A. Merritt Books

A nice Biography of Isaac Singer, his Sewing Machine, and the Company that made him wealthly.
When Henry Ford was in diapers, Isaac Singer was starting the company that revolutionized not just sewing, but the retailing of manufactured products.
Singer created the first installment purchase plan, and created the first nationwide distribution system via traveling salesmand, and stores - in virtually every town in America. This book tells how it happened. From the pre-civil war inventions, through the vicious patent battles of the 1880s, the book lays out Singer's role in the manufacturing of the sewing machine. Singer's revolution allowed women to add hours of time to their lives, distilled from the former drudgery of hand sewing of clothing - and all household linens... Women instantly recognized the freedom inherent in the use of the machine, and Singer made it accessible by inventing the installment plan. For pennies a month, a woman could purchase what was then, and incredibly expensive item (The first machines sold for $100.00 and more - ). By the 1890's, over a million machine had been sold. Shortly after the turn of the century, Singer built the tallest building in the world (at the site of the World Trade Center), but his private pecadillos made him pariah in New York, where he had many mistresses, children, and, even more than one wife at one time! He moved to Paris to avoid the publicity, and died overweight, and still a reprobate!
An interesting, and little known (today) history of a company that had a huge impact on the history of this country - and especially the lives and development of women!
It's not the best written work, but a good quick read, and interesting!

This is a really enjoyable romantic adventure type story. When the aliens, or lost race snake people or women, or whatever you want to call them are more human and nicer than the average blokes running around, the writer has a good thing going.

There is of course a young, attractive female to go with the young bloke good guy adventurer, and an evil Dark Lord, and a battle. Lots of fun if you like that sort of thing.

Longmans, 1953, 1st; 220 pp. Juvenile hardback. Adventures with Roger's Rangers who spied for the British Troops around Lake Champlain during the French and Indian War.

This is not a study of Proverbs but a study of Christian fatherhood issues for men who have chosen or considering that worldview. In that case FFF would be a great tool for a young men's discipleship study or a father - son study. A hardback copy would be an excellent gift idea. The book is filled with fun, colorful illustrations that make reading easy. The author deals with the usual social ills of words, sex, temper, alcohol, money, work and friends. The strategy of the outline should not be overlooked: What is fatherhood? What are the issues? What will you do? As a father, leader and discipler of four (now seven) children and grandfather of five, this will certainly be a top shelf reference in my library. Men who understand and are in the game should strongly consider this book. If the cover picture doesn't hook you, don't buy it.

Best known to most for their bands, thrift stores and red kettles at Christmas, the Salvation Army is both a charity and a Christian church. As a charity, it is committed to education, relief of poverty, help for the homeless and refugees, and drug and alcohol rehabilitation. As a church, it is unabashedly committed to the advancement of the Christian religion as defined by eleven key doctrines which are conservative and evangelical in tone (pp. 675-676).
Especially interesting and authoritative articles in the dictionary include many biographical entries on past and present leadership. Naturally, much space is devoted to William and Catherine Booth, who founded the movement in the year 1865 in London's East End. Both of the Booths were excellent preachers and chose to focus their efforts on the poor. Their organization grew in large part due to their charisma, and many of their descendants have also played prominent roles in the organization.
Other articles detail the expansion of the Salvation Army's work into more than 100 countries. Work is currently conducted in 175 languages and the Salvation Army operates its charitable work on a budget in excess of 2.5 billion dollars annually. Expectations of true members (officers and soldiers) are high, including the expectation that they contribute to the ministry as large a proportion of their income as possible. However, much of the work of the Salvation Army is done by "adherents," people who have not taken the oath to become soldiers but otherwise embrace the teachings of the church, and by several thousand employees who serve in various capacities.
This book is a handy compendium of information on Salvation Army personnel and activities, and would be of interest to both scholars and lay readers. It does not give sources or bibliographic references at the end of each article, making further research difficult. It does, however, have an extensive bibliographic section near the end of the book.

If you've ever wanted to learn scratchboard (scraperboard in the UK) this slender book is a great place to start. The explanations are clear and detailed. Different types of scratch marks on different scratchboard surfaces are shown with plenty of illustrations so you can see what all the marks look like in finished pieces. There are chapters discussing light, shading and blending techniques, tonal values, patterns, use of mechanical aids such as french curves, etc. One of the last chapters of the book shows a gallery of scratchboard art.

I particularly liked the fact this book demonstrates a lot of different subjects. I've noticed that scratchboard art (at least on the Internet) seems to be dominated by wildlife art so it is refreshing to see other subjects shown here. The only subject this book doesn't cover which some of my other scratchboard books do is the use of color. However, I am trying to grade this book fairly by considering when it was first published - 1949. At that time color wasn't as much of a concern - particularly for a little book that was geared as an introduction to the medium. By today's standards I think it rates a 4 simply because there are other scratchboard books available that also include discussions of color. In 1949 I would've said it rated a 5. It also has the virtue of being more affordable than any other book on scratchboard I've yet found (and I have quite a few in my collection - including some that are out-of-print). If you are thinking of trying out scratchboard or are just a scratchboard fan this little book is a worthwile addition to any collection.

As a financier I found this book to be instructive, informative and specific. The Author sticks to what matters to a business owner, rather than what a bean counter would find interesting.

Using simple pro-forma financials to illustrate the effects of utilizing different stategies, Diener sheds light on the seemingly secret systems of business finance, and translates through the jargon of the trade. A must-read for any business serious about obtaining financing.

if you like stories of the artic, polar bears, and fun actionyou'll love this book!

Fantasy collections tend to be like the genre itself: a few gems among the dross. This collection is a refreshing exception, with many good stories and only a few that I didn't enjoy. Mike Ashley displays a great deal of knowledge about the genre and about what makes a good fantasy story.

"Mammoth Book" kicks off with an intriguing story by Theodore R. Cogswell, "The Wall Around the World," a HP-esque story of a wizard boy who yearns to cross an incredibly high wall that blocks off another part of the world. "Darkrose and Diamond" is one of Ursula Le Guin's returns to Earthsea, a touching little love story. Robert E. Howard's "Valley of the Worm" is a relatively dry piece of work about a warrior reliving a battle against a monster. Ashley then digs back to the very beginning of fantasy for George MacDonald's "Golden Key," a story about a young boy who finds a strange golden key. Another pre-Tolkien master is Lord Dunsany, whose chilling "Hoard of the Gibbelins" tells about a man's run-in with the goblin-like Gibbelins, who eat "nothing less good than man." Clark Ashton Smith's "The Last Hieroglyph" is a vaguely Dunsanian story taking place on a future time when the world is dying. Jack Vance's "Sorcerer Pharesm" is an intriguing story about the naive thief Cugel and the creature TOTALITY.

Darrell Schweitzer's "King Yvorian's Wager" is a very traditional-feeling fable about a proud king who makes a wager with Rada Vatu, a very sinister god. Fritz Leiber's "Howling Tower" is a story about a barbarian and his sidekick Gray Mouser, who find a strange tower in a wasteland, and a man who has been afraid for many years. Michael Moorcock and James Cawthorn bring back Moorcock's classic anti-hero Elric of Melnibone for an adventure with a love interest, ghouls, and a mad minstrel. Robert Zelazny brings Dilvish the Damned from Hell for a new battle in "Bells of Shoredan." Tanith Lee produces an intriguing, beautifully-written short story in "Hero at the Gates," where a strange man arrives to help a desert city escape an evil scourge. Patricia McKillip's beautiful "Lady of the Skulls" has a group of men arriving at the home of the mysterious Lady. Louisa Cooper's "Sunlight on the Water" is an excellent story, in which a man mourning his beloved late wife finds out a few things he hadn't noticed about her personality. Harlan Ellison's "Paladin of the Lost Hour" is about young Billy's friendship with the strange old Gaspar, who hides a secret side to his personality.

Theodore Sturgeon provides the slightly disturbing "Yesterday Was Monday," in which it is found that the world is only illusion. Charles de Lint's "Pixel Pixies" is a light fantasy about irritating little pixies and industrious hobs. Another classic fantasy is A. Merrit's "Moon Pool," a bizarre fantasy about strange and beautiful things along the moon path. Lucius Shepard's "Man Who Painted the Dragom Griaule" includes many of the usual trappings of fantasy, but thankfully does not fit into the ordinary mold. James P. Blaylock's "Nets of Silver and Gold" is an intriguing story about two childhood friends, one of whom definitely has an unusual outlook. Lisa Goldstein's "Phantasma of Q____" takes place in a world quite like ours, except slightly different in its fantasy elements, in which a phantasma has shown up in front of the author. James Womack earns an "Audience," a poignant story in which a curator tells a saddening story to the narrator. And the collection rounds out with Michael Swanwick's "Edge of the World," a slightly bizarre but very snappy story.

With a gorgeous, intricate cover and a foreword by Ashley before every story, this is obviously not a quick-and-dirty collection. Rather, it shows a great deal of thought. Only a few of the stories left me unaffected; I wasn't really impressed by Moorcock's, Howard's, or Sturgeon's. On the other hand, most of the others were ones I had not read before, and I enjoyed the introduction to underrated fantasy authors.

Fantasy fans searching for good, original, non-derivative reads should check out this book, for stories ranging from earliest fantasy to modern-day twists and turns. Good work, Mr. Ashley.

INSTANT COWBOY
Why would Michael Crowley want to get down and dirty working on his ex-wife's ranch, tending horses and feeding chickens? Dusty Tremayne sure didn't know, but, after all, she'd been married to the man a long, long time ago--and only for a few hours. The problem was that the memory of those few hours of wedded bliss had yet to fade....
Michael had his reasons for wanting to work on the ranch, and if Dusty stopped stomping off in a huff every five minutes, he just might sit her down and tell her EVERYTHING. But first, Michael had something to deal with himself, and then maybe, just maybe, he and the hotheaded lady could settle themselves down nice and comfy...