Authors Books

I, too, like Ms. Ryan, am a believer in "true love." I found it only
once in my life for a brief time; consequently, once it became only a
memory, I felt I might never find that special someone or share those
wonderful feelings again. I am still in search, but after having read
Ms. Ryan's tender thoughts, I now feel this is still there for me and
possibly anyone who will just keep their mind and heart open for that
someone to "come in." I have dated recently with the hope that this will
happen. If it does not, I am not discouraged, however; I feel it
is "just around the corner," and some day I will discover it all over
again. I do not want to settle - I want the "bells and whistles" all
over again, along with the heart "flutters" waiting to see and be with
that person who will make my life complete again. This will happpen -
Please read "If You Believe in True Love," and you will understand and be
uplifted to a new level of hope and encouragement. I plan to give this
book to a couple of my friends this year as a Valentine's Day present. I
know they will appreciate it and cherish its contents forever.

I have finally allowed myself to meet someone after reading Marlene Ryan's Book, it helped me to understand that I must listen to my own
feelings and to recognize these feelings for what they are. She helps you look at things in a different light. I have so longed to please other people
my whole life and it left me feeling empty inside. Now I am doing what makes me feel happy inside and I am now my own person. Her book is full
of so much information on so many situations that take place in life. I have taken to heart all that she pours out from her heart and it is working for
me. I encourage others to read through her whole book first; after open to a page and read.

The Author's true love cd is so expressive as it touches on various topics sharing so much love, misunderstandings, faith. I highly recommend it to anyone. I want to thank the Author for a true work of art, combinding her book with a music cd.

Author's Book is very open and honest. She stresses you to listen to your heart, for it is as she has stated, 'a Protection.' I really found myself very involved and the further you get into her book the greater or should I say more intense it gets. I do recommend her Book to anyone that would like to look a little more into themselves, certainly has opened my heart to true love by understanding and recognizing what it really is and to follow your heart for it does exist as the Author brings out.I found the Introduction to her Book very informative. I am more then empressed with her talent and writings so different then anything I have come accross as far as poetry, this is far more then poetry. These are stories, meditations, more along those lines, wisdom. Very professionally put together! Her Music CD; which I have listened to many times. You need to, there is so much. Alot to absorb in one sitting. I love the songs: So Sorry, Time for A Change, Believe, Is This How We Parted, Cared, Should Find, High On a Mountain, 'True Love' (great story). Other songs; Ever Since You Left, Remember Me (very moving) Music CD. The Music is somewhat not only exciting but coupled with the lyrics amazing as I again, recommend you to listen to it a few times to get the drift, deep. There are alot of songs; with such meaning. This Unusual Book with Music CD certainly deserves a 5, if not more for the simply fact it takes courage to put something so different out into the Market Place. The Author has done a great job, I give her lot's of credit! Very Well Done! I hope to see her on a talk show soon! Worthwhile and should be shared with the public on a larger scale. Someone who has the knowledge of the industry should take a hold of it and run with it, she deserves to be heard!

Her Book with Music CD is a whole new concept; the Author has done something very unique and I was greatly amazed at her futuristic style of mixing a book with a music CD in a very interesting way.

Never saw a book put to music before. The whole concept of having her meditations turned to lyrics put to music on a CD is so amazing. Picked right out of her book and I like that I could just take them in the car with me and listen to them on the way to work. Songs like So Sorry, Time For A Change, Should Find, High On A Mountain the whole CD is so meaningful. This should be the new wave of the future, not having much time to read, I can appreciate this. Upon opening my package, I was surprised how appealing and how I knew I made the right choice to purchase it. Hope others will have the opportunity to read such deep and thoughtful works. Definitely would give it to a friend for a gift, because it would be something out of the ordinary. Her pictures throughout the book are beautiful. Thank you for giving me the chance to say what I feel about the Author's incredible Book and Music CD. Thanks to the Author on her out of the Ordinary Works get's my 5 stars, worth it.

As i turned the pages of the authors life I became intrigued with her writing style. She is open and pure and takes you on an emotional roller coaster of the heart. I felt her pain, joy and her honesty. Her poem "Sweet Dreams and The Little Things "is one i like very much. It reminds us in life IT IS the simple things that brings the greatest joy!!!!. Finding your True Love and holding on to it is what the book is about. She writes about freedom, love, friendship, loss and longing. It makes you ponder personally on your own life teaching you to cherish and protect those you care about. As her poem "TIME" states "if its true love, time is of no concern "True Love" has a life of its own. Time teaches lessons and enables us to see what we feel and lost, this book is a wake up call to our hearts. I urge all to go out and buy this lovely book. It will give you the courage to Make that call, Swallow that pride, or Follow that Dream to find or reunite again with your True Love. I hope Ryan as the Author has found her true Love. For it made me realize who mine is.

A dear friend of mine had this book and I was intrigued. Although he had an edition that was dated back in the 50's, it was very worn out with its brown loose pages. Depsite that, I read some of the greatest poems that you can imagine and some familiar ones that I knew but not in its entirety. They were some of the most beautiful words written on paper. I decided to get my own copy and got a new edition for my friend and was thrilled with emotion. I knew I gave my friend a renewed treasure that he can now read without worrying about the pages falling out of its binding. I truly recommend this book of poems to anyone who really wants to feel well written words in verses that are truly beautiful and memorable. Get this book!

As with all anthologies, there will be a number of reviewers sniffing in an offended manner at the dearth (or glut) of Cummings, Yeats, Aiken, or Pope, but any 600 page anthology, by it's very nature, must be incomplete. I purchased this compilation three years ago for long flights and such and it has yet to disappoint. For the size and price of this work, one would be hard-pressed to do better.

As for content, all the major poets are more or less liberally represented. Cummings gets short shrift, and several of Yeats' most memorable pieces "An Irish Airman Forsees His Death", for one) are excluded. Yet I am certain novice and old hand alike will find this work passes the time admirably.

Having been with me through several housheold moves, military action, and cramped backpacks no self-respecting piece of literature should have to endure, my copy is now fairly falling apart. Yet when it expires, I will buy another copy. No other anthology, especially in terms of price, convenience, and memories, could ever compare.

As other readers have said this anthology contains selections from the great poets of the English language from Beowulf to the middle of the twentieth century. It is the kind of book which can be read and reread for years upon years. I would however take exception to the claim that it is the best anthology of its kind. It does not have explanatory material provides no introduction to the poets, no interpretation of their work. There are other anthologies ( Among them ' The Concise Treasury of Great Poems' by Louis Untermeyer) which do so. Nonetheless the bottom line is that this Anthology contains very much of the greatest poetry in the English language.

I too love this anthology. A passionate love of poetry has been part of my upbringing. Let me say that both my mother, Gene Derwood, and Oscar Williams, my biological father, contributed to the selection of the greatest of the great poetry of the English language. Thus we have the contribution of a husband and wife team. Reviewers have mentioned updating this volume, but what has happened is that modern poetry writing no longer follows a firm tradition. Modern poetry is a shotgun blast. There are no recognizable standards for universal selection. Plath is recognized because you cannot divorce her from her suicide. Ginsberg you cannot divorce from his beard and little clanging bells, a media invention. Bob Dylan you cannot divorce from his being a song writer and media invention. If you are not a media invention and only a poet, what chance do you have? So Immortal Poems represents classic taste before media took over the American mind. The media is immortal these days, not poetry. Selecting from contemporary poets not using traditional standards would be difficult to do. I would still love to do it. For those interested in Oscar Williams there is information now available on the web. Just search it with oscarwilliams and see what their world was like in the twentieth century.

I have several books of poetry at home, but this one is my favorite. It is a good collection of poetry from the time of Middle English to almost to the present. There are a few modern poets I would like to see included that haven't been yet. Maybe someday someone will update this wonderful volume.

It starts with Middle English poet extraordinaire Geoffrey Chaucer, with excerpts from the Canterbury Tales and other writing. I would like to have seen Beowulf and some Old English poetry included. There are excerpts from anonymous poets of Middle English leading into the "Shakespearean" times where English is becoming more modern.

Shakespeare of course is well represented, with passages from plays as well as poems and sonnets. This is true for some others like Marlowe, too.

By the time after the Elizabethean period, English poets were not confined to England. There are Celtic poets like Robert Burns of Scotland, Dylan Thomas of Wales, and several Irish poets and American poets well represented in the later part of the book.

The poets are arranged chronologically in the book, but there is are indexs of titles and poets alphabetically at the end of the book for cross referencing. This book has over 600 pages, but it is still a small paperback and will fit in a coat pocket, which is where my copy often lives, dog eared and highlighted all over the place!

I had heard of most of the poets in this collection before I got the volume, but there are some I hadn't heard of and am glad to know. This is an excellent beginning collection, easy to carry and easy to read. Being a mass market paperback, the printing is not the best, but the poetry certainly is.

These tales evoke a poetical kind of realism. "Hunters in the Snow" is a tragic but comic portrayal of three bumbling hunters acting dumb but believable: so in character with themselves yet slightly bizarre. Everything in these tales is real. There is no trumped up language or superfluous prose. The narratives sweep along with a good balance of dialogue, description and action, and are never boring. "Face to Face" is another good one--tragic again and emotional; you come away with a real sense of pathos. And none of it is asked for. The author doesn't beg our emotions. It's very real and very human. "Worldly Goods" is a hilarious tale but again with sober touch. "Maiden Voyage" is spot on in its portrayal of the bondage and meaning of marriage, and the allure of new love. "Passengers" is a terrific tale about a road warrior girl picked up by a straight-laced guy, the adventures they have and the effect she has on him--it makes you think, and it's all our doing. We never get pandered to or have our feelings played with. And it seems so effortless!

I would absolutely recommend this book. I don't usually give full-throttle approvals, but with this book I can find no fault. Read and enjoy!

I am amazed with everything Tobias Wolff writes.


His fiction is as strong and deep as his non-fiction. In Pharoa's Army is the most profoundly human book I've read on the subject of soldiering in Viet nam.

This short story collection from Tobias Wolff is truly just that. Each story gives you enough of the bare essentials to keep you informed and invested, but they never cross the line into anything remotely superfluous. Each story feels very much like you've entered right into the middle of things and you are there for the climax, but not necessarily the introduction or the conclusion.

While I found this book to be an effective exercise in the art of the short story, I was even more moved by the flaws each character in every story displayed. Wolff had grand success in getting down to the heart of who and what people are, and that is, in essence, good people that usually display less than admirable traits. We all have those idiosyncrasies that make us unique and often troubling to our friends and family, and Wolff captures perfectly normal, though certainly troublesome, eccentricities amongst his characters that give us all we need to know about their particular story.

This is a very fast and interesting read, and if you ever wanted to engage in a deep character study in the genre of the short story, this is the collection for you.

~Scott William Foley, author of The Imagination's Provocation: Volume II: A Collection of Short Stories

Tobias Wolff writes short stories pertaining to issues such as spousal abuse, envy, and lying. Wolff understands the conflicts his fiction characters face because he has addressed about those personal situations in his memoirs. His fiction is so real, it reads as nonfiction. Buy this book, buy them all. Wolff is an adventuresome author with adventuresome characters, himself included.

The characters in Tobias Wolff's short stories are typically ordinary people in relatively ordinary circumstances yet he creates through them such vivd glimpses of humanity that we recognize our friends ,relatives,neighbors and ourselves in them.
Powerful writing that is subtle and yet somehow unforgettable.

All of his short fiction collections are equally enjoyable and I would have a hard time recommending one as opposed to any other. This particular book contains several stories that will pull you in and cause you to want to explore more. This is a book that can be opened at random to any of the selections and read with great enjoyment.

A very interesting and thoroughly researched book on Isak Dinesen a/k/a Karen Blixen. A must read for any "Out of Africa" fan. Lots of great photos too!

First captivated, despite the miscasting of Robert Redford, by the film "Out of Africa", I read on to find out who this woman was. I discovered she died the same year I was born, and lived through those marvellous decades that include WW1, the roaring 20's, the Depression, the boiling 60's and through to the 70's. What changes in the world she saw, and what stories she had to tell. I thought there was nothing left for me to learn about her; I've read her books & her letters, have visited her home in Rungstedlund, Denmark, watched documentaries about her, seen the films ("Babette's Feast", in addition to "Out of Africa", are based on her books). However, this biography is a revelation on every page. Minutely researched (obviously), Ms Thurman leads us through the details that explain why she did what she did, where she obtained her passion, and her compassion, and how she went from a sheltered Danish aristocratic life, to colonial Africa, and then to becoming a world-renowned author. Excellent read for all who love stories of the grand figures of the 20th century.

Ah, so I finally finished this biography last night. I had fallen in love with Out of Africa and Seven Gothic Tales, and in reading her biography, I had hoped to fall in love with Isak Dinesen, the Pellegrina. Sadly, I fell out of it.

The fault is not in the biography. It's a fascinating life, and it was good to have the blanks filled in as far as her childhood, and what happened in Africa, the continent to which she spoke, and which spoke back to her. The popularity of her work, the American reaction to it, I found this all good reading. But you know, eventually, she turned into quite the old megalomaniac. Thurman shows us where it all came from. (spoilers ahead) Dinesen had always believed that she was special, and was infuriated by her family's insistence on equality, fairness and calm. She felt restrained by it. stifled, dismissed. She felt that the loss of her father was uniquely hers, that it mattered less in the lives of her siblings that their father killed himself. She wanted to somehow own or claim that.

And sadly, the circumstances of her erotic life seem to have warped her terribly. She had syphilis, and had to live carefully and chastely even while madly in love (though therre is a question regarding this as far as her relationship with Finch-Hatten). I can see how this would do a woman in, I really can. She spoke of syphilis as both the price and the source of her gift, a horrible bargain with the devil that made her a genius at telling tales. But the cost was high, and the damage was deep.

The warping took various ugly shapes as she aged. She tried to usurp her sisters and brothers in the eyes of their children, found her nieces and nephews disappointing in their love of their parents. She berated and belittled her most faithful secretary and companion, Clara. She asked for and received constant adoration from younger men, letting them bask in the glow of her admiration and incouragement in exchange for a strict kind of allegiance. She manipulated, bored, dominated, demanded, and through it all, she suffered the humilation of syphilis and aging. While young, she wanted to be the thinnest in the room. She died of anorexia, unable and unwilling to eat, addicted to amphetamine.

That's what I get for reading a biography. I should have just stuck to her work, because, in truth, that's all any writer owes the reader; the work. And that aspect of this life, the story of her writing, is well-covered and interesting. I don't regret reading Thurman's biography, and I think it's extremely well-written and full of specific, interesting information and theories. I just feel personally disappointed in who Isak Dinesen turned out to be.

Isak Dinesen will always be remembered for her farm in Africa, although she had much more than that, not the least of which was a talent for writing and an appetite for life. Why dames like this are not admired by the feminists , I'll never know. She had it all: dough, looks, energy, courage. Doris Duke here in the States is a possible American version of this kind of gal; maybe Katherine Hepburn succeeded in creating the film persona of this sort of aristocratic "liberated" women, with family money backing her all the way. It's easy to be brash when you've got a sugar daddy who happens to be a Baron. Still, while many of her class were happy to do nothing with their lives in style, this one had the guts to make an extraordinary life. Thurman has written a thoroughly researched, beautifully edited appreciation of this woman. She tells the story well, but also provides a very convincing analysis of Dinesen's lifelong commitment to the art of fiction. A fascinating biography.

This is a thoroughly researched and beautifully written biography of the life of a great storyteller. Thurman in telling the story of Dinesen's life, also presents a miniature guide to her work. She does an excellent job of portraying the character of Dinesen, the complex aristocratic independent mind, the romantic nature, the connection with a fairytale world of storytelling, the great courage and determination in making herself into a story when all appeared lost in her life. Thurman tells of Dinesen's childhood , her special connection with her father , the division between two families one wealthy mercantile, and the other more wild and adventurous. Thurman tells the story of Dinesen's long African adventure, the story of her marriage and its sad ending in divorce, and too the story of Dinesen's great love , Denys Finch- Hatton. The story of that love that plays a central part in what is arguably Dinesen's most memorable book , " Out of Africa" is a story of the man as hunter, adventurer, coming home to be feasted and entertained by his lover- storyteller Dinesen. This story which too ends with Finch- Hatton's death in a plane crash is at the heart of the first part of Dinesen's life. The second part after the African adventure is when she returns home and begins to make that writing life which would make her world- famous. The second -half of the story sees Dinesen more and more playing the part she has created for herself , as storyteller and personnage. It too however has its great human interest, especially in her relation to her mother ,her brother and her extended family. There is of course a vast world of detail I cannot begin to mention in this review. But Thurman tells the story with taste and a beauty as befits a true reader and lover of the work of Dinesen.
I believe it really does justice to the spirit of Isak Dinesen's life and work.

This is one of the best memoirs I've read. Broyard is brilliant, an elegant writer, and his story is interesting. Anyone in love with New York, or just in love with good memoirs, should read it.

Returning from World War II, Anatole Broyard, a young man of New Orleans Creole stock who had grown up Brooklyn working class, took advantage of the GI Bill to jumpstart his fortunes. Manhattan beckoned across the river, and upon enrolling in The New School, he fell down the rabbit hole and into the Wonderland that was Greenwich Village. At The New School, he sat in the classes of the major intellectuals of the era, many of them from Europe. He had only just begun when he met artist Sheri Donatti, a protégé of Anais Nin, who instantly provided him with a place to live and a relationship that would come to define the entire mad scene, where everyone read Kafka and modern art was It. The old rules, whatever they were, were out the window and where Sheri was in command, the rules changed daily. Broyard, who paints himself as an outsider has enough access to the epicenter of the action and thinking of the place in this time frame to be its ideal interpreter.

This memoir covers just a couple of years, but that's enough to get down the Bohemian culture of Greenwich Village a few years before Keroauc appeared on the scene and nearly a couple of decades before the sixties would recast their own version. Broyard went on to become for 3 decades an admirable book critic for The New York Times and to live a happy, domesticated family life in the suburbs. His lucid, literate and witty style shines in KAFKA WAS THE RAGE. He was working on this memoir when he died of cancer in 1993.

My first reaction was, I wish I had been there too. As he said, the public was visually hungry at that time. Now the public is pretty much jaded in mho, but also, there are probably many more visual artists per capita than in 1947.
Other quotes I liked: pp129 On Delmore Schwartz, he was like the grammar-school bully who rips open your fly buttons. It was Delmore who helped me to understand what I came to think of as the malice of modern art.
pp134 The social history of the world is, in some ways, a history of censorship.

One brilliantly sunny day in July, I decided to head out to the lake to bask in the sun and read. Unforuntately, I realized halfway there that I hadn't bought anything to read. So, I trotted over to my local used bookstore and began browsing their recent acquisition table. This little volume immediately gained my attention. It looked like fun, it looked like it would be a quick read, and it was short enough that it wouldn't keep me from continuing in any of the other books that I was already reading. So, off to the lake with this book in hand I went.

KAFKA WAS THE RAGE was quite a nifty little read. I had read a fair amount about the Beats at one point, so this had some of the same post-WW II Manhattan atmosphere, but that was set more in the area of Columbia University, so this shifted the scene further south. There is no real story to tell here. Broyard merely recounts in a more or less anecdotal form a number of events and individuals from a particular moment in time. He has a gift for summoning up particular moments in vivid detail, and a talent for the brilliant line. An example of the former is his recounting of an adventure in which he took Delmore Schwartz, Clement Greenberg, and Dwight MacDonald to a Spanish Harlem nightclub. Another is his description of his art professor Meyer Schapiro.

Some great lines:

"I thought that being a Communist was a penalty you had to pay for being interested in politics."

[on Dylan Thomas] "To him, an American party was like being in a bad pub with the wrong people."

[on Delmore Schwartz] "Like Samuel Johnson, whom he resembled in many ways, Delmore was not interested in prospects, views, or landscape. He had looked at the city when he was young, and saw no need to do it again."

[on a painter friend] "His voice was soft, deep, and cultivated and his manners were a history of civilization."

As one might expect (and hope for) in a memoir set in such a vibrant era, the book is marvelous for its incessant name-dropping of famous individuals who pop up briefly as characters: figures as diverse as Erich Fromm, Maya Deren, Anais Nin, Caitlin and Dylan Thomas, W. H. Auden, Gregory Bateson, as well as the previously mentioned Schwartz, Greenberg, MacDonald, and Shapiro.

If you're expecting an overview of the 1940s Greenwich Village scene, adjust your expectations. This is for the most part an account of Anatole Broyard's life, as he lived in Greenwich Village in the 1940s. The focus is on Broyard's concerns of the time and his particular perceptions. It is a distinct difference.

That acknowledged, I'd like to say that I recommend the book anyway. Broyard's account is valuable for its loving criticism of the 1940s art world, for its honest recognition of the stupidity of youth, and for its meandering remembrances, repleat with similes and earnest attempts to find meaning in the past. The book is valuable because of its examination of life, an examination that is all the more interesting for the time period and the location of the subject.

I said that Broyard's account was more an account of his own life than of the times. But it is also an opinion of mine that one life tells a lot about a time period. The setting for the memoir is New York just after WWII--the whole city is glad to be alive and glad to be carefree for the first time since the beginning of the war. And Broyard's account of himself and others in the period is fascinating for that reason, for the way this made people act. Need another reason? Broyard's memoir is peppered with chance meetings with prestigious artists and writers of the time. He exposes the mentality they all lived with--the way they lived with art the way other young people live with football or pop music. He exposes the advantages and disadvantages that that presented. Most of all, he exposes your youth--your own youthful pretensions, and stupidity, and wisdom. It's the account you would write if you had the time... And the insight.

I loved this book, I think Darren Lee is awesome!!!! Everyone of her books have been great. I just hope we can get a sequel!!!!

This is the first book I've read by this author. The story about the Chance family was excellent. I'm glad Keilah ended up with Ramsey as I felt she would because Michael was pushing too hard and I knew there had to be a reason for that. It was a good book that was hard to put down. The only problem I found was whoever proofed her book left out words in sentences and added words twice sometimes as well. This I noticed all throughout the book. It didn't make me not want to finish reading it, but it was noticeable.

THE LAST CHANCE WAS A VERY VERY GOOD BOOK THE AUTHOR DARRIEN LEE DID HER THING NEXT TO BEEN THERE DONE THAT THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE I LIKE HOW THE TWO MAIN CHARACTERS FALL IN LOVE WHEN THEY THEY WERE JUST HAVING FRIENDLY SEX. BUT OVERALL THE BOOK WORTH IT SO GO GET IT.

Darrien Lee does it again this book was so hot i loved it I read the book in 2 days if I didn't have work I would have read the book in a day I love Ramsey, and how her brother's loved thier baby sister. It's a must read.

THIS BOOK WAS SO WELL WRITTEN, I ACTUALLY SAW IT AS A MOVIE!!!! I LOVED HOW THEY ACCEPTED KEYTONE AS A BROTHER !!! I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS BOOK!!!!! I FEEL THAT I SAID TOO MUCH,I DON'T LIKE TELLING THE STORY,BECAUSE I FEEL THAT YOU'LL GET BETTER ENJOYMENT IF YOU READ IT YOURSELF!!!!! BUY IT AND ENJOY!!!!!!!! DEFINITELY A MUST READ!!!!!!

I want to give my honest opinion of this book. I have never read anything else by this author. While it was entertaining, I found it to get just a little more drawn out than I would have liked. I also did not like his viewpoints on some of the different plants. I guess you just need to take it in stride, but when he characterizes some of your favorite plants as nuisances (or more), etc. it is a little irritating. I did enjoy it, but I don't think I'll read him again. I wanted to give this review, since everyone seems to have LOVED this book but me.

I first read Merry Hall over 30 years ago, and having recently re-read it I was impressed by how much an impression it had made on me. Many a time I have unknowingly quoted from the work, thinking the quote apocryphal!

You must read for yourself how to deal with an overgrown holly hedge, and how to plant hundreds of trees without buying them, and what berberis can do for you, and why you should cultivate periwinkle...

I'm sure you'll be delighted with the finely drawn sketches of the real people populating the story: the characters of gardeners, society ladies, and men who work for the government in a clearly covert and somewhat sinister capacity. You'll enjoy the cats, the lilies, and how to create an English country garden from a neglected and ill directed site.

The gentle humor reflects the gentler times before the horrors of World War 2 brought violence, destruction, and death into the hearts and homes of most of Britain.

This book is a keeper!

One of the book catalogs that I occasionally get in the mail has been singing the praises of the late Beverley Nichols. Besides writing mystery novels, he also wrote about his adventures in renovating and resurrecting a home in the suburbs of London just after WWII. First published as a collection of magazine columns, he would later on assemble them into a trilogy of books.

The first of the trilogy, Merry Hall details his search, at times frustrating, for the perfect house and garden. Very soon he became aware of what land agents (realtors for us Yanks) really meant in their ads, and he started to see his hopes plummet as his hopes were continually dashed. But one listing caught his eye, and with a good friend, he took the journey out of London to look the place over.

The estate, spreading over five acres are a compendium of every gardening mistake. Ghastly ornaments litter the grounds -- the previous owner was very fond of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs). And the house, a lovely Georgian mansion, isn't much better. While it hasn't fallen down yet, there are 'additions' that are ugly and inappropriate, and decorating choices of colours that can be best left to the imagination. Not to mention the holly hedges, a stagnant stinking pond of unimaginable depths, and dire warnings from his friend that Nichols is about to step into a money pit that will sap his life and savings.

Undeterred by such gloomy words, Nichols falls head over heels in love with his find, especially when he discovers the kitchen garden. Not only is it beautifully kept, but along one wall is a collection of exquisite lilies. Soon, he discovers why there is such order in the midst of such chaos. For along with the house and land comes Oldfield, an ancient gardener of superb talents. Smitten, Nichols signs for the house on the spot, and soon starts on that most dreaded adventure that most home owners endure -- renovations.

With his 'valet,' Gaskin, and two cats, 'One' and 'Four' Nichols moves into Merry Hall, and starts the work with a great deal of gusto, and soon finds out that in his own little Eden, there's a few problems. For one, there are the neighbors, Miss Emily and Our Rose, forever scheming to get something out his prized gardens. And Oldfield, is quite another problem altogether. There are towering elm trees and their suckers, the dratted holly hedge (the solution to that one is not one that I would recommend!), and the question of what would you do if you could dream -- and dream big?

I loved reading this book. I found myself entranced with Nichols writing about everyday life, the perils and delights of gardening, and living with cats. At times I was helplessly laughing at Nichols' searing wit and lofty views on post-War taste in Britain. He, quite frankly, doesn't give a hoot as to what people will think of him (save Oldfield, for very sensible reasons).

Where this story shines, however, is not just in the language and Nichols' skills at writing. It's in his loving, vivid descriptions of flowers and plants, and I found my mouth watering, and desperate looks out at my own wilderness, wondering Could I do it too? The antics of his cats had me in nodding agreement, and plucking at my partner's sleeve and crying out, Listen to this --!

Along with Nichols' wonderful prose, there are illustrations by William McLaren in black and white, along with several photographs of Beverley Nichols (including one with 'Four' in his arms). For this new edition, there is also a forward by Ann Lovejoy and an index of all of the plants by Roy C. Dicks. The book itself is a facsimile of the original edition published by Jonathan Cape in 1951. This new edition, only available in hardbound, is published by Timber Press books, and they can be reached at [...] for more reprints of Beverley Nichols books.

In short, this is a book to delight any gardener, bibliophile or cat lover's soul. It's funny, at times sorrowful (I cried over 'Two' and 'Three's stories), and came away with a wistful hope that one day too, I would have a wee garden of my own. If you can't purchase this, do try to get your hands on this one at your local library. It is simply too good to miss.

Five stars overall, recommended.

Just as Trollope passed the literary torch to Angela Thirkell, so did E. F. Benson pass his to this good fellow! Mr. Nichols' trilogy about Merry Hall is so entertaining, even though at times he comes across as a bit "twee". As you get to know him and his neighbors through the books, you come to realize that yes, some things are more important in your own blinkered surroundings than in the big wide world. I would recommend these books to anyone who loves gardening (on a grand scale), gossip, and the minutiae of life.

The first volume of a trilogy about the author's time at Merry Hall, this book is more humorous garden writing than strict autobiography. We know (primarily from the dust jacket) that Beverley Nichols was a widely-travelled journalist and prolific author, but aside from the occasional mention that he needs to keep working (hard) to pay the (very high) bills, Nichols doesn't mention his life outside of Merry Hall or, more specifically, its garden.

The book begins after WWII, when Mr. Nichols returns from "a job" in India to a ravaged London and develops an overwhelming urge to move to the country and get back to nature in the form of a hopefully large and preferably derelict garden that he can "rescue". After a daunting (and amusingly described) search he miraculously finds what he considers to be a dream property - a Georgian manor house on 5 acres of truly hideous landscaping.

With wry wit Nichols tells the story of acquiring the property against the better judgement of friends, and of what is involved in making a run-down manor house habitable, and in dismantling, re-ordering and re-planting 5 acres of gardens. Along the way we meet Oldfield, the very talented but taciturn and somewhat difficult gardener; Gaskin, the long-standing and nearly superhuman manservant; Miss Emily and Our Rose, nosy and perpetually disapproving neighbors; and the beloved cats One and Four.

Although avid gardeners will no doubt love this book as they mentally compare notes with the author, one need not have ever dirtied one's hands with compost to enjoy reading it. The narrative meanders like a leisurely stroll in the garden, and Mr. Nichols' faith in the therapeutic powers of gardening is reminiscent of that in The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett). The author's fond and poetic descriptions of the various aspects of his garden, intermingled with his sharp social observations and dry British humor make this a thoroughly enjoyable read. I have already ordered the other two books in the trilogy.

An additional note: this is a facsimile of the original 1951 edition; it contains lovely line drawings throughout, and is printed on the nicest paper I have encountered in a long time.

What a beautiful book this is! I absolutely loved these short stories. What an impressive debut! These are delicious little stories and you will find yourself completely able to relate to each character as you become immersed in their complicated, yet utterly "human" and familiar lives. So very remarkable! I savored and read this book slowly, I did not want the spell I was under to end. I am always so thrilled to discover a wonderful new writer and it goes without saying that I'll be keeping my eyes and ears open for his next effort. Congratulations to Daniel Stolar, on this extraordinary debut!

Daniel Stolar sent me an e-mail a long time ago and asked if I'd like to read his collection of short stories. I bought the book, but it got lost somewhere in the big heap of unread books in my library. I stumbled upon his book a couple of days ago and decided to give it a whirl. Glad I did. Middle of the Night is quite a delightful, poignant and thought-provoking collection of stories, most of which are based in St. Louis. The stories center on people who have difficulty dealing with overwhelming events in their lives. Some of the characters are not comfortable in their own skin. The characters are flawed and palpable -- it was impossible not to relate to their plights and nod in agreement with their thoughts. My favorite stories are "Jack Landers is My Friend," "Marriage Lessons," "Mourning," "Crossing Over," and "Second Son." I wish I hadn't waited this long to read this book. Middle of the Night was like finding a treasure box in my own backyard. I will read whatever other books Stolar has written or may write in the future.

This is an outstanding collection of short stories and I would suspect be up for many major literary awards.

Nearly all the stories are bittersweet and bring into clear focus how we are all truly solitary creatures and nobody ever really knows another person-regardless of how intimate they are. Nearly all the stories are written from the point of view of a secular Jewish protagonist, which is the cultural backdrop of the entire book. What Solar does a particularly good job with is writing from various lifestages-from young, to middle-age with children, to older and retired but with a young wife and teenage son. The stories also touch on a variety of issues from infidelity and the rending of a marriage, parenting, growing old, friendship, and interacting with people of other cultures.

Overall, this is a very impressive collection.

The opening story ("Jack Landers is My Friend") in Dan Stolar's debut collection of fiction In the Middle of the Night is a sophisticated comedy of manners wherein a thirty-something married Jewish man searches for acceptance from a group of friends he's not even sure that he likes. The story is emotionally provocative and recalls such masters of the form as Cynthia Ozick, Alice Munro, and Raymond Carver.

In the humorous and heartrending story "Home in New Hampshire" a paraplegic woman watches the twenty-year-long disintegration of her marriage to an adulterous husband while her children leave home for college. It is pitch-perfect and emotionally profound.

It's a rare treat, indeed, to discover such a singular talent and voice as Daniel Stolar's. He renders the familiar new and the new familiar. He says what we all have felt but were incapable of saying. And he says it with a clarity and emotional resonance unlike any other short story writer in America. One can not help but cheer for the future of the short story form when it is in the hands of such a capable master as Daniel Stolar. Bravura, stunning, profound. In the Middle of the Night will make you want to stand up and cheer.

Stacey Cochran

Smartly written and deviously understated, "The Middle of the Night" presents eight stories so refreshingly idiosyncratic that one is hard-pressed to compare Daniel Stolar to another writer. Most of the stories share a similar framework--an introductory section followed by an extended flashback (to childhood, to high school, to college, to a previous marriage), concluding in the present with the story's resolution. And most feature a character going through some type of midlife crisis or interpersonal conflict--between generations, between sexes, between classes, between races. Yet, in spite of their similar themes and structures and their calm, melancholy tone, each is remarkably distinctive and--most of all--the characters are instantly familiar. Stolar has a knack for sketching a person or a situation in a few simple sentences, and any reader will admire his ability to write from different points of view (a male college student, a 70-year-old retiree, a young married woman).

While all eight stories are memorable in their own way, everyone is sure to have his or her favorites. Mine are: "Second Son," about a 70-year-old man whose closeness to his son from a second marriage atones for his remoteness to and impatience with an older son; "Fundamentals," portraying a young father who calculatedly raises his son with the forbearance his own father denied him; and "Mourning," concerning a college student who, following his mother's death, is rescued from emotional collapse by a benevolent classmate rendered aloof and indecipherable by an upper-class (read: WASP) upbringing. "Crossing Over," about a Jewish college student who pledges a black fraternity, seems to have received the most attention; it is a fine story, but reading it is uncomfortable--not so much because of the subject matter but because the many black characters in the story are nearly indistinguishable stage props for the protagonist's self-induced drama.

Although Stolar has written a story sharing the book's title (it was published last year in Bomb Magazine), it was omitted from this debut volume. In an interview with a reporter, he said that "[My editor and I] kept the title because it just seemed to fit. There's a point in each story where somebody is awake in the middle of the night." Indeed, it's a perfect title for this collection: these stories are about the emotional crises that make insomniacs of all of us.

i am not a novel fan but this (trilogy) really got me, i can't stop reading them, one after another. so wicked and facinating especially the ending. who likes intense plot should read the books.

As other reviewers have noted the plot well and carefully, my only comment to add here is that this book is as confounding as life itself: the scene that is always continous is never the same twice. It is rewritten over again and again..the characters are the same, or are they?
It is a different novel depending on what level you read it..a war novel, a novel about love and friendship, a novel about truth and lie, a novel about memory and forgetting: it is a cross between the kind of novel Gunter Grass has written, and also the kind of novel Kundera wrote..quite amazing.

This is probably the best book you will read this year. Her writing is incredible, the plot fascinating in its historic and geographic absurdity (where are we? East Germany? Hungary?), the details vivid and unforgettable. Why are her other books not translated?

Mathias is a boy whose life has so many imperfections. He is troubled with looking like an ogre being born deformed. The doctors said that he will be like that for the rest of his life. His mother left him to go live in the big city and his father, who is also his mother's father, is in jail or maybe even dead.

Left to the care of Lucas, Mathias lives out his life from an intelectual stand point. Lucas taught him that while other children would grow big and strong, so would he. Mathias corrected Lucas knowing damn well the sadness of the truth. Lucas explained that he would work hard on his mind a grow an ever strong unsderstanding of the world around him. Sure enough, Mathias did just that and was the envy of all his classmates for always having the right answers.

Lucas loved Mathias very much, but was only a boy himself when he took on the responsibility of raising him. Lucas is a very unikely Father being one with such a disturbed past and shady presence. He goes around the city making money at night by playing his harmonica in bars and by selling produce by day. His relationships are very odd including the priest of the town who he plays chess with on a nightly basis. Lucas himself does not believe in God, but the priest takes the role of a father figure for him in the story. He also has relations of a more intimate kind with 2 women and a man in the story.

I first read "The Notebook" when I was in High School. A Video Game known as "Earhtbound 64" (never released) had led me to read this story. ONe character from that game would have been based from this story. I had no idea what I was about to read. It definitely warped my mind as a youth and became an instant favorite. Now 5 years later I read "The Proof" and remembered why it is I had enjoyed "The Notebook" so much tp begin with.

This story is definitely not for the weak at stomach. It is can become pretty disturbing and downright sickening at some points of the story. It is, however, very well written and leaves feeling emotions the characters must have felt when they were going through the events in their lives.

There aren't that many amazing books to read in the world. How often do you take a book and find that it lacks that something that keeps you awake at night or makes you wake up early (when you adore sleeping) just to read it? This is not a thriller (which can have the same effect but for different reasons). This is a monster itself, but in the best sense possible. You just can't miss it. For anything.

In this collection of short stories and sketches, Philip Shirley reveals himself to be an important new voice in the literature of the Deep South. He is blessed with a finely-tuned ear for both dialog and dialect, and writes his narrative passages within himself, giving these stories both confidence and verve. One can only hope not merely for more stories but for Shirley to use his remarkable talent in a full-length novel.

This author is really something special. I felt the emotions of his characters and pictured the settings of his stories perfectly. It seemed that I had met these people before, but had no idea of where they were taking me until it was too late to turn back. Their intensity and love of life, even in the midst of challenges and obstacles that came their way, is inspiring. 'Oh, Don't You Cry for Me' is a perfect title for this selection of short fiction that sees these characters making their ways in the world, maybe not always with grace and poise, but straightforward nevertheless.

Beau Morgan

but, i do wonder at the author's remarkable insights into these southern women. Especially some of the sexual habits. Can I help on the research for the next story?

The stories are well written and move quickly, which makes you want to keep right on reading. Unfortunately there are probably more of these characters out there than we all realize, and that is what scares me.

That anyone living in the South undoubtedly knows, or has witnessed characters fitting the rich descriptions in this collection is understood. What may come as a surprise is the consistently artful twist in almost every one of the stories. Dark humor, tough compassion, and cutting to the bone honesty make this a mindful, satisfying read.