N Books

The photos here are lovingly chosen by her son, and the entire book is an absolute joy.

This book was pleasant and thoughtful, as is its subject. Though admittedly the writing was far less enchanting than I would have expected; I like to think it was kept simple to further emphasize the simplicity and sincerity of Audrey herself. This book did not add any revelation for the reader about her life; but instead, allowed for a glance at Audrey Hepburn's everyday existence. I was constantly amazed at how strong and genuine her character when faced with life's sometimes complicated decisions. This book shows Audrey as a person who effortlessly put others before herself, and seemed to never question her sense of what is right.

Even the idea of such simplicity has become a fairytale in our lives, and it is so refreshing to read about someone who was capable of remaining so solidly pure, that I cannot help but read a little more. One need only look to her work with UNICEF to know how first-rate she truly was.

She has allways been one of my favorite stars.The book has a beautifull
lay-out and is a pleasure to read.Lots of photographs never seen before
and beautifull passages about her work for Unicef and what a wonderful mother she was.I can highly recommend this book.

Bought this as a gift for my daughter as she is a fan and thought that the personal insights were revealing and poignant.

I love everything about this book. I like the photos. I like the interesting story. And how Mr. Sean Hepburn Ferrer includes a reproduction of Audrey's birth certificate. Obviously, this is a
well-documented book. Authentic and sincere. I wish Mr. Ferrer had chosen a more stunning photo for the cover. The cover is kind of blurry and not very focussed I love black and white photos Colored ones are nice too but not blurry, indistinct ones.

There isn't any thing about this book that I didn't like. It grabbed my interest from the very beginning and had me reading it until the wee hours of the night, I just could not put it down. I fell in love with the characters and felt as though I were a part of their friendship. I especially loved the format of this book: journal entries, letters, etc.
I highly recommend this book!

Between Friends is the story of 2 girls that became friends at the age of 5 and remained best friends all their lives. The entire book was written in the format of letters, journal entries, and newspaper clippings. It was a strange format, and yet it seemed to give us a deeper glimpse into the lives of these 2 very different women.

Lesley grew up the oldest of 6 kids in a working class family. Her dad spent more time out of work than he did employeed, and her mom had to learn to live with him and all his faults. Jillian, the only child of Judge and his wife, grew up in the lap of luxary. And yet, through time and completely different circumstances, they stayed friends. This book encompasses decades in the lives of the 2 friends, through marriage, children, divorce, death and war. At times a little sappy and at times very touching, I found this book very enjoyable.

I absolutely loved this book. This author is so very talented and this particular book truly showcases her talents for capturing life and friendship.

My cousin showed me this book last summer. Though many people would say this is for old adults, It is my favorite book as a teenager. The heartwarming tales, and the tears strolling down your face you will really appreciate what you have in life. Read Between Friends, you won't regret it.

I normally do not read the genre that Debbie Macomber dominates, but I 'discovered' her wonderful stories, good writing, and always interesting 3 diminsional characters. And, I became hooked on Macomber, especially her Cedar Cove series.
Between Friends is a wonderful story that kept me turning the pages long after bed-time. Beautiful Jillian and Smart Lesley are as opposite as can be, and that's exactly why become and stay best friends throughout their life. Diary Excepts, Newspaper clippings, letters, as well as 'real time' scenes propel the reader forward at amazing speed with tremdous concern for the girls, who blossom into young women, mothers, and finally to professional middle aged women.
Problems, Very Big and small, do not exist exclusively in the poor side of town as Jillian and Lesley reveal their stories to us readers and to each other. Their laughter, tears, heartaches, joys, triumps, defeats become ours from the first page to the last satisfying page.

A book that is a literary puzzle, an adventure of sorts, and full of sneakiness and tongue-in-cheekness. I have read quite a lot, and when I read this, I had trouble trying to work out who was who in quite a lot of cases. I suppose this is a lot of the appeal, though, being like a really, really hard cryptic crossword, at times.

The first third of the book is very promising. Unfortunately, the book runs out of steam when Lucius enters the picture. I found that storyline completely uncompelling and the resolution is rushed. the latter third of the book is no better--it is filled with cliched moralizing and an unsatisfying deus ex machina conclusion.

Silverlock is a fun, roller coaster ride through literature. It chronicles the journey--inner and outer--of an American cynic as he travels through the world of literature. Some of the fun is tracking down the literary characters, from Beowulf to Don Quixote to Becky Sharp. Part of me regrets not having been born in the 1950s to relish Silverlock fully; the Internet makes finding the sources of the characters effortless. Hopefully, readers take the next step and read the original sources to expand their understanding and appreciation of literature. In my opinion, the novel posits that literature is an evolving, cumulative organism. Modern (American) literature is built on the foundation of the stories that came before. The novel shows that someone can find meaning in the stories he or she encounters, and sharing those experiences--and possibly using them to invent new stories--is one of the joys of life. Anyone with respect for literature and the history of speculative reading should give Silverlock a try.

_This is truly a book for book lovers. It starts with a middle-aged Chicagoan with a degree in Business Administration and a life that that has ceased to hold any meaning or charm for him. He boards a freighter as a passenger in order to try to put a little interest and excitement in his life. Well, he finds it. The freighter is shipwrecked after several days of running before a storm and the main character, Silverlock, finds himself cast adrift without a life boat. As he says- if he had cared to live, he would have died. As it is however, he doesn't struggle and exhaust himself- he merely surrenders himself to his fate and the currents. Fate soon finds him....

_What Silverlock finds is the Commonwealth. This is a place where all the great stories from myth, legend, and literature actually exist, somehow, side by side. This requires a suspension of belief, but given the excellent story telling that isn't too difficult. That seems to be what the Commonwealth is all about- it is the Commonwealth of story telling, or imagination.

_It is more than just a survey of great characters and stories, however. Silverlock comes across as pretty unsympathetic at the beginning, but through experience and suffering in his travels from east to west he grows immeasurably in character. Perhaps the Commonwealth is a mask for purgatory, where lost souls are given a second chance at growth and redemption. In any case it is more heaven than purgatory for the reader.

_Save this book for special quiet times when your spirit needs a recharge. I know that I do.

I suspect that this is one of those polarizing books: those that love it REALLY love it; others will be, at best, blandly indifferent or outright bored. I hew more closely to the second camp.

The book has notable adherents and in recent years has been hailed as a bit of a neglected gem, but I found it only moderately diverting. It was written in 1949 and so it's a bit dated (and its attitudes toward women are not the most advanced, but then again, the protagonist is by his own admission a cad and a bounder), but that's really not much of a problem.

The novel is your typical Pilgrim's Progress type of thing, and is divided into three parts, which turn out to be Chance, Choice, and Oracle, or as I see it, Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell, based on the decreasing level of quality (and the not-concidental Dantean shenanigans toward the end). It starts out strong, but the charms grow old fast, and the overarching quest in the middle section simply is not very gripping. In the final third, the book becomes unbearably didactic and wearisome, and then, rather suddenly, the words "The End" scroll across the screen.

On a side note, I found myself often contrasting this book to Stephen Donaldson's "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant". Both feature (anti-)heroes thrust into a strange land and both deal, to some degree, with large philosphical concerns. (In fact, Donaldson acknowledges having read this, and having plucked the titles of a couple of his novels from one of the songs within, but purports to find the book sub-par.) The major contrast, of course, is that Covenant believes nothing of what he sees, but Shandon easily rolls with all that he finds, no matter how fantastical, to an extent unbelievable of someone from mid-20th century America.

Filkers and others who enjoy making songs out of poems will like "Silverlock", as will those who excelled in high school English classes and who can pick out some of the myriad allusions. I suspect most others will find this to be much less than advertised.

I would, at any rate, recommend picking up an annotated version to get details on some of the more cryptic appearances of characters from myth, fable, and literature.

I've had the pleasure of reading this very academic (and sometimes humerous) work by BeDuhn. I was not disappointed. I collect and own several bible translations, many of which are included in his review. I have to say that in the past when I've sat down to read them on differing occasions, I often felt something was not quite right about how some things were written, but couldn't put my finger on it. After reading "Truth in Translation," especially Chapter 8 entitled "Words Together and Apart," I felt that I received some long overdue answers only to come up with new questions.

There are a few things that need to be said about the negative reaction to BeDuhn's research. For one thing, all of us who embrace Christianity as our faith should demand nothing less than accuracy in the translation of God's Word from koine Greek into other languages. If we (namely Protestants, JWs and others founded on Sola Scriptura) rely on the Bible as the source of inspiration and use it for direction in our lives, then what is the problem with questioning the reliability and faithfulness of the translating process? I know from personal experience in learning a different language that translating is a difficult task that requires a lot of research and thought, but in no way does that warrant saying/writing something to suit what we WANT it to say rather than what it ACTUALLY does say. We do not flatter God when we write (and therefore believe) what is or may be wrong.

Another issue is the flack surrounding BeDuhn's conclusion that the NWT is one of the more accurate translations (along with the CATHOLIC New American Bible--talk about oil and water). Critics only flew off the handle because the NWT is published by Jehovah's Witnesses, and many of us know how we feel about them and their theology. (Personally, I have studied with JWs, but my issues with some of their beliefs is based on INTERPRETATION, not TRANSLATION of Scripture.) But what has that to do with Bible accuracy? Nothing. If it's more literal, then it's more literal, though I find it a bit awkward to read in terms of wording and structure. I think it's safe to say that a person outside of their organization can judge the NWT itself with fairness and even choose to read it without necessarily agreeing with Witness doctrines. But nay-sayers apparantly believe that this is not possible. What's more, ACCURATE doesn't mean PERFECT (no translation can achieve that). The NWT is critized by BeDuhn as having its own brand of bias peculiar to JWs. He dedicates an entire appendix to that. To BeDuhn, adding what's not in the original texts is as unacceptable as leaving out what is, no matter how great the intentions are.

I think that it's noteworthy to add that A. Frances Warren did her own analysis concerning accuracy in the Old Testament, and according to her findings, the NWT and NAB dropped several notches in that portion of the bible. For greater details, one might also consider purchasing "Truth in Translation:...the Old Testament" by Ms. Warren. Only then can a person get the full weight of how accurate their favored translation(s) are from front to finish.

So where do we go from here? Mr. BeDuhn "went there," so are we who are interested in the truth bold enough to pack our suitcases and follow? I hope that other scholars committed to fairness about this issue will pursue unbiased research of their own to give weight to and even greater clarification of BeDuhn's findings. In fact, I'm half hoping that there is some kindly old Buddhist monk or nun out there who's thoroughly fluent in reading and writing koine Greek who can accurately translate biblical manuscripts into English. He or she would have virtually no vested interest in being biased. LOL!!!

On a serious note, however, I feel that BeDuhn's analysis has put us closer to the water trough, but many will still refuse to drink, even when they are dying of thirst. It will be interesting to see if publishers and translators will answer the challenge. We may well see a barrage of academic research and commentary on the subject of bible accuracy, but that won't necessarily mean bible translators, publishers and even readers will budge much. For example, publishers of the NWT will probably ignore suggested changes regarding the usage of Jehovah's name in the New Testament where it's not found. Too much of Witness dogma is staked on this, so it may be safe to say that they'd rather be guilty in that respect. As for others, we might see some changes to their texts, but not enough of it to be satisfactory. Again, embedded doctrine is a strong factor where change is resisted. At best, we may see yet another version of the bible come into existance with the claim that its true to the original manuscripts, blah blah blah. But after BeDuhn's (and Ms. Warren's) research, this time, the claim needs to be truer than it has ever been. There can be no excuses. I know I'll be watching--and reading.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is deciding on what bible to read. One thing that is key to understand about this book is that it does not compare each bible in full to determine an accurate NT translation as a whole from its original Greek Manuscripts. Instead it prefers to single out what the Author perceives to be key verses/words in the bible and then compare them amongst other translations to review its authenticity in terms of freedom from bias and interpretation. So does this mean the most accurate and least accurate are really that? I would have to say no, it merely illustrates the most accurate and least accurate within the verses selected or how neutral a specific text is on an issue that can not be truly declared with certainty like some bible illustrations inaccurately do.

The bibles in question are

King James Version
New Revised Standard Version
New International Version
New American Bible
New American Standard Bible
Amplified Bible
Living Bible
Today's English Version
New World Translation


The conclusion may or may not surprise you depending on which religion/bible you follow. I however was surprised and being that the victor was already revealed in previous reviews I will then repeat it again. The New World Translation(JW) was deemed the most overall accurate within the verses/words analyzed with the New American Bible(Catholic) a close second. How close of a second? I do not know. How far from accuracy are the other ones? That might end up as a matter of an opinion, because again this audit of the bible only breaks down certain aspects of the bible which means that the most accurate and least accurate may be accurate/least accurate in other areas of the bible that was not analyzed.

I would have liked to see a more definitive grading scale and ranking system for each bible to see just how far apart they truly are as a whole, but again only certain aspects of the bible itself was reviewed so even then the accuracy of the declaration of accuracy can always be questioned.

However overall this book is excellent and I highly recommend it for anyone regardless of the denomination.

This book is thought provoking and very well written. Translation from the original language to modern English in the Bible should be free of religious bias. The author demonstrates the need to be accurate in Bible translation and his final conclusions are very revealing!!

An excellent read,an academic subject written for a wider readership. The author relates the challenges involved in accurate translation of 2000 year old writing. He does so from the standpoint of a Greek language and history scholar without religiuos bias. This is a book for truth lovers only - are you up to it?

This text is a welcome breath of fresh air from a truly unbiased author. He is critical of all versions of the New Testament and as far as I can tell, unbiased. He is not a Jehovah's Witness, so he has no reason to promote their translation above any others. I'm glad someone finally exposed the truth about John 1:1, which many denominations have used to justify the trinity belief for ages. This book examines even the minor inaccuracies in translation indexes the passages and touches on the history that may influence a particular translation. A must read for anyone seeking the absolute truth.

This is a Phenomenal book! It's a great book for all women of color to read. Each chapter alerted all of my emotions and thoughts. I am learning everyday how to attack any negative energy surrounding me and follow the gift of intution. Learning to love yourself in the midst of everything.

Yes, I already gave it five stars, because I read one of her other books "Tapping The Power Within...." When I was about 14 or 15 years old, I was in a afterschool class, and the instructor gave us each a copy of "Acts of Faith." The title of the book was very powerful to me, and I tried to read it then, but I was not ready. See, thats the thing about most self help books like these, you must be READY to read them. I actually got "Tapping the Power Within..." last month from my counselor, thats when I realized I still had two of her other books. My aunt also bought me one of her books when I was of the age 14, because I was going through a tough time. The book was called "Don't Give it Away." Which I am now in my THIRD YEAR OF COLLEGE... YAYY ME, and I passed the book down to my sister. (Also, I wanted to leave this portion of my message for a poster on here named Tigress "JD": Do not feel stupid for buying a collection of her books. Actually, I had just did the same thing. I am about to buy more of her books).Its quite hard choosing which books to read. I am currently reading the "Acts fo Faith" day by day, and I have finished reading "Tapping The Power Within" Which is helping me a lot. The following books I already have purchased was already shipped to me is "Faith in the Valley," "Living Through the Meantime," (which I started to read, but I was not sure if I was ready, after reading a couple of pages through)"One Day My Soul Just Opened Up (which I am debating with "Living Through the Meantime"), and "Yesterday I Cried." So I have about seven of her books. I am going to purchase more right now. I hope you all remain strong, and I hope the books will help you all a lot. (sorry for all the typos its 3:12am in the morning in NYC and I could not help it, but to get back online and purchase some more books, plus I cannot fall asleep).

This book is great not only for black women, but for all women. It helps one to understand life better, and to love ones self better.

I am a big fan of motivational and self-help books. I have read many in my lifetime. Mostly good, some so-so. It is important to read a book relevant to what one is going through at that time to get the full scope of things from the book we read I believe. Iyanla's books are one of them and one of my favourite authors. The first book I got from Iyanla's collection was "Yesterday I Cried" and that had helped me through the ditch I was going through at that time. A friend of mine recommended a book of hers "One day My Soul Just Opened Up" which at that time I had already knew about her and went on to search on amazon her other publications and purchased the whole series of her books. Yeh - crazy me! But hey, she's good! I like her approach in the way she writes and conveys her message. It's real. I can relate to her. I have almost the whole collection of her books that she has published and reading them one by one as I go through my life's ups and downs. For the past few months I've been going through many valleys, I started reading "The Value In The Valley" which has given me many insights into my own valleys that I am going through and have gone through and approach life and my valleys in a different light. I have just purchased the Audio CD version of it to listen while I drive or at home. Can't wait to get it and the rest of the motivational goodies I just got from other authors. :) Thumbs up to this book as well as Iyanla's other books. Thank you Iyanla for all the insights your book has given me. :)

I saw a lot of me in reading this book. It really helped me to realize somethings about myself and why I do the things that I do. It was great. I would recommend it to anyone who needs clarity on themselves and their lives.

Blood Done Sign My Name is a non-fiction work that combines the personal memoirs and research of Timothy Tyson, Professor of Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin. The most striking aspect of the novel is the description of Dickie Marrow's murder from the points of view of different citizens of Oxford. This unique feature makes the book appealing to many age groups. Teenage readers can relate to Tyson's personal anecdotes about growing up in rural Oxford, North Carolina. Even if younger audiences do not understand the symbolism behind the text, they can still enjoy the well-developed characters and eventful plot. Adult readers can gain insight into many themes concerning race and white supremacy. Tyson elegantly expresses the naiveté of children on the issue of morality and treatment of other races. This is best conveyed in the passage where young Tyson taunted a black child solely because his friend had started an insulting chime. The author describes that it was fear--not hatred--that bred the twisted idea of white supremacy. Parents can also connect with the decisions and actions of Vernon and Martha Tyson. The Tysons believed that their children should be exposed to many different opinions yet respect all races. The difference in perspectives in the work allows readers of all ages to enjoy and understand the truth behind the Civil Rights Movement.
The book contains a few minor flaws that diminish the lucidity of the text. The plot is rather erratic; from time to time, the events are not connected perfectly. This technique may be Tyson's personal style of writing, but it proves to be rather confusing at major points in the plot. For example, Tyson usually explains a personal memory of the murder and follows it with completely unrelated information about another character. These discontinuities in the plot make the book difficult to comprehend at first. Gradually, however, the reader gets acclimatized to this original form of writing. The gaps between personal stories build suspense and enable the reader to process a feasible prediction for the sequence of events. The novel also includes many extraneous details about minor characters that play an insignificant part in the plot. Tyson extensively describes his mother's childhood, even though his mother does not affect the sequence of events in any fashion. This extra information, however, does not detract from the book's overall theme. Though the story contains a few negligible weaknesses, Tyson maintains his overall claim and presents it in an interesting and distinctive manner.
Blood Done Sign My Name is an enthralling story that expresses the moral wrongs of racism. To call it a mere story does not do Tyson proper justice; it is more fitting to call the book a documentary. By citing several engrossing stories throughout the novel, Tyson maintains the reader's attention and successfully proves his thesis. Other than its occasional lack of continuity, Timothy Tyson has written a classic non-fiction work for readers of all ages.

Few books are as challenging for me as this one. I lived through the years of this story and consistently refused to believe that our racism was as extensive or deeply rooted as it was. Take away: the challenge to see it in our present day and to do something about it.

An essential history and memoir of a time whose facts are often forgotten and even actively repressed. The present doesn't make sense without honestly examining the past, and this book does that with humility and emotional power. Even if you think you know this history (as I did) you very well may not.

I was born and grew up in Oxford, North Carolina as a white boy, and graduated from theUniversity of North Carolina in 1949. I have lived in a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland for many years.

Tyson deserves credit for deploring the murder and acquittal of the murderer in the book. However, he tends to be polemic: all black people in it are noble; all but a few white people are some combination of racist, ignorant, or narrow-minded. (It is similar in that respect to LeonUris's novel "Exodus", in which all Jews are noble and bigger than life, while all others are hatefulor, at best, not very bright.)

He often uses a down-home style of writing, calling his parents "Daddy" and "Mama" and being addressed as "Little Buck" by his father, which he apparently feels makes him and his family seem to be folksy, good plain people.

However, the book is not without its shortcomings.

Accounts of questionable credibility:

¶¶He states that tear gas was used by Oxford police in 1944 to dispel a crowd of black people who were protesting the arrest of two men. I witnessed the event and remember no tear gas--had there been, I think I would never have forgotten it.

¶¶An account of the torching of buildings in Oxford on May 25, 1970 by angry black people following the killing of Marrow describes two tobacco warehouses which were amongthem:"Inside these warehouses were eight hundred thousand pounds of golden cured tobacco, a known flammable substance, with a total value of more than a million dollars." I find it hard to believe that any tobacco would have been in those warehouses in May.

Tobacco was brought by the farmers to Oxford warehouses from mid-September through mid-November, where it was sold at auction and immediately taken by the buyers to their Oxfordprocessing plants, and then shipped off to the cigarette manufacturers. By some time in late
November, all of the warehouses became empty.

Although the whole procedure I describe above could have changed somewhat by 1970, I still find it hard to believe that there would have been tobacco in the warehouses in May, by which time it would have probably become dry and crumbly.

¶¶The following exchange supposedly took place during the 1930's between Major T.G. stem (a prominent white man in Oxford) and a man described in the book as "a local white bootlegger." Having occurred long before Tyson was born, it was recounted to him by Thad Stem, the Major's
son and a close friend of the Tyson family.

"Major Stem was leaving Hall's drugstore with his son (Thad) and they passed Mrs. G. C. Shaw, the wife of the principal at Mary Potter High, the local Negro high school.

'Good afternoon, Mrs. Shaw,' the Major said, tipping his hat.

A local white bootlegger, idling under the store awning, accosted Major Stem. 'Why'd you call that [...] woman Mrs. Shaw'?" he demanded.

'Well, Mrs. Shaw's older than I am,' he began softly. 'She's better educated than I am,and she has
more money.' Then, thrusting the bootlegger away from him, the major exploded: 'But more to the point, what I call Mrs. Shaw is none of your goddamned business, you low-life taxidermist, you two-for-a-nickel jackal, you knee-crawling [...], net.' These were the days when
people really knew how to cuss. Back then, the appendage 'net' meant a real [...]...on the way home (Thad) asked his father why on earth he had called the bootlegger a 'taxidermist.' The major said quietly that a taxidermist is a man who mounts animals."

If not a total fabrication, the story seems to me to have been mostly made up.

In those earlier times, I never heard any white person in Oxford address or refer to a black person as Mr./Mrs./Ms. (However, by some strange logic, a black doctor was referred to as Dr. X by white people. Dr. Ellis Toney was a black practitioner there for many years and was so referred to. The same was the case for some black ministers, who were referred to as Pastor or Reverend
such-and-such.)

¶¶In writing about the slave trade, Tyson speaks of "the dark Atlantic, where the bones of somewhere around ten million Africans settled into the sand, thrown overboard by the slave ships that plied those waters in the early days of the republic (the USA)."

Where did this 10 million figure come from? Tyson provides no source. One reference, "Slavery: A World History", by Milton Meltzer, says that about 2.2 million died that way.

¶¶Degrading most of Oxford's black people by stereotyping them as uncultured:

The most puzzling aspect of the book is: On the one hand, Tyson makes the legitimate point that black residents of Oxford and Granville County, after long having been subjected to a segregated, inferior status in society, deserved to be recognized as having equal rights with white citizens. Yet, at the same time, he consistently shows these same black people as being crude and unable to
say anything without massacring English grammar.

"I knowed him right good, and I liked him all right. He didn't hurt nobody." "Yeah, we was listening to TV, that's how we got involved in the first sit-ins in Oxford, because we saw on TV they was doing it up in Greensboro." "Me and a guy named Ronald Jordan, me and him climbed up on the Confederate soldier..." And there are many more.

I know from personal experience that many black people in Oxford, then and now, are much more cultured than Tyson portrays them. I also know from my volunteer work at the Helping Up Mission in Baltimore, where I tutor men who are recovering from drug and alcohol addiction in the 3R's (all of whom to date have been black), that most black people, like anyone anywhere, will grasp an opportunity to become more cultured.

Note: The running together of words, without proper spacing, and the breaking up of lines above are done by Amazon. My original review did not have those errors. I have repaired them by subsequent editing, but they persist.

Marshall H. Pinnix

I finally got around to reading this memoir this summer and was in awe of the author's narrative gifts. This story reads like a novel and is full of plain human wisdom, an emotional openness combining humility and pride, wry humor, sharp political analysis, and a can't-put-it-down story line that comes to terms with America's number one cultural problem: racism. This is a book of local history that gets at the human condition, and a work of history that reads like great literature. I'm telling everyone I can to read it, and that includes whoever reads this. Don't pay attention to any of the so-called "corrections" made by some other reviewers here. This is a must-read historical work that shows an astute and perceptive ability to understand its widely varying participants' points of view and experiences, while not shrinking from the moral and historical obligation to draw judgments. There is only one word to use: *brilliant.* (I'm not one to use that lightly when talking about either autobiography or
history.)

Disclaimer: The writer of this review is a professional historian with a Ph.D., but one who has never met Timothy Tyson.

"Catspaw" is a MUCH better book than its prequel, "Psion." As with "Psion," I don't care much for its theme that humans, especially wealthy powerful ones, are evil. But, for "Catspaw," that's pretty much overridden by how well Vinge writes and by the tightness of the plot. About the only thing I didn't like in the book was the occasional lapse into unnecessary sexual details in about five different places. Other than that, this is a very well-written book that I highly recommend. If it weren't for the sense of loss a reader would suffer without having read "Psion," I'd suggest skipping that book entirely. Most of the necessary information comes out in this book. But, it's not complete until almost halfway through the book.

Whoah! I've read this book three or four times already! I love it so much. and Cat is just a great character you can just fall in love with him. I really hope others read this book too. i still haven't read the 1st or 3rd books to this series but i feel like i understand them perfectly. but i still really wish to read them. I've never liked a book quite this much.

This is quite possibly the best book I have ever read. Thought provoking, emotional, and exciting, the author draws the reader into a world that could easily be the real future. Cat's unique point of view illustrates the universe in such amazing clarity that his pain and wonder is completely tangible. He's moved from street rat to university student forced to do the dirty work for a huge conglomerate and each word of his experience resonates.

This second installment of the Cat books was the first I'd ever read from this author, all because I took a chance on a book in a library give away box. It's one of the most amazing treasures I've ever found.

I loved this book. I've read the entire series of the main character, Cat, but Catspaw I believe is best in the series. What's more, the book can stand alone. The unique writing kept me interested the entire journey, with the 1st person view of the main character, but his abilities to read minds lets you have the perspective of other characters in the book as well. I liked Cat's personality. He's real, with flaws, and fears, and yet does the right thing without being a do-gooder. Even the villians in the book seem real, and you can almost- but not quite- understand why they are the way they are.
This story encompasses Cat being pressed into service to be a body guard for a political member of the very government he hates. You get political intrigue, a hint of romance, and a splendid view of a futuristic world with a well thought out plot. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

This was the first book I'd read in this series, many years ago. At the time, I was more impressed with it than I probably would be now, because I didn't recognize that the world she was building was somewhat standard cyberpunk (never even heard of cyberpunk at that time). Therefore the world seemed more original to me than it actually is (also illustrating one of my standard ideas about genre fiction--if someone who has never experienced a genre before suddenly comes to it, the most hoary and ancient cliches of that genre will seem dazzlingly fresh and familiar).

However, though the world fascinated me, in the end, the real heart of the series are Vinge's characters. Cat, Lady Elnear, Argentyne, Jiro, are all wonderfully drawn, and Vinge portrays them with a great deal of heart and honesty; she plays fair with the reader. Good social commentary too, with a message that is both uplifting and sobering; she explores a theme I've seen other authors do as well but one that I think is quite profound, that human connections are necessary to allow human beings to succeed in the face of evil (Cat's bond with Argentyne and his link to Mikah are what enable him to ultimately succeed in his goal). I recently bought a copy of PSION and I'm working my way through it, eager to meet Jewel and some of Cat's earlier friends.

As one who had a 'wounded soul,' I cannot tell you how much this book changed and turned around my life. I received it as a gift many years ago and I have now bought my 4th copy of the book, as the ones I have loaned out never 'come home', which speaks of how powerfully this book also speaks to others. In this book, Max tells of characters of the Bible as if they are actually people you know in real life; perhaps an aunt or uncle, sister or brother, friend or neighbor. His narrative is so possitive that no one can read it and not be affected. I consider it a must for any library!.

I read this book several years ago. It's one of the author's finest, in my opinion. I remembered it being so moving and convicting that I purchased a half dozen of them to use in a bible study group I'm now hosting. The book has scripture reference and discussion questions for each story in the back of the book. It's proving to be wonderful for promoting introspection, group discussion and sharing. Our group loves it.

I enjoy much of Max Lucado's writings, but this has always been my favorite. I have found much in this book that speaks to my life, and to many others. This was the first book I read of his, and one of the first I read as a new Christian. Its easy to follow and great to inspire.

Our Wednesday morning bible group read this over the summer and met weekly to discuss it. We all have had years of extensive bible study and, consequently, felt this book wasn't as "meaty" as we would've liked. We did have some lively and inspiring conversations about some of the chapters. An area of concern was the wording of some of the questions in the back of the book: we couldn't understand them! We had to take a best guess as to what Max was talking about.

I've read most of Max Lucado's books and this is not only my favorite by him but my favorite book of all time. (Well, except for the Bible.)

This book is helpful in some way for anyone who reads it. I have given this book as a gift for so many people going through a tough time and it has helped each one.

No one tells a story in quite the way Lucado does. It is hard to put his books down and this is one book that I read continually until I finished it. It is a book you keep and read again and again.

God has blessed Max Lucado with a gift of story telling and finding scripture that might be obscure or a special verse that God shows him and then opens his heart to a whole new and unique way of looking at and explaining its meaning in a way that is easy to understand. He brings about such deep emotions with his writing.

God has given Max Lucado a special gift and in turn God, through Lucado, will bless each person who read his books. This book is a must read for everyone. On a scale of 1-5 I really give this book a 10.

This is an amazing book! Sam shares with her readers new ways to grab our audience's interest and attention. She really does know how to help people get noticed in a crowd. This book has shown me how to positively inspire others to read my book, LifeChimes: A Collection of Simple TruthsLifeChimes: A Collection of Simple Truths, when they are looking for simple ways to stop zapping their energy. Because of Sam Horn's book, my work as an author and a motivational speaker has been made so much easier. Thanks Sam!

I'm an advertising copywriter. The one thing I have to do every day is to come up with fresh ideas for myself and my clients. I have to keep learning and growing. And I want my messages to stand out from the crowd. I'm pretty good at that. But, after reading this book, I'm better!

If you love words, you'll love this book. You'll learn how to create slogans and elevator pitches and messages of all kinds. You'll learn how to make them powerful and how to make people remember you, your brand, or business or whatever you want them to remember.

You may already be a good writer. But you'll be a better writer, a writer who sells, if you follow the advice in this book.

Above all, your message will make you stand out from the crowd.

The thing is, not much does stand out from the crowd. Most slogans are the same. Most messages are the same or similar. So, if you're different, you'll be more successful.

This is an excellent book. Get a copy now --- unless you're one of my competitors.

A whole book about calling attention to yourself! I've been a "Shameless Self-Promoter" for years and "POP!" vividly demonstrates one of the key factors in making business networking work!

An awesome book for jazzing up your writing and speaking. Sam Horn crams so many ideas for creating buzz and imprinting your message and brand in the minds of listeners and readers that I found myself making checklists as I ran through the draft of my last book trying to find places I could use her principles and ideas. It's not all about marketing either. She has great ideas on the use of stories and quotes in your writing, how to create memorable content using lists and alliteration, and plenty of other techniques to make your writing come alive.

It's easy and fun to read as Sam is very clearly one of her own best students. Her writing is tight and wonderfully informative with no filler. The ideas are things nearly anyone that has to communicate (verbally or in writing) can use right away.

I felt a little bit self conscious rating this 5 stars: every other reviewer thus far has given it 5 stars as well. But 5 stars it is! I'd say that's a pretty clear message about the strength of the material.

It's the best marketing lesson you can buy for $15.

This is an amazing read, I have used the ideas in my traditional business, as well as my speaking and consulting business. It is a must read for people looking for the "sparks" that need to fly! VERY useful and I go back to it, time and time again.

Great investment in my library, I would recommend you add it to yours.

JB Glossinger
Get Out of Neutral: Manifest the Life Experience You Desire

This book is one of the best books about the fire service I have ever read. I hung onto each and every word. It was though I was there sometimes.

During the tumultuous period of the 60s when author Dennis Smith wrote Report From Engine Company 82, the book was a cry for help from exhausted, frustrated men. Men who cleaned up in the aftermath of other exhausted and frustrated inhabitants of a society stretched to the breaking point.

As I type this, a younger firefighter in a comfortable, air-conditioned fire station among a population that by-and-large respects my profession, it's easy to forget the sacrifice of our past brothers who unceasingly fought fires, city hall and the population they served, until they had forged the modern fire service.

It's an important book for new firefighters to learn how the iron men of old did the job. And for the general reader it's a testament to both a volatile period in our nation's history, and to the timeless strength and courage by which good men have always worked to keep back the chaos of barbarism and destruction.

I spent 10 years in the fire service in both engine and truck companys. While I have many memories and stories to tell, the author, Dennis Smith, sums up the life of a fire fighter in an urban environment about as well as can be possibly told. Trying to balance the unpleasantries and sadness against the satisfaction of saving a life or helping a family overcome one of life's most agonizing moments is very well portrayed in this book. This is what a fire fighter's life is about folks. There is no other book that I can remember that tells it any better than this. If you're thinking of a career in a big city fire department or for that matter, if you're even thinking of becoming a volunteer fire fighter this book is a must!

I first read this book 20+ years ago, when I was under 20 years of age myself but streetwise from being the "wheels" (with a driver's license and a car) for various escapades all over Chicago in my raucous, hard-partying and utterly politically incorrect youth. Many aspects of "Report From Engine Co. 82" stuck with me through the years, and I've re-read it several times. Now I'm 40 and an ER RN in a Chicago hospital where we see more than our share of the extraordinarily dysfunctional lives of the people who live in poverty in the neighborhoods that surround our hospital -- the type of job and environment Smith portrays so well in "Report From Engine Co. 82."

"Report From Engine Co. 82." tells truths about the nearly inescapable poverty and illiteracy of people scraping by in lives that are marginalized in every possible way because they don't -- can't -- really care for themselves appropriately because they don't even know how. Poverty isn't what it used to be -- but it's still as screwed up as it was in Smith's first book. Most of our ER visits aren't really emergencies, just as most of the calls Company 82 responded to weren't emergencies, either. Nowadays, people call 911; when "Report" was written, that 911 system didn't exist yet. But not much has changed since then, in terms of what the firefighters/paramedics respond to and bring to the ER.

Most of the "emergencies" he sees are not emergencies. The non-emergencies, combined with the real emergencies, portray the dangerous and unthinking way poor people live through a combination of lack of resources, lack of experience with the "straight" world, lack of common sense, and minute-by-minute survival thinking. Most of these emergencies and non-emergencies are easily prevented -- if people had common sense, proper parenting, and a normal instinct for self-preservation.

These qualities, however, are surprisingly hard to come by in poverty, and this is what Smith dramatizes. The heroin overdoses. The stupid kids doing stupid things because they are constantly left unattended and to their own devices. Kids who shoot themselves in the thigh or foot -- or worse -- "playing" with guns. Fires that kill children because space heaters provide the heat slumlords refuse to provide in their code-violating buildings. The incipient hatred and distrust poor minority neighborhoods have of the white emergency personnel and firefighters who respond to their calls. The huge cultural gaps that make true communication and understanding so difficult -- even when you're both the same race and both speaking English.

What Smith accurately portrays is the way poverty-stricken people "live in the now" -- people whose entire lives are spent with no real financial or material stability or security. These are people for whom the concept of saving money for the future is impossible, either as a concept or a reality. People for whom making an appointment days or weeks in the future, and actually remembering to get to the appointment, is nearly impossible. Their main mode of thought is: what do I need to do now, what do I want to do now, what do I need or want to do in the next five minutes. This inability to think about and plan for the future is endemic, as is the inability to prioritize that which really matters -- one suspects because most of these people realize on some level they have no future that truly matters to the rest of society, and they're incapable of living as the rest of the "straight" world lives because they never have, didn't grow up with it, and don't know the language of living that life, let alone the mindset.

These are the people and children who have no insurance, no health care, no glasses when their vision is bad, no braces or dental care when their teeth are bad; who never use birth control (to prevent pregnancy OR to prevent disease transmission). People who don't understand why it's inappropriate to come to the ER with an upper respiratory infection and get pissed off when they wait hours for care while higher priority, higher-acuity patients (in respiratory distress, cardiac arrest, heart attacks, asthma attacks, and overdose, etc.) are taken before they are.

Conversely, these are also the people who shun health care until they are so sick they can no longer avoid it, and discover they have cancer... Cancer that could have been prevented or at least treated, often saving their lives, had they ever had regular health care -- but who are now consigned to an inevitable death they will blame on the healthcare providers who couldn't save them because they were at a stage beyond saving or treating in any way other than palliative.

Smith's New York is NOT the New York of Sex And The City. This is the New York of the infants whose welfare mothers don't immunize them, but have the latest, most expensive coats and boots because conspicuous consumption is how they live: you show how much money you have by wearing all that your money has bought you (rather than doing the far less glamorous but sensible things more responsible people, whose children were WANTED rather than accidental, do). The New York of the kids having kids who have kids, all of whom have never known proper parenting, nutrition, or health care. The overdoses. The children who come in with accidental poisonings or burns from household chemicals because no one was watching them. The attempted suicides with anything and everything -- cold medicine, knives, guns, illegal drugs. The kids raised by siblings because the parent is completely incapable, if they're even around, with or without the additional problems of substance use/abuse, addiction, or domestic abuse. The families which are largely single-parent families -- and where the parental figure may be an elder sibling, aunt or cousin who cares more for the children than their biological parent(s) does or is capable of doing.

This is also the world of the terrified illegal immigrants who wait so long to call for help because they're afraid of INS (now ICE) and deportation; by the time they do, they're often too sick to save. The penniless old people whose pensions don't cover their living expenses and who don't call for help because they're terrified of being discharged from the hospital to a nursing home and losing what little autonomy and material security they have left. The fractured families (with utterly dysfunctional dynamics) who interfere with the paramedics' jobs -- as well as the tight-knit families who are rich only in love for one another. The people who refuse help they desperately need because they fear and distrust the paramedics and firemen trying to help them, and because their healthcare illiteracy is such that they have no idea what is necessary to save their lives, and so refuse or avoid medical treatment that could stop problems in stages when they're still treatable. The mothers who speak no English, who superstitiously fear that emergency treatment will kill their children, yet who are so desperate to save their babies, they don't know what else to do, because all home remedies have now failed. The endless numbers of people who let their prescriptions run out or try to save money by taking less than the prescribed doses and then have severe health problems that wouldn't happen if they bought and took their meds as prescribed -- but who, for multiple reasons, can't and/or don't. The people who beg not to be brought to the hospital because "people DIE in the hospital" -- people who don't understand that their neighbors and family members who died in the hospital, died because they waited far too long to call for help, and were therefore were beyond saving when they finally got to a hospital.

Anyone who works in public service as a fireman, cop, nurse, social worker, or psych intake worker in a big city -- and in poverty-stricken, crime- and drug-infested suburbs and rural communities -- can relate to Smith's book. For everyone who majored in something else, this book opens a door and exposes the lives of people you don't even know exist, people you don't acknowledge when you're forced to share a bus or train with them during rush hour (or who you intentionally avoid by driving in your own car, despite the expense of gas, insurance, and time spent on the commute): the people who don't work, or the people who work wage-slave jobs like janitor, maid, fast-food worker, security guard, who can barely pay their bills or care for their children with what little they make -- or who blow it all on liquor and/or drugs and/or gambling (or all three) to escape the miserable hopelessness of their lives. The kids who have the latest "stuff" -- whether it's the shiny ten speed bicycles Smith writes about, or today's video games and cell phone/mp3 player/cameras -- but whose parents can't or won't give them what they really need: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a stable environment from which to emerge every day to deal with the life-endangering risks of walking to and attending public schools that do little more than babysit and warehouse kids whose futures include teen pregnancy (and the late-term, life-threatening miscarriages that go with total lack of prenatal care, with or without drug use), repeated incarceration, and shorter-than-average lifespans due to the daily likelihood of violence in their communities and their lives.

Smith's portrayal of this kind of poverty is not pretty but it is not unsympathetic -- there are glimpses of beauty and hope, mostly in the young women and children who haven't yet been ruined by their surroundings. Smith tempers it all with a matter-of-fact acceptance that although it is his job to care for these people, he may never really understand them because he's now too removed from that life, and he takes on faith that they possess human qualities they often fail to demonstrate. But some do show their humanity, and those are the people he does it for.

Smith does an excellent job of portraying the paradox that the job of these firefighters and paramedics is to help and save these people, which by its nature includes finding them WORTH helping and saving, at the same time as they move and live as far away from these neighborhoods and the associated poverty, crime and drug problems as they possibly can. This is not merely a racial difference. There are plenty of black and Latino paramedics, cops, firefighters, nurses and doctors who straddle the gulf (some might say 'minefield') between their class and the class of the people they help, in circumstances that are at best trying and at worst nearly impossible to help them transcend for any sustained length of time.

Smith portrays the sympathetic detachment required to know that this is what you do, all day, every day you work, with only the hope that one or two out of ten people will actually genuinely and sincerely thank you for what you do or have done for them -- which is that elusive reward you get, one that can make it all seem worth it when it happens -- and to hope that when you show up and give this of yourself on every shift, there might be one kid or teen who sees what you're doing, who still has enough time ahead of them to see this glimpse into another world... A world it is just *barely* possible for them to enter given enough determination, education, mentoring and drive, and sadly also given enough instinct to discard much of what they learn in their families about how they THINK the world works, versus how the world REALLY works for the more educated and better-off people who run it.

The fact that Smith can show all this without denigrating an entire class of people -- does, in fact, portray them with humanity and the grace one occasionally sees in these circumstances -- is because he also recognizes that he is not that far removed from the kind of poverty he sees on the job (he grew up poor, too). He recognizes and accepts that he is that kid who admired firemen as a boy and saw a different world -- he is that kid who made the leap to the next class up, to the working class and blue collar as opposed to poverty-stricken. He understands the dysfunction -- the drinking, the drugs, the abuse -- that occurs in the neighborhoods Co. 82 responds to because it occurred in his neighborhood, his family, his poverty, while he was growing up.

This understanding that few "get out" -- and that he was one of the lucky few -- underscores with sympathy his otherwise stark portrayal of the job of a NYC fireman in the 70s when NYC was not a desirable place to live and people did their best to escape "the city" as soon as their financial circumstances permitted it.

The uncensored version of this book (which is the one I've read multiple times) also shows the bizarre split someone who works as a fireman/paramedic, nurse, or doctor must negotiate within themselves -- the intimate knowledge you have of the bodies of the people you must save, which is merely part of your job but which you can't really talk about to any family member or lover who isn't in one of these fields. I don't mean merely intimacy with people's genitals -- though there is that, such as the way the Smith describes heroin overdoses getting icebags put under their testicles (negative stimulus, designed to bring unresponsive, unconscious people back to responsiveness and consciousness). I mean the intimacy of seeing people stripped of their modesty and dignity, voluntarily (prostitutes) or involuntarily (the terribly sick), whose personal space and body integrity you must necessarily invade, often in less-than-respectful or diplomatic ways because there is no time for those niceties when someone is dying and you're trying to save them. People who don't work in these fields can never really understand how you can be unaffected by the nudity, exposure and/or intimate knowledge you have of these total strangers, and the disinterest or casual attitude with which you greet what would shock most everyone else.

And, of course, you're not unaffected by this knowledge. Sometimes you're disturbed, or someone or something sticks in your mind -- the things you've seen or had to do -- and is recalled in inappropriate moments with your loved ones. You're not unaffected, you're just emotionally calloused or you compartmentalize it, in order to repeatedly perpetrate and endure this violation of the boundaries between strangers and its inherent power imbalance: you, as the emergency personnel, never have to reveal any of these intimacies to your patients... but they must necessarily, willingly or not, reveal them to you. This includes the mentally ill and the hopelessly drug-addled or dopesick (or both, combined) -- sometimes the most disturbing intimacy of all: the insides of their heads and their distorted, sometimes frighteningly unhinged, perceptions of the world around them.

Before anyone decides to dedicate their lives to becoming a firefighter, they would be wise to start their research here. Some 30+ years after it was first published, this book still shows remarkable insight into the lives, struggles, and emotions of a professional firefighter. When I started on the road to becoming a firefighter, being a volunteer and reading Dennis Smith books asserted in my mind that my life would be wasted doing anything else. For others, this may convince you that the job is not for you. It isn't for everyone. Either way, this is a very enjoyable read and worth the time and money for anyone, not just firemen and wannabe's.