Writers Books

18 years ago, when I was a teenager, I came across this book when a kid in my high school was reading it. And because it had a ouija board on the cover, I thought it must be interesting. So, I went to an esoteric bookstore in St. Marks and found myself a copy, and I can say, humbly, that my life became so much more fulfilling in every single fibrous way that it could be since the day I came home with a copy of Messages from Michael.

The words of this wise teacher, my teacher, the Michael Entity, have been a source of grounding and inspiration through out my life.

And I take a moment to share gratitude for this leveling work, because thanks to the Michael Teachings, I have been prepared to readily grasp the Teachings of Abraham. I have just encountered the actual channellings from Esther Hicks on audio CD, and how I wish I could also have Michaels' words on audio.

And while I am not sure if Abraham is also a mid-causal entity, or a collection of entities speaking from a different plane, Michael "are" different because they just speak about the entire scope of the human condition with out any intention. "Belief is not required".

Abraham seem to intent on impressing upon me an understanding of three important universal laws. Abraham seem to "want" or "wish" for me to understand. Michael was always a lot less emotional/intentional about their teachings, and perhaps at the time this was exactly what I needed.

Abraham is now an important part of this new stage in my life, however, I feel like my human experience has some comprehension and context as a result of the Michael Teachings. But with Michael, I feel like what I have come to comprehend about myself and my esence has given me clarity about the vehicle/vessel (personality) which I have chosen to operate with in this lifetime.

With Abraham, I feel like I understand where that vessel is flowing to and I am becoming more aware of the majestic vibrations that control the direction I am heading versus where I am intending to go.

Together, these entities, both Michael and Abraham, offer a unique and distinct education about existing and experiencing the human condition.

This met all of my expectations. Arrived in a timely manner. Was in execellent conditon.

"Messages From Michael" provides an interesting look at soul evolution. It's described from the "viewpoint" of an entity known as "Michael", who has apparently already been through much of this evolution itself & had come through to share its' knowledge.

One of the things that really drew me into this book is that it's stated over & over again that belief is not required, and that this information is NOT meant to be used dogmatically - but instead used to expand ourselves - evolution will occur no matter what we choose.

It's also strongly suggested that, instead of believing all that is said on blind faith, one should test this information for themselves - think of your life, and ask yourself "could this make sense in light of the info. provided in the Michael "teachings".

Overall, I found this book to be very interesting, exciting & thought-provoking - it was a real page-turner. I especially liked the discussions around various soul ages, levels & such - These sections helped me to consider a new potential reason for why we may be drawn to some people, and want to avoid others at all costs - something I find quite interesting.

In the end, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in spirituality & soul evolution - it has much to offer.

When I first read this book years ago it was as if a light came on in the dark! Since then I have shared it with countless friends and aquaintances. I am SO glad to see it come back into print as used copies were getting harder to find!

It is interesting that anyone who reads this book will find it to be magnificent but many want to come out and say that they don't really believe it. Well, just use that trick from another good read, the Celestine Prophecies and understand that feeling of assuredness that kicks in, and makes things stand out. Just like how seeing beauty makes something stand out from the rest, the meaningful things in your life will stand out from the pack as well. This book stands out for all to be taken in. Since it doesn't change you or anyone.. it is all about showing you the frameworks and reassuring your values. I would say it really could be called the modern day bible since it allows for a more deeper understanding than the old text. It is a true progression for us souls that have progressed the past 2,000 years... enjoy.

I read this book as a preteen growing up in Germany and this was definitely one of my favorites.
I loved the characters and the deeper meaning in the plot.
I remember not being able to put the book down - I literally could forget the world around me. The last time I read it I must have been in my twenties.
Now having children of my own I have often told them about the book and have searched to find it translated in English - so finally here it is.
Honestly - I think I myself might just read it again (even though I still remember Kassiopeia and and grey men very well.

It's a wonderful book. Easy reading. you can also read it to your children.

I love children's books that adults can enjoy at a whole other level. If you like the never ending story (the book, not the movie) you will enjoy Momo as well. Ende is one of my favorite children book author.

I read this book as an American boy growing up in Germany, nearly 30 years ago, and hands down this book has stuck with me more than any youth novel I read, even more than The Never Ending Story. The feel of the book is like a cross between Kafka's The Trial and the alternate world of Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. This is book is a youth book, but with the substance of adult literature.

If you have a kid who loves Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, or Cornelia Funke, get her to graduate to Momo - it will probably be appealing, and a step up in literary quality to boot.

Maybe the reason that this is the hardest Michael Ende book to find in English is that it really is telling children a lot about the real nature of the society, particularly the wonderful "free market economy" part of it, as well as "productivity" and "gross domestic product" and the rest. It is a dangerous book, it really makes you think about all the benefits of the new global religion of consumerism.

Momo is a masterpiece, no doubt about it. It is a children's book, and I read it as a child, and it made me look differently at the world. It does not take its intended audience (children) for fools and treats them as they deserve (as reasonable, open-minded children, not bigotted, senseless adults). It has great comedic moments (stories of Girolamo) and has wonderfully created villain (the cigarette smoking gray men), as well as cool characters like Caseiopeia. it is a perfect children's novel and will keep you reading and re-reading for years to come.

I had this book as a child and I can remember making my parents read it to me over and over. I used to bring it to babysit with me and read it to the kids that I was watching. I recently purchased this book for my children, ages 1, 3 and 5 and they really enjoy it. It has cute pictures and a great lesson about determination, a dream and trying your best!

This is an excellent children's book. I totally disagree with Hook's assessment that this is uninspired. It has inspired our family. Anytime something is difficult my 5 year old states "anything is possible with a little practice and determination".

This cow makes her dream possible even in the face of others laughing at her. A good lesson in "not having to go along with the crowd and peer pressure".

This is one of the few Jack Kent books currently in print. Buy it now before it, too, is OOP! Jack Kent was not only a delightful story teller, but he was a wonderful illustrator. Cute story sure to please toddlers & preschoolers (even young elementary).

My parents bought this book for me in 1973. It has always inspired me to try harder no matter what. I now share my copy with my children and plan to buy a copy for each of them. This book would make a wonderful first book for any child (a baby shower gift for my brother)or an addition to any adult's book collection. Buy it, share it and live by Ms. Mooley's moto "all it takes is a little practice and determination"

Several times a day my two year old will place himself squarely in front of my wife or myself and simply demand "Mrs. Mooley!"

That's about the best endorsement I can give for a children's book.

This tale is of a cow who is inspired by a misplaced book of nursery rhymes to accomplish one -- the cow jumping over the moon.

All of the other animals laugh at Mrs. Mooley as she practices for her attempt. Their laughter turns to wide eyed adoration as she clears the moon on her final attempt, just as dawn is breaking over the barnyard.

As Mrs. Mooley states: "all it takes is a little practice and determination."

Right from the top I will state that I do not agree 100% with everything outlined in Professor Boyd's book on my favorite Nabokavian literary work. But I do share Professor Boyd's love for Pale Fire, and reading this book increased my enjoyment and appreciation of the work immensely. This was clearly a labor of love and it is an easy read (not dry and stale) for anyone who had the slightest enjoyment in reading Nabokov's book.

Amazing! When reading this insomnia-inducing book my head kept spinning with the mirror-like mirages of Pale Fire and I felt that everything I trusted and relied on when first I read that book were crumbling around me.

I have read Pale Fire twice and still only feel that I am barely familiar with how the common household objects in the place Kinbote is housesitting helped to create that zany land of the north, Zembla.

I dont want to spoil some of the surprises in this book (Boyd has gone back on his stance of Shade being the author of both poem and commmentary which he supports in his biography of Nabokov). But let me just say that these surprises provoked me in the middle of long nights to exclaim "What is goint ON? " and pace around frantically.

A haunting question (and by the way the ghostly aspects of Pale Fire which i had only felt in a vague way are exposed by Boyd to be something richer than i would have ever imagined) is not only how much control Hazel Shade had over the commentary but also how much control Nabokov's playful shade is exerting upon Boyd. The reviewer below me is onto something.

Boyd brings to Pale Fire his thorough knowledge of Nabokov's other works - for example his thesis - anti-thesis description of chess in Speak Memory or that bizarre short story The Vane Sisters - and illustrates how they help to see into the mystery of some of Nab's more complex works.

After reading Pale Fire twice, I naively thought that i understood it (yes that Bodkin in the University was suspicious, and yes the existence of internation thug Gradus i had previosly questioned) but i was only approaching the intitial layerings of this beatifully layered world. Im not saying that i am necessarily convinced with all Boyd has to say, but he has dazzled me with his insights and made me fully realize that I am far from understanding fully this work of art. It is to Nabokov's supreme credit that he could create a world that seems as immense, varied, and impossible to appreciate fully enough as the one we live in everyday.

Obviously I must not be as big a Nabokov groupie as other Pale Fire enthusiasts, because when I read Pale Fire in a college seminar, most of us spent weeks admiring Nabokov's academic satire and what we then thought was a purposefully horrible poem. Now I feel somewhat shamed because Boyd seems to think the poem itself is great poetry -- I cringe because our class read out loud particularly funny lines and laughed at what a good "bad" poem Nabokov wrote. Maybe Boyd does miss some of the humor, but that is all he misses. I don't think he leaves one line, joke, pun, or obscure reference unexplained. I enjoyed the first few chapters more because they stuck to many of the more obvious discoveries Nabokov intended his readers to make. By the middle, Boyd had my head spinning with some of the leaps of analysis -- I was too confused to agree or disagree. But by the end, his overall surprises and theories come together and make sense. No matter what you make of Boyd's theory, I applaud the book for its emphasis on close reading and for its obvious love of this great writer. Nabokov is one of this century's best and deserves this kind of in-depth reading. In the final chapter, Boyd answers some of the criticisms about his theory (by Michael Wood, for instance, a Princeton prof) and almost ends up sounding like Kinbote for a moment in his defensiveness. This book is a true discovery for a devout reader because it shows how to read better and more closely, how to link (bobo-link) seemingly unrelated bits together. Hats off to a great work of Nabokov scholarship -- Boyd brought in lots of information from Nabokov's other works that proved to be quite important.

For Nabokov, nothing was ever as simple as it seemed. In fact, "simple" and "sincere" were two adjectives that he despised. While teaching at Wellesley College and later at Cornell, Nabokov would give a low mark to any student who used the words, "simple" and "sincere" in a paper.

Nabokov was a writer who celebrated the complexities in life. He looked for unexpected meanings in even the most banal details of existence and the test questions he set for his students were notoriously eccentric, e.g., Describe Madame Bovary's hairdo; What sort of paper covered the walls of Anna Karenina's bedroom? for Nabokov, God was a subtle being, but tremendously inventive and perhaps a little sly.

Nabokov believed that "the unraveling of a riddle is the purest and most basic act of the human mind." He probably would have loved this remarkable book, an attempt to unravel the riddles and hidden meanings Nabokov, himself, embedded in Pale Fire.

When Pale Fire first appeared in 1962, reviewers said, correctly, that it could be enjoyed without puzzling over its hidden meanings but that it obviously hid many levels of complexity. In a now-famous article, Mary McCarthy called Pale Fire "a jack-in-the-box, a Fabergé gem, a clockwork toy, a chess problem, an infernal machine, a trap to catch reviewers..." But she also thought it was a thing of perfect beauty, symmetry, strangeness, originality and moral truth.

Even on a first reading of Pale Fire, we understand that Nabokov is playing a most elaborate literary game. Kinbote is hilariously mad, and his efforts to interpret Shade's poem as a commentary on Zemblan events can be seen as a satire of imaginative academics.

But Nabokov also scattered less obvious clues throughout the book. McCarthy decided that the "real" author of the commentary was yet another Zemblan who is barely mentioned, V. Botkin. And there are those who believe that Nabokov is telling us that John Shade didn't die but simply wrote the commentary under the name of Kinbote as a way of disappearing.

Boyd now interprets Nabokov's intentions in yet another way. He believes that both the poem and the commentary were inspired from beyond the grave as well as by Shakespeare's many ghosts.

Nabokov's Pale Fire is a monument to a brilliant scholar's persistent love affair with a book and its author. For more than three decades now, Boyd has made Pale Fire, and Nabokov, his obsession, much in the way that Nabokov, himself, was obsessed with butterflies. In 1990 and 1991, Boyd published his excellent two-volume biography of Nabokov and established himself as the world's premier Nabokovian.

Pale Fire, however, remained central to this thinking. When Boyd was asked to discuss Pale Fire on the Electronic Nabokov Discussion Forum, he discovered that his own views about this remarkable and original book were changing. Those views form the heart and soul of his own vibrant and energetic work. Even if we do not agree with all of his theories (and anything, at this point, must remain only a theory) we have to admire his scrupulous intelligence and dedication.

Boyd does not disdain eccentric flights of imagination. Nor is he afraid of being thought of as obsessive. There was a sweet madness in Nabokov, and quite obviously, Boyd has assimilated some of it, all to the good.

Nabokov's Pale Fire is more than a wonderful book; it is also a labor of love of the highest order. It can only enhance your understanding and love of both Nabokov and Pale Fire, and perhaps give you some insight into Boyd, himself.

This book on Pale Fire is some of the best critical commentary on a great piece of literature I have ever read. Shattuck's study of Proust's novel and Stanely Fish's recent book on Milton also come to mind.

The readers who will benefit most from this book are those who love Pale Fire and are very familiar with it. The study is so good and so thorough, I worry about it spoiling the act of discovery in newcomers to the novel. I read Pale Fire only once before reading Boyd's study. Oddly enough, it almost made me ashamed because I DIDN'T follow my curiousity and see where the clues could lead me. Granted, I don't think I could have reached Browning from the "Papa pisses" reference in Pale Fire, but many other clues could have yielding satisfying discoveries.

Basically, I read Pale Fire as a "Level 1" reader: getting the jokes and appreciating the more obvious ironies about Charles Kinbote. But in this book, Boyd shows how Nabokov's novel can be seen as a super-complex, but coherent pattern of signs, signs blinking at us from the beyond.

I won't spoil any more for those readers who want to discover more about Pale Fire on their own. My only advise is to follow your curiousity!

Mark Rackers is yet another example of the population of underrated and overlooked talented and brilliant writers of our generation. Rackers' poetic genius allows any reader to empathize with an aging jaded twenty something year old who has no direction in his life.
I'm on the edge of my futon, awaiting the third installment of the trilogy where the author takes the reader on yet another exciting and spontaneous ride where his character becomes a TA for his almamater, UCSD, engages in sexual relations with his students, and traces his what was once believed suburban past to his actual blocked out childhood in the hoods of Menlo Park.
Again, Nesting's brilliance is only a reflection of the author's.
I wish Mr. Rackers only the best in the future of his writing career.

Mark Rackers is an excellent writer. His piece completely engrosses as it takes you on a journey through relationships, adulthood, and parenthood. I read it so late into the night that I couldn't wake up for Mark's class in the morning. That's how great this book is. Everyone can relate to at least some part of this novel. It is both easy to read and very fulfilling. Pay the 15 bucks, and help this guy out.

This is one of my favorite books, I couldn't put it down.
I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys truly excellent literary works. I can't wait to see what Mark comes up with next.

This book is one the most gripping commentaries on life as a 20 Something that I have ever read. Mark is irreverant, funny, and heartbreakingly honest. One heck of a book from one heck of a writer.

This book, the second installment of a what is sure to be a trilogy once the author publishes the prequel, is a mind-numbing trip into Mark Rackers' brain. It's kind of like the film Being John Malkovich all tucked into a book, only Mark is no John Malkovich, and you're probably no Cameron Diaz, either. There's an existential quality to the life of the narrator -- he craves women with a "futile passion", but eventually comes to realize that Nunus is always crowded, always dark, and on a good day the best you can hope for is for Joe to stop spitting in your food.

I happen to be a good friend of one of the three authors but had never known anything about his Vietnam experience. After reading these stories, it is easier to understand why, 30 years later, it might not be something a former U.S. Army Ranger would want to talk about, even with his friends -- or maybe especially with his friends.

Three men, obviously each quite different, recount recollections of their experiences. If all one knows about war -- the vast majority of us who have never seen combat -- that it is Hell, then these stories give us all we need to know about why this is really so.

The authors pull no punches, make no excuses for the surprising level of brutality. Their texts, surprisingly well-written, take us along on their hunter-killer missions, carefully planned lethal traps, sprung on the Mekong Delta's Viet Cong fighters. They are very close to each other, each life depends on the guy next in the six-man column. Some of them don't come back and we wonder now was it worth it?

But it's not all blood-and-guts fighting. (A vivid description of a beheading left me more than light-headed.) We see some very introspective reflections during the quiet moments, an occasional R&R, the usual intra-squad bitching and brawling.

Little wonder that only 365 days in a high-risk combat unit could have such a lasting effect on the participants.

History is still judging if was worth it. This modest but important addition to that assessment makes its own understated but powerful contribution. Definitely worth the price, and then some.

The real Viet Nam. The people, the land, and the Americans who came from all over the U.S. for reasons even they didn't know. The authors make the war real through their own memories--three American Rangers who spend their days on Long Range Recon Patrols--dumped into Viet Cong territory to bate the enemy. The reader is right there with them, experiencing their fears, their doubts, the complexity of an uncertain war, and the simplicity of young men thrown into chaos. This book has an uncanny way of mixing the routine thoughts and actions of American boys with the terrible brutality of killing--often never knowing if the victems were really the enemy. The authors are men who went off to serve their nation in a killing field of great peril. And returned to three decades of silence before telling their stories. The best book I've read on the American soldier in Viet Nam. This is not gussied-up chest thumping--this is the story of three ordinary men forced to become warriors. You're right there with them on each page.

Written by the three men who lived them, "Nine from the Ninth" consists of nine raw, thoughtful, inelegant, thought provoking, at times funny, and always stimulating accounts of their service with the Ninth Infantry Division in Viet Nam. I laughed at some of them, was appalled by others, was stimulated by all of them, but most important to me, I learned more about myself than I ever wanted to learn by reading them.

Nine from the Ninth: For the last four years, I have supported the Contemporary History Department at the Navy Historical Center. While our principal focus is to collect and record stories of current Naval significance, we frequently have the opportunity to interview, through the use of oral history, the men and women who participated in military events of yesterday. These interviews always provide new insights and inspiration for historians to capture the true nature of these conflicts for future generations. This book provides a rare glimpse behind the curtain of war.

While this review is not an official endorsement of the Historical Center, I found this compilation of short stories to be outstanding examples of the graphic and detailed events of battle that can only be told by those who served their country in the trenches of war. Thirty years after their tour of duty, the detail of combat is still very fresh in their mind. They provide an amazing account of the smell, taste, color, fear, tragedy, humor, friendships, camaraderie, explosion and horror of war. For those of us who have never been face to face with killing and dying while serving their country, this book is a must read.

I am grateful for your heroic service to our nation and applaud your efforts in capturing these stories for the benefit of all. I hope that this book provides both encouragement and a template to all of the other unsung heroes of America's wars to share their story.

Most everyone has an impression about the Vietnam War, regardless of how little they really know about it. Unfortunately, the movies by Oliver Stone (Born on the Fourth of July) and others provide the slanted "facts" and distorted perspective that too often define the war for the uninformed. To really understand the war you should first read accounts written by the actual participants and there is no better place to begin than the newly released memoir, NINE FROM THE NINTH.

NINE FROM THE NINTH is not a global perspective of the conflict, but it never pretends that it is. Rather, it is a collection of nine stories taken from the personal remembrances of two former US Army Rangers who served with Company E. of the 75th Infantry Rangers, and a third author, Jack Bick, who volunteered and went on combat operations with Company E as a photographer and writer. For them, combat didn't include the nightly comfort of an air conditioned Officer's Club in Saigon or the relatively safe vantage point of an aircraft 10,000 feet above the jungle. Instead the stories present the personal, close-up views of combat that can only be told by those who have "been and done", and survived.

Jack Bick, accurately observes in "Smart Charlie" that the Vietnam conflict was unique; as opposed to WWII, US leadership wasn't fighting to win, so soldiers generally, including even the elite Ranger's, lacked an overall sense of purpose....their strategic goal became to survive for 365 days, and go home! Along the way, the three authors, Jack Bick, Paul Newman, and Bob Wallace, formed bonds of friendship that outlasted the terror, anger, and hate of combat and survive thirty years later.

Bob Wallace's story of "Staff Sergeant Frost" is a revealing look inside one of the war's most legendary fighting groups, the LRRPs (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols). These six-men, self-contained, voluntary units would deploy for days at a time inside enemy controlled territory to "observe and report". Regardless if an officer was with the LRRPs, it was the senior sergeants like Frost (E-5s and E-6s) that ran the teams. Their reputations were for eating snakes and ravaging the countryside, but the profane and gritty senior noncoms made the teams work, fight, and ultimately survive. As very young soldiers they were called upon to undertake harrowing tasks that brought about sudden maturity. So brutal was the LRRP experience that lasting for three weeks on a team converted a "cherry" into a veteran!

Paul Newman's account of the "Bo Bo Canal" is a gutsy story of the fighting along "a mosquito ridden canal" that ran for 20 miles, and became a "water road" for the VC. Carrying more than 8o pounds of combat equipment the team members would sink so deeply into the mud that walking was often difficult. This uncensored tale isn't for the squeamish but accurately conveys the unavoidable brutality of warfare and how it changed the outlook of the men who survived it.

After Vietnam the three authors left military service and took with them the best and worst of their experiences in Vietnam. The same training and personal skills that helped them survive in combat ultimately helped them succeed in their later careers. Initiative, risk taking, determined individualism and community involvement were common hallmarks as each man became successful in a variety of endeavors.

This is a highly recommended book for anyone interested in real stories of the Vietnam War, and the memoirs of three men who served their country honorably, proudly and well.

No fiction writer can afford to be without this book. I have used it for years and have placed much work because of it. Buy it now!

This book is invaluable to me as a writer; the many well-researched markets open up doors for me to send my writings; I've never found anything not to be true in this handbook. I'd urge all writers and would-be writers to purchase this valuable guide.

The fiction writer's ultimate resource is celebrating its 25th year in print. The writing opportunities within the 500+ pages cover everything from contests to book publishers.

The complete market list includes:

* Small Circulation Magazines
* Online Markets
* Consumer Magazines
* Book Publishers
* Contests and Awards
* Conferences and Workshops

One of the most informative sections of the book is "The Business of Fiction Writing." These nine pages show you exactly how to approach the various markets and offer sample cover letters and queries.

You also get writing help from authors like Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Ford, interviews with authors like Big Fish's Daniel Wallace and specific tips for romance, mystery and science fiction writers.

What makes this annual guide a must year after year are the hundreds of pages of listings. Contact info, market needs, submission terms, pay rates and so much more valuable information are updated every year. You could spend an entire year trying to locate a fraction of these potential homes for your work on your own or you can get the current year's guide and focus on your writing.

If you are a writer, you should definetely get this book. It shows you everything. Where the publishers are, what consumer magazines want your stories, where the literary agents are, and even some helpful words from accomplished author's. This is a definite MUST READ and MUST BUY if you are a writer who deosn't wanna sit on your butt all day but want to get your stories out there.

I found this book to be just what I needed for agent info/for submission info. And the interviews with writers/publishers were really informative. It's a road map book for writers & there's nothing like having a map to follow!

I don't know if I would classify this book as straight erotica as the heart of it is in the character of Bruce. Yes, it opens with a hot sex scene and has many others after that, but I think it's more of a good story with a lot of sex, which makes it very sexy. Yet, it's also romantic, too, and we see how much Bruce misses and loves his wife who left him. There's a bit of a plot twist at the end that really gives the whole thing a jump and made me happy I'd taken the time to read it. If you like sexy and romantic--but not corny!!!--books, this one might be one for you. It's no Harlequin (thank God).

Now She's Gone isn't just erotica, though it has plenty of those scenes in it. It's a highly comphensive tale about a man's love for his wife who leaves and her past, which he finds out through her diaries. The characters are so real it's like you know them and the story is fast paced and moving. I will definitely read more from this author as this is one of the best literary/erotica stories I've read in a while.

This is the second Kim Corum book I've read and I have to say they keep getting better. The weay she can intertwine two different stories together is amazing and the sex scenes aren't to bad, either. This was one of the best I've read all year.

While this book does indeed have quite a bit of sex in it, it is mostly an erotic novel with a very entertaining and intense storyline which invloves the main character's wife leaving him and him going through her journals, finding out about her past lovers, etc. It read rather quickly and once I was done, I found myself going back through the passages and re-reading certain parts. All in all, it was a nicely done erotic novel.

Now She's Gone was a very smooth read in that the story really moved the plot along. It does have a bit of sex in it as well, but I found myself more intrigued by the overall story.

As a successful minor writer, I make my living at it, though I have become a writer producer, director,Learn Handgun & Rifle Reloading & Learn Muzzle-loading 2 Pack,How to Make a Low-Budget Digital Movie, Knaptid--4 Days After The First Abduction, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this. Now, I went to graduate school for creative writing, and they drummed into us that it was not a good idea to try and writer 'literature.' But I still found Bruce's ideas here inspiring. In fact, he keep impressing me by expanding the concept so that this was throughly entertaining. I liked it so much that I bought his Word Work: Surviving and Thriving As a Writer.

Now this is not so much a review as a discussion of who this article is for. I think a beginner has the most to gain from it. If you don't know how to keep your expectations in check this will be inspiring. For someone who has been writing awhile and is not famous (or just a little bit) this is a good, entertaining read that will not disappoint. But what if you are famous?

Years ago I got to spend a day with my literary idol at the time, Richard Brautigan. I even wrote about it Brautigan, Richard, A Pilgrimage, August 1982. While reading this Richard kept coming to mind. In graduate school Brautigan was considered a minor writer. Yet, by what Bruce implies here, Brautigan by being famous, and making a great deal of money, in his time, would not be a minor writer. And for Brautigan, and perhaps other famous, rich, writers, this essay falls short.

Brautigan committed suicide because he had fallen from fame. And that is the one thing I wish Bruce had talked about that he did not. Being a minor writer saves you from becoming addicted to fame. I wish Bruce had discussed dealing with a fall from fame.

In any event, even if you are famous, or plan on being, this is a great read.

...it somehow makes his instructive admonitions -- gently-delivered as they are, supported by a smorgasbord of excellent literary quotables (bravo for that, B.!) -- all the more impactful.

The Short, "Minor Writer," is an exquisite tour-de-force example of what makes the B.H. Rogers' canon so goshdarned compelling. As far as this here reviewers is concerned, I shall be picking up several more Rogers titles in the meanwhile, already shifting off to the Amazon Wish List to tack on some more titles to the long list -- I sometimes wish I had an extra set of eyes.

Within this tight 21pp. of work, not to mention with a signature five-pointed delectable flourish which has become BHR's calling card and signature, Rogers hammers away with an unharmful foam implement on the various salient thrusts for why we, we legions of "minor" scribes, must aspire to our hallowed state of "minor-dom."

Being "minor" must always remain our steadfast calling, in his view, because it's the very thing that GETS US WRITING. This in comparison to lusting after chimeric visions of grandeur, often with heaps of frustration -- what Rogers calls being "major." "Majority" stardom yanks us clear away from what we, as chronicler's of our era, really do best. We pen lines, baby!

Another point: we must pledge allegiance to not being mediocre -- rather, we must always strive to live up to those halcyoned ideals which set us along the writerly path in the first place. Being a successful writer is tricky, because it keeps you locked into the rat-race of always being fantastic, to spin "golden yarns" as Bruce explains. If writing's what we're supposed to do, then do it we must! Becoming successful from what we do, is merely icing on le gateau, not the full enchilada, as it were.

These are Rogers' structural high points -- the sinews of the matter, the marrows, the tendons, and the ample and yummy flesh, full of vitamins and minerals -- all these are contained within the body of this fine work.

How something this convincin can cost only half a US buck -- I'm left thinking about long after the read (the several self-administered boots to my keyster in reminding myself about its goodness were enough to hurt even Lyle Alzato at his apogee on the Raiders' front line as a linebackers). I digress...

I liken author Rogers to the sort of person who is a "do it" can-do dude. He doesn't pine away thinking what life would be life if...he gets down to the brass tacks of the business, and writes his Northwestern heart out. I admire him for that and aspire to emulate the fashion and form. Methinks what plagued the tale he weaves in his piece about the wealthy Crichton, well, Hoss, it exemplifies the problem writers have when they finally decide that they "wanna write." All bollocks if you ask me, as our friends from the Grand Isle can say.

Writing isn't about aspiration. It's about action, baby! It isn't about *wanting* to make something sing -- it's about singing, warming up your voice, and taking the risk of sounding bad, terrible even.

In that spirit, I'm reminded of a comment ascribed to Woody Allen's script partner -- "it might be a crappy first draft, 'Wood, but at least it's out there. It's a draft." Rogers cajoles us with a similar a propos line to "get down and get busy." We don't *have* to be perfect.

What seems to plague most non-creatives -- amateur writers must count themselves as part of the former group -- is that they think everything has to be perfect. The pros don't. They understand that to make a living from your writing is the ultimate goal. Praise is a passing fancy. "I can't write," will come the usual hue and cry, "it's useless."

No, it's not useless, says Rogers. It's that you're obsessing about the final product.

My opinion? Pretend like the world is coming to an end as soon as you're done -- and you're on a time limit, bubs (end of the day, and that's it!). People will "remember your legacy" only for what you've just written today. Do you want to waste time thinking about how to fashion your sentences or do you want to be remembered?

I dunno, different strokes for different folks...

Two final points:

1) Canadians cherishing its writers, asks Rogers. Seeing as I am one of the former, I can posit that it's perhaps because we don't have nearly as many as our US cousins. Recall, Canada possesses one tenth of the US' population, therefore, we don't have as many scribes -- arithmetic, arithmetic. What ones we do have are in generally in the good to great category. Proc/Warum/Pourquoi/Porque? I like to think it's the conflux of our cultural attitudes (notice, did ya?), and the fact that people take the "hyphenation thing" very seriously, which permits our writers to pen lines from a certain cultural authority of perspective that our US counterparts are not necessarily drawn to.

That French thing? I don't know...I doubt it plays much of a significant role for our British Columbian-based writers, who are geographically cut off from Quebec -- bigtime.

Canadian writers also know the domestic publishing industry is such that you're not going to become "major" in BHR parlance. Effectively that means you're going to be holding onto a second job, and that your writing (even if you bravely choose to call yourself a W-R-I-T-E-R, toots) is never going to be your main line. So you often write like there's no tomorrow. Publishing in Canada comes at a premium. Therefore, you want to do it to the best of your ability. Makes sense?

2) BHR scarcely mentions the word "talent." Can writers be forged/made/created? Can I -- some minor writer with more than a Baskin-Robbins Rocky Road-sized dollop of discipline and a desire to match, fuelled by smallish cans of amazing Czech canned corn -- convince someone to work hard at it, that soon they, aussi, will learn the tools?

I have a theory on that, Mr. Kotter...I say the difference between the writers who are "born," and those who are "made" are that the ones who born -- be they sage observers of their era or not -- continue to write well after their limelight has worn off.

People will ask: "Why do you write?" I respond: "Why do you eat?" I guess that means that we writers "need to." I don't want to take ownership of that just-mentioned statement, for it's got more than its fair share of melodrama in't. But, I think you all get my point...

What does BHR have to say about the writer's talent? A question to him.

P.S. Another great book about the bane of getting out that first draft doldrum is none other than your cited Nathalie Goldberg's "THUNDER AND LIGHTNING." Have you read it?

Peace out,
ADM in Prague

Bruce Holland's message in this essay echos my own words, written in 1997 and still part of my 'home' page: "I write mainly for my own enjoyment.... The main thing is to have one heck of a time whenever I sit down at my computer." I'm a minor writer, and proud of it now.

The main thrust of this brief but dense essay is that you are a minor writer, you know it, and you need to embrace that standing. Because only when you embrace yourself as a minor writer are you able to set aside high-flown notions of what you ought to be doing in favor of the work that only you can produce. Professor Rogers phrases it much more eloquently and in more detail, of course.

Consider: John Updike has to keep on being John Updike until the day he dies. One misstep and he will be roadkill on the superhighway of our media-dense culture. On the other hand, because you are small beer, you are free to try new things, expand your horizons, build new writerly muscles, and shoot spitwads at the heavens. Because each new work you write is considered and criticized individually, not as part of your c.v., nobody minds if you bet on the occasional bad pony, and you're free to try again next time without other people's previous bad judgement hovering over your sholder.

Professor Rogers, who is both an acclaimed writer himself and a teacher of other writers, lays bare how you have challenges and opportunities available to you that literary demigods do not. You can change, you can grow, you can become a better writer and a better human being. For a mere half a buck, the advice in this essay is a steal, considering that you will keep it on your desk next to your copy of Strunk & White and the Writer's Market to remind you what you're doing and why.

Set ego aside and make your best contribution. If you do that, you will participate in something greater than yourself, and maybe connect to someone other than yourself. That's what I got from this inspiring essay, and I'll read it again and again.

I have read the fanworks of Lorena Manuel on the internet and find this book to be just as good, if not better, than her typical standard of brilliant writing! She just has a flow that makes you not want to put it down. Pastoral is just such a great book!

This book was fantastic. She is a great author and has managed to bring to life a whole set of people and places. It was recommended to me. And when I came home after recieving it I sat down just to read the first chapter, but I did not get up until three hours later. I was laughing and totally enraptured with the book. I highly suggest you get it.

I stayed up half the night to finish reading this novel the day I received it. Considering how much I read, that doesn't happen often.

The characters are refreshingly unique, especially the naive yet wise-beyond-his-years Alex. The entire tone of the writing is light and optimistic - something hard pressed to find in most gay literature. Pastoral is a sweet story of love and coming of age in the '80s that's actually money well spent.

I sincerely hope this author manages to publish more of her work in the future.

A friend of mine recommended this book to me, and after reading the first two chapters of his copy, I realized I just had to get my own. This is a startling debut despite a few rough edges. Alex, as the protagonist, is very engaging in a quirky sort of way--I think it's his naivete that got me. The humor, which I can only describe as wry and occasionally biting, is best shown in Alex's relationship with his family, especially his mother. And the romance factor is refreshingly--or should I say unabashedly--sweet. I can even go so far as to say that this is almost like gay fiction for women. I did see a couple of spelling errors (then again, what book doesn't have at least one editorial oofa?), and I thought the Jordan subplot was a bit contrived, but overall, I'd say that this is a book well worth your money and your time.

And if you happen to be a child of the eighties, all the references to eighties pop culture is a blast (remember Total Coelo?).

This is a warm and lovely story of a young man's quest for independence, friendship and love. And Alex does find it all after much struggles depicted by hilarious yet touching and heart warming moments. Lorena Manuel is a fine and luminous writer, each of her characters vivid and distinct. It is so easy to like Alex. His lover, mother and sister are endearing too. I look forward to Miss Manuel's next effort.