had or didn't have cancer.

I fully recommend "Thanks for the Mammogram!" by Laura Jensen Walker. It is a very worthy gift for those whom you love who have cancer, or know someone who does.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

I wasn't particularly impressed with this book. It was good enough to keep reading, but it wasn't until the ending (don't worry I won't say what happens) that I really started to like it in spite of myself, hense the 3 stars. The characters are generally likeable. Ellie is a little too obsessive about her weight and too self-depreciating. It starts to get annoying. The plot also seems a little thin (no pun intended).

I hate to admit this, because it's nothing against the book at all. I absolutely love this book but for the life of me I can never remember the name. I know what it's about and about when I read it so I search my library for the name each time.
The story is so entertaining and fresh. What's funny is I have read other books in this series and for some reason never knew this was one of the first in it's series. Please don't think it's a bad part on the book because it's not it's my brain.

Ellie like many women in her same situation wants to impress her family because they kind of give that attitude of I'm better than you because she's plump and single. Ellie decides her best bet is to have someone attractive and male on her arm when she visits them this time around. So she calls on Eligibility Escorts and enter one Bentley Haskell. He's a bit abrasive, but he fits the bill as far as being nice to look at and perfect to play the single girls long time beau. Bentley is a trained chef, but has taken up writing an ADULT/Graphic novel.
Once cornered with her family though Ellie makes Bentley not just her Beau but her fiancée in a very humorous moment. So as the weekend ends Ellie goes home with confidence she's gotten away with her lie and can go about her business.
Then her uncle dies and he gets one over on the family by stipulating that he is leaving Ellie and Bentley his entire fortune and castle home if they both accomplish two things in the next 6 months. Ellie's supposed to lose weight and make herself over. Bentley is supposed to write a full length book, but it has to be free of blasphemy which is going to be difficult because the book he's been writing will not do at all.
The mystery begins as people disappear and Ellie and Bentley are being targeted by a mysterious person who wants them to fail and will do anything to make sure they do.
This story is funny and fresh. I love it.
The audio version is abridged but very well read by Amanda Donohoe. I'm glad I discovered this book was part of the series I had already come to love because it's a great beginning for it.

I read the Ellie Haskell series out of order so finally getting to read the first book was great! It was nice to see how it all began...how Ellie met Ben and how they all ended up at Merlin's Court. I'm a big fan of Dorothy Cannell. Her books have always kept my interest. I love the twists and turns of the mysteries. I can't wait to read more!

Ellie Simmons really wants to be thinner. But with her love of food, it wasn't going to happen any time soon. Then she gets an invitation to go see her family and is not sure what she should do. All she knows is that if she goes she must have a date. Ellie decides to hire an escort from an escort service but after meeting her date, Bently T. Haskell, she is about to regret it. They show up at Merlin's Court, only to have her cousin making eyes at Ben and her Uncle Merlin show up in odd places. An unexpected death and puzzle to solve is enough to put Ellie over the edge. She almost loses her appetite for food but Ben's cooking while they solve the puzzle helps her out. Can Ellie she trust anyone around her?

My favorite character was Ellie. I could really relate to her struggles to lose weight and how society looked at her. She didn't let it get her down. Ellie had to persevere through everything in order to help solve the puzzle. She really had to work hard and make things work or she would not get an inheritance. Ellie was a true fighter and I loved how things worked out for her in the end. Now, now that she needed it but she really wanted it . My other favorite character was Dorcas. She was there to help solve the puzzle. She may have come towards the end of the book but her part was important. Dorcas filled in bits and pieces to things at the end that made everything seem right.

The storyline and the characters of The Thin Woman were real to me. Ellie had to learn to change her habits towards food and embrace who she was becoming in order to earn her inheritance. The struggle that Ellie had with her family was interesting. I never knew families could be so dysfunctional. I could see that the struggle in this book had a purpose. It showed that life is a struggle but you need to keep going, the answer could be just around the corner.

I really loved this book. Dorothy Cannell is a wonderful writer and she makes things so real to life. I had a difficult time putting it down. The twist and turns in the book were unpredictable and made the plot interesting. The surprise towards the end was worth the entire book. Cannell had me on the edge of my seat in one part and the next laughing my head off. This author is one amazing writer. I really enjoyed what she had written and I look forward to reading more books by her in the future. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery and not knowing who committed all the crimes.

Reviewed by Krista
For BBW Reviews

This book is so witty and well written that you will never want to put it down! The ending is also different from what you would expect! I Loved it very much and recammend it ro all. Now, don't be decieved by the cover because, you should never judge a book by it's cover. Besides the muder it also shows that if you put your mind to it you can do anything and that is what I liked about this book.
The descripitions are so well written too I found myself imaginig the rooms Ellie was designing. Now, I won't tell you everything, you must read it and tell me how you liked it!

I've read and shared many ideas in this book with my colleagues. Worth the money.

This book helped me get referrals when I was operating my own business. As the author of Don't Wait Get in S.H.A.P.E. - Drop Fat Fast and Get Fit Quick this book allowed me to attract people to purchase my services and help me sell my book. This book is awesome.

I decided to review the library's copy before I bought it and I could not get enough info out of it! I found myself taking notes and almost writing in the library's copy! I rushed and bought the book. Now it's covered in pink and yellow highlighter. I feel like I'm back in college preparing for an exam -- except this time, my studying is going to directly contribute to my bank account! Truly valuable!

This is a wonderful book. It is very well written and an easy read. Furthermore, it is full of great content. I highly recommend you take a look at the online listing of this book's Table of Contents and see for yourself what specifically is covered.

This book reminds us to not look too far astray for customers or clients. It's easier to cultivate an existing customer for a new sale than to convince a non-customer to buy from you. And it's easier to have a satisfied customer convince a non-customer to buy from you than you doing it yourself.

Focusing on getting referrals is probably the least expensive way to build a customer-base and sales. Keep in mind that there are at least two methodologies to getting referrals. One is the do-good-work for your customers and clients and to get them to refer you to their family and friends. The other is B2B where you get other businesses that compliment yours to refer work to you. You can pay a referral fee or send them an equal amount of referrals.

Some people are not comfortable with using referrals to build their customer-base. But then some people are not comfortable being self-employed either. If you are one of those people who want to be successful at being self-employed, then take advantage of referrals as much as possible. And a good way to start is probably by getting this book and reading it cover to cover. 5 stars!

Referrals now is an excellent book that explains how to obtain more business by asking for referrals. Most friends and existing clients are more than willing to recommend your product or sevices if you just ask for it. Sales people sometimes view asking for referrals as a sign of weakness or problems in the business. This is not true.

If you want to build up a business very quickly without a lot of overhead, this is the best method. It would be adviseable to first read the book "Masters of Networking" by Ivan R. Misner. Referral business has a lot to do with networking, so you must be ready to do favors for other people who help you out. Forgetting to help somebody else who has helped you will be very detrimental to your business.

Just asking somebody for a referral is not really good enough but asking the person for a personal introduction increases your chances dramatically for closing the deal.

Don't read the book all in one go. Read a chapter, think about how you can apply it, write down what you think is best for you and experiment with it.

I really liked this book. I read it as part of a workshop for school. The author made the subject matter easy to understand for everyone, and in a format that was fairly enjoyable. It made me see the importance of good planning.

Pros:
-covers a broad range of topics
-gives great financial tips
-reads like a novel
-concise and quick to read
-is easy to understand
-inspires you to start your planning right away

Con:
-could have written a little more about a couple of the topics

The bad news first: The author had a great idea of putting sound financial advice in a novel format. The characters are boring and one dimensional save for the fact that they are sports fans. The dialogue is forced and fast, but for the purpose of getting to the lessons where the dialogue is disruptive at times.

The good news: If you can forge through the pages of banter and witticisms you will find some things that you'll be glad you found such as a proxy [check it out] and some things about investing and insurance.

The outcome: This story takes place in Michigan, which is also the state who's company's representatives (AmWay, now Quixtar, Inc.) launched a major dealing in the distribution of this book. It appealed to their wide client/distributor base and sent its sales into the stratosphere.

My son picked this book up many years ago. Both he & I read it. It made an imprint on my life, as well as his. I am financially independent & semi retired at age 57.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who doesn't know anything about money. It is really easy to understand and doesn't skip over the basics. If you know the basics you may not find it an interesting read.

I read this book to learn a little more about finance, since I'm clueless about it. Now after reading this book, I feel I know enough to plan for my future under two conditions -

1) I work full time
2) I work for 30 years or longer

There's obviously no way around those conditions, and of course there really shouldn't be. Unfortunately, I haven't quite fulfilled condition one yet, let alone condition two. The book doesn't discuss how to fulfill these conditions. You need a job search book for that.

What this book does discuss though is what do do with your steady income once you have it. Early in your life, simply set aside 10 percent of your earnings immediately and put that percentage into long-term growth investments, without ever withdrawing. Makes a lot of sense, even though I still think some of the figures the author throws out are a bit exaggerated. Compound interest does work wonders, but there ain't no way in heck you'll become a millionaire on $100 a week in this lifetime. (The book doesn't make this claim, but it kind of implies it.)

This book says a dollar saved is two dollars earned and gives a 'tax on bonuses' type reason for it. I agree with the statement, but I'd say the reason it's true is because after you spend a dollar, you have -1 dollars, but if you save that dollar, you have +1 dollars. +1 - (-1) = +2. If you save a dollar, you have two dollars more than if you spend a dollar.

I'd say the best way to avoid getting carried away and spending all your money (in addition to the pay yourself first method discussed in the book) is to keep busy as all heck with what you have. If you're sitting around all day doing nothing, you're probably going to get bored and spend your money frivolously. (Hint: writing reviews for Amazon is a real money-saver; a great way to keep busy.)

There's more to this book, like life insurance and wills and stuff, but I think as long as you know how to save, and where to get good help (particularly for life insurance), you'll be set up all right, even if you screw up.

This book offers the very information people really need at the most difficult time in their life. Talking to other people about someone dying is usually a frustrating experience - they just don't understand. This writer does, and addresses issues only someone who has been through it understands. It's a great resource and a real lifeline for the living to the dying.

As an oncology chaplain at UCLA Medical Center, I am always looking for practical, helpful, and meaningful resources that I can use to help patients, their caregivers, and other health care professionals deal with the overwhelming challenges that serious illness can present. "Where Souls Meet" is one of the best resources I have read on this subject. It serves as a deeply moving and personal guide that will lead the reader through the journey that all of us, in one way or another, will someday travel.

AT A TIME WHEN PEOPLE CAN FEEL THERE IS NO HOPE, COMES A BEAUTIFUL RAY OF SUNSHINE. DILLON'S INSITE AND DIRECTION IS A BREATH OF FRESH AIR. AS A HOSPICE VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR, THIS BOOK HAS PUT NEW INSPIRATION INTO MY JOB. I HAVE A MUCH BETTER UNDERSTANDING AND INSITE INTO HOW TO HELP OUR VOLUNTEERS, OUR PATIENT'S AND FAMILIES DEAL WITH THE MOST DIFFICULT TIME OF THEIR LIFE. HAVING LOST CLOSE FAMILY AND FRIENDS PERSONALLY, WHERE SOLES MEET HAS HELPED ME RESOLVE PERSONAL ISSUES AND HAS GIVEN ME A PEACE IN MY HEART I HAVE NOT HAD BEFORE. I PLAN TO INCORPORATE THIS BOOK INTO OUR TRAINING CLASSES AND HAVE COPIES AVAILABLE FOR OUR PATIENTS. I HAD THE GREAT HONOR OF MEETING DILLON EARLIER THIS MONTH, AND I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE WHO HAS A CHANCE TO HEAR HIM IN CONCERT OR AT A SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT TO DO SO WITHOUT HESITATION.

This is a most excellant handbook that provides guidance and direction for family and caregivers of terminally ill people. It is the best and most thorough study that I have found on this subject. It clearly defines how to relate to a person who has been diagnosed with such an illness on the spiritual, emotional, and cognitive levels. It should be made a requirement for every hospice and healthcare worker who relates to terminally ill patients on a regular basis. Families with a terminally ill member will find the book most helpful. It will answer many of their questions and allow them to have a better informed understanding of the patient's emotional needs. It should be made available to all families who are caring for a terminally ill person. Besides focusing on our relational and vberbal behavior when relating to the terminally ill, it gives very practical suggestions. For example, appendice C gives suggestions on what to look for when hiring helpers for patient care. Appendice D has ideas and examples of how to make lists and charts for everyday monitoring.

Many times caregivers think only in terms of what they can offer the terminally ill patient. One chapter gives important lessons that the caregivers can learn from the terminally ill patient.

As a Certified Hospice Nurse and Hospice Administrator I have access to many tools to help both staff and loved ones through the grief journey. Where Souls Meet is both compelling and insightful. From introduction to appendix this book provides each reader with guidance and support through the most difficult time most of us will experience - the loss of a loved one. As we anticipate death, like life, we are faced with many challenges and obstacles. This book offers both inspiration and suggestions to help ease the fear. Dillon writes and shares with a level of emotion and realism that will help both caregivers and professionals alike. Share this book with a friend!

I cannot imagine trying to read Proust's Everest of a novel until I've had enough life experience to be able to identify with his insights. How on earth was a man who died young and was confined to a bed for so many years able to learn so much about life and common human experience, emotion and perception? I don't know how, but I thank God that he was.

For modern readers, Proust is definitely an acquired taste that rewards patience. I never thought reading the works of one author would make those of others seem so much easier to read. But such is the case with Proust. Nevertheless, one shouldn't regard his writing as therapy or medicine; it may read like self help at times, with its frequent use of the first-person plural, but it is a story first of all. His writing is just more detailed and insightful than that of all but a handful of modern novelists.

Within a Budding Grove is a primer on patience and perception, one that will probably make you a better reader, perhaps a better writer, and certainly a more interesting human being. Struggle on patiently. You will get used to the labyrinthine sentences, paragraphs that run on for pages, and gargantuan chapters (if they can be called that) that don't really begin or end anywhere tidy. Eventually, you will likely come to enjoy it.

My only criticism: at times one does get annoyed by the slow pacing. For instance, I knew that this is the volume that introduces the reader to Albertine. But it did take about 600 pages for the narrator to meet her! That said, there are plenty of tasty morsels along the way. Read it, not so much for the simple story or the minutely detailed descriptions, but for the numerous insights and the astounding wisdom.

How can anyone summarize even a single volume of Proust's massive six volume novel? Within a Budding Grove (sometimes translated as In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower) is the second installment of In Search of Last Time. We find the narrator perhaps marginally older on vacation with his grandmother living in a luxurious hotel in Balbec off the coast. This volume, paired with the first (Swann's Way), is really the introduction to the work entire if you can believe it. In it, the narrator perhaps matures slightly; he cultivates his keen awareness of art, meets new people, and ultimately falls out of love with Gilberte and falls in love with Albertine. His relationship with his grandmother is certainly expanded, and the reader comes to learn that the narrator is not merely motivated by a trivial pursuit of pleasure and bourgeois charm. He is in fact, a truly full human being, complete with fear, love, desire, and ambition. He meets one of my favorite characters in the whole book, the impressionist painter Elstir, a character clearly based Monet, Manet, Pissaro, and others. He introduces the narrator to Albertine through his paintings, and teaches him about the joys of life and art. There are some passages in this section of the book (the latter half) which I just can't resist from quoting,

"I could never have believed that I should now be dreaming of a sea which was no more than a whitish vapour that had lost both consistency and colour. But of such a sea Elstir, like the people who sat musing on board those vessels drowsy with the heat, had felt so intensely the enchantment that he had succeeded in transcribing, in fixing for all time upon his canvas, the imperceptible ebb of the tide, the throb of one happy moment; and at the sight of this magic portrait, one could think of nothing else than to range the wide world, seeking to recapture the vanished day in its instantaneous, slumbering beauty" (pg. 657).

also (how French is this?),

"For a convalescent who rests all day long in the flower-garden or an orchard, a scent of flowers or fruit does not more completely pervade the thousand trifles that compose his idle hours than did for me that colour, that fragrance in search of which my eyes kept straying towards the girls, and the sweetness of which finally became incorporated in me. So it is that grapes sweeten in the sun. And by their slow continuity these simple little games had gradually wrought in me also, as in those who do nothing else all day but lie outstretched by the sea, breathing the salt air and sunning themselves, a relaxation, a blissful smile, a vague dazzlement that had spread from brain to eyes" (pg. 669).

I certainly cannot add any insights into the greatness and profundity of this work which has not already been said by Edmund Wilson or Vladimir Nabokov. Within a Budding Grove is a deeply felt, beautiful and fleeting segment of one of the finest novels of the last century, I urge you to read it.

Montcrief's translation, is the quintisential Proust. The, beautiful, florid prose is reminiscent of a time and a place that no longer exists, and captures the French aristocracy in the advent of WWI -- full of old-world trappings, yet abounding with subtle reminders of the globalization that was to follow. Proust's style and vision are directed admirably towards his artistic goal of appreciating art through sublimation, and express his idea that a true understanding of art comes first through appreciation, and then expression through a medium. This volume is full of Proust's own philosiphies on art, life and the people who abound in both. His observations, pointed and amusing, keep this volume relevant. Considering the wave of expatriate and existentialist writers who propogated Paris after the Great War, this book is truly the last in a line of works that view life in a grand, sweeping and elegant manner. Within a Budding Grove brought Proust fame and acclaim in his own time, and in ours can be seen as a masterpiece reflecting a time past, yet glimsping assiduously into the future. For those "in search of lost time" this is truly a great read.

This is a great copy of Vol. 2 of A la recherche du temps perdu [In Search of Lost Time] or [Delving into Things Past]. Each volume in the septrology may be read individually as an independent novel. This is, of course, the very best translation available in English; probably the very best that will ever be available in English: certainly the next best thing to reading the original French.

Note: Proust is not quick reading, and one who tries to read too quickly will just as quickly lose the tread of the narrative. This text has its own time scale, and the reader must adjust his/herself to the text--not the other way around. In this stream of consciousness narrative, the narrator (/author) digresses as he speaks (/thinks): he digresses, digresses, digresses; and then, he returns, returns, returns to the point where he began. One has to follow his line of thought: this is the art and beauty of the text.

Proust's achievement is one of the greatest edifices of Western art, perhaps comparable only to Wagner's Ring cycle.

It's my experience, reading this novel, to be perpetually grateful for the miracle of Proust, grateful, too, that he waited until his maturity to write; as someone who's spent time in writing workshops, I can only imagine the dissipation of his energies into anemic prototypes had he been persuaded to publish prematurely. Lovingly written, every word endowed with love of life and maturity's distillation of life experience, it is a novel (which reads like a memoir) of a life devoted to the connoisseur's pursuit of pleasure-how can that not alienate? Proust is consciously writing for an elite of mental or temperamental sympathy. To say that reading Proust has helped me through hard times is true-yet how can I-someone who has, to paraphrase a T-shirt I saw recently, a blackbelt in keepin' it real-not resent a courtesan with three ladies to aid in her toilette-however tenderly rendered?

The mature Proust's vision of love-in this novel at least-is adolescent and self-absorbed, and there is no sense of a selfless or mature love, such as that of a parent for a child, which contains a dying to self as opposed to an expansion of self. (One thinks here of the authorial contempt for the too-giving parent, Vinteuil.) I pity Marcel: to lose oneself-the burden-to lose time-sometimes-is very refreshing indeed. Mired in the adolescent and egotistical point-of-view, without benefit of even the illusory counterpoint of an adult lover's (Swann's) point-of-view, the narrative does sometimes suffer from too much Marcel. Coddled, effete, he finely calibrates the shades of disillusionment that possession as opposed to reflection offers-the "psychological impossibility of happiness"-after having his wildest fantasies (Berma! Bergotte! Balbec!) fulfilled time and again. And he universalizes his singular temperamental trait, that inability to live in the moment.

Proust is only too conscious of his weaknesses, and as a result, we get his poetics: "I am aware that this is to blaspheme against the sacrosanct school of what these gentlemen term `Art for Art's sake,' but at this period of history there are tasks more urgent than the manipulation of words in a harmonious manner," Norpois says, and one is laughing out loud with pleasure at the dissonance between Marcel's lofty musings on Berma and the cold spiced beef jiggling in its cubes of aspic, the delicious conflict of temperaments.

He gives me back to myself-it's a long time since I've felt the sole inhabitor of my consciousness and had the leisure to puzzle out my sensations. Usually my mind is full to the brim like this: "Mommy-mommy-mommy-here comes little bear! What does little bear say?! Mommy-mommy-mommy-mommy-moooooommy! Here's little bear! Little bear is talking!" So that I don't have mental space or leisure to process even the simplest sensation, how the sun feels on my shoulders, for instance. Visiting Proust's cool room of mirrors and ocean waves returns that feeling to me, and that is precious. There is something precious in his extremity-his lack of apology for a sensitive and aesthetically-driven nature that is anathema to middle-class American values. And that rhythm like ocean waves! It gets in your head, lowers your blood pressure, no doubt alters brain wave patterns, the chemicals in neuropathways.

There is something so extreme (admirable!) in Proust's sensibility-the extremity of his pursuit of pleasurable sensation intellectually reorganized and savored-that one feels-paradoxically-something dehumanizing in his gaze. His musings on the protoplasmic nature of young girls frankly chills me! Yet I see it as part of the "green fuse," the life force pagan and repugnant at times. So, what happens in Vol.3? I can't wait, yet at the same time I hope for something I may not get.

I've read this book several times. Every time I pick it up, I end up laughing until I almost cry. As a bachelor myself, I relate to the grains of reality underneath O'Rouke's great sarcasm.

Not as good as "Eat The Rich" or "Parliament of Whores" or "All The Trouble in the World" or "Holidays in Hell" or "Give War A Chance"; those books are thought-provoking as well as screamingly funny. This one is just screamingly funny, but this might actually be a plus for people whose response to some of P.J.'s better works is a defensive "That's not funny!"; P.J. has a tendancy to poke fun at EVERYTHING, including the sacred cows of people who he disagrees with (and sometimes those he agrees with.)

As a 32 yr old bacelor, this book had me literally HOWLING with laughter! I let my girlfriend read it. We aren't dating anymore, LOL. As ridiculous and as obscene as some of it seems, it is startling to realize that I have actually LIVED like that!

FIVE STARS,..!!!!!!

I've been on a tear of P.J. O'Rourke's books lately, starting with Republican Party Reptile and so forth. This is by far one of P.J.'s best. I'm on the other side of the coin politically (fairly liberal) myself, but P.J. usually spares no one, and I admire that (Rush and his wacko friends could learn a thing or two).

This book is just about how to get by if you're a bachelor. It's incredibly funny for the most part (the cooking sections should not be read if you've just ate!). This is a fantastic little book, very helpful if you plan to live like a slob or like a typical college freshman.

The Bachelor Home Companion: A Practical Guide to Keeping House Like A Pig written by P.J. O'Rourke is a very funny, keep you in stiches book.

You'll never keep a house neat and tidy after you read this book. Of Course, that's assuming that you already do. What its like as a bachelor in theory as to actually being one is, according to O'Rourke, a great disparity. If you want to laugh and be entertained at the same time then this little tome is for you to enjoy.

Humor abounds and your life will definately take a turn... for better or worse will depend on you.According to O'Rourke... "How often does a house need to be cleaned, anyway? As a general rule, once every girlfriend. After that she can get to know the real you."

Never fails to delight. Enjoyable reading. Mayhem in an antique shop is no match for the feline with more than the usual amount of whiskers.

With the third installement in The Cat Who...series this is by far the funniest.

With his new assignment in junktown, learning all about antiques and the dealers that come with it Qwill stumbbles onto what looks like another odd murder mystery. Once his mustache starts twiching and his partners, KoKo and Yum, start their usual shenanigans Qwill knows for sure he is right. The only thing left for him to do is to figure out which of the colorful characters of junktown could be the culprit.
With even more colorful, fun and way out there characters this book will definitely leave you wanting more and more of Qwill and his furry gang of friends. Next on the list is The Cat Who Saw Red.

Always great listening to a Braun mystery narrated by the talented George Guidall.

In the 3rd book in The Cat Who...series, James Qwilleran (aka "Qwill"), is working on assignment in the features department as a newsman for the Daily Fluxion. Returning to writing for a paper after an absence of several years, he has gotten his life back together and sobered up. In the previous book, he had been assigned to writing a weekly magazine style insert titled "Gracious Abodes" that focused on the world of interior design. Having survived that assignment, Qwill is back writing features, and is excited about the prospect of winning a prize in the Fluxion's annual writing contest. He hears about a nearby town called Junktown from a cabbie, and decides to write a piece about what he assumes is a crime-ridden area. Instead, he finds that Junktown is a hotbed of antique dealers, and he quickly finds a room to rent in the town while writing a story about antiques. He learns that the tenant who occupied his room previously had died in a suspicious manner, and Qwill begins to investigate the curious characters in Junktown. Qwill meets Iris Cobb in this installment, starting a lengthy friendship that will last long into future books set in Moose County.

This is my favorite cozy mystery series! I had read all of the books in the past, and wanted to read them again for a second time. This time around, I have chosen to listen to them on CD, as I love the voice of George Guidall. More of Qwill's background is explained, and it was interesting to revisit how Qwill met Mrs. Cobb, and her son, Dennis who later renovates the apple barn he lives in. For those that have not read the series, I do recommend reading the first several first. Many others can be intermixed, but this book offers good insight to some of the characters that show up later in the series. This is a great series by my favorite author!

The first book in the series is called "The Cat who Could Read Backwards". Enjoy!

In this, the third offering in this series we find that our hero Jim Qwilleran has a new assignment with the Daily Fluxion. In the second book we saw him change assignments but for some reason there is no explanation for this change. Whatever the reason, Qwilleran is now a feature writer and has decided to do all that he can to win a writing contest sponsored by the Fluxion because he could really use the prize money to move out of the third-rate hotel he and his cats are occupying. A taxi driver mentions an area called Junktown to the writer who assumes that it is a high traffic narcotics area. That is just the kind of story that an old crime reporter can sink his teeth in to but alas, Qwilleran finds out that Junktown is really an antiquing area filled with junk stores.

Reluctantly Qwilleran heads out for Junktown and quickly finds himself intrigued with the area and it's colorful collection of characters. The development of quirky and fun characters is an area in which this author excels and she may have outdone herself with this group. He also finds that a prominent Junker recently died in what the police have called an accident but the veteran reporter's mustache tells him that it was no accident. Soon, Qwilleran is not only involved with the people of Junktown but he rents an apartment from one of the junk dealers and he and the cats move right in. The stories that he is generating from Junktown please his editor and he thinks that there is a good chance he will win the paper's prize money. But all the while he is still working to solve the mystery of the junk dealer's death.

Shortly after his arrival in Junktown, Qwilleran's landlord is killed in an apparent fall while scrounging for goodies in an abandoned house that is about to be torn down. Again the police call it an accident and again Qwilleran is not so sure that it was accidental. Finally the cats do their thing and the whole case is cleared up but not before the cats once again save Qwilleran's life.

This book, unlike it's predecessors is a little light on the mystery angle until the end of the book but as before, the clues are there all through the story. The reporter and the readers just seem to let them slip right by. Finally however, the reporter and the reader will began to put two and two together and figure out that there is definitely something fishy in Junktown.

Once again Lilian Jackson Braun has produced a delightfully lighthearted mystery that I suspect any mystery lover will fall in love with. If you don't fall in love with the story you will assuredly fall in love with Koko and Yum Yum, super cats par excellence.