Ernie Hudson Books

service throughout the day, throughout the month, throughout the year....100 stories of giving...the notes at the end of each story to jump into service in your community are a link to giving. .My favorite story was Christmas in April---I must admit I cheered for Frances as she conquered the steps--I read later that she and the writer are enthusiastic pen pals...what inspiration. Thank you to the 100 stone soup writers. You gave me a taste of who inspires you.

......one of the chapters in this book, these stories reflect movements that we should let sweep the nation!!!! Read and be inspired...told simply, the 90+ writers for this book brought these community heroes home....

such a pleasure to read these stories... such an opportunity for all involved with the project to share their words...you never know, maybe someone was inspired to do something today...by simply reading...as long as Stone Soup for the World is available to America's youth we know we have a bright future ahead... My favorites: The Forgiveness Party, Table for 6 Billion Please, and Peace for Their Grandchildren....and there are 97 more to read and pass on....

On occasion one of those books comes along that I can't put down. This collection of short (3 - 5 pages each) true stories are of people about whom, after I have read the story, I consistently say, "Why didn't I know that before reading this?" This book is truly an insight into past and current history through the prism of what stirs the heart and spirit.

Stone Soup for the World is a set of 100 stories about compassion and volunteerism. From the intro by Colin Powell to the story of Ms.Larned's young brother, the whole book was a joy to read. I especially loved the Nelson Mandela and Paul Newman stories. This book has stirred me to be a better person and to help others. I recently walked in honor of my aunt who passed away from cancer and raised money doing it. It felt good just as these stories felt good. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to people from 9 to 99.

"The Man In My Basement" by Walter Mosley is wonderful.

First of all Mosley writes in a style that just grabs you from the opening sentence and pulls you along until the final sentence. The rawness of his characters alone is interesting enough to keep you reading. Add in an intriguing story line, and a great cast of characters, and you have a recipe for success.

The plot of this book, (as you can read about in a lot of other reviews), is very different. While reading you are always pondering the different things that are going on.

At the end of the book I was left thinking deeply about the different things that happened throughout the book. For a piece of fiction to do this, that is something indeed special. It feels as if you were taught a lesson, and you didn't even know it. Very deep.

Do yourself a favor, and give this one a read. You should enjoy it.

Happy Reading!

This book set up an interesting situation, but I didn't feel it was resolved well. There are many unanswered questions. The ending is much too neat. I don't quite see how Charles becomes so transformed by this experience. I don't quite understand all the mind games his prisoner perpetrates. I never really understood why his prisoner chose to be imprisoned. He rambles on about many things he has done, but the reality of the life he speaks of seems difficult to translate into any kind of practical day to day. Thankfully, it is a fast, short read. I have enjoyed the Easy Rawlins books so much. I understand the need of a prolific author to experiment, as another reviewer pointed out, but this is nowhere near as engaging as the other works by Mosley that I have read.

I dare you to put this book down before finishing it! Compelling characters in an unusual story. Far better than what passes for popular fiction on most of the best-seller list. Bizarre? That is probably a little too strong. Different? Definitely!

Some have compared to The Stranger by Camus, but a more apt comparison might be to The Quiet American by Graham Greene, which explores somewhat similar themes of doing bad by trying to do good. Both books exemplify one of my favorite maxims, "You can't get something clean without getting something else dirty."

Many points in this novel stood out for me because I could draw parallels between my life and Charles Dodd-Blakey's. Despite our societal and ethnic differences, both of us are looked down upon by other members of society for what we lack, rather than appreciated for the people we are. This shared trait between the character and myself really took it home for me.

While studying all types of literature, particularily African, the ties to Mr. Dodd-Blakey's family history, as well as Anniston Bennett's work history were insightful and helpful.

I believe this book illustrates that none of the characters had power, despite their thoughts to the contrary. I was surprised by the end, disappointed, disturbed, enlightened and in a strange way, redeemed.

Every fine novelist experiments, and here Mosley tries his hand at Dostoevski's Underground Man or Camus's Stranger. The protagonist, Charles ("not Charlie!") is merely a pompous, verbose, drunken windbag whose "philosophy" is trite barroom cynicism. He muses endlessly about "Evil" (which seems to be Rich People) and about his only other topic, himself. The basement cage premise sounds more interesting than what Mosley actually does with it. Don't want to give away the ending, but I waited in vain for the twist that would repay the time wasted. Some growth, understanding, something. I longed for Easy or Fearless, whose actions showed Mosley's real understanding of life. Mosley knows far more than he can verbalize. This book is like watching a great actor try to sing and dance.

Fiction writer Walter Mosely takes yet another daring turn with Working On The Chain Gang. This slim volume is his excursion into non-fiction and political commentary.

Mosley uses concise, plainly spoken language to urge for the study of Black American History as a map of the coming times for all Americans in the global economy.

Wage Slavery, the villification of the youth, and the commodification of humanity are just some of the issues that were once almost exclusively restricted to Black Americans but are slowly becoming concerns of us all.

Mosley's eye is daring and his words speak from an unflinching, sometimes necessarily abrasive, truth that harkens back to the words of early American printer/abolishionist David Walker's Appeal.

Though there are moments of extreme pessimism and unformed solutions to the problems he illustrates, Mosley's Chain Gang is a more than apt blueprint for the new revolution.

Performers:
Eddie Albert, Stephanie Beacham, Harvey Fierstein, Elliott Gould, Joel Grey, Gregory Hines, Kevin McCarthy, Vanessa Redgrave, Jean Stapleton, Ernie Hudson, Glenda Jackson, Cheryl Ladd, Kevin McCarthy, Cathy Moriarty, Sharon Stone, Burt Reynolds, Rod Steiger, Alfred Woodard, Michael York, Ephram Zimbalist, Jr.
Original poems and introduction written by Judith Cummings.

This is a CD of straight Aesop's fables followed by the narrator trying to turn the moral into common language. Aesop's read better than they listen - at least for me. My kids really didn't like it because the stories are short (only about 1 minute) and the "real life applications" didn't make sense to them or me. Overall, I wouldn't recommend it unless you just want somebody to read the stories to you.