Non-fiction Books

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Bruce Coville knows how to capture a childs mind and make them feel like they are actually the character in the book. It helps so much if you start from the beginning of the series, because you are able to identify with the characters and how they feel and how they see things. He does a fantastic job of this in each individual book as well. Every kid who like sci-fiction, boy or girl, that I have recomended this book to- and others of the series- has loved this book. This series alone brings to mind several kids that hated to read- then loved it. Fantastic job.

I think this is the best book to conclude this series. READ IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

take: action, adventure, Rod, Seymour, Snout, Madame Pong, a few new characters, and add suspence, closure (EVERY loose end tied up) as well as a possiblility (a small one) of possible Albright stories in the future.

Coville is a GENIUS! Don't miss this one!

I /loved/ this last book. It was as enthralling as the previous three, if not more so. The only problem I had with it was that I didn't feel that the issue of Missing Atlantians was ever resolved.

Other than that, it's a great read. I'm 18, and like his Bruce Coville's other works, they're just as good to read as an adult as they are to read as a child.

An excellent book for the reading child. My daughter loved the charachers. From the grouchy captain Grakker to the diplomatic Madame Pong they all go looking for a snotty little villan named BKR.

I stumbled upon Bob Greene's All Summer Long a couple of years ago when I read his "Hang Time" book about Michael Jordan. The subject matter of several friends putting everything aside for a Summer and roadtriping around the country has always been appealing to me and this story didn't disappoint. Although this is a fictional account, you really feel as if the author is recanting a journey that he actually took. I found myself really wanting to do something like this someday as well. I highly recommend this book.

Bob Greene takes you back in time to a summer that you will never forget and in his usual way tugs on the memories and heart strings that remind you of the best that was. I couldn't wait to pick it up and was upset to put it down when I was finished.

With so many authors aiming for your wife's interests, it's great to finally have a novel written for a male's summer reading enjoyment. The book is an excellent summer escape -- it will take you back to long ago times that still seem so near and will keep you hopeful about the future. If you're a fan of Greene's columns or you just want to feel better about life, then you have to read this book!

This book will take the male reader - from 18 to 80 - on a fantasy ride that will hold his interest from page one to the end. This wasn't written to be considered "literature;" it simply entertains very well and gives the reader's his money's worth.

I'm now reading it for the second time. How many books get THAT award from readers?

No wonder Bob Greene's so much more well known as a columnist than a novelist. All Summer Long, while full of good writing and interesting situations, seems to me to be self-serving and melodramatic. If only this had been written as non-fiction, I would have not only believed it, but would have respected it. Instead, I could predict what would happen pages ahead of time and kept thinking that maybe I have can have career as a novelist after all. It's just not very interesting to anyone but the characters. If I ran into any of these guys in a airport or at a ballgame or in a hotel lobby, I'd not only think them quite unspectacular, but wouldn't dig too deeply into their lives, as I'm sure I'd be bored before they got around to reliving their first "adventure."

Oh, woe is the forty-three year old Midwestern male, who can't face the reality of everyday life. Sure, there isn't a person alive who wouldn't like to take the summer off and travel, but I don't know how many of us want to do it with a bunch of people that we were really only close to 25 years ago. Forget my friends from high school, I want to take off with the people who mean something to me today -- people with whom I have something in common besides having attended the same school two and a half decades ago. This is exactly why we have reunions every five years, not every day. For the most part, they have no relevance in our daily lives.

That said, I still enjoyed the escapism this book offers. Greene offers simple, but significant insights into human nature, especially those that I imagine for men in their mid forties. The trio's travels are both funny and sad, and Greene doesn't necessarily push the reader one way or another. Things just happen and the summer is over, just like it is for you and me. And just like yours and mine, no one can really say they're interested in these sad sacks.

Greene steals the title from the Beach Boys song, although a song more representative and equally sappy might have been Terry Jacks's Seasons In The Sun. They had joy, they had fun, they had a season in the sun. Big deal.

Excellent reading for those who suffer on America's HWY systems.

How things could be if we didn't coddle the incompetent!

This is a very well written book with prooving statistics - a very unbiased and credible book on the reasons behind America's irresponsibility and negligence for auto safety - and why we have failed in lowering death rates due to high-speed related accidents. This book explains in great detail the German philosophy of road safety and accident prevention that has gone to provide the world's safest automobiles and high speed auto networks. I'd recommend this book for a teenager beginning to drive so that he/she breaks the typical American-attitude towards auto safety.

This book should be required reading for all current and future interstate drivers. Rask provides a compelling argument as to why our interstate system is failing us, and what we can do to change it. If I could afford it, I would send a copy to each of my Congressmen.

With excellent illustrations by Mark Stehrenberger, Mark Rask tells the history of the Interstate Highway system in the U.S. and our silly obsession of "Speed kills," despite all proof it's stupidity that kills. Then he gives the history of the German Autobahn system and how the Germans, rather than try to restrict speed everywhere, made the roads, the drivers, and the cars safer. All three are models. Their fatality rate went down 70% because of their combined efforts (and a cultural abhorrence to drinking and driving). He explains precisely how the autobahns are designed safer, their drivers are better trained, and how safe their cars are. Then he goes on to give a plan for taking the best of their system and Americanizing it. It's a good read. I recommend it. I enjoyed it. Several people to whom I've recommended it have told me they enjoyed it, and it reveals some truths you won't discover if you listen to the U.S. Safety Establishment.

This book tracks the history of our interstate and the autobahn highways and presents compelling statistics that prove that our system of draconian speed enforcement plus artificially low speed limits is not working. There are numerous charts and graphs that show that Germany's fatality rate on the Autobahn has been consistently below ours for a number of years, while speeds have been rising on both systems. The author points out how and why we should be trying to generate support for upgrades to our highway system while conducting an experiment to increase and/or remove speed limits on our less crowded interstates.

What a wonderful and moving love story.
Ian Sinclair, 33 is shocked to find himself as appointed guardian of Colonel George Darlington's daughter. A child he has ignored most of her life.
Anne Darlington is a young woman of 19 turning 20 and completely content with the teaching job offered by Mrs. Kemp.
Mrs. Kemp is concerned for Anne's welfare and quietly informs former Major Sinclair that Anne deserves to be presented in London for her coming out season and an opportunity to find a suitable husband.

Ian's problem was in remembering the wonderful holiday seasons that he and his siblings enjoyed when they were younger. Darlington's lawyer informs Ian that Darlington has not been in contact with his daughter for a number of years.

Anne's sensibleness in gallantly facing an attempted hold-up and actually helping him because of his wounded leg started to put a crack in the protective cover he uses to guard his heart.

He is laid out with a fever and his brother, Valentine Sinclair, the Earl of Dare shows up with his pregnant wife, Elizabeth [MY LADY'S DARE].
Dare thinks Ian is foolish to take on the guardianship of Anne because of her father's part in nearly getting Ian killed.

Ah well, they go to London and with Elizabeth's help collect the necessary clothing needed for Anne's come-out. Then Anne meets Doyle Travener who wished to court her. She foolishly get mixed-up in a brawl over a chimney sweep child. Ian comes to the rescue and takes a bit of a beating which Doyle stops. And the plot thickens.

Dare is called again to see to his brother in his wounded state. Dare has informed Anne that he would gladly kill anyone who harmed his brothers. Too bad that Darlington is already dead.

It seems that Anne and Ian have speaking eyes and romance is blooming where it would not be acknowledge. Ian cannot marry someone because of the metal near his heart that could end his life at any time. He won't even inform the Earl of his problem or allow the doctor to speak of it either.

Ah, the misunderstandings of love. Even when Ian asked Anne to marry him she didn't trust him to love her. Duty and all that rot!
Anne was still wanting the love she saw when she spied Elizabeth and Val dancing in the moonlight in the garden [and barefoot no less].

Most excellent characters - great plot even if a bit obscured - enough little tid-bits and emotions to keep the plot going - and loved the inclusion of family problems and brotherly love.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - so far it is turning out to be a great trilogy +

I usually don't go for Regency romances, I tend to prefer contemporary romances, but this book was incredible! Ian Sinclair, a handsome war hero who is devoted to the principles of honor, comes back from war with potentially fatal wounds. He discovers that he is now the legal guardian of a child he has never met, the daughter of the man whose actions nearly killed Ian. Ian, however, does not wish to hold the father's shortcomings against the daughter, and travels to the rural school to take her to his home for the holiday season. Ian is shocked to discover that his ward is no child, but a young woman who steals his heart. Ever the gentleman, however, Ian could not bear to subject her to a life of anything less than perfection, and he knows he is hardly perfect. He instead plans a Season for her, to introduce her to the eligble bachelors of London society. When will he learn that he's Anne's perfect husband?

This book is almost perfect itself, and the characters are quite charming and realistic. I wish that more attention had been spent on the events that occur in the last part of the book. I also wish that some of the other themes had been emphasized - Anne's father's actions against Ian, for example, as well as the age gap between Anne and Ian (which seemed to be a slight problem in the beginning, but was not addressed at all in the remainder of the book). Altogether, however, Ian is everything a romantic hero should be, if you go for those war-hardened, gentlemanly types (and I do! WOOHOO! ;)) An excellent book, and definitely a keeper.

I loved Anne and Ian, the main characters of this story. Anne was a great heroine and Ian was everything that any reader could want in a Romantic hero. He was handsome and courageous and truly and deeply in love with Anne. He was so unselfish that he did not want to take advantage of her love for him by marrying her because he was severely wounded during the Napoleonic Wars. He is made Anne's guardian and decides to take her to London to get married to a young and suitable man. Ian loves Anne so very much and she returns his feelings, but he will not burden her with a man who is much older and wounded. If the story had concentrated on the relationship between Ian and Anne it would have been perfect. As it was written however, their relationship is not the main focus. The story again and again and again deals with a plot to kill either Ian or Anne or both. Unfortunately, that seriously detracts from what should have been the main focus of the book. All of the intrigue could have easily been disposed of in a couple of chapters and the rest of the novel should have dealt with the very real issues confronting this couple: their age difference, Ian's illnessas well as her father's role in their relationship. The villan's ultimate crime against Anne and their response to it should have taken up most of the book instead of a few pages at the end. As it is, the resolution was simply not believable. However, I am still recommending this book simply because Ian and Anne were wonderful characters, and it's been a long time since I've come across such a wonderful hero.

Having read three of Gayle Wilson's books by now, I SHOULD know better than to start one in the middle of the night! "I'll just read a few pages, to break the insomnia. . ." Yeah, sure, it's like eating just one cashew! I usually like sexier books, but the plots are so interesting, the characters so entirely likable, if not lovable, and the details so flavorful, that I loved this book. For once, the heroine did not do stupid things; she was level headed and loving. Although I was frustrated that Ian did not express his love for Anne (assuming, with cause, that he was about to die), I did not feel "Oh, come ON! You expect us to believe this impediment?" Sometimes romances' impediments are so stupid that no one would allow a misunderstanding, etc. to continue, but Gayle Chase does not write that. Another reviewer said that the ending was unbelievable, but I disagree. A good novelist's job is to create a world in which unrealistic events happen all the time and if she's good, the reader accepts them. I accepted that Ian and Anne overcame their many difficulties. I only wish Chase had written more after they achieved happiness. All in all, even if you don't usually like regencies, this one is a keeper!

Ian has serious physical disability from service in Peninsula War but, for love of his family, will not share burden. Then he finds himself responsible for Anne, his enemy's orphaned daughter. Unwilling to burden his brothers, how much less willing he is to burden this vibrant young woman who has chance to marry a healthy husband. After meeting Ian and sharing mutual rescues from very dangerous situations, Anne cannot imagine life without him. She is desolate when Ian tells her he cannot return her love. The solution to their problem is not cotton candy but strong meat for a "mere" regency novel. The courage, honor, integrity of these characters remind me of Patricia Veryan, Dorothy Dunnett, Joan Wolf.

I purchased this book for my son, a high school student who was assigned HUCKLEBERRY FINN in an American Studies class, and promptly fell in love with it. The commentary is delightful, and the many illustrations (many taken from the original edition,) photographs, prints, cartoons, and maps give a real sense of time and place. Homey details that might not be familiar to the modern reader are explained in some detail, as are customs of the time. The author includes material from Twain's notes and details about his life, always in a manner that illuminates the passage.

HUCKLEBERRY FINN frequently turns up on lists of banned books, and it's interesting to read of the controversy that dogged this story from the beginning. The particulars of readers' outraged sensibilities might change, but the response this book has always engendered suggests the timelessness of Twain's targets: ignorance, cruelty, hypocracy, racism. The story is a clear-eyed yet subversive look at a society in transition, and a relentless skewering of treasured myths concerning childhood. These themes remain as troubling today as they were in the 1840s, the supposed setting of the novel.

This book is an excellent resource for students and teachers, as well as for those of us who love Mark Twain's stories. The book itself is beautiful, with high quality paper and binding. A worthy addition to every library!

The greatest American novel, still. The country it sees is still in front of our eyes. The Americans it shows, we still are, though we live nearer to highways now than rivers. Twain's tale can be read both intellectually (yuck) as symbolic of the American quest for masterlessness (see Studies in Classic American Literature by D.H. Lawrence) and as a kid-on-a-raft-let's-see-what-happens story. Art and fun. Not an easy achievement to tie those two rascals together with one rope. Master of structure and flinger of fun though he be, the most exciting reason to read Twain is the language. The book is a hundred and sixteen years old, the writing ain't --"Steamboat captains is always rich, and get sixty dollars a month, and they don't care a cent what a thing costs, you know, long as they want it. Stick a candle in your pocket; I can't rest, Jim, till we give her a rummaging. Do you reckon Tom Sawyer would ever go by this thing? Not for pie, he wouldn't. He'd call it an adventure-that's what he'd call it; and he'd land on that wreck if it was his last act. And wouldn't he throw style into it?" --One caveat: Be careful the illustrations don't mess up the pictures the author can put in your head with his sentences.

No repeats of the due praise by previous reviewers. If you have never read Huck Finn before, do not start here, the annotations would make it difficult to read with a curious eye to the margin notes breaking up the flow, like watching a DVD movie with the director comments turned on. But do come back when your done a non-annotated version (or even audio); travel down the river again with the annotations by your side, here as lengthy as the book over again, a whole new magical worlds awaits in the margins; you will discover the hidden depths and meanings of one of the most important literary works about America ever written. An amazing book lovingly produced.

Mark Twain at his best...great pictures and annotation...that are first rate. Due to time restraints, I have only skimmed the book. What I have read is great. It is a Norton book...always-great editions. If weight means anything, then this is a heavy-duty book. I look forward to reading the entire book after graduation in the spring. In addition, it even looks good on the shelf....

Mark Twain opined that a classic is a book everyone wants to own but nobody reads!
However if you want to read Twain's best book with a full
critical apparatus, an introduction over 100 pages and excellent
illustrations this is the volume for you!
Anyone teaching Huckleberry Finn in high school or college should make use of Michael Patrick Hearn's well researched notes
which make this volume required reading.
I have read all of the Norton Annotated Classics and found this one (along with the Sherlock Holmes volume) the best.
Huckleberry Finn deals with the tragedy of 19th century slavery as Finn helps the black slave Jim escape down the mighty Mississippi river. In Huck's odyssey down the river he also travels from boyhood to manhood.
Twain's use of dialects is amazing as is his dissection of prebellum southern/southwest society rife with violence, bigotry, child abuse and cruelty.
Norton is to be commended for their series of classics opening up new ground for all students of Mark Twain. Excellent!

It's beautiful and teaches kids (and parents) how to appreciate art in a simple way. Lifelong lesson that demystifies art. Love it. It engaged my son since he was 3 and he's 4 and still loves it.

The story and illustrations are top-notch. This book is an excellent tool for children learning to appreciate art and artists. Every child should own a copy of this book!

Buyer beware -- these note cards fold to 3"x5".

My 4 year old granddaughter loves the book. I enjoyed seeing many famous works of art converted to elephant-views of the world -- a refreshing reframing of the familiar. All ages can benefit from this.

This is a review for the note cards. They are beautiful. The whimsical images lifted from the book are printed on decent/usable cardstock, and are definitely fine but the envelopes are much, much higher quality than you normally see in a product like this. The box itself is wonderful and will be something you keep long after the cards are all gone.

Just because this is children's literature dosen't mean it is just for children. If you have an appreciation of literature or even if your not a big reader, this story will warm you heart with its wonderful characters, lovely story and beautiful writing. So simply written, it can be read to children, so beautiful the writing people older than 8 will defenitely will enjoy!! Randall Jarell is in my opinion, one of the kings of children's literature!

Randall Jarrell has given us a beautiful little story here of a bat and Maurice Sendak has given us some wonderful illustrations in the form of black and white drawings. There is not much to not like about this work. The children love it, and the adult reading it to the children will find it just as interesting and hypnotic as the child, if not more so, but on a different level. The text is wonderfully simple and a pure joy to read. I recommened this one highly.

We had a "bat book drive" in my daughter's class because they needed more research material about bats for a project they are doing than we could find in the local library. Instead of only purchasing scientific-sounding non-fiction, I was also looking for story and poetry books in which the charateristics and habits of bats were woven throughout the stories and poems. I read this book to my eight-year-old daughter the night before we took it to class. She demanded that I give her the book so that she could read it again herself. And, with stars in her eyes, stated that the poem at the end about a bats life was the most beautiful thing she had ever heard, and that she would be memorizing it. It was amazing how much she had learned and remembered about bats after the first time through the book. Lovely illustrations as well.

A beautiful story, beautifully written, about a little bat who composes poetry. One of the best children's books I've ever read; I order several copies at a time and give them for birthday presents.

This book is a gem. It's tender, clever, and deftly written. It's wonderful for reading aloud. I had trouble finding it for years, and I'm so pleased to see that it's available again.

Figaro Magazine was right: "superb and staggering." Mrs Seidenman is at the epicenter of a collapsing world. She is beautiful and cultured, yet otherwise unremarkable. A disconnected cast of mostly ordinary, yet often remarkable, men women and children swirl about her on the brink of extinction. Seemingly underwritten, this telling of a horror for the ages almost sneaks up on you and gathers momentum until the very last page. It left me dazed and a little wiser.

I bought two copies of this book years ago so I could share it with a good friend and have someone to talk to about this wonderful, disturbing story. Sad to say, she's yet to read it. I've read it three times over the years and am moved and haunted still by the realism of the characters and their struggles for dignity and life. One day, I'll meet someone else who has read this book, and over a long cafe break, we'll discuss the imagery, the painful courage of the protagonists, and the latter day realities the Holocaust has left behind . . . . .

This one is along the lines of The Pianist. It's well written, and provides another view into a time that I still can't fathom.

I just finished reading this book aloud to my wife. "Beautifully written" would be too little praise for this piece of fine literature. I found it reminiscent of Tolstoy at his best, but it stands on it's own. Andrzej Szczypiorski tells the story, not of Mrs. Seidenman, but of humanity. The only thing that I can compare this book to is the film "Decalogue" by his fellow Pole Krystof Kieslowski. It is full of, how shall I put it?, perhaps "tenderness" for the plight, and the beauty, of people with all of their humanity. Like Tolstoy, he does it without sentimentality and allows us to see beyond the surface of each character. And, also like Tolstoy, he does so with words, sentences, paragraphs, that seem to flow effortlessly.

Do not be decieved that this is merely a novel "about" the holocaust, or Poland, or Catholicism. It is about people. From the sympathetic whore who gives shelter to a desperate Jewish boy to the Nazi who orders the deaths of Jews. We discover that neither the whore nor the Nazi could have done anything other than what they did.

A wonderful writer. A wonderful book. Not just a good read but a great experience.

The Beautiful Mrs. Seidenman is one of the most beautifully written novels I have ever read. The author deftly weaves together several people's lives which converge during the same time period. There are no distilled characterizations of heroes or demons; rather, fairly ordinary and yet complex people who are trying to figure out how to live and survive in Nazi occupied Warsaw. To further exemplify how ordinary the characters are, Szczypiorski projects each person into their future to let the reader know what will become of him or her. This can be an artifical plot device but in this case, it is highely effecting. Moreover, it does not take the reader so much out of the present, rather it helps one to better undertand the complexity of each character--no matter how "simple" he or she may seem. This is a very full reading experience. It is thought provoking, affect laden and a really well told story. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the Holocaust and/or Poland.

My son likes the book. It was on a list on a dentists web site to help him cope with his first dentist visit.
I recommend this book.
Mike Carrillo

This book helped me get through life and showed me the true path to spiritual enlightenment.

The world lost a real gem of a writer when Stan Berenstain passed on November 29. Together, Berenstain and his wife, Jan, and eventually their two sons, created books featuring lovable but flawed characters who tackle just about every real issue that faces families.

Going to the dentist is something that most kids (and adults!) fear. And why not? It's invasive, uncomfortable, and sometimes painful to have someone poking around in your mouth with metal objects. However, it's necessary, and having a healthy attitude about it will promote lifelong oral health. This book is a great place to start if you're looking to help alleviate your child's fear about going to the dentist. It'll help open up a dialogue about your kid's fears and help you to explain why the dentist is so important. Wonderful!

Grab this book - this one should be in every library! It's a great hit at our house because in places, it's quite funny! Sister wakes up one morning with a loose tooth and thus, talks funny! The words are spelled as such so my little one gets quite the chuckle out of how sister says certain "s" words! Anyway, sister spends the entire day wiggling her loose tooth until it's time to take brother to the dentist for his checkup. The dentist finds that brother has a cavity and lets sister stand over the chair and watch while he fills brother's tooth. Brother does try to torment sister quite a bit about how the dentist is going to "yank our her loose tooth," so she is somewhat timid to get into the chair. However, she does and while she is busy asking questions and looking at the dentist's "yanker," the dentist feels her tooth in a cloth, wiggles it around and out it comes! Sister had no idea it even happened! She's pretty excited and thrilled about all of it and was very glad that brother was wrong about the yanker! She gets a dime from the tooth fairy and was very excited!

This book does an excellent job in describing what happens when you go to the dentist. It's great for getting rid of those little jitters and it really is accurate. Great job and I highly recommend it!

i love it,so does my son! he will be making his first trip to the dentist soon-ad at 29m old we need all the help we can get!

the only part that is questionable is how Sister gets her loose tooth pulled.It even gave me the willies!

Before there was Monty Python, there was Myles. He was by far the crankiest, most learned and original comic genius of 20th-century English prose; there's simply nothing else like him. (Well, maybe there are 3 or 4 moments in "Duck Soup" that are like him.) And when you realize that this is the same guy who, under a different name, wrote "At Swim-Two-Birds" (one of the five or so funny novels for whose sake the Lord does not destroy the Earth)-- well, it's time to just surrender and enjoy.

Plus, the current Dalkey Archive edition (the publisher's name is itself a Myles reference) is handsomely made... good-quality paper and so on, don't you know. It makes a difference.

Mise, le mas, ....

A friend lent me his copy (an Irish edition) of this book five or more years ago, and I've been searching for my own copy ever since. I'm delighted to find it's been reprinted and I just placed my order.

I envy anyone who has not yet read this book of collected columns and essays -- the outrageous details of the Ventriloquists' War, the intricacies of the Catechism of Cliche, and the wisdom of the Brother all await your delighted discovery.

Have a blast.

Good humour is something everybody likes and I yearn for. For quite a long time I thought that there could hardly be anything better, or at least as good as Ephraim Kishon's short satires or Douglas Adams' space phantasmagories. It was hard even to imagine something like that because I was sure my stomach would disintegrate after something like that. And than I ran into Flann O'Brien's The Best of Myles. Indeed, that was the first time for me to get familiar with him and certainly the best possible. His columns are far than hillarious, obviously because he plays with things we consider as common, everyday problems, and maybe not even problems. All the wild thoughts one could get in moments of being very bored O'Brien would write down and bring to their final reductio ad absurdum. He wouldn't wait to be stopped, he would just carry on scribbling complete nonsense, dipping even into some other languages like Latin or Gaelic in a wild rage of an admirable inspiration.
Yes, one more thing that admire him for. He would deal with Gaelic and even write in it, he would mock with politics and politicians, with history and society and even so, he managed to stay completely non-political. At least he left his columns that way. The Best of Myles is best to read before his longer and more ambitious works like The Third Policeman or At Swim-Two-Birds. And also after them.

this compilation contains, without qualification, THE funniest writing of the twentieth century, so it seems churlish to list complaints. Some of these are unavoidably the nature of the material - Myles na Gopaleen wrote a regular column for an Irish newspaper for a quarter of a century, so the very local concerns discussed in some of the pieces render them impenetrable to all but Irish historians.

The biggest problem is with the editing, or lack thereof. There are no explanatory notes offering historical, social or political context; there are no translatoins of the many German, Latin, Irish etc. interpellations. One could argue that this leaves us in the same position as those first newspaper readers, but Myles' predominantly middle-class audience could boast a sound classical education and a greater familiarity with the allusions so liberally scattered here than we do today.

Finally, the decision not to print the pieces chronologically (none of them are dated), but by subject, distorts the work, handicaps its versatility and can lead to repetition and tedium.

That 'the Best of Myles' remains one of the last century's few genuinely important books is entirely due to the indestructible persona(e) of Myles himself, hypercultured, alcoholic, visionary verbal contortionist with pretensions to aristocratic heritage. His phlegmatic invective at local problems such as sewage systems and the civil service are less valuable than his assault on language as it had (has?) degenerated into cliche and received opinion in the culturally sterile Ireland of the 1940s and 50s; and in his post-modern project of demolishing hierarchies of linguistic and artistic endeavour. Reading Myles has a bracing effect - he forces you out of habitual mental laziness; forces you to think HARDER.

Flann O'Brian is absolutely one of the greatest practitioners of language. This collection of his work, "The Best Of Myles", is some of the finest writing I have ever had the pleasure to read. Gaelic, English, French, German, and Latin, are 5 languages he writes fluently. He is the personification of all that is famous of Irish Wit. There appear to be few topics he did not comment upon or release a withering appraisal with pinpoint precision.

Mr. O'Brian wrote for a daily newspaper until his death in 1966. The volume and quality of the written material he produced is amazing. This 400-page book is one of five that are available and that I intend to read. There is virtually nothing about his personal history in this volume, so hopefully there is a biography in print documenting the time he spent learning and practicing his craft. The only downside to this book is that some is in Gaelic with no translation, and there are many articles that will seem to exist in isolation if the reader does not have some knowledge of Irish History. Even if these commentaries were removed, the balance of the work would still be a remarkable literary performance.

Some of the best pieces were his comments on the affectation in so many facets of daily life. And his specific attacks on, "bores", and all the pretensions of the world of modern art, and those who would pretend to posses knowledge of which they are bereft. He creates institutes and foundations and companies dedicated to servicing frauds and exposing the truth. Much is for pure fun, but like all humor contains truth. He offers the services of a company that will come to the home of any illiterate with a library, and his people will either rummage through your books for a pittance, or for a more substantial sum, will dog-ear pages, write brilliant marginalia, and leave tickets and programs to various cultural events as though they were misplaced bookmarks. And for those who have the funds, books will receive forged inscriptions from their authors, and letters of thanks to the book's owner for their help with a particularly difficult passage.

This book came at the end of 2001 for me. I hate lists of the best of the year; however nothing I have read this year surpasses this book, absolutely nothing!