D Books

This book is a great place to start learning about Therese. Includes the full text of the autobiography, and some supplementary material incl. a introduction to the autobiography and life of Therese and some of her letters and prayers. You can get much of this stuff online, but the book is a delight, with many pictures.

Therese is a very special person, and I recommend a familiarity with her beautiful soul.

Excellent book and in her own words unedited. Also a good little book on St. Therese is 'Heart of a Soul'. This book Iam reviewing is A MUST Read.

It is a well written, inspirational text. I really liked the historical aspects as well as the religious excerpts. Great book for anyone experiencing an ongoing illness. It helps to put the disease in perspective. :)

From her own words, we can see how this important and popular Catholic saint dedicated her life to the unconditional love of God. Through a life of simplicity and obedience, she came to be one of the most revered saints in the history of the Church. The book takes us from her childhood to her death and clearly outlines her path to sainthood. An inspiring and uplifting book for someone who already knows Therese of Lisieux, as well as for those interested in learning about her life and her "little way."

Rev. Thomas Taylor's early 20th century translation of the memoir of St. Therese of Lisieux was made from the only manuscript then available outside her monastery, one substantially rewritten by Therese's sister Pauline, who made five thousand changes. Scholars interested in the documents which gave rise to the cult of St. Therese may wish to consult it. I urge those who want to read what Therese wrote to read the third edition of "Story of a Soul" translated by Fr. John Clarke, OCD, and published by ICS Publications in 1976. The Clarke translation, made from the unretouched manuscript written by Therese (which was published in French only in 1956), is recognized as the standard throughout the English-speaking world. No other translation compares to it. Whether you have not read "Story of a Soul" or have read only earlier English translations (Taylor, Knox, Beevers), the Clarke translation will open the world of Therese to you. Don't miss it. You'll find it at Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux, Third Edition

I was trawling through a bookshop in Girona Airport(Spain) looking for a book to read on my flight back home (London, UK). Picked this book and thought I would just about manage to get through the first chapter before being lulled off to sleep. How wrong I was. I couldn't put it down.
I could relate to all three main characters and haven't laughed so much in years.
Thanks Patrick Sanchez, I'd never have thought that a man could relate to women's feelings the way you have done.
In my PC (politically correct) world , it was such a refreshing read.

In THE WAY IT IS by Patrick Sanchez, three seemingly different women have much more in common than they think. Issues with weight, love, careers, and self-worth put these women to the test.

Ruby is a woman with a successful career and a beautiful home in downtown Washington, DC. However, Ruby's weight issues plague her day in and day out. Between her mother's constant nagging for Ruby to shed some pounds, to the inner struggles with food, body image, and self-worth, she really has her work cut out for her. As if things couldn't get any worse, she has to take in two roommates to help with the mortgage after her nerdy husband leaves her for another woman.

Wanda is big, beautiful, and loving life. As a plus-sized model, she embraces her size and isn't too shy to let everyone know it. But there is an annoying obstacle in Wanda's way if she wants to make it to the top of the modeling industry.

Simone is a beautiful Latina anchorwoman for DC's local news channel. Coveted by many and very popular with the men, Simone thinks she has everything under control. However, Simone holds a dark secret that could ruin her career and, ultimately, her life.

Patrick Sanchez doesn't disappoint with THE WAY IT IS. He delves deeply into his characters, their quirks, and insecurities and writes from deep within his characters' minds, allowing the readers to walk beside them in their struggles and antics. The result is an outrageously touching and hysterical novel.

Reviewed by CandaceK
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Can this guy get any better? Oh my! He is wonderful!! Patrick Sanchez is one of the best authors I have ever read! The Way It Is is a fabulous page turner of a novel! I enjoyed every minute of it and it was hard to put it down. It is the story of three gals, who by chance became roommates, and the life issues they are dealing with at the moment. The covers of his novels alone will draw you in and never let you go!! Read this one!

This book was funny and poignant. I liked Ruby's character. She reminds me of myself. I complain about my weight all the time like she does. My goal is be Simone's size. Read the book and find out for yourselves. This book gives all the ladies their own voice and I thought that was well done coming from a male author. He knows the women.

Patrick Sanchez has done it again with his second novel, The Way It Is. Each chapter is filled with comedic antics that will keep the reader laughing and looking forward to the next chapter. Mr. Sanchez introduces the reader to three women from three different paths in life.

Ruby Waters is lacking self-confidence, divorced, plus-sized and is saving for the day when she will be thin. She is waiting for the day when she will be thin so she can wear a little black dress that her mother (Doris) has saved from her younger days. She goes to work each day trying to get the courage to talk to the co-worker she has a crush on. Ruby has a three-bedroom house and is in need of a roommate. She puts an ad in the paper and has an interesting time interviewing the interested parties. She decides to have two roommates (Wanda and Simone). Ruby's roommates help her with her self-confidence and she is also able to give others some help in the process.

Wanda is a plus-sized model that knows what she wants and how to get it. She moves in with Ruby and helps Ruby to become a new person. Wanda has a co-worker that wants to take Wanda's place as a model. Wanda finds out a secret about her co-worker that just may change everything.

Simone is a sexy, famous news anchorwoman that is living in style. She moves in with Ruby while her place is being renovated. She likes her men young and does not want a commitment. While Simone looks good on the outside, she has issues of her own that have to be dealt with and soon.

I did not want the story to end and hope that the author will write a sequel. Each of the characters is interesting. Ruby is one of my favorite characters because her issues are real for some people today. I recommend this book and look forward to reading future novels by Patrick Sanchez.

Reviewed by Phyllis
For BBW Reviews

This book is awesome! If you have a child that receives special education services you NEED this book!! This book is full of the answers I have been looking for, for the last 4 years.I have read it twice and will read it again. This is an easy read it is broken down into 5 sections that everyone can understand. My favorite is section #3 The Parent as Expert. I used this section along with the others to get my son ESY services and 1:1 reading remediation.

Here is my success story, thanks to the knowledge I gained from this book......

I read section 3 while attending the Wrightslaw Special Education Law and Advocacy 2 day Boot Camp .When I got home I looked through my son's file and found 2 woodcock reading mastery test. I immediately requested a meeting with the school and requested that they give him another one this year, and give me the results before our Annual Review Meeting in May.

Well, I got the results and used power point as the book suggested and designed a graph using the Standard Scores from the test. I was not sure what cluster score they used to determine regression so I did one for each of them. In our Annual Review meeting they started talking about how well my son has done and how much progress he has made this year.( I knew what was coming next because it is the same thing they have said for the last 3 years, almost verbatim) Well before they said he did not qualify for Extended School Year Services (ESY) I asked them to explain how it all worked and what cluster score they used to make these determinations; so they explained it to me. I then pulled out my graph and said " well I had to put it in a graph because I am such a visual person and this data is so confusing and It just looks like a bunch of numbers etc etc....but what you explained to me is that we use this cluster and when I plugged in that Standard Score he has really show significant regression not progress like you were just saying. They said, "well now that we see it like that we see what you are saying, it has never been presented with that sort of twist to us before."

Well, he will be receiving ESY this year,using an Orton-Gillingham based program. I just got the Notice of Conference Decision copy in the mail and I found this statement quite amusing....

" The school presented data that indicated (child's name)did not qualify for extended year services. Mrs. Graves presented data that showed (child's name) has not made significant gains in reading during this school year and is thus further delayed by his grade placement than he was last year. The committee agreed to accept this conclusion and provide summer services."

Knowledge is truly power, This book along with the Wrightslaw Special Education Law and advocacy Boot Camp helped me get my son the help he has needed for the past 4 years!

As if being confronted with the diagnosis of a learning or developmental disability in your child wasn't stressful enough, upon diagnosis and classification, a parent is thrown into the ocean that is special education and the bureaucratic nightmare that goes along with it. This book is a treasure trove of strategies - everything from managing your paperwork to managing your emotions with respect to special education is covered. "The best way to avoid due process is to assume and prepare for due process" and "treat your relationship with the school personnel as a marriage with no possibility of divorce" are two of the most powerful "Wrightisms" I came away with and have served us well in advocating for our children with autism.

If you have the opportunity to attend a Wrightslaw boot camp in your area, bypass the purchase of this book and wait until you attend the conference - this book is often included in the conference fees.

Very simplistic language makes this a good primer for parents new to special education. For those with some experience, I found this book to be too rudimentary. However, I will lend it to parents of children just diagnosed.

This book is a wonderful asset for parents who are advocating for their kids. Many times I have let my emotions control my dealings with the school and this book explains why that is detrimental to your childs education.

FETA will help you understand why it is so critical to control your emotions and use them as a source of energy.

Chapter 5 explains obstacles that parents encounter (misinformation, school culture, etc) and how to overcome. It gives examples of several personality types and strategies for dealing with them.

Chapter 6 is about resolving conflicts with the school. It acknowledges the frustration many parents feel and gives you excellent advice on the best way to handle yourself. It describes common reasons for conflict and recommends solutions.

The other chapters are just as wonderful. I cannot say enough good about this book. It has saved me from much embarrassment with my child's school - since I am a bit outspoken (understatement!)

The book also discusses the importance of record keeping. It details how to create a file for your child, obtain confidential school records under the FERPA act, the importance of effective letter writing ("Letter to the Stranger") and it even has sample letters in the appendix.

I have an autistic son and this book has been my savior. It is a must have for anyone entering into the "world" of special needs. I have many other books but I constantly refer to this book in the end. It walks you step-by-step on how to write letters requesting information from your child's school and provides templates for many other well written letters you may need to use.

This book is not a complicated read..it reads fast and is easily understandable. I bought the Wrights Law book also and was able to read this book and refer to the Law book at the same time. As you delve into the special education system you will want to get books that help you write more complex IEP goals..but trust me you will be digging into your stack of books reaching for this book over and over again

This book was of great help, particularly when our pups began to dehydrate after birth. There were only 2 things it did not prepare us for, having smaller than normal litters and the mother's nervous behavior affecting her care of such a small litter. According to the emergency vet on holiday call, there are breed specific behaviors which play into the mother's care and can interfere. My only wish was that I could have found a book more specific to my breed. As a general instruction manual, it was of great help. The two little pups are dear and are doing well now, 2 weeks later.

We just had a litter and everything went great. There are nine healthy pups. We had to do the slinging thing with one pup, and with the illustrations and directions it worked and the pup is healthy. We didn't loose one!!!

I bought this book to help me get through breeding my two Yorkies. It was comprehensive and easy for the non-vet to understand. If I had a question, it had the answer.

Excellent book. My dog just delivered 8 healthy puppies. I had read the book several weeks earlier and kept reffering to it as the whelping approached. It directed me all through the process and I learned many things that helped me avoid what would have been costly mistakes.

This is the best of the dog breeding books I bought when wanting to learn specifics about breeding my bitch. It gives time lines, what to expect when and also info on what to expect from the stud. I found this book to be very practical as it answered most of my breeding questions.

I have known people with Alzheimer's but this book reveals to me the true nature, the depth of anguish, the devastating impact on a family. This book is a must read; it is as educational as it is compelling, poignant, and heartbreaking. Kudos to Dr Zalar for his incredible love and caring. This book has had such a profound affect on me, I pray it will become a movie so it's knowledge can spread nationwide.

Day Is Ending deals with the meeting and courtship of Dr. Zalar and his wife and follows their lives up to his wife's demise at the hands of Alzheimer's disease.
I found her letters that were her keepsakes over the years relating to their relationship and marriage to be inspirational.
This is a very thought-provoking book. I have read it several times and each time I get something new out of it.

This moving book says it all.He was dedicated to his profession,his children and to his beloved wife my dear Aunt Trude.I too hope that this moving book is movie material

"Day Is Ending" provides people with a touching and insightful journey treating and caring for a loved one through a difficult disease. The love between Dr. Zalar and Trude is inspiring and his dedication to her and her humane treatment during challenging times provides guidance for all loved ones who may one day face the same challenges involved in caring for a loved one.

Moving love story of dedication, loyalty, compassion with care. Touching read.

I spent 2 hours last night just reading half of the seafood section and was just thrilled! The book is well written and very informative. If you've ever wondered about the different types of tuna, clams, crab, scallops, how to prepare and EAT a whole fish (and which are the best to cook whole), which varieties to avoid, or just want some good options for tempura or breading... then enjoy. I bought this for my brother and one for mysleft for Christmas. I am now getting another for my sister. We all love food and love to cook. This is a must for anyone that loves food or loves someone that loves food (and just loves to eat).

This is a very useful "contemporary American" cookbook- It's well-written, informative, and full of great recipes. It's pretty ecclectic, and I find myself disappointed sometimes when I try to look something up in the index and it isn't there. It's kind of like asking your braniac friend a question and they don't have the answer- you kind ofassume that they do. This book is so good at what it does you assume it's good at everything. The biggest problem with this book is that it doesn't have all the answers. The greatest thing is that all the answers it has are correct. This isn't one of those utility cookbooks you use like "Joy of Cooking" or "Fanny Farmer." You might not find a gravy recipe, but if you want to serve a dynamite meal to guests without looking like you were trying to get all fancy, this is a great book. And let me reiterate that there's a lot more than recipes in this book- it's also very informative. The continuous use of the third-person plural (The "Royal WE") is a bit annoying, but it's clear that this is David Rosengarten having to prentend that two guys named "Dean" and "Delucca" actually wrote it. Not terribly friendly to dieters, this book is nevertheless not all about fat and carbs. Just lots of good food. Really, really good food.

This is the best cookbook I own. Granted I'm in a phase of cooking where I can make a slew of pasta dishes, but now I want to branch out a little. This book provides clear and concise recipes for all my favorite "basic" dishes, from quesadillas and matzo balls to thai curries and falafels. The authors also give tips on seemingly simple things such as making fluffy rice, buying fish smoking meat, as well as in depth descriptions of grains, seafood, veggies etc. in their many varieties.

What I love most about this book is that it allows the reader to master the basic recipe before it provides another trussed up version. If I want french onion soup, I don't want someone else's fancified take. I want one that tastes damn good and takes me back to France in the winter. (And it does too!)

This book is for the seasoned and novices alike who love good unadulterated regional basics with the occasional fancy versions thrown in too.

I hate to judge a book by its binding, but with a cookbook, even a paperback...you expect it to hold together for more than two uses. The recipes here are caloric, innovative, challenging and delicious. But the book falls to pieces quickly and it's all downhill from there. Maybe a spiral next time? Anything would help.

great content.

I have dozens upon dozens of great cookbooks, but I find that I consistently begin with only a handful of them when looking for a good recipe: Joy of Cooking, Bittman's How to Cook Everything, and this great Rosengarten offering. Try making the beef carbonnade - he suggests adding prunes, which works incredibly well.

If you asked me a few months ago who my favorite novelists were, my answer would be Allistair MacLean and Frank Peretti. After reading this novel, Randy Singer has joined the list. And this is the only novel I've read of his . . . for the time being.
My wife and I are area representatives of Voice Of The Martyrs. Thus, when the book opens with religious persecution in Saudi Arabia, it had my attention. But this book is primarily a court-room drama, and it succeeds here.
Singer has the credentials of being a member of the North American Mission Board (Southern Baptist), and being a former attorney with the American Center Of Law And Justice, founded by Jay Sekulow. (Sekulow wrote a promotional review for this book, and he makes a cameo early in the book, probably an inside joke.)
Some of the plot is predictable. There were two characters that, when introduced, I knew would be major players in the book. I will forgive that. He makes up for it with a plot with twists and turns.
The best part of the book for me, though, were the characters. They came across as believable, flesh and blood people, easy to either love or loathe. One thing that I like, as well, is that some of the antagonists are not true villains; they have a human side which shows through.
Even though I've read a Grisham novel (and two movies based on his novels), and saw several Perry Mason episodes, this book has given me an idea of aspects of law I did not know before. The title itself is an example. For those who are as unfamiliar with law as I am may not know that a directed verdict is one made by the judge as opposed to the jury.
This was Singer's first novel, as well as the first I've read. I will guarantee you, though, that this is not the last one I'll read.

Incredible legal thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat! This was the first Randy Singer book that I've had the pleasure of reading and it certainly won't be the last. The characters were well developed and interesting and the story was thought provoking and clever with twists that made the book hard to put down. Singer does an excellent job of crafting a story that stirs the emotions of the reader. The diverse characters were memorable and easy to relate to.

I began this book with a bit of skepticism because I just didn't see how a Christian legal novel could compare with the likes of John Grisham. Not only am I surprised at the quality of this novel, but I am surprised I have never heard of Randy Singer before now. Directed Verdict is right up there with anything Grisham has ever written, maybe even better.

Great writers write what they know, and Randy Singer knows the law. This story takes you into the depths of international law, and Singer is thorough without ever being dry or boring. Your heart will go out to missionary Sarah Reed as her and her family face severe persecution for their unwavering faith. Lawyer Brad Carson takes Sarah's case and files an unprecedented civil rights suit against the nation of Saudi Arabia and her persecutors.

Singer's novel is full of unexpected twists and turns and riveting courtroom scenes. There are themes of forgiveness and faith all throughout and even a love story. I was hooked from page one and I couldn't put it down. If you love legal thrillers you'll love Randy Singer.

Sarah Reed, a longtime missionary in Saudi Arabia, is forced into an early return to the United States. Her husband's tortuous death at the hands of the muttawa, the Saudi Arabian religious police, provokes her untimely return. Allegations of cocaine abuse by her husband lead to a rejection of the life insurance claim, which in turn directs Sarah into the law office of Brad Carson and Associates. Rather than suing the life insurance company, Carson persuades Reed to take legal action against members of the muttawa and the nation of Saudi Arabia. Drawing from the testimony of Reed and other members of her underground church, Carson and his assistants attempt to bring attention to the corrupt ways of both the muttawa and the Saudi Arabian government. But the case is not so clear-cut. As the story develops, the already intricate plot thickens, leaving the reader wondering just how much more twisted and tumultuous things can get.
Randy Singer has his finger squarely on the pulse of the federal justice system, as he leads the reader through the lives of several key characters at once. As a lawyer with a dozen years of experience, Singer shows remarkable accuracy in his descriptions of court proceedings. His portrayal of the persecuted church (in Saudi Arabia) will help North American readers to further appreciate their religious freedom. Action, suspense, drama, comedy, and even romance, place this book near the top of a legal thriller lover's lis

It is unfortunate that Randy Singer is not more well known. He is an excellent writer.

'Directed Verdict' is really a superb novel that is very difficult to put down. It begins with severe religious persecution in Saudi Arabia by the Muttawa - the Saudi religious police. They have targeted an American missionary couple with unspeakable brutality.

Sarah Reed, who is the surviving wife of the couple, pushes for legal recourse in the States to expose their tactics and hopefully prevent more terror directed against Christians.

She hires legal ace Brad Carson and his team who are rather unconventional, but very tenacious. The story contains numerous plot twists. Every time I thought I had the story figured out, it took another turn.

This book is on a par with Grisham's best - his first few novels. Actually, this is even better than that as Singer addresses much more important issues - those with eternal significance.

I highly recommend this book. If you haven't read Randy Singer yet, you don't know what you're missing.

Spectacular, but not a quick read! If you or someone you know has cancer, then this is a must read. The author did a marvelous job of chronicaling the research path to great discoveries for cancer. Unfortunately, Dr. Folkman passed away last month but after reading this book you will have a better understanding of the legacy of important research he left behind and how it is continuing by the minute

This book is great gives a good understanding of the research community and the search to understand angiogenisis.

This book is a very well done documentary of the trials Dr. Folkman went through to have his ideas on cancer treatment considered. His ideas are now becoming the new approach, offering much needed hope for patients and their families. For anyone interested in cancer, this book is worthwhile.

This book by Robert Cooke is incredible! Mr. Cooke is able to explain to the average layperson the medical concepts of angeiogeneis conceived by the most under-valued person of our time: Dr. Judah Folkman. Dr. Folkman is to cancer what Salk was to Polio! Personally, Dr. Judah Folkman is my hero! A real hero, deserving of the Nobel Prize....and I don't speak lightly. I am a cancer patient that has recently learned that my cancer (thought was beat) has advanced to my lungs. The ONLY therapy for me is in an ANGIOGENESIS drug therapy program for a drug currently in study and labeled as "PI-88." I am just so confident this drug will work. I am the only patient with my type of cancer cell (adenoid cystic carninoma), so I am a little bit more of a lab rat for this program.

God Bless Dr. Folkman and h is incredible perserverance! His story should be a movie----a tale better than SeaBiscuit! He is my SeaBiscuit!

LHH

Chances are someone close to you has succumbed to the ravages of cancer, while you and the medical establishment could only sit by and watch the process reach its inevitable conclusion. The good news is, for nearly 40 years, Dr. Judah Folkman has been pursuing a cure for cancer -- or at least a way to fight tumors more effectively than chemotherapy or radiation -- that only until very recently has garnered serious attention. Dr. Folkman's theory is called angiogenesis, the process by which cancer cells emit an agent which triggers the growth of blood vessels to feed the growth of the cancer itself. For years Dr. Folkman's idea was basically scoffed at as the flailings of an amateur researcher, but Cooke shows how Dr. Folkman has perservered -- while maintaining his brilliant career as a physician -- and eventually, through a slow accumulation of experimental evidence, as well as the discovery of several antiangionesis agents, turned opinion around. Throughout this engaging and fascinating retelling of Folkman's journey, Cooke also provides an eye-opening account of the workings of academia, medical research, and their relationships to those Orwellian biotech companies you keep hearing about. The science is clear and vivid, the battle to defeat cancer inspiring, and the promise of victory -- thankfully, finally -- just around the corner.

Exploring the TITANIC is a very profound read. Robert Ballard (author of this book) is an avid diver, with the dream of finding and exploring the TITANIC. He joined a bunch of French explorers, and traveled far into the deep of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland where the TITANIC sank in 1912. Ballard used Argo (an advanced water-safe camera) to take pictures of the TITANIC until he found that he could not use Argo anymore because the rough waves were pounding against it. Minute after minute, hour after hour, the Knorr (the submarine Ballard was traveling on) floated in a sea of darkness because the only light they had was the light from Argo. About ten hours went by before Ballard decided to use Angus. Angus was an older camera that Ballard had used in previous explorations. In an hour or two, Ballard had found the TITANIC. Somehow he was not satisfied. He wanted to take clear pictures but did not know how to get them with the technology that he had with him. He pondered this for days. He knew that he was about 13 feet above the TITANIC. Then it came to him that he just needed to go down 13 feet more to get his pictures. Ballard convinced the Captain to go down the 13 feet. When they reached their target, they were able to get their pictures.
Ballard's dream was still not fulfilled because he had not yet explored the TITANIC. About a year later, Ballard and two other divers went underwater to explore the TITANIC. They had traveled down four or five times to complete their mission of exploring the TITANIC. Ballard's dream was fulfilled.
I would recommend this book to any reader that is NOT sensitive. This book told about people on the TITANIC who died. I think the author told us too much about people's lives and made us care about them too much. It was sad when you found out the person died. If they weren't killed, then one of the person's loved ones was killed. For example, Jack Thayer was talked about very much in the beginning. I became fond of him because the author gave so much detail about his life. When Ballard told us that Thayer had survived the crash, he did not stop there. He went on to tell us that Jack's father and his friend did not make it. This made me very emotional. If you would like to learn about Robert Ballard and his exploration of the TITANIC, then by all means, read this book. If the sad parts about the people who died bother you, just skip those pages and you'll still learn a lot about exploring the TITANIC.

I first read this book almost 15 years ago, at age 5 : I loved it, and read it uncountable times. Today it is still just as fascinating. Beautifully illustrated and clearly written, it was the first of many Ballard books that I read. I would also recommend the Discovery of the Bismark and The Wreck of the Isis, just as interesting but less well known. A great way to start reading about the great ships of the past.

Goes behind the Titanic. Why did the Titanic sank, why it was built, how they came up with the name Titanic etc. It has everything you need to know about the Titanic. Even has real actual pictures taken of the Titanic in the water and above.

Do you like old ships? Well, I know the right one for you. It is the Titanic. It is about a ship that hit an ice berg and went down. So go under water with Dr.Robert Ballard and explore the Titanic. Good Luck! This book is recommended for 8 and up.

It's a true story about the Titanic and what things Robert Ballard and his team find in the Titanic.

I come to the conclussion that The Man Who Laughs is the most descriptive, saddest, romantic and most beautifully written book that Victor Hugo has written. It is unfortunate that this book doesn't have the standing that Les Miserables or Our Lady of Notre Dame occupies. Also, it is a very hard to find book, specially in Spanish, which is my first language. The traduction is done extremely well (I have verified it with a Russian version I have). It is highly recommended.

This is a difficult and demanding read, but entirely worth it for those who want more from a novel. The story is of a confrontation of moral opposites set in England in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, as a deliberately disfigured outcast named Gwynplaine faces a powerful conflict between the simple life of a mountebank, with the love of a pure-hearted blind girl, and the power, glamor, and corruption of nobility, with the love of a depraved, self-loathing noblewoman. Gwynplaine's disfigurement hides his true identity from all, including himself; and out of the eventual revelation of this truth, Hugo constructs a magnificent and heart-wrenching symbolic drama that is as filled with meaning as anything you'll find in literature. Again, this is not light reading, and it is not made for those who prefer to breeze through an action thriller in an afternoon.

Hugo has much to say about the destructive nature of political power, as well as the envy and injustice that conspire to keep the high and low in their respective places. The Mohawk Club of the nobility exemplifies these themes through their vicious and destructive pranks, victimizing the helpless in the name of "fun."

Hugo's contempt for the period's institutions of power is evident throughout the novel; on the wicked Barkilphedro's rise to prominence, he writes: "He had crawled where he wanted. Flat beasts can get in everywhere. Louis XIV had bugs in his bed and Jesuits in his policy. The incompatibility is nil." Clearly this is a novel of ideas, written by one who had a great deal to say and knew how to express it. Even so, I must acknowledge that Hugo's expository passages, although witty, impassioned, and eloquent, occasionally become a distraction from the story.

Hugo's style is astonishingly lofty, in a way that just doesn't happen in the present day. It is an ambitious and demanding discipline, now so far gone that we scarcely even know to miss it. As such, it may strike today's readers as unnatural and overdone; or so it did to me, at first. But by the finish, I was fully seduced into Hugo's stylistic world, and left unable to choose what to read next -- for what is there today that is even conscious of this standard of craftsmanship? I can only imagine how much of the effect of this high language is lost in translation from the original French.

If you are interested in this book, I strongly recommend the Paper Tiger edition, with its afterword by Shoshana Milgram. This afterword was of great use in understanding the book's ending, which to me was difficult; it clarified how the ending was necessitated by the novel's overall theme -- and it made the extent of Hugo's achievement that much more evident.

This is extremely well written and the story is easy to follow. The story had me smile and cry. The method that Victor Hugo collected the sections of this book is similiar to the style Ayn Rand used in writing Atlas Shrugged-my favorite book. The Man Who Laughs is one I think every Victor Hugo fan would want to read and read again--I loved it!

I read this book as a teenager, along with "Toilers of the Sea," Ninety Three" and "Hunchback of Notre Dame."
I have re-read only "Toilers of the Sea" and found it as riveting now as were all of Hugo's book then. I can't imagine a library system not containing these timeless classics or their being out of print.

I have now read four books by Victor Hugo. The Last Day Of A Condemned Man, Les Miserables, Hunchback of Notre Dame, and recently I finished The Man Who Laughs.
I will spare the usual props I throw Hugo's way about him being the greatest author and yada yada yada. Although, as far as classics are concerned, I was dissappointed to go to my local library and in the Hugo novel section there were only two books (and a small gap where Hunchback was). Walking over to the D's for Dickens. There were at least 50 books, multiple copies.
I love Dickens and Hugo, but I don't think Hugo gets near enough attention for the quality he puts out. Dickens can fill just as many pages as the French master, but it seems that the substance is lacking in comparison. What a shame. Does America hate the French that much?
The Man Who Laughs or By Order Of The King was a very fast read. Considering she was 550 pages, I made it through in a couple of weeks, which says a lot for me, I am extremely slow at reading. An excellent plot and a strong mystery involving many characters keeps you interested. If he were alive today, Hugo would no doubt be a writer on Lost. Although, as one reviewer noted with a bright red mark, that you don't find out the lead characters name till almost 200 pages into the book, I found the back story behind the character one of the most fascinating aspects of the book. Homo and Ursus, a mountebank and his aide/wolf introduce the book, and shortly you are introduced to a group of strangers who abandon a boy on a shore. First it follows the boat and its destination then it retraces its steps and tells the story of this boy.
Many lengthy passages are devoted to writing about nobility and lands, and law officers of the day, and there's enough death and deceit and debauchery to keep you entertained (the seduction scene with Gwynplaine and the lady he is to be betrothed to is intense and hilarious). Hugo is still Hugo, and apparently this books was written while he was in exile. So there aren't the usual 30 page essays in the midst of his tales, but it's just a wonderful story.
The ending of Hugo's books are something wonderful, and you can guess and you can guess, but you never can tell. I thought I had the ending figured out, but alas, I was wrong and it took me a good half an hour while the ending sank in.
I think my favorite book of Hugo's so far has been Hunchback, but this story does not dissappoint, and I recommend it over any Dickens or Hardy any day. It's twenty bucks for the paperback, forty for the hardback, but I'd say for anyone who likes a classic, it's worth the price.