Clubs Books

Breaking the Girl is a wonderfully romantic read. It is very well written. The sex scenes were a bit scant, but the lead ups and the plot will keep you reading this book.

My eyeballs were burning, cause I could not put this book down. It was so damn good. I'm a freaky gal in bed anyways and when I read this it struck a cord inside me. After I finished this book I sent it to my husband in Iraq and believe me, when he came home on R&R we had some fun. The book has HOT sex, great story, and it just flows. And I love Frank! I dream about that man, he loves her so much. At the end, I was just moved by the love between them. BUY THIS BOOK...NOW!

when i first looked at the book i thought neah this won't be good, but when i started reading it, it blew me away. if your into bondage, and the man taking all control of you, this is a book that will press your buttons. very good, it brought my imagination to life. I read this book over and over again. You'll love the different places. the domination that she doesn't really know is taking place. It is just one of those books that you can't put down when you start to get into it.

Received this book in the mail tonight and truely didn't mean to start reading it. I just started flipping through the pages, fully thinking it would be something I would read for this coming weekend. But no Kim Corum dragged me into this story from the first page and wouldn't let me go. There was only one scene I was truely uncomfortable with and that was the section titled Bad Girl. I feel it really crossed the line. A woman vomiting from a spanking definitely means stop. In fantasy land, fine. But in reality if your girl is doing all this to get away STOP. You could go to jail. Other than that, the rest of the book was riveting and thoroughly entertaining.

But I did! This was my first reading foray into BDSM and I must say that I liked it. I enjoyed it enough to plan to check out the other books by the author.

Definitely a hot read.

I have briefly looked over some biographies about Marilyn Monroe and have got upset, but this book is the most touching I have read. There is not much truth that is told about the great baseball legend Joe Dimagio and his love for Marilyn. However, it is the Hollywood industry that makes up lies and untruths about her in ruining her image. We need to give credit to the author for being a caring and generous man who deeply respects Marilyn's memory. She would be in approval of this book because it can help her rest in peace. People need to know the truth and should really get to know that she is a good lady.

More than 600 books have been written about Marilyn Monroe since her death in 1962. While most of them have focused on the theories surrounding her apparent suicide at age 36, author Gary Vitacco-Robles focuses his new book on the actress' last home. Cursum Perficio: Marilyn Monroe's Brentwood Hacienda/The Story of Her Final Months reframes and redefines Marilyn through the context of her efforts to establish a secure home following a childhood spent in a succession of foster homes. The author theorizes that the actress was trying to correct her past by putting down roots of her own. While several previous authors depict her final months as tumultuous, Vitacco-Robles provides evidence that suggests Marilyn was trying to pull her life together and give it some personal meaning. During the spring and summer of 1962, Marilyn embraced her newfound domesticity by pulling weeds in her garden, writing recipes in her copy of The Joy of Cooking and actually using the pots and pans in her kitchen. The book contains actual photographs of the house, interspersed with realistic renderings of the home by artist Brandon Heidrick. The author divides the photos and illustrations with floor plans for each room and includes pictures of an architectural model that depicts the entire property as it appeared in 1962. After she purchased the 2,300 square foot house, Monroe began extensively researching authentic Mexican design, landscaping and furnishings in an effort to slowly transform it into the home of her dreams. She arranged for an 11-day trip to Mexico where she painstakingly selected fabrics, tapestries, painted tiles, pottery and art. Monroe met the native artists who had made by hand the objects that she would later display in her home. Vitacco-Robles is donating a portion of the royalties from sales of this book to Hollygrove Children and Family Services, formerly the Los Angeles Orphans Home Society, where Marilyn Monroe lived as a child.

There has been some confusion about the second edition of this book and the sales information on this site. According to the publisher, Iuniverse, the hardcover edition offered here is actually a "second edition" released in October 2003, although the release date printed is still listed as 2000. This is because it is a "re-do" under the same title previously released by the publisher. The new second edition cover for the paperback and hardcover depicts Marilyn standing beside the gates of her home and sell respectively for $20.95 and $30.95. The first edition was only published in paperback with a different cover for $11.95. The publisher says that vendors will continue to sell the first edition paperbacks until supplies depleted. The second edition contains new images, new chapters, re-worked chapters and information not included in the first. Having seen this book, the quality of photo reproduction in this new version are far superior than in the first. It also includes professional, "photorealistic-style" illustrations by artist Brandon Heidrick depicting the interior and exterior of Marilyn's home and furnishings. The images serve as a "virtual tour" of Marilyn's last home similar to the author's website.

I've been confused about the second edition of this book and the sales information on this site. Having spoken with the publisher, Iuniverse, I learned that the hardcover edition offered here is actually a "second edition" released in October 2003, although the release date printed is still listed as 2000. This is because it is a "re-do" under the same title previously released by the publisher. The new second edition cover for the paperback and hardcover depicts Marilyn standing beside the gates of her home and sell respectively for $20.95 and $30.95. The first edition was only published in paperback with a different cover for $11.95. I understand that vendors would continue to sell the first edition paperbacks until supplies depleted. I have both the first edition and second. The second edition contains new images, new chapters, re-worked chapters and information not included in the first. The quality of photo and illustration reproduction in this new version are far superior than in the first. All around, it is a better product and a great, new look at a lasting legend!

When I first received my copy of Cursum Perficio: Marilyn's Brentwood Hacienda, I wasn't sure what to expect. Much to my surprise, I was enthralled and fascinated by the details of Marilyn's final months, so eloquently chronicled by Gary Vitacco-Robles. Void of any media hype and speculation about the cause of her death, Vitacco-Robles explores how Marilyn searched and found the perfect place to call home...a respite from the choatic life she led in the media spotlight.
You will journey with her as she went on shopping sprees for furnishings and ornaments in a quest to make the only home she ever owned a reflection of herself.
The book contains a vast collection of actual photographs, as well as impressive photo-recreations of the home's interior as it looked in 1962 and now.
I applaud Vitacco-Robles for a superb testamant to the woman so many longed to know. This book reveals a whole other side of Marilyn that has never been revealed.
A MUST HAVE for any Marilyn enthusiast!

With an Arts background, I view Juan Wijngaard as one
of the very best Children's Book Illustrators. He has a
masterful way to use color in order to create the feel
and imagery of light.

I have a 6-yr. old autistic daughter...she absolutely LOVES this book. She requests I read it over and over and over....and she loves to make the sounds of the animals as we read. We are buying a second copy to have in case the first one wears out...

This book is very soothing. The art work is stunning. By far the best illustrations of any children's book I've ever read. Our boys love the book and enjoy finding details in the pictures and saying goodnight to the animals.

This book is wonderful. The pictures are warm and soothing. My daughters love saying goodnight to each animal. A must have for all stubborn sleepers.

We read a lot of bedtime oriented stories. This one is particularly lovely, comforting, and soothing. I highly recommend it.

I have to give Pearls Before Swine a high rating. No other comic makes me laugh as hard. A true original. The personality profiles of the various characters are amazing. Nor sure what else there is to say or add.

I've been a Pearls Before Swine fan for a while, and I love this book! The comics are funny and realistic (rather), though a bit dark. But it's still worthwhile. I like how Stephan Pastis puts little comments under some comics. It's nice to see some insight from the author. The beginning is good as well, with Pastis telling how he got into the comic business. Overall, I highly recommend this book to Pearls Before Swine fans, and to anyone looking for a funny (but not always happy) comic.

I always start my mornings out with a nice healthy strip of Pearls. This first Pearls treasury is a must for all fans! It contains all the strips from the first two books (BLTs Taste So Darn Good, This Little Piggy Stayed Home), but the Sundays are in color and Pastis even includes some personal comments for select strips. The comments offer a different way to look at the strip, giving insight to what the author was thinking or how the audience reacted to the strip.

This book is fantastic. I am a Pearls reader, but anyone with a dry, sardonic sense of humor will like it. For Pearls fans, it has an introduction and bonus comments by the author, which are illuminating and very interesting. I laughed out loud at least fifty times while reading it, then I bought it for my brother, too. Highest recommendation!

The first Pearls comic I've ever saw was the strip where Pig made Fidel Castro cry and I've been hooked ever since. I've had this collection for about a year and it still makes me laugh. A great gift for friends or yourself, an instant classic.

It's been a long time since a book for teens has touched me as powerfully as Bad Girls Club, Judy Gregerson's emotionally-raw debut novel for young adults. In it, the author, a childhood victim of abuse and neglect herself, explores the devastating impact of a parent's mental illness. As her mother descends into madness, teenaged Destiny becomes caregiver to both her Mom and her little sister, and fights to keep her family intact. It's a gripping tale, written with the authenticity of experience.

With mental health issues being so prevelant in society I was very intrigued by the premise of this book. Let me tell you that as hard as it was I read it in one sitting - it grabbed hold and would not let go.

All Destiny wants is to get a job and try to have a semblance of a normal life. Instead she is burdened with the responsibilty of taking care of her mentally ill mother and trying to protect her younger sister Cassidy from the violent rages and outbursts that have become more common than not. Destiny's life has never been anything but that of a constant caregiver and mediator...especially since the incident at Crater Lake. She loves her mother, and even though she knows that this is not a normal family life she is willing to do what her father asks and help keep her mother in their home, for better or worse.

As this book unfolds you watch this family go on such a downward spiral that my heart was literally breaking. As much as I hated to turn to the next page for fear of what was going to happen next, I was compelled to do so in hopes that a ray of light would be found and something positive would happen to change some of the bad to good. At first I was unsure if this could really happen - how could both parents let their children go through this living hell? I then thought of my own life, and the lengths I may go to keep my family in tact. Love is a very powerful emotion, and nothing is more powerful than the love between a parent and their children. As Ms. Gregerson points out in her Author's Note, children that come from abusive families are even more loyal to their parents than children who don't. They seem to constantly be searching for a way to gain acceptance and love from the parent(s) who neglects or abuses them.

This book is a true eye opener, although it is fiction we can't turn a blind eye to the fact that there are families like this in every town in America. I am hopeful that this book will give some of these families the strength they need to get the help so desperately needed before it is too late and the children are damaged to a point of no return. It will hopefully also make people think closely about some people they know and maybe will give them the strength to intervene in situations they know are not healthy for the family involved. The author has done a true service by writing about an issue that should not be ignored.

Questions for the author:

What made you decide to write the story from the perspective of the oldest daughter?

Well, it was personal really. I was a parentified child, meaning that I was one of those kids who took care of my mother and my older sister when my family was spiraling out of control. I was the one who felt responsible to hold everything together because no one else would. And I believed that multitudes of people all around the world experience that same thing -- they become the savior of their families because no one else will. I wanted to shine a spotlight on that problem and what it does to a kid. And on another level, this is a cautionary tale: beware what you do to your children. When 5 children a day die in this country because their mother, a family member, or someone who knows their parent kills them, we're in deep trouble. We are allowing the ruin of our children and then we wonder why these kids can't learn in school or why they turn to crime, or why they're depressed. This book tells why, in some cases, our children are lost.

What was your inspiration for the story?

There were several things that inspired me. And in some sense, it was reaching critical mass and feeling that I had to say something about this problem. I tell everyone the story about meeting a man whose mother set their house on fire after locking him and his little brother in. There was Susan Smith and Andrea Yates. I thought they were anomalies, but I found out that they aren't. I started studying this issue and realized that 500 mothers a year kill their children. I started wondering what it would be like to live in a family like that. What if every day, your little sister's life was on the line and you couldn't do anything except be the one who stood between her and your mother? What if you knew your life was on the line and you had to live with one eye open so you could survive? These are the things I thought about, they're the questions that horrified me, as I wrote this book.

Do you have any books currently in the works?

I currently have one book in the works about a girl whose mother deserts her at the local grocery store, leaving the girl with her eccentric extended family and the question, "Why did she leave me?" I'm about a third through that and may get back to it soon. I also have another book finished about a girl in a trailer park who's the underdog and can't seem to find her way.

What hobbies do you enjoy?

Oh, I'm an odd one. I love to research. That is really relaxing to me. I pick a topic and then I search it out. I travel a little. We have a summer place on a beautiful glacier fed lake and I love going there. I hang with my daughters who are almost 18 and 21. They're my greatest joy. I read some, mostly nonfiction. I have a few favorite TV shows like CSI and Ugly Betty. Other than that, I just hang and try to find things to laugh at. The absurdity of life amuses me.

[...]

From the opening pages where Destiny's father tells her that her job is to help her mother, June, to the final pages where Destiny must make a tough decision about her family, we see a girl torn between love for her mother and facing the reality of her mother's illness.

As her mother sinks deeper and deeper into her world of darkness, Destiny attempts to hold the family together. She remembers earlier times, when her mother was kind and gentle and showed her how to paint. But those days have long passed, and now Destiny is the only protector of her younger sister, Cassidy, who has imaginary friends and bruises and bald spots where she's pulled out her hair, and who talks to no one except Destiny. Their dad, Bob, lives in his own world of denial, defending his wife, saying she'll get better. Destiny wants to believe him, so she does.

In bits and pieces throughout the story, Ms. Gregerson reveals what happened that awful day at Crater Lake, the day their mother changed their lives forever. The only person Destiny can confide in is her best friend, Chloe, who urges Destiny to come stay with her family. But Destiny cannot leave: Her mother needs her, Cassidy needs her, even her father needs her. Finally, Destiny's grandmother recognizes the hopelessness of the situation and gives Father an ultimatum: Put June in the hospital or the girls go home with her.

Bad Girls Club portrays a realistic look at a family in crisis and what happens when the truth is denied. Have a box of tissues handy. You may need it.

Listen to the Ghost
Secrets I Have Kept

Like any teen, Destiny just wants a normal life. She'd love to get a summer job, hang out with her best friend, Chloe, and her boyfriend, but she can't. Instead her life is spent caring for her younger sister, Cassidy, and insane mother. The father uses guilt and fear to manipulate Destiny, mentally keeping her a prisoner.

The darkness of this mental illness was so strong in the story that it manifested itself. At first, Destiny thought she was imagining things until the shadows started to follow her mother around, fueling her madness. When she finds her sister taking to an imaginary friend with black wings who flies and plans to cut their mother up into pieces, she realizes this madness is spreading like a disease. Slowly, this darkness tries to take her away too.

As the story unfolds, I begin to wonder why their mother isn't in a mental health facility and then memories of Andrea Yates hit. Do you know that the American Anthropological Association stated in 2005 more than 200 women kill their children in the US every year? These are the cases where a death has occurred and therefore is news worthy. What about those children who aren't killed and have to live through this mess? "Bad Girls Club" is a work of fiction, but it's definitely not a far fetched story.

Kudos to Judy Gregerson for bringing a story like this to the surface where it can be discussed.

Review by J. Kaye at http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/

The Bad Girls Club is a riveting look at a family ravished by mental illness. The first chapter pulls you into Destiny's crazy world and won't let you go. Gregerson uses flashbacks to the mysterious Crater Lake incident, revealing bits and pieces, and making us ask ourselves--do I really want to know what happened? And when we finally do learn the truth, we don't think it can possibly get any worse. But we're wrong. A heart-wrenching, eye-opening story that you will never forget.

I first learned of Mistress Masham's Repose during a game of charades. (Can you imagine trying to act out this title, especially since it's a book so few people have heard of?) I had already read and loved The Once and Future King, and set out to find a copy. I have read this book three times over the past 20 years. Each time it strikes me anew as such a wonderfully funny, sweet and substantial novel. It could be that the title itself is what kept it from becoming a classic alongside Wind in the Willows and A Wrinkle in Time. Read this book! Buy this book for all the book-loving children in your life!

Although one of White's lesser-known works, to my mind it's easily one of his best (Anne Fine regards it as her favourite children's book). The concept of Lilliputians living in an English landscape garden is superb, and White develops his theme in wonderfully enticing ways - and always with his typical 'feel' for character and setting. There's so much to enjoy in this tale - still a classic after 60 years.

As an American child of about 10, I acquired a battered copy of this book along with a bunch of children's books from a family friend whose children had outgrown them. As other reviewers suggest, I was mystified by much of the book (the poet Pope?) but I still found it a great adventure story and loved the illustrations. It didn't hurt that I resembled Maria myself (a bookish tomboy with glasses--thank God for LASIK). I have re-read the book with pleasure on a number of occasions and now understand the references, but I wouldn't hesitate to give this book to an intelligent American child today. Perhaps it would prompt him or her to learn more about British history and literature. I'm glad to see it has been reprinted.

As kids, both my brother and I considered this one of our favorite books - and we did a LOT of reading. I can't tell you how many times I read it. Our copy was lost at some point, so I am thrilled that it is back in print so I can now read it to my own children. My kids are 3 and 6, so still a bit young for this book, but I'll probably buy a copy now for my own pleasure, and another for my brother.
I have always loved books that lead you to another book, and I just had to read "Gulliver's Travels" after reading this one. As a kid, much of it went over my head, but I still enjoyed it. Now that I think about it, I should re-read that one too...

After finishing university T. H. White worked as a teacher in the Stowe School which occupies a gigantic former Baroque stately home: here he conceived of the idea of Malplaquet, modeled after the greatest of all British country homes, Blenheim Palace, where the Dukes of Marlborough have lived and where Winston Churchill was born and raised. Malplaquet, an imaginary dilapidated repository of all its nation's history (we find out the Princes in the Tower were executed in its medieval dungeon, which also contains the ax which beheaded Charles I), would make a wonderful setting for any book, but rather than use it for a Gothic (the obvious choice), here White had the inspiration to make it the setting for a children's fantasy. White's mansion is not only the home of the little girl Maria who has inherited the estate (and not much else) and her warders--some cruel, some kind--but also a group of Lilliputians brought over from their island home during the time of Swift, whom Maria encounters one day. Maria's encounter with the Lilliputians becomes for her a means for learning about the nature of tyranny--both that exercised over herself by her guardian the Vicar Mr. Hater and her governess Miss Brown, but also that she herself can hardly keep herself from exercising over the Lilliputian community hidden on her estate.

This is a children's book that, to be honest, will best be appreciated by adults. White imagined his readers not only familiar with GULLIVER'S TRAVELS but also with some of the history of seventeenth and eighteenth-century England: American children particularly today would be confused as to who Mistresses Masham and Morley were, or what Malplaquet is named after, or even who Gulliver was. And their patience might well be tried by White's love of Wodehousean "types": the bluff Lord Lieutenant with an obsession with horses and hounds, and Maria's mentor the absent-minded and esoteric antiquarian the Professor . But adults (and even older children) should love this book, and its well-structured narrative is a real pleasure.

Out of the hundreds, if not thousands, of books I read during my childhood (I was a pretty big bookworm!), this is one of the one's I clearly remember reading. It is a very sweet book, which even as an adult brings a tear to my eye to just think about.

This book is an excellent read, not only for kids who can relate to the death of a grandparent or a loved one, but for all children who are just starting to learn about death. It's a great way to introduce the topic. I had it as a kid, and recently bought a new copy. It is one of my most beloved childhood books. The illustrations are great, too--I don't know how kids would feel about them today, considering all the technology we have now in terms of graphics, but I remember being really intrigued by all the little details in the drawings (in the late 1970s/early 1980s).

Tomie dePaola's Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs is a tenderly written story about the death of loved ones and the beautiful memories they leave behind. The story is multigenerational seen through the sweet lens of childhood eyes. The illustations are charming and the tale will make you laugh and cry.

We were looking for a book to help prepare our 4-year old daughter for the death of her grandmother from Cancer. This book was recommended to us. We first checked it out from the library and had to renew. It helped us start the discussion of death with our daughter. She related to Tomie being 4 and his love for his Nana's. We bought this book because she did not want to return it to the library. She is so happy to have her very own copy.

I had read this book several years ago so when my 87 yr old mother died last month, I bought a new Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs book for my grandson who is 10 yrs old. He told me that he will keep that book forever because it was so sweet and means everything to him now that his great-Nana is gone to heaven.

As an English professor and an avid reader, it's been a source of distress that one of my grandchildren doesn't like to read. He is fast-paced and doesn't like to slow down long enough to read; like so many of my students, he'll "wait for the movie." Recently he told me that his class at school had been reading THE SHADOW CLUB and that he had been reading ahead because he loved it. I bought it for him on the spot and purchased THE SHADOW CLUB RISING, the sequel, and two other books by Shusterman as well. He was excited to have them and has told me at length what he likes about the books: the constant action and drama, the characters sympathetic to his age group (11), etc. I thank Neal Shusterman for turning my grandson on to reading at long last!

Book Review
Shadow Club
By: Neal Shusterman

Jared and Cheryl always were second best, always living in someone else's shadow. Jared came in second at the races he was in and Cheryl's cousin would always upstage her. No one likes to lose especially all the time. Always being kicked into the dirt. They were sick of it so they decided to fight back. They gathered all the second-best people and went to their old hide out in the forest and formed a club, the Shadow Club was formed. At first it was just about pulling harmless pranks on their enemies and thinking of ways to hurt them but it went to far. Is someone trying to frame them? What will happen to the Shadow Club?
Shadow Club is a thrilling story that both boys and girls will love an maybe some adults. I wish it didn't have to end. It's filled with action, humor, suspense, and lots of mysteries. I recommend this book to any one who likes to get sucked into their book and forget about the world around them. Its so detailed that it feels like your really there in the story. It will have your eyes glued to it until the last pages have turned.

-Megan C.

Jared, a ninth-grader, is so sick of always being the second-best runner on his team. No matter how hard he pushes himself, he is always beaten by Austin. To make things worse, Austin loves to rub it in when he beats Jared.

Jared's best friend Cheryl knows how he feels. Her cousin Rebecca, who is a year younger than her, is a better singer than Cheryl and she seems to be constantly rubbing Cheryl's face in that fact. Jared and Cheryl are both fed up.

When they feel they can't take it anymore, Jared and Cheryl decide to start a secret club to vent their feelings--The Shadow Club. They invite Cheryl's little brother Randall, who is the number two swimmer on his team. They invite the second best trumpeter, the second prettiest girl in the class, the second best basketball player, and the second best student to join.

All of the members of the club get together and at first aren't sure what to do besides say bad things about those who are beating them all of the time. Then they decide that more needs to be done. Jared comes up with the idea of playing practical jokes on those students they detest. He thinks if no one knows about the club and no one plays a joke on his or her own enemy, all of the club members will escape being suspected of playing the jokes. So it starts.

Green slime shows up in a trumpet before a big solo. The best student's pet tarantula is put in the hood of the best runner's sweatshirt. The best swimmer has his toenails painted bright red while he's asleep.

The members of the Shadow Club are thrilled with their accomplishments. But then things start getting out of control. Jokes are being played that no one seems to know about, and they are getting meaner and more destructive by the day. Could someone be trying to frame the members of the club?

I thought this book captured the attitude of many junior high school students--it highlighted the feelings of competition and the petty nastiness that occurs in students of this age. I thought Jared should have been able to see when things were getting out of control, though, and should have been able to stop the club before anything bad happened.

The Shadow Club
By: Neal Shusterman

Review done by: A Mid-Prairie Teen Student

You would have no idea what you would be expecting if you got a book titled The Shadow Club, I sure didn't. The Shadow Club is a great book having middle school to high schooled aged students making mistakes and seeing the consequences in the end.
Jared, a middle school aged kid, is the main kid in this story. He is the second best runner in his school and hates being second best. He absolutely hates Eric, the best runner in school, and would do absolutely anything he could to be better than Eric. This is where the trouble started.
Jared's friend Cheryl, the second best singer, wanted to start a club called the Shadow Club. This means for people to come to this club if they're second best in something. Like second best singer, second smartest person in school, and even second prettiest girl in school. All these second best kids formed this club and got themselves into trouble without even knowing it.
This is quite a story and it is written by Neal Shusterman a fantastic author. He is an American author of books for young readers, and also a screenwriter. He has won and award called the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for The Schwa Was Here, and he was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He now lives in Orange County, California with his four children. So as you have seen he has a busy life but he has certainly used some of his time to write great books.
This is an amazing book but I'm not going to tell you what happened in the end. Once you read it, it will shock you incredibly as you will see. I will tell you though that it teaches great things like making friends, the trouble you can get yourself into with just starting little things, and how much hate can really hurt someone else's life.
I dare you to read this book even if you think you're the best person in your school. Just go and read this book so that you can see the secrets some second best people may be thinking right now.

I have been reading the Shadow Club to my 7th graders for more than 10 years. The humor, especially in the character of Ralphy Sherman, keeps the class listening. The suspense builds to the point that I have students begging me not to stop reading. Many students tried to buy the book because they just couldn't wait for me to finish reading. I was happy for a few years that it was out of print, so they couldn't find it to read ahead of me.
There are many lessons that apply directly to children of middle school age, and my favorite is looking at how the students laughed at Tyson McGaw at the beginning, but feel for him at the end of the book. Hopefully they will look closer at individuals and not make fun of them because they are different.
I have never had a student who didn't like this book and it is the only one that I have read that when I finish, the students applaud.

I read this wonderful book as a young man back in the sixties and I have just ordered a new version to recapture its wonderful moments

But I also saw the film version many years ago.

No I would be wery exited if anyone could lead me to a DVD or VHS version of the film

How gratifying to read the other reviews, and to learn that others have also experienced and loved this book at different times in their lives. The remarkable thing about it is how Dr. Munthe speaks to us in different ways at different ages. As a teenager, I was impressed by the passions, even though a lot of the details were above my head. In my late twenties, the way he tried to balance career and his love for San Michele was very meaningful. As a 44-year-old, I was impressed (and saddened) with the loneliness of Dr. Munthe's struggle, with really only his animals for company. While he speaks of friends, he shares little about them. And nothing about a lasting romantic involvement.

We all have our San Micheles. They may not be homes, but they are ideals toward which we strive. But for me, it exists only in my mind. Dr. Munthe was in some ways very lucky, yet also cursed, to be able to bring it to life.

The only frustrating aspect of "San Michele" is that it is, as its author notes, a fragment. I am interested to learn more of this fascinating man. Does anyone know if any biographies are in print, or in English? Thank you.

I came to this strange and wonderful book without the slightest inkling of what it was about -- simply because it was in the recommended reading for many guidebooks about Italy. First and foremost, it is an autobiography of a great physician and animal lover who just happened to spend some years of his life on Capri.

Autobiographies can make for strange reading, especially when there are obvious omissions. Although Axel Munthe frequently accuses himself of being a ladies' man, there is no mention of any love interest by name or even generic description. (That reminds me of film director Josef von Sternberg's FUN IN A CHINESE LAUNDRY, where we learn in passing that the author was married because of a cryptic mention in a subordinate clause 300 pages into the book.) Also missing is any mention of Munthe's childhood, although I understand there is at least one other autobiography written by him (MEMORIES AND VAGARIES), which I have not read.

There is, however, one section that does not appear in any autobiography that I have ever seen: An anticipation of Munthe's Last Judgment in Heaven following his death, with St. Peter, Moses, Athanasius, and St. Francis joining in the discussion.

STORY OF SAN MICHELE ranges from Paris to Lapland, Rome, Naples, Calabria, and Capri. We see duels, medical cases of wealthy women with imaginary diseases, demonic housekeepers, quacks, midwives, prostitutes, victims of cholera and earthquakes, brigands, shamans, and even an alcoholic ape. Munthe is a magnificent raconteur, and his book is a joy to read and reread.

How can one write a review of The Story of San Michele that comes close to doing justice to the book? There are many humorous episodes, such as The Giant and Mamsell Agata, touches of the macabre in the description of the cholera epidemic in Naples, misadventures, like the journey to Sweden accompanying a young man (then his corpse). There are also angry moments, as when his dog Tom is brutally kicked by the slimy Vicomte Maurice. Who could not be moved by the story of the boy John, who was rescued by Munthe but never lived long enough to find a loving home. It is a book that includes many memorable events in a life that was very full indeed. Many of the chapters in this book could be made into marvelous films, given the right adaptation.

The Story of San Michele is very well written, to say the least, and the many people, events and personal feelings of the author combine to make this a special adventure. Perhaps most special of all is Axel Munthe's relationship to animals that allowed him to get close, even to "wild" animals and have a special relationship with them. He was a man who held nature and all life in special regard but was pragmatic in the face of illness and death.

I have had a copy since 1988 and I have given Axel Munthe's book as a gift and been thanked for the introduction. I could not recommend this book highly enough.

My father had mentioned this book to me as a teenager. I read portions of it then, but have always wanted to read it in full. Finally, I found a paperback edition and found an absorbing and thought stimulating book. Dr. Munthe's care of the sick, his love of animals and the characters he describes, all will stay in my memory. This is not a book that you read once. I plan to read it again and again. Hopefully I will be able to visit Villa St. Michele some day and see the beauty of the place that he saw. I hope to find a bound edition with the photographs.

I love to read this book with the kids at school. I get a little teary every time I read it!

This book is simple enough for two-year-olds, but complex enough for much older children, or even adults.

The trick is that the words (only a sentence or so per page, and mostly of the format "Boris was ADJECTIVE. All pirates are ADJECTIVE") only barely sketch out the story - the rest is in the illustrations, or else has to be guessed at.

At the end of the book, we find that when Boris' parrot died "He cried and cried. All pirates cry. And so do I", a line that echoes in the mind.

Don't pass this one by.

This picture book illustrates that tough pirates can be tough and yet cry as well. Boris is the epitome of a tough pirate; he is swashbuckling, fierce, and he even looks the part. All that stands, but we learn about a new side of Boris with his favorite friend, his parrot. I would recommend this book for younger students to read themselves, or it would be great for the pre-K set as a read aloud. It's short enough for a quick bedtime story!

This book is wonderful. It uses the very popular theme of pirates to explain that having feelings is normal and that there is no weekness in tears. My six year old reads it everyday.

This is a wonderfully surprising book. Simple predictable text makes this book and easy read aloud to young children and interesting illustrations that capture the imagination. This book also deals with pirates and treasure, but also the loss of a pet, which most children can relate to, but in a simple way. My three-year-old loves this book and can spend 20 minutes just flipping through the pages. I definately recommend this book for children 3 and up.