Clubs Books

It was so good! Its one of the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Hawk

This book was so good!!! It was about horses, adventurous, humorous, has great charcters, and the Saddle Club goes to the Bar None!!!! YEAH!! This book is a 10+

Hi! We're the Stirrup Stars. We love this book, because not only is it about horses and friendships, but it's exciting and humorous as well! You'll never want to put it down. We also loved it because it listed several different cultural traditions for the holidays. A MUST-READ!

Westren star is a great book about friendship and teamwork, you have to learn to work with people that maybe you dont really like, just like the girls did in this book, even though they didnt like gary they still made him part of the team! i would recomend this book to anyone the loves adventure and fun!!!

Kate set the alarm clock. "We'll leave before dawn," she said, pulling on a jacket and boots. "I'm going to go call Dad."

"We shouldn't ride bareback," Carole suggested after Kate left.

That made sense. This wasn't a pleasure ride. This was serious business. The lives of many horses could be on the line.

A minute later Kate reappeared. Her face looked grim.

"What's the matter?" asked Stevie.

"The phone's dead. The storm must have knocked it out," Kate answered. "It looks like we're on our own."

Copyright © 1995 by Bonnie Bryant Hiller.

--This book was one of the best by Bonnie Bryant ever written! (e-mail me at stirrup_stars@hotmail.com)

Looking for the perfect gift for your friend who loves kitties?...well here it is!! This a beautiful written tale of a foundling kitty, and her struggle to protect her family. All cat owners will relate to this delightful tale of understanding why kitty behaves in such odd fashion, giving kitty a bath, or how kitty loves the ring on the milk jug as the best toy in the world while ignoring all the [other] ones we buy.

I have a little grey kitten with black stripes, much like the kitty in the tale, and I found her at the same age, nearly starved and desperately needing a home, so this tale touched my heart.

Perfect for children 9-12, but one the whole family can share.

What the Cat Knows
By Brent R. Schofield

Review by Joan Moore Lewis, author of southern fiction

Perfect Gift for first-time cat owner
Have you ever noticed the strange actions of a cat? I have noticed how friends' cats would entertain me for a while by running, jumping, attacking the drapes, and wrestling with an invisible opponent on the floor before slinking off to another room. Upon their return, they would act calm, cool and collected. Now I understand why.

When Andy and Carol take the abandoned Cupcake into their home, they are in for a number of surprises. It is fun to see Cupcake, the playful kitten, get tangled in wallpaper and glue while "helping" Andy decorate the new baby's room.

After she gets established in her new home, Cupcake becomes friendly with Thomas, an outside cat. Even though Cupcake is growing up, she is still unsure of herself and her actions. Through windowsill conversations, Thomas is instrumental in helping Cupcake overcome fear and develop courage.

Pets have a way of becoming part of the family, and Thomas is no exception. He had once been a part of a family he missed terribly. At the end of "What the Cat Knows," Thomas was leaving to go back to his family. Does Brent Schofield know what happened to Thomas, and if so, will he tell us in a sequel? I certainly hope so.

This is more than a children's book; I recommend it to anyone who has ever owned or observed a cat.

My sister bought this book for my 8 year old daughter because she too is a cat lover. She was very reluctant for me to read it to her because it was a "chapter book without pictures". She likes to look at the pictures while I'm reading. I convinced her to listen for a little while and if she didn't like it, we'd switch to another of her favorite books. She immediately fell in love with the characters in this book and she's asked me to contact the author because she wants to know what is going to happen to Cupcake and Thomas!! We found this book to be charming, well written and so funny! I have often wanted to write children's stories and after reading this book, I am more inspired to do so. We do hope there is a sequel to this book!

If you own a cat, does it ever seem like you own two of them? The one
who wants to be cuddled, and the one who flees your attention. The one
who purrs calmly at your feet as you sleep and watches you build
furniture, and the one who randomly charges through the house attacking
invisible monsters?

In this book, all is explained. That is exactly what your cat is doing.
Attacking invisible monsters. Invisible to you. Not to the cat.

And, by the way, the monsters are real.

A small kitten is rescued from the roadside. Her owners, who have never
owned a cat before, don't know what to make of her strange behavior.
It's not strange at all, though. They don't realize this, because
they've never owned a cat.

As a cat owner myself, I was groaning at bits of the first chapter. It's
obvious the characters in this book don't know cats. But, lots of people
don't. Not a thing unrealistic about it. But, I know cats, so I groaned.
At the characters, not the author. The author knows how to tell a story.

Chapter two, the balancing act begins. How can an author write middle
grade fiction, largely through a cat's eyes, without the
anthropomorphism growing trite, twee or condescending? Well, they could
do far worse than follow Schofield's example.

Cupcake is a kitten, somehow separated from her mother before she could
learn the valuable purpose cats serve, much less the skills she needs.
I'd never name a cat of mine Cupcake, but again, her pet humans are new

to all this. Consider it one more obstacle she must overcome.

According to the book's web page, it contains "humor, suspense, and
lessons about finding courage." That's absolutely correct. And, I
enjoyed reading it. I recommend visiting the web page.

Oh, and please don't judge this book by its cover. Quite honestly, I
don't like the cover. But I do like the book.

...

It always gives me a shiver when I see a cat seeing
what I can't see. ~Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965)

When Brent Schofield found a kitten on the road in July of 1998 a story was born. Cupcake is the hero of the story and the author was inspired to write about her due to her more-than-wild-kitten-like-behavior.

Andy and Carol take on the responsibilities of a new kitten but are confused by her strange behavior. They buy books on cats and try to understand why she at times runs like mad through the house or goes tearing up the curtains. Cat owners will be able to relate to these stories.

The first chapter is from Andy and Carol's perspective. The second chapter is from Cupcake's perspective and from there on out, she has a real personality and talks to another cat and has her own thoughts about the situation she is in. It is cute to see how she finds courage and learns to accept the new baby and how she gets up the courage to find the germ creatures.

"Her ears picked up the scratching sound of the creature. She lowered her body and stalked along the wall toward the living room. She peered into the dimly lit room and saw the germ creature sitting on top of the coffee table. Cupcake trembled. She thought she wouldn't be afraid this time, but she didn't know where the other germ was....."

All the while, Cupcake is fighting off creatures Andy and Carol can't see in an attempt to protect them. She takes her job very seriously. This is a story for ages 9-12 which will make kids laugh and has enough suspense to keep their attention.

Much of this story reminded me of both my cats when they were kittens. Cat "pets/owners" will enjoy the humor and remember when their kittens acted in similar ways. However, now you will know why. ;) You will relate to giving a cat a bath and know it is not their favorite activity.

I would say it is not good to give cats milk, they do have milk "just" for cats now. However, the author mentions that: "The plastic from around the milk jug top was one of her favorite things to play with." This is so true! I have yet to meet a cat who did not go wild with cat-like joy when they found the ring from around the milk jug top.

Also, cats have been know to fight off disease by catching rats. The European bubonic plague of medieval times was largely due to the huge rat population. Cats are well known for controlling rodent populations, however people at that time did not see the connection and thought cats were evil.

A clever story to teach children how to respect cats and perhaps they will want to know more about cats and maybe even adopt a kitten from a shelter. Adults who
love cats might also be amused.

"What the Cat Knows" is cute, comical and creative.

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

I thought it was really funny and great. I love it so much. I even bought it for my class

If you're looking for a book your kids will love, this is it. Actually all three Stinky Boys books will be like a magnet. That's great if you hope your kids will read. My ten year old needs to hear about powerful girls and the boys and girls in this book are all strong and audacious kids. I think the authors are kid geniuses. I hope there is more to come.

This book was such fun, we read it together, and when we finished, we read it again. We could not get enough of it!

A MUST BUY

My six year old couldn't wait to share what he heard in this book with all his friends!He says everyone should hear it read. I enjoy reading it to him each night, and hearing about it the next day. Everyone should have a copy!

...all of my son's time, that is! My almost 7 year old son has been reading for a few years but never on his own... until now. He woke up early on a weekend morning and literally devoured this book from cover to cover and absoutely loved it. When he came in at 10:00am (yippee,, this was a first!) to wake me, we read it again together. I concur--- the Stinky Boys Club series is a must-read for all kids, stinky or otherwise, especially those with a great sense of humor.

Cassandra Sturges is an African-American high school dropout who completed her G.ED., earned two masters and a doctoral degree, and became a counseling psychologist and founder of New Beginnings Social Development Program offering counseling services for families in the foster care system. A Woman's Soul On Paper is more than just Cassandra's personal memoir; it is also a testament to strength, independence, and spiritual faith. The gifted, earnest style of the narrative completely draws the reader into Cassandra's adolescence and personal travails. A Woman's Soul On Paper is a very highly recommended, deeply personal glimpse into the conflicts, choices, and struggles involved in understanding and learning to celebrate contemporary African-American female identity.

I read "A Woman's Soul on Paper",By Cassandra George-Sturges and I was deeply moved. I laughed, I cried and most of all I related!! This book reminded me so much of my own journey in life and some of the things I tried to tuck away in my memory. It brought back memories of when I was 15, 20, even 30 years old. It reminded me that I am beautiful and that I am human and I am o.k. Reading this book will help women...men... people understand that they are not alone. "A Woman's Soul on Paper" is about truth and self discovery. I dare others pick up a copy and enjoy. You won't want to put it down. It is a must read and a must talk-about. I thoroughly enjoyed it and my spirit was lifted when I finished it. I highly recommend this book.

A Woman's Soul On Paper is a soulful and thought provoking book which is written in a narrative voice by the author, Cassandra George Sturges. It's a story about a journey from self-help through self-discovery based on Sturges personal memoirs. The journey begins with the illustration on the book cover. A woman is writing in her diary and she is in deep thought as noted by her reflection in a mirror. This illustration is what inspired me to start reading the book.

Sturges bares her soul on paper in a quiet and spiritually uplifted voice. Her stories are indeed a testament of strength and spirituality. Although she writes about the most intimate details of her journey you know that she is sending you a heart felt message. Sturges is truly a gifted writer.

This book reminded me so much of my own journey in life. I was able to relate to most of her stories. I cried and laughed while reading this book. I highly recommend this book to all women. You won't want to put it down.

Reviewed by Dorothy Cooperwood

I found "A WOMEN'S SOUL ON PAPER" To be rivoting and thought provoking. Ms.George-Sturgis is a very talented writer who is well on her way to becoming a member of an "elite" group of author's not only within the African-American community, but world wide. I look ever so forward to her future works, and offer her my congratulations on this well written perspective of women of color. Each word I read reminds and makes me proud to be a member of a strong and distinguished people.

I read "A Woman's Soul on Paper",By Cassandra George-Sturges and I was deeply moved. I laughed, I cried and most of all I related!! This book reminded me so much of my own journey in life and some of the things I tried to tuck away in my memory. It brought back memories of when I was 15, 20, even 30 years old. It reminded me that I am beautiful and that I am human and I am o.k. Reading this book will help women...men... people understand that they are not alone. "A Woman's Soul on Paper" is about truth and self discovery. I dare others pick up a copy and enjoy. You won't want to put it down. It is a must read and a must talk-about. I thoroughly enjoyed it and my spirit was lifted when I finished it. I highly recommend this book.

Bianca, Detroit, Michigan

Bill Mason and son Paul really get down to basics in canoe and paddling technique in this revised soft-cover paddling manual. This book is geared to those who want to learn everything there is about flat-water and white-water travelling. It's the most definitive guidebook on the market.

This is an almost perfect book - Bill Mason's love of the craft shines through homey but well-written prose, while his descriptions of canoe technique and rivercraft are generally clear and easy to follow. He obviously writes from a wealth of experience, which translates into solid advice without becoming needlessly dogmatic. As a technique book, I much prefer this to Jacobson's series of canoe texts (although those are reasonable in their own right); I especially appreciated his series of river scenarios and discussions of how to handle them.

I would really liked to have rated this 5-stars. However, the production could have been much improved. The b/w pictures accompanying the text are often poorly reproduced, with insufficient greyscale to allow them to be clearly interpretted. Additionally, a bit more editting might have spotted some inconsistent terms as well as other undefined terms. But all in all, this is one of my favorite canoe books. It certainly should have a place on the shelf of every serious paddler.

Path of the Paddle provides more than an instructional text, it introduces the reader to the art of canoeing. Mason infuses the practicality of the subject with a respectful dose of philosophic underpinnings that anyone who has ever slid a canoe onto the water's surface and experienced the joyful dance of boat, paddle and water will appreciate. There are many "how to" canoe books, covering the basic stokes and safety concerns, but this book conveys that information in a form that demonstrates the author's love for his craft.
If you want to become a canoeist, not only do I recommend this book, I recommend finding and getting the video of the same title.

Best canoeing book on the market. Not only is it a great how to guide on canoe handling, it is an excellent read for those long winter nights for the canoe enthusiast. The book imparts Bill Mason's love of the canoe. Written by a true legend in canoeing and wilderness film making.

I own both "Path of the Paddle" and "Song of the Paddle". These are the best books I have seen on canoeing, written by one of the best canoeists ever. They cover all facets of the canoe and how to use them properly. The "step-by-step" photos and the diagrams help teach proper techniques and the text is both informative and entertaining without becoming confusing or boring. Bill Mason and his son Paul have done a splendid piece of work and these books are a cherished addition to my personal library.

Witty yet useful, the book reads like a novel which is probably a good thing, especially when reading about the dark ages. In fact, this book probably focuses more on the losing years of 1903-1920 and 1965-1975 more then any other writer so this probably the most comprehensive book to date on the Yankees.

This book has lots of text -- that is a good thing! This is not a picture book, but more of a detailed history with some good photos. I enjoyed all the details and seeing some pictures that I had not seen before. Probably one of the "keepers" of the Yankees 100th craze.

As a Giants fan I've never had much love for the Yankees, but I picked up this book for a friend after reading RED SOX CENTURY. I started flipping through it and was totally engrossed -- what Stout has done is give us the full story of this team, not just the same old stuff about their wins, the famous players, and George Steinbrenner, although that's all in here too. And the photos are just great. I'd recommend this one to any Yankees fan, as well as anyone interested in reading a good, multi-layered story about baseball.

I'll have to agree with Book Magazine on this one, which named this book one of the best sports books of 2002. Of all the Yankee books out this year (and there are many), this is clearly the best, combining hundreds of stunning photographs with what is easily the most detailed and comprehensive history of this team ever written. Quite simply, it makes all the other Yankee books out there seem as if they were written for children. That's not to say this is a tough read or anything, but it is a comprehensive book that you can spend days and weeks with, and is critical when it needs to be. I also think it's the only Yankee book in recent memory that contains anything NEW - there are literally dozens of stories in here that don't appear elsewhere, like the story about why Boston sold Ruth (it's no curse SOx fans). It is particularly good with early Yankee history and the last decade, both of which are rarely written about in other books at all. There are also essays by people like Ira Berkow and Paul O'Neill's sister, just enough stats and a huge index that makes it possible to look up just about anything. This book is certain to become the definitive history for the first hundred years of the Yankee dynasty and is a must-have for Yankee fans or anyone interested in baseball history.

I was led to this book by a recent review by Eric Neel on ESPN.com. He wrote, "It says here that 14 percent of Americans root for the Yankees and the other 86 percent root for their demise. No fence sitting ; you're in or you're out with the Yanks.

I'm sure the 14 percent have this book already and that they're reading it aloud to their kids every night before bed, wiping tears from the kids' faces, letting them know how deep and wide the Yankees history is.

If you're the other 86 percent, you ought to be reading it too. First, because there's something devilishly satisfying in reading about the early days, when the team was nearly shut out of Manhattan, playing on a sloppy, cobbled together frield with a sawamp in right. Second, because as you turn the pages you come to realize that from DiMaggio to Mantle, from Bucky Dent to Reggie to Paul O'Neill and El Duque, these guys and the things they've done (sometimes to you, sometimes in spite of you) are part of your history, part of how you remember and imagine your life. An third, because it's insanely thorough, full of details you've forgotten or never knew, and very good looking.

Stout started this series with Red Sox Century in 2000. Dodger Century is in the works. These are rich, dazzling books, standard-setters, fully-realized, complicated portraits of the ways a team and a game weave in and out of politics, history and popular culture.

O'Neill's sister contributes an essay that sums up the series appeal much better than I can: 'In our family we tell stories. We don't really Talk. We let baseball articulate the hopes and fears that we'd never consider telling each other.'"

In this case, I found the review was completely accurate. Of the spate of books out now that claim to tell the history of this team, this book, in almost 500 pages of words and photographs, is the only one up to its subject. If you don't believe me, or ESPN, I suggest you read the excerpt about the birth of the team - even hard core Yankee fans will learn something new.

My third grade granddaughter is finding the series to be of historical significance and, at least, bearable. At eight years of age, she knew only a smattering about slavery and its impact on families. She knew a little about the Underground Railroad, but learned what it really was. Thse little books make the era seem more real to her. Addy's Surprise brings together some realities of African Americans growing up just after the Civil War in foreign territory, the heartache of separation, learning how to cope, the hope of tomorrow, the reality that not all white people supported slavery and the fact that "freedom" had its problems. It has a positive,though realistic, ending. The reader is left wanting more. The Looking back and Looking forward features keep the reader engaged. My granddaughter cannot wait to see if her prediction that the family will be united comes true.

The book I am reviewing is "Addy's Surprise," written by Connie Porter. I think this book deserves five stars because it was the best book I ever read. This book is about a girl named Addy who escaped from slavery in 1864. She's living in an apartment above a dress shop that her mother works in. Before Christmas Addy sees a red scarf in a store window that she wants to get her mom for Christmas. To earn money, Addy delivers dresses from her mother's store and keeps the tips. When Addy gets home from school one day, she sees the jar full of money her mother and her have been saving to buy a lamp. Here mother really needs the lamp to sew clothes. Addy decides to put all her tip money in the jar. Then one day, a woman with a young girl walk into the shop and the woman gave back a beautiful dress that Addy's mother worked so hard on to make and says that it was too small, so Addy's mother took it back. The next day, when Addy was in the shop and her mother was in there apartment, Addy sees a long piece of red trimming that she could make into a scarf. Addy worked all that day to make the trimming a scarf. On Christmas Addy's mother gave her the beautiful dress and Addy gave her the scarf she made. They wore their new clothes to church and after church when all the kids were watching a shadow play Addy saw a familiar shadow peeking through the door. Read the book to see who Addy's "surprise" is!

I never can quite pick a favorite American Girls character, but I think Addy's Christmas Story is my favorite of those. I think the selflessness she shows (as does her friend Sarah) throughout the story is a wonderful example of Christian love in action.

This is another in the American Girls series about Addy Walker, a ten-year-old African-American girl living in the America of 1864. With Christmas coming up, Addy spots the perfect gift for her mother, a bright red scarf. However, when their church puts out a plea for money for those arriving from slavery with nothing but the clothes on their backs, Addy and her mother decide that their money should go to those less fortunate. In this book Addy learns a lesson on giving and receiving, and hope.

The final chapter is a look at Christmas for African-American children in the America of 1864. This is another great Addy book, with a great lesson and a moving story. My daughter loves this book, and yours will too.

Addy, an escaped slave, lives during hard times with her escaped mother. She wants Christmas to be happy. Will Christmas be a disappointment? Will they find Sam and Poppa, who were sold before Addy and her mother escaped, or Addy's baby sister, whom they had to leave behind? Get the questions answered in this beautiful tale of hope in hard times.

My best friend, Sally reviewed this book, and i felt the need to....see, while waiting around for her to get ready to go out one night, i picked up this book from her coffeetable. I became so involved after a few pages, i asked to borrow it. I'm glad i did. Now, i've never read 'lesbian fiction' and i have no idea if it's all like this or not--but this book was really good. I have to admit i got a little hot reading the 'romantic' parts--but more than that, it really was, overall, a great read. I remained interested in the plot and in the characters. I look forward to Ms. Baeli's next offering. So my advice to anyone reading this review is that if you enjoy a good book--whether you're straight or gay, this is a good choice.

Armchair Detective is a wonderful mystery with lots of plot twists that keep you interested and make you late for work. I am a fan of lesbian erotica, but i don't care for "nasty stuff." This was a great read because the erotica storyline was tastefully done. Basically, this book was believable. It was not filled with stereotypical lesbo charaters. They were healthy people that had a life in and out of bed.

Oh. My. God. How much did i love reading the sex parts in this book? okay, i am interested in other things besides sex. But this is really good in that area. The story was also excellent, and i enjoyed how fast it was to read. Really a good book- i recommend it!

I have a lot in common with the main character, Jobeth. I, too, was a P.I in my earlier life. She made me miss my old vocation. I'm not gay, but i have gay friends that have long encouraged me to read gay fiction. They told me i was missing out and i must say they were right. I was a bit apprehensive about reading "lesbian erotica"--but i got over it. Baeli was right on the mark with the P.I character--it was very credible--the job is not glamourous, and you can get hurt, and you do make stupid mistakes, and for any "straight" readers, the sex is hot, no matter what sexual orientation you may have. I would have given this five stars, but i'm reserving that for the sequel!

Being from Oklahoma, it sure was nice to see so much detail in a book about an area i live in. Being a lesbian, i fully appreciated how realistic it was that a stone butch woman can meet someone who opens her up and teaches her to believe in love, and to trust again. This is a book i wish i could forget--so that i can read it again!

A Book That Lives Up to the Title!
This book has a prominant place on my KEEPER SHELF! Ms. Jackson has done an outstanding job creating characters that you can care deeply about and want the best for. I was rooting for Alexa and Darius the entire time and hoped that their deep love for each other would bring them together again and keep them together this time. By the end of the book, you'll think, 'At last, a great story with great characters!' You won't be able to put this one down.

A Book That Lives Up to the Title!
This book has a prominant place on my KEEPER SHELF! Ms. Jackson has done an outstanding job creating characters that you can care deeply about and want the best for. I was rooting for Alexa and Darius the entire time and hoped that their deep love for each other would bring them together again and keep them together this time. By the end of the book, you'll think, 'At last, a great story with great characters!' You won't be able to put this one down.

As Alexa and Darius find their way from college lovers to man and wife, you will travel on their journey with them--crying when they cry, frowning when they are frustrated, and cheering when they reach the ultimate success of true love.

A wonderful journey!

This book is quite an enjoyable read! It clearly demonstrates the phenomenal love a man, Darius, has for a woman, Alexa, despite the choices she makes. The tables have turned. It is refreshing to read about a man desiring to have the complete love of his woman as opposed to a woman striving to receive total and complete love from her man. Alexa and Darius are very believable characters that easily slip into your heart as you experience the ups and downs in their relationship from the beginning and on to the suspenseful conclusion. The book not only provides a passionate love story between two endearing characters, but also presents an opportunity for the reader to reflect upon and carefully consider his/her own life-changing decisions. Again, a very enjoyable read!

Although, Lisa Harrison Jackson is classified as a romance writer, her book, "At Last" is not just a romance novel. The story encompasses the social understanding of the career versus family dilemma relating to females in corporate America. The center of the novel is Alexa Kirkwood who is a successful executive for a publishing company. Alexa becomes the maid of honor for the renewing of vows for her best friend, Maya Renault, a news anchorwoman for a local television station, and her husband, Bryant Renault. To Alexa's surprise, Darius Riverside, who, nine years ago Alexa was engaged to but walked out on because of her career, was also in the wedding. It is not long before the two rekindles a loving and joyous relationship. And just as everything begins to fall into place, Alexa is challenged with another decision of choosing between a career and the man she loves. The novel was easy to read and the author's descriptions of the characters, environment, and the love scenes were magnificent. I love the way the author sprinkles into the novel the names of real life people and things such as celebrities and designer brand names to give realism to this fictional novel. Jackson gives us a slice of life from the middle-class African American community. We can hardly wait for Jackson's next novel.

The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table is a demonstration of New England civility in the 1850s. I believe it went through more than 50 editions by the end of the nineteenth century, so it must have been very widely read at one time. The book is packed with amazing observations. Holmes takes the time to wonder why the sense of smell is the quickest path to memory. He rails against puns in a way that is better than punning. He points out human flaws and praises examples of good living. Trees come alive, through prosaic description and poetic flights. Would you like to go back to the 1850s and have a conversation with a Boston intellectual? Here's your chance. There are many old copies of this book sitting around, but it's nice that it's come back into print (again).... (it's also a quiet love story, by the way)

The imaginary scene is a boarding house breakfast. Conversation is dominated by a lively gent who's seen it all. He holds forth on women, school, philosophy, rowing, interrupted from time to time with verses such as the Deacon's Masterpiece. It's witty, poignant, and rightfully a classic.

Two oral practices flourished in antebellum America: the lecture (or sermon) and the conversation. Lectures, such as Emerson's "The American Scholar" and sermons, such as the abolitionist sermons of Henry Ward Beecher, are well-known examples of this era. But it was also known as the Golden Age of Conversation, and its greatest practitioner was generally agreed to be Oliver Wendell Holmes, Senior.

Holmes was considered an important American writer until the 1920s when he was excised from the American canon by the modernists. They depicted him as willfully provincial, and elitist. What those critics failed to understand was that the Autocrat is also a comic pose, and that Holmes is making sport of everyone, including elitists. Holmes' democratic view of conversation as an open, free-wheeling discourse where anyone could join the Autocrat at his table, as long as they enlivened the conversation, ran counter to the views of his more elitist friends in Boston's Saturday Club in Boston. Holmes loved to talk, and his love for talk made him a democrat, or perhaps a true republican.

His Autocrat is a many sided character: stern and foolish, admonitory and celebratory, a polymorph who will don any temporaty mask necessary to keep the conversation alive. Holmes' playful metaphorical imagination is also a revelation. His gift for translating complex ideas into homey metaphors, aphorisms, and similes is nothing short of miraculous. In the words of another seriously comic American whom I'm sure Holmes would have delighted in, the Autocrat "floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee."

The Autocrat of the Breakfast table begins "in media res," in the middle of a conversation, with the Autocrat attempting to set the rules for conversation at his table. They are generous rules, but even they are open to sabotage by his tablemates at the boarding house. He begins by banning "facts" from his table as impediments to conversation, (a condition that should prevail on today's too numerous current event talking head shows. But I, like the Autocrat, digress).

Here's how the Autocrat starts: "I was just going to say, when I was interrupted, that one of the many ways of classifying minds is under the head of arithmetical and algebraical intellects. All economical and practical wisdom is an extension of the following arithmetical formula: 2 + 2 = 4. Every philosophical proposition has the more general character of the expression a + b = c. We are mere operatives, empirics, and egoists, until we learn to think in letters instead of figures." "They all stared. There is a divinity student lately come among us to whom I commonly address remarks like this. "

In other words, as Gibian says in his marvelous OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES AND THE CULTURE OF CONVERSATION: [The Autocrat] only asks us to study his beliefs the way a pragmatist would study the doctrines of any religion: "I don't want you to believe anything I say; I only want you to to try to see what makes me believe it." How refreshing in this age of factoids and statisticoids recited with rancor and ideological certitude, to hear the Autocrat and his tablemates at the boarding house attempting to fashion a democracy through and by their conversation. Nowadays all we have are the unironic Autocrats, control freaks like John McLaughlin, Ted Koppel, Rush Limbaugh, and that guy on FOX whose name I have, pleasantly, forgotten.

Listening to the Autocrat you can almost hear American singing. It's not exactly Walt Whitman's America, but it's still America in the hopeful, experimental antebellum era, and thus a good antidote to the cold technocratic chatter and lukewarm public relations cant we are showered with in this hypermediated century.

An interesting range of thoughtful opinions, imbedded in a look at American life in the 1850s, by the father of a future Supreme Court Associate Justice. Part of the charm of this book is in the fact that at that time horses had been the only means of human-assisted transportation for the last few thousand years (with the exception of the new-fangled railroad which was changing the world). Electronics were not even imagined. Automobiles were 50 years into the future.

The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table is a demonstration of New England civility in the 1850s. I believe it went through more than 50 editions by the end of the nineteenth century, so it must have been very widely read at one time. The book is packed with amazing observations. Holmes takes the time to wonder why the sense of smell is the quickest path to memory. He rails against puns in a way that is better than punning. He points out human flaws and praises examples of good living. Trees come alive, through prosaic description and poetic flights. Would you like to go back to the 1850s and have a conversation with a Boston intellectual? Here's your chance. There are many old copies of this book sitting around, but it would be nice if it came back into print.... (it's also a quiet love story, by the way)