Prose Books

Henry Chappell has hunted and fished all over Texas and the American southwest. An accomplished sports writer, his articles, essays and short stories have appeared in a wealth of hunting, fishing, wildlife, and sports magazines. In At Home On The Range With A Texas Hunter, Chappell offers a series of engaging, highly recommended essays on the bonds that exist between hunter, hunting dog, land, and prey. From hunting Bobwhites in the Texas Panhandle, to prairie grouse in the Flint Hills of Kansas, Gambel's quail in New Mexico arroyos, blue quail on the staked plains, or doves and Mearns' quail in Arizona, Chappell evokes a true sense of hunting, complete with its responsibilities and ethics.

I am a native Texan and an avid hunter of over 25 years. I think Henry Chappells book is sublime and I enjoyed the realism and detail associated with it. It is nice to read a hunting book that I can relate to in not only hunting, but in a common love of the great state of Texas and all of it's beauty.

I got this book and expected to see the typical hunting stories and that would be O.K. because I have been an avid hunter/outdoorsman for over 30 years and enjoy anything related to hunting, camping, etc. This book was a surprise! It does contain some hunting stories, and some experiences encountered while camping, but more insightfully, one can share the thoughts and observations of a person very skilled not only in hunting but in observing nature. While it is difficult to accurately describe this book, I would say it is about hunting from the perspective of a conservationist as opposed to a person who is only out to shoot. Additionally, the author's thoughtful insights into hunting ethics are sure to raise some hackles, especially in Texas, and will hopefully provoke some self examination by anyone who hunts. As an aside, the section on Country is worth the price of the book, by itself. This book accomplishes something that is difficult-it stimulates thought.

I'm a novice hunter, have lived in Texas for 16 years, and was happy to have been tipped to read Henry Chappell's first book. I've read him in Texas Parks and Wildlife, and other magazines. The love he has and shows his dogs is evident, along with the intriguing insights into his background. It is evident he is an ardent environmentalist, but also a pragmatic capitalist. Great read !

Augustus F. Sherman worked as a clerk with the Immigration Bureau of Ellis Island, photographing over two hundred families, groups and individuals as they passed through customs. Augustus F. Sherman: Ellis Island Portraits 1905-20 represents the first published collection of his work, featuring a hundred of his best photos of peoples from cultures around the world. A historical essay by Peter Mesenholler places the period of time and photos in perspective, providing both a critical analysis of Sherman's work and this collection, and lending important background to the portraits. An outstanding presentation of historical portrait photography.

Augustus F. Sherman's book of many portraits is a glimpse into 15 years of daily life at Ellis Island. Due to his office position at Ellis Island, Sherman had both time(remember these shots took a long time to set up and take) and opportunity to capture the many interesting clients Ellis Island served.

If you are looking for a portrait of your grandmother/father who came through Elllis Island, this is probably not the book you will find them in.

Rather, these portraits focus on immigrants wearing unusual native clothing/costumes; religious or military outfits; large family groups; ethnic groups; and even those suffering from congenital birth defects. Included also is a group of deportees whose crimes range from anarchy to being a stowaway.

Sherman sort to take as many photographs as possible in natural light, so the reader sees children playing in the Ellis Island "playground" - located on the roof; or a group of ladies from the Caribbean standing on the front "lawn"; a family from Africa; and much more.

A delightful glimpse at Ellis Island's early history - one wishes there were many more photographs the reader could view.

into what it must have been like to go through the process on Ellis Island. I had visited Ellis Island earlier this year,on a trip to New York and was struck by the atmosphere and history. The photographs in this book catch the essence of this landmark and the diversity of the people. There is also an explanation of the process that the individuals had to go through before being allowed to enter the US.

Augustus F. Sherman was simply doing his job when from 1904 to 1920 he photographed the individual arrivals of multiple nationalities at Ellis Island. It was his duty to document those new immigrants who were detained for further investigation before they were allowed to step onto the Great Hope that was America. But what resulted from this duty is a portfolio of portraits of world peoples that is as tender and as touching as any ever captured by professional famous photographers!

According to essayist Peter Mesenholler, Sherman was interested in anthropological documentation of the different physical characteristics of these Eastern, Western and Southern European proud folk. He captured the inherent pride of origin of these people who often donned their finest native folk costumes as they entered New York harbor. Sherman was sensitive to the psyches of his 'sitters', knowing that in addition to the overwhelming urge to enter America, the Land of Dreams, each of these people brought with them the memories both sad and happy of their native lands, 'heroes' if you will who were brave enough to leave their roots and aspire to higher dreams and goals.

These one hundred portraits are some of the more wrenchingly beautiful from this important time of mass immigration into America, images of the folk who would comprise the melting pot that we so cherish as our national treasure. All of this art is gained by the honest eye of a non-professional photographer who took the interest and care to pass along that rarefied moment of our country's history. And there is much to be learned from slowly perusing the faces and honest captions of these important photographs.

The quality of the reproductions in sepia-toned presentation is superb as is the accompanying wise essay by Peter Mesenholler. There are few books of photography that can be more widely acclaimed than this. Very highly recommended. Grady Harp, July 05

In this curious autobiiography, Anthony Trollope sketches in the outlines of his life. He relates the misery of his childhood, the heroism of his mother, the tragedy and ultimate failure of his father. If not banal, at least typical material for an autobiography, and makes for good reading. The second two-thirds of the book summarizes his writings, and relate his ideas on everything from literary criticism to suggestions for young writers. Perhaps most interesting are his assessments of his own work, praising or condemning them with little emotion. Of course there is the famous analysis of his working methods, where he counts words and disciplines himself to an astonishingly regular routine of writing. He produced 47 novels, edited and wrote for magazines, all the while working full time for the post office. One distressing feature of this work is the almost complete lack of intormation about his wife and family....It is clear that he lived with and loved his fictional characters more than his corporeal family. Also, the grammar and punctuation are often awkward but this is still a highly readable and fascinating book.

If one has read a number of Trollope's novels, one would expect that Trollope would have written precisely this sort of autobiography. In fact, it is almost impossible to imagine it having taken any other form.

Trollope writes not so much of his life (though he does touch upon the major events), as of his occupation. Although employed most of his adult life by the postal service, Trollope decided to engage in a second and parallel career as a writer. He is forthright about his motives: the satisfaction of writing, but also fame, financial reward, and social standing. Looking back on his career, Trollope is proud of a job well done. The oddity is that he seems quite as happy telling us about how much he sold each work for, and the financial dealings with his publishers, as he does about his books and characters. In fact, near the end of the book he gives a complete list of his novels and how much he managed to sell each one for (with very few exceptions, he preferred to sell the rights to a novel, rather than getting a percentage of sales). What emerges is a portrait of the novelist not as an artist so much as a dedicated, disciplined craftsman. He explicitly denigrates the value of genius and creativity in a novelist in favor of hard work and keeping to a schedule of writing.

The early sections of the book dealing with his childhood are fascinating. By all measures, Trollope had a bad childhood. His discussions of his father are full of pathos and sadness. What is especially shocking is the lack of credit he gives to his mother, who, in early middle age, realizing that her husband was a perpetual financial failure, decided to salvage the family's fortunes by becoming a novelist. He notes that while nursing several children dying from consumption, she wrote a huge succession of books, enabling the family to live a greatly improved mode of existence. Her achievement must strike an outside observer as an incredibly heroic undertaking. Trollope seems scarcely impressed.

Some of the more interesting parts of the book are his evaluation of the work of many of his contemporaries. History has not agreed completely with all of his assessments. For instance, he rates Thackery as the greatest novelist of his generation, and HENRY ESMOND as the greatest novel in the language. HENRY ESMOND is still somewhat read, but it hardly receives the kind of regard that Trollope heaped on it, and it is certainly not as highly regarded as VANITY FAIR. Trollope's remarks on George Eliot are, however, far closer to general opinion. His remarks concerning Dickens, are, however, bizarre. It is obvious that Trollope really dislikes him, even while grudgingly offering some compliments. Quite perceptively, Trollope remarks that Dickens's famous characters are not lifelike or human (anticipating E. M. Forster's assessment that Dickens's characters are "flat" rather than "round" like those of Tolstoy or Austen) and that Dickens's famous pathos is artificial and inhuman (anticipating Oscar Wilde's wonderful witticism that "It would take a man with a heart of stone to cry at the death of Little Nell"). Even the most avid fan of Dickens would admit that his characters, while enormously vivid and well drawn, are nonetheless a bit cartoonish, and that much of the pathos is a tad over the top. But Trollope goes on to attack Dickens's prose: "Of Dickens's style it is impossible to speak in praise. It is jerky, ungrammatical, and created by himself in defiance of rules . . . . To readers who have taught themselves to regard language, it must therefore be unpleasant." If one had not read Dickens, after reading Trollope on Dickens, one would wonder why anyone bothered to read him at all. One wonders if some of Trollope's problems with Dickens was professional jealousy. For whatever reason, he clearly believes that Dickens receives far more than his due.

Favorite moment: Trollope recounts being in a club working on the novel that turned into THE LAST CHRONICLE OF BARSET, when he overheard two clergymen discussing his novels, unaware that he was sitting near them. One of them complained of the continual reappearance of several characters in the Barsetshire series, in particular Mrs. Proudie. Trollope then introduces himself, apologizes for the reappearing Mrs. Proudie, and promises, "I will go home and kill her before the week is over." Which, he says, he proceeded to do.

you should consider reading this too! Trollope writes candidly about his education (and about being a poor, mostly overlooked student), his lack of professional ambition (and how he finally got around to witing his first novel),and the ups and downs of his literary career (and his early rejections). He does all of this in the same conversational tone employed in his novels, making this autobiography feel more like a chat with an older, experienced friend than a learned, classic autobiography

Redolent of the Victorian Age, and beautifully written. Some of the amusement comes precisely from his occasional pedantic preaching of Victorian virtues. He is capable of being self-critical. If elsewhere he is self-satisfied, he has much to be self-satisfied about. A man who from the most unpromising beginning came to live life to the full.

This has been a good series up til now. Now it is a great one and the turning point is this book. Arcudi's contributions to the writing are special. The characters are now truly characters with concerns, lives, etc. The action is still top otch ad Guy Davis' art continues to be excellent. His work shuffles along just telling the story and then some creature or other appears across a two-page spread and the reaction is, "Wow!" When I get the newest book in this series, I find myself going back to book one and starting over each time enjoying the whole saga.

As a longtime Mike Mignola fan (I've been collecting the single issue Hellboy since the beginning, as well as Mignola's other works), I'm slowing coming to the belief that BPRD is currently the better than the current Hellboy title. I was very disappointed that Mignola wasn't illustrating BPRD when it first got going. But I've been seduced by Guy Davis' artwork. The more I look at Davis' compositions the more I like it. The stories here in BPRD seem to be consistently a bit stronger than the current Hellboy story lines. The collaborative effort in this title seems to be it's strength. This is a fine collection that recounts the teams effort to save a team mate from death. Excellent all around. Strongly recommended.

Mike Mignola writes very differently from the vast majority of comic artists today. His stuff reminds me a lot of H. P. Lovecraft and Edgar Alan Poe. Very rich, detailed stories - -plus the artwork is like looking at a woodcut print.

This continues the years-long story arc of the post-Hellboy BPRD.
If you haven't been reading the previous graphic novels, this
will be almost unintelligible to you. But if you have. . .

we learn more, much more, about Captain Daimio (puzzling, if
intriguing), get some distressing backstory of Dr. Kraus,
get a painfully small reminisce of Abe and HB on assignment
in the Canadian woods, and a touching vignette of Liz's
past.

The main story, so to speak, is Dr. Corrigan in the French Alps,
trying to obtain one of those impossibly rare and eldritch tomes
without which this genre of fiction would seem incomplete. I won't
get into spoilers here, but the moment at which she triumphs over
an adversary is easily the most satisfactory single panel I've
seen in a Hellboy story in quite some time.

And if you want to know what finally happens to Roger - this is
the one to read.

"Daylight was appearing over London, the great city of bachelors" is the fist sentence of Muriel Sparks's book, "The Bachelors". The areas of London that had the greatest concentration of bachelors were Queen's Gate, Kensington and King's Road. Places all near the center of the shopping district.

The very British bachelors in this novel, a barrister, a councilman, a detective, an unusual priest, a spiritual medium, a handwriting expert, a man with uncontrolled seizures, and a man who eats onions to ward off advances from women, all well developed characters in this novel.

All start out on a Saturday morn, organizing their food shopping with their meal planning, and who will cook and clean for them.
They are all drawn in eventually into the social register of the group, and into the spiritual atmosphere of the medium, Patrick Seton.

Patrick Seton, a man who is a well known fraud to some. A man with little or no conscience and a man who will draw all of these bachelors into a lawsuit. Is Patrick Seton so demonized that he would try to kill his diabetic, pregnant girlfriend? So thinks the physician who is being blackmailed by Mr. Seton. Ahh, but what of this woman who is so in love with Mr. Seton? Is she a silly girl who will do anything for the love of he man?

Are any of these bachelors really in love with their women, or do they need them for other nefarious reasons? What are their motives? How will this man Patrick Seton confuse their spirits and their lives?

Dame Muriel Sparks was born in 1918, and in a few months her 26th novel will be published. She is a well beloved novelist from England. She writes of the dark, terrifying, evilness of the human spirit; and the deadpan humor of the human experience. This is a novel to be relished and to be read again to really experience the malevolence of the human mind. prisrob

Muriel Spark is deliciously witty and writes with a lively charm. This does not prevent her from having an extraordinary talent for portraying the monstrously abnormal--to be precise, the diabolical. THE DRIVER'S SEAT, for instance, is overwhelmed by this malevolence--it is an excellent nightmare, but has only small moments of the Spark charm.

THE BACHELORS has a lot of both--the "medium" Patrick is one of Spark's most chilling portraits of evil. The scheming Spiritualists resemble more typical Spark "villains" (like the literary circle in LOITERING WITH INTENT), but are perhaps even more harmless in and of themselves. However, unwittingly they touch on something far grimmer--Spark demolishes the Spiritualists by showing that the only thing worse than their nonsense is when they stumble upon something genuine.

The "good" bachelors' interactions with this group provide an entertaining and equally true view of things, preventing the chill from permeating the book.

The scene is a London courtroom where a spiritualist medium is on trial for defrauding a widow of her life savings. One of the main prosecution witnesses is a handwriting expert who suffers from epilepsy. Under questioning he suffers a seizure and the judge asks `Is this man a medium?' It's very clever, in this instance it's very funny, and it's more than slightly heartless. It is the distinctive individual tone of Muriel Spark.

This is one of her best. I found I had to be very alert and attentive or I was liable to miss some new element lightly thrown into the plot without warning. Muriel Spark's touch is as light as thistledown. The characters in The Bachelors are a down-in-the-mouth lot, ranging from nondescript to squalid, but the author typically stays above, or at least outside, their dreary lightless existence. Thinking back over the book, I can't recall anything that I would classify as a single noble thought or piece of lofty motivation. The theme of bachelordom is not really central to the action, more a storyteller's device to help maintain a sense of unity in the narrative. One has to admire the sheer skill with which she keeps control of such a large cast and so many convoluted situations. The characters talk non-stop - virtually all of the book is between quotation-marks - and we have to get to know them, except in two instances, through what they say, not through what they think by themselves. In one of these cases we get a startling insight into what the medium is really pondering and planning, startling because of the way it contrasts with the idiom of the book generally at least as much as because of the nature of his mind. In the other instance a doctor who hardly features at all in the dialogue shines a moment's blinding light through the encircling murk.

The many characters are lively and convincing, their individuality beautifully touched in through subtle little touches that you will be liable to miss if your attention falters even for a moment. Despite that they have a feel of human puppets about them, a show put on for us by a clear-headed, clever, elegant and rather cold-hearted puppeteer. It may be that Muriel Spark is herself putting on an act by letting herself appear in such a light. My own feeling is that she is not minded to resolve that question for us - we can view her how we like for all she seems to care. I like her just the way she chooses to be.

Forgetting that I read this book some years ago, I recently picked up the new edition. Expecting to page through innocently and put the book back on the shelf, I suddenly found myself drawn into this devilish and absorbing tale about spiritual mediums, forgery, betrayal and yes, bachelors. Spark turns her marvelous eye on that group of men who want girls for companionship, but not marriage. This is a sly and yet poignant look at a group of intelligent, but not very bright Londoners circa 1960. I recommend it without reservation.

I read an article by Edward Said during the December 1998 bombing of Iraq which mentioned this great book. I bought it thinking that I will read a simple diary of the hardships of war. I was wrong. It is a beautiful mixture of everyday events, which Al-Radi makes humourous. It is only humourous because our tears have dried over Iraq's suffering. It is a book I recommend for Iraqis because it states all that we hear about from visitors of Iraq. I recommend it to others because the media never shows these aspects. Perhaps it will help to make people realize that the distant pictures of green lights broadcast on T.V. are much more damaging than "degrading weapons of mass distruction". That is not to say that Saddam Hussein is not a dictator who must be eliminated. The final part of the book 'exile' is particularly moving as the suffering does not end with leaving Iraq. A great book, please read it.

This is a memoir of a middle-class Iraqi artist in Iraq - during the sanctions (i.e. after 1990).

Nuha Radi presents a much needed voice from Iraq.

Ms. Al-Radi gives an amazing play-by-play of how the war (the massive bombing campaigns by the US and allied forces in Baghdad and neighbouring cities and the ensuing embargo) unfolded before her and the people of Iraq. I couldn't put it down.

Ms. Al-Radi has a knack for turning a seriously tragic situation into an almost funny account through her matter-of-fact statements. Still, somehow she manages to not lessen the impact of the tragedy.

Ms. Al-Radi does not paint an "Oh woe is me," picture but she invites the reader to walk by her as she takes us through the experiences of the people of Iraq, (her friends and neighbours, and even her dog Salvador Dali and his "friends," etc.). She paints vivid images of the various stages of the war. For example she describes, in the beginning of the war, how the Iraqis had filled up their freezers to the hilt with meat and vegetables and anything they could fit in there fearing the onset of war. But, as the first bombs hit taking out the electical plants and leaving Iraq without power, in total darkness and every refrigerator and freezer unfreezing, the Iraqis are left gorging themselves as their food begins to rot inside their quickly defrosting freezers.

Ms. Al-Radi then takes us into bowels of the war itself describing the massive bombs that obliterate and take out innocent human and animal lives by the hundreds (at any given time).

She finally steps into the final blow of the war (pun intended) -the cruel and unusual punishment of the embargo and the ensuing anarchy that it creates, in addition to the odd occurrences in nature. Her trees die, her vegetables don't grow, strange insects never before seen take a hold of the trees and shrubs struggling to live, birds die by the thousands for no "apparent" reason, the cancer rates go up immeasurably, etc.

This is a much needed book. The human face of Iraq has all but been eliminated and replaced with the menacing one of Saddam which in turn justified/s the punishment that the people had to endure(are still enduring)as a result.

It is a wonderful book. It is sad that a book of this sort had to be written in the first place.

Ms. Al-Radi gives an amazing play-by-play of how the war (the massive bombing campaigns by the US and allied forces in Baghdad and neighbouring cities and the ensuing embargo) unfolded before her and the people of Iraq. I couldn't put it down.

Ms. Al-Radi has a knack for turning a seriously tragic situation into an almost funny account through her matter-of-fact statements. Still, somehow she manages to not lessen the impact of the tragedy.

Ms. Al-Radi does not paint an "Oh woe is me," picture but she invites the reader to walk by her as she takes us through the experiences of the people of Iraq, (her friends and neighbours, and even her dog Salvador Dali and his "friends," etc.). She paints vivid images of the various stages of the war. For example she describes, in the beginning of the war, how the Iraqis had filled up their freezers to the hilt with meat and vegetables and anything they could fit in there fearing the onset of war. But, as the first bombs hit taking out the electical plants and leaving Iraq without power, in total darkness and every refrigerator and freezer unfreezing, the Iraqis are left gorging themselves as their food begins to rot inside their quickly defrosting freezers.

Ms. Al-Radi then takes us into bowels of the war itself describing the massive bombs that obliterate and take out innocent human and animal lives by the hundreds (at any given time).

She finally steps into the final blow of the war (pun intended) -the cruel and unusual punishment of the embargo and the ensuing anarchy that it creates, in addition to the odd occurrences in nature. Her trees die, her vegetables don't grow, strange insects never before seen take a hold of the trees and shrubs struggling to live, birds die by the thousands for no "apparent" reason, the cancer rates go up immeasurably, etc.

This is a much needed book. The human face of Iraq has all but been eliminated and replaced with the menacing one of Saddam which in turn justified/s the punishment that the people had to endure(are still enduring)as a result.

It is a wonderful book. It is sad that a book of this sort had to be written in the first place.

Though written in a simpler style than most of Piers Anthony's works - thus opening it up for the younger readers of "Abarat", "Harry Potter", and other books you might find in the 'Young Adults' section of the bookstore - "Balook" should not lose any of its appeal to older readers, filled as it is with charm, conviction, engaging characters and a deeply compelling story. Perhaps too mature on certain levels for many of the younger Potter fans (or perhaps moreover for their parents), "Balook" nonetheless handles its touches of sexuality with great class and taste as part of the blossoming romance between the two human leads as their time together progresses. More likely to be too unsettling for younger redaers (though it probably won't raise as many alarm bells among many parents), is the frank, disturbing and realistic portrayal of how some humans view tormenting of and cruelty to live animals as some kind of perverse entertainment; though the novel clearfully comes down on the side of the animals and rightfully casts the tormentors in an unflattering light, it may really upset young readers. Nonetheless, it's clearly a great introductory book to Science Fiction for, say pre-teens (and some younger readers; each kid is different) and moreover, it, like the Potter books and "Abarat" is proof that a well-written 'Basically-All-Ages' book really can be for pretty much all ages, just as delightful for 39 year-olds and 99 year-olds as for 9 year-olds and 12 year-olds.

"Balook" takes place in a semi-near future, when humanity has finally begun to wake up from its globally-destructive tendencies only to realize they've driven too many of the planet's plant and animal species to extinction for natural eco-systems to be viable anymore. In desperation, mankind has turned to genetic engineering to 're-create' lost species (this was actually the first scenario I ever read in which widescale genetic manipulation by humans Might be ethically acceptable) and stop the natural world from collapsing (and perhaps atone for the shameless destructiveness of past decades?) However, limited surviving species to work with for core material and inherent biological limitations mean that not nearly all of the recently killed-off species can be revived, necessitating the resurrection of long-extinct species where possible, to fill ecological gaps. One of the long-extinct species brought back is the 13 million years-gone Baluchitherium (one of whom is named Balook for short).

This is the story of this recently revived creature and the young human caretakers who love them, filled with possibility, adventure, and the dangers of reviving radically different species in the midst of a human race that, despite its dawning maturement, still has more quarters apt to react with fear and hostility to anything different; and some of the gentlest and most alive romantic scenes in literature. Topped off with beautiful black-and-white illustrations by Patrick Woodroffe (though his forte is clearly with the creatures; the human characters illustrated look less photorealistic, and consistently a couple of years younger than the texts describe them to be; still very good though).

"Balook" is one of the best and most original books in Anthony's vast body of excellent work.

He was the largest land mammal of prehistoric times. Now computers, genetic engineering, and a touch of luck have brought one of these magnificent creatures back to life...and into the life of a boy named Thor Nemmen. Nicknamed Balook, this nine-ton hornless rhinoceros has been living peacefully in his sealed-off scientific compound--content to play with his only friend, Thor. The world beyond the fence remains a mystery... But now, Balook has broken free. He's become bigger and stronger--and he's suddenly ready to levae hios quiet home, to encounter danger, excitement, and adventure. Balook is ready to discover the world. But is the world ready for Balook? I really liked this book. I thought it was a very good example of how Anthony can work. Read this book, you will like it.

I can tell if I should read a book only if I can get absorbed into it. And this book really grabbed me! It was a beautiful story, written from the heart, and I couldn't put it down till I had read the last page. I would reccomend this book to anyone who enjoys Piers Anthony, science/fiction or stories about relationships w/ animals. It truly deserves a 10! PLEASE e-mail me w/ your opinions.

Balook is a great book for all ages. It combines fun,romance and the love of one boy for his animal. A touching story, Balook is about a huge, pre-historic rhino who's best friend is a lonely boy named Tor. When Balook wanders off one day, Tor follows him, ending up in one wild adventure after another with his rhino.

I havent red this book but it souns cool

this was a wonderful collection of interviews of Stephen King. It would be interesting to see another collection done, with some of the more recent interviews and thoughts from him.

In this collection of essays, both new Stephen King fans, and SK'ers alike can enjoy a unique, indepth and personal view into the mind of the world's greatest horror writer. In Bare Bones King does just that -- he Bares his Bones, showing us the reader what really goes on inside his head. You are taken down into a dark cavern that few men have traveled into and survived. (Well, at least literarily -- not literally). As stated above, I was so impressed and intrigued by these works that I bought all three copies available: the 1st edition paperback, the first edition hardcover, and number 588 of 1152 limited handnumbered copies. Truly a "missing link" in any King collection. If nothing else, Bare Bones is a "must-read".

This is maybe the most interesting book about Stephen King available. If you want to know something about him, you have to read it, because you won't learn more anywhere else. Not even in his own 'On Writing' by the way.

Maybe it would be interesting too to read more actual interviews, but these one help a lot. Okay, it's not always that interesting, like in the conversation about his radio station and sometimes weird, like in the one about 'Maximum Overdrive' if you have seen it. And of course a lot of things are repeated.

But it's really a must for King-fans.

Having seen the movie "Barry Lyndon" by Stanley Kubrick years ago, I was taken aback by this book which is so markedly different than the 1975 film. In the book, Lord Bullingdon is actually the hero, where Kubrick presented him merely as a cowardly cad. Redmond Barry (later as Barry Lyndon)deserves all the evils that befall him and his first person narrative is quite humorous especially when blaming everyone for his own shortcomings. Unfortunately, the ending leaves one a bit unsatisfied, quite like the dismal end of Mr. Lyndon himself. This novel is not on the level of Thackeray's "Vanity Fair", but fun to read nonetheless.

When one is about to take the big plunge and give oneself the trouble of making what is always -in our age of lighter reading, of course - the strenuous effort of reading a XIXth. Century novelist, one - at least me - must make the following question: What was this author's particular attitude, as a man (or woman) of the most bourgeois of all centuries, towards his/her preceding century, the most aristocratic and un-bourgeois XVIIIth. Century? If s/he scorns the XVIIIth. Century, or is indifferent to it, it's quite likely that the author in question is a bourgeois philistine regarding Victorian times as the undisputed acme of human civilization. If s/he is an admirer, than s/he is obviously starting out of a clear sense of alienation from his/her own society, and one should expect at least for this XIXth. Century _avis rara_, genuine sense of humor. Thackeray was one of such Victorians who realized the philisteism of his own society;Eça de Queiroz, his Portuguese disciple (who seems to have learned a lot from reading him) was another. Therefore: Read this book, QED.

Having seen the movie "Barry Lyndon" by Stanley Kubrick years ago, I was taken aback by this book which is so markedly different than the 1975 film. In the book, Lord Bullingdon is actually the hero, where Kubrick presented him merely as a cowardly cad. Redmond Barry (later as Barry Lyndon)deserves all the evils that befall him and his first person narrative is quite humorous especially when blaming everyone for his own shortcomings. Unfortunately, the ending leaves one a bit unsatisfied, quite like the dismal end of Mr. Lyndon himself. This novel is not on the level of Thackeray's "Vanity Fair", but fun to read nonetheless.

Here, in this relatively obscure work, Thackeray is at his ironic and satiric best. Modern critics lightly dismiss the book as a piece of journalistic hack work, but it is much more than that. Redmond Barry, later Barry Lyndon, chronicles in a fairly sophistocated and always lighthearted manner his rise from a poor Irish country boy to the astral heights of polite English society from 1750-1820. Mr. Barry is always Machievellian in his way, and is quick and efficient with his sword. He is Odysseus, Holden Caulfield, Don Juan, and Nabokov's Humbert Humbert merged. In a word, he is very, very entertaining and very, very good. The book's only glaring flaw is it's belabored and uninspired ending. But it is much worth reading to watch Redmond Barry when young

For me, the most useful aspect of Larbalestier's book was that she insisted on viewing SF as community. Because she treated fan feedback, editorial pages and newsletters with as much gravitas as the fiction itself, her discussion of female voice, gender exploration and battle-of-the-sexes clashes is placed firmly within the larger context of the creative community. After all, literature isn't written in a void -- it's written in response and reaction to other art and the outside world.

I really enjoyed the book, and I think that the Publisher's Weekly review was unfair. Sure, Larbalestier is an academic and it certain shows in her language, but she's also an SF-writer and a contributing member of the SF community, and that's who she's writing for. (And SF, after all, has always self-consciously been a community of thinkers and intelligentsia.) As a historical survey, Battle of the Sexes is a significant contribution to SF lit-crit.

"The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction" by Justine Larbalestier is the fourth book in the Early Classics of Science Fiction series from Wesleyan University Press, and is unlike any of the other books in the series up to this point. The previous books in the series included whole works of science fiction along with supplementary material. This book is a study of the history of science fiction with respect to women as fans and authors.
Justine Larbalestier looks at the period starting in the mid 1920's and continuing up to today. She limits her look to that period, because that is when the genre of science fiction was first identified, and because the 1920's are the starting point for the pulp magazine publications of science fiction.

The book covers the portrayal of women in the stories themselves, and how poorly they were written by the male writers and how the male fans objected to the inclusion of female characters. It also covers the female fans and how their letters were treated compared with their male contemporaries. Ms. Larbalestier also talks about the women authors, how there is a perception that they didn't appear on the scene until the late 60's, and the reaction to their stories by fans, other authors, and editors. Lastly, she spends a great deal of space discussing James Tiptree Jr. (i.e. Alice Sheldon) and the award named after him/her.

In the stories from the earlier days, the female characters were mostly included to be saved, or purely as a diversion from the meat of the story. The objections of the male fans to these characters thus seemed reasonable to them and the editors, but at the same time they seemed unable to accept the idea that female characters might actually be central to the stories. It is amazing to think that the idea of women as scientists or astronauts would be more unbelievable than the aliens and civilizations which were portrayed in many of the early science fiction stories. Women were clearly seen as a threat to the male dominated genre. One area which is not talked about is the effect of science fiction being dominated by the pulps and shorter fiction. She does not mention or discuss the dynamic of female characters from the few longer works from the early days.

The fan letters are at the same time humorous, for how they sound today, and upsetting, for the sexist ideas which many of them contain. Some of the male fans of the time went on to become authors, such as Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and others. Equally surprising are the responses from the editors, who patronize the few female fans who take the time to write in, although I do think that Ms. Larbalestier sometimes reads more into their responses than is actually there. However, in many cases when I initially thought this, I changed my mind after trying to view the situation from another viewpoint.

When discussing the presence of women authors, I can only agree with her conclusions based on my experience. I have been reading a lot of science fiction from that period, and there were several woman authors from the early days of science fiction, and their stories fit right in with those by male authors. The idea that there weren't any, or that their stories are easily identifiable as being by a woman is ridiculous, although I suppose that their ability to write believable female characters might be a give away in some cases, but then again there are some male authors who were able to do that.

The discussion of James Tiptree Jr., is a little too long in my opinion; it feels a little repetitive as she already discussed some of the same things earlier in the book. There is a large amount of detail in the discussion of the award which, though interesting within their context, seem out of place with regard to the rest of the book. These problems are small though, and there are few weaknesses in this very interesting discussion of women in science fiction, and the reaction from the male fans, writers, and editors.

A witty and informative book. Larbalestier's research is as deep as it is provocative. This book is a fascinating look back and Larbalestier's clean, clear prose and delightful details make it a very happy reading experience.

The book is not only well researched and insightful it's also amusing and sometimes moving. Not what you'd expect from an academic book. Larbalestier goes back to primary sources looking at - among other things - letters to science fiction magazines from the 1920s. Some are screamingly funny, some are moving - people in dust bowl towns writing about being transported to other planets by the stories. She uses material it's very difficult to get hold of opening up the field of science fiction so that it is richer and larger than you could have imagined. Guess what? Women have always been part of sf.