Non-fiction Books

Well, shoot, I first read this novel 20 years ago and I fell for it as if I were a termite eaten trunk of any sort that stood in those piney woods. Finest kind, boy howdy. This novel is special, well, yes. It's special alright. But it's a whole lot more than that. This novel is not just a good read but uniquely so. So, get to it!

This little book ranks with "To Kill A Mockingbird" or "In Cold Blood" as a truly American classic.

Told through a "secret" narrator (at least secret until the final pages of the book), "Jujitsu for Christ" takes place in early 60's Mississippi during the initial struggle of black men, women and children to be free of the legacy of slavery. Although the books feature character Roger Wing is a young white man living in a primarily black neighborhood in Mississippi; the real main character of the book is not a character at all. It is the weaving of all of the characters as author Jack Butler adroitly links the attitudes, mores, people and historical time into an entertaining and yet deeply truthful book.

"Jujitsu for Christ" is a wonderful piece of literature that leaves nothing to chance and is a clear demonstration of the laws of Karma.
If you have the chance to read this book you might find that it changes, however minutely, how you think about the world.

I can't believe it's out of print, either. This novel is one of the finest examples of contemporary American fiction of the past 20 years.

I've kept copies of this book around for years just to pass out to friends. I've even taught this book in an English class. This slim little book is laugh-out-loud funny in places, heartbreaking in others. A simple description of the plot would not do this book justice. "Jujitsu for Christ" is about race relations, martial arts, comic books, super heroes, human heroes, born-again baptists, left-out losers, and the need we all have to connect with others and be included. The language of the book is sheer Southern poetry, flowing like sweet cherry wine from one word to the next, without ever being over-wrought or artificial. Displaying his mastery of language and cadence, Butler commits to paper in two pages of rhythmic, run-on sentences the most spot-on accurate description of summer in the deep South that's ever been written and goes on to pull off an astonishing narrative "trick" halfway through the book that impacts the novel's entire point of view. This is a beautiful book worth reading again and again. That it's out of print is a sad commentary on the state of publishing in America. Find it. Read it. Treasure it.

Jack Butler, son of a preacher man, should be a national treasure. The man who brought us "Living in Little Rock With Miss Little Rock" and "Dreamer" first brought us this treasure of growing up in the south.

Complex race relations, uncertain zealotry, budding sexuality all mix well in this stew. Go to your local library (they probably have a copy) and give it a read. I finally found a good used copy and treasure it.

This is a cute short story that is fun to share with your little boy. Mommy or Daddy can read about how father and son are similar. Simple, easy to follow theme that your little boy will love.

I won't give the ending away, but this story is sweet, simple and the art is old fashioned, which is always a treat! Whether Mom or Dad read this one, it always seems to bring a smile to the little one's face when the last page is read aloud.

This is a great book as a read aloud and read along. It's patterned text is very appealing and the surprise ending is great. I give this book as an extra baby gift, because it is so cute. I have probably purchased 10 of these already!!

Frank Asch was on my entering kindergartners Summer Reading List (they simply stated "anything by this author") and to tell you the truth we were not familiar with his work.

Boy were we missing out. We love his stories. They are simple and sweet and really manage to spark a child's imagination.

The other reviewers' have done an excellent job outlining the story, so all I will add is that our household was captivated by this book. We go around finding things that we do "just like daddy".

Lots of fun and a good read.

**See also, www.frankasch.com for the author reading some of his stories. My kids just loved it!

This book will be most appealing to 2-4 year olds. Although it seems to portray a boy and his father, my younger daughter emulated me at those ages just as much as my sons did. This book describes her behavior just as well as it does the boys' emulations.

The book opens with images of big shoes that are not filled. The symbolism is obvious and rewarding.

The book features three bears, a Daddy and Mommy bear and a young bear. The book has a series of lines about what the young bear does, each of which ends with a refrain "Just like Daddy."

"When I got up this morning I yawned a big yawn . . . " "Just like Daddy."

"I washed my face, got doressed, and had a big breakfast . . ."

"Then I put on my coat and my boots . . ."

"I picked a flower and gave it to my mother . . ."

" . . . I put a big worm on my hook . . ."

Then the last line is:

"I caught a big fish . . ."

and you see a big fish being held by another hand on the side.

And the finish is: " . . . Just Like Mommy!" Mommy has caught a big fish, too, while Daddy has a minnow. In the final scene, each bear is cooking her or his own fish in a separate frying pan over a campfire.

The illustrations are unusually large, clear, and simple. This complements the book's simple humor. It is that combination that pegs this book for 2-4 year olds. The book can be a good basic reader, as well, for 3-5 year olds. On the other hand, if you child loves it at 6, that's great, too!

After you finish this story, think about how other people emulate you. What can you do to make that process easier and more successful for those doing the emulating?

Follow the best role model . . . always!

Don't be deceived by the silly romance cover. This is a good sf/fantasy novel. McDonald has fun parodying Victorian and cyberpunk fiction in this story tracing three generations of Irish women's interaction with the "mygmus" (mythoconsciousness).

Katherine Kurtz calls McDonald 'a poet masquerading as a novelist'. She's right. McDonald has essentially written 2 novellas and a novel. Each is very different in terms of sense of time, and even place, although Ireland is the locale of all three tales. Inteconnected, yes; still, each stands well on its own.
'Craigdarragh' is an Irish manor estate at the cusp of World War 1, specifically 1913. Chiefly through diary entries, we meet Emily Desmond and her parents, Edward and Caroline. Emily, at 13, is a very imaginative girl on the verge of sexual awareness. Edward is an eccentic astronomer, confounde by his daughter, who risks family name and fortune to communicate with what he believes to be alien visitors fom the stars. Caroline is a respected poet with more than a slight acquaintance with her daughter's interest in the Otherworld.
Emily's explorations of Bridestone Wood, and its repercussions, form one story line. Edward's obsessin with alien visitors marks the second. Along the way we are introduced to a blind musician and his female companion, a dancer. There is Dr. Hannibal Rooke, a paranormal investigator. Finally, the poet William Butler Yeats. The musician, the dancer and the doctor will visit in the other tales.
'The Mythlines'- Jessica Caldwell is one of three sisters in Ireland during the 1930s. An artist, she has big dreams at 17 and 3/4. She also has an attitude problem. Tiresias and Gonzaga, a pair of 'itinerant journeymen,' are trying to find her, for Jessica is beginning to see the mythlines, borders between our world and Faery. She is seeing Dr. Rooke, who has an interest in helping Jessica confront her past. Then, there's Damian, her new boyfriend. member of the I.R.A.
'Shekinah' introduces us to Enye MacColl, a twenty-something in advertisement by day. By night she battles the phaguses of the Otherland, using Japanese swordfighting techniques. Enye, too, sees the mythlines; as a child she invented a complete world in her grandmother's garden.
Along the way, we meet Jaypee, Saul, Elliot, Mr. Antrobus, and the Midnight Children. All play an important part in Enye MacColl's journey.
Three women of Ireland. Each forced to confront great tragedy. Ian McDonald does an excellent job at telling their stories.
'In its contemporary form, the pookah has been demythologised by the centuries into another member of the pantheon of fairies major and minor- a rural Puck figure, generally good-natured, if prone to ocassional acts of minor domestic mischief. In its ancient manifestations, the pookah has been terrible and dangerous, the spirit of the forest itself, with its roots in the racial memory of the woolly mammoth of the periglacial fringelands, hunting with tusk and claw and sinew the sights of the Mesolithic settlers.'

= Original and unusual
Reviewer: cont1nuity from Ipswich, Suffolk United Kingdom
King of Morning, Queen of Day is tracking the lives of three generations of women born to the ability to see and manipulate human mythoconsciousness. From the age of Yeats to a period not far past modern day, we travel with the women as they discover their powers and face the parallel world opened by their perceptions. Each has a unique take on what they are dealing with and each finds her own rite of passage, encountering those that help and those that hinder along the way. Characters are vividly described and the plotting becomes tighter and more accomplished as the novel progresses, with the last, science-fiction third standing out as most original and unusual.

I first read this novel about ten years ago, and reread it faithfully every year. It's a lyrical exploration of the lives of three generations of Irish women entangled by a supernatural force that they don't understand but can't escape. Haunting and riveting, it remains in my thoughts even today.

I knew, just by reading the back cover blurb, that this book was right up my alley. Women with mystical powers? Check. Faeries? Check. Ireland? Check. In fact, I think the only reason I didn't discover this book earlier is that it was published in 1991, and I only started reading fantasy sometime in the late nineties.

The story begins with Emily, a bratty but endearing girl of fifteen, poised on the edge of adulthood in the early 20th century. Emily knows she is special, set apart-and when she sees the faeries in the wood by her family's home, she knows she will never be satisfied with ordinary life. Emily makes a colossal mess of things, as bratty fifteen-year-olds will do, and sets in motion events that will affect generations to come.

What follows is a fairy tale, but not precisely a tale of faeries; it's more of an exploration of the nature of reality and of myth, as seen through the eyes of Emily and two other women: Jessica, a glib-tongued teenager of the 1930s whose tall tales have an uncanny way of coming true; and Enye, a woman of the late 1980s, torn between everyday life and a battle with supernatural forces from the world beyond.

This is a stunning story and one that I'll probably reread over and over again. It doesn't suffer one bit from the ailment that afflicts so many multigenerational novels-the tendency for one or more of the intertwined stories to lack luster. All three of the women, and their lives and times, are vivid and passionate. And I must say, there are few male authors who can write such nuanced and three-dimensional female characters. Get your hands on a used copy of this. I wish they'd reprint it...

Nebraska, 1875

LAND OF DREAMS is an endearing tale of a self-believed plain spinster and a man with dreams of a serene life with his disabled orphaned niece, Zoë. Ex-military Major Booker Hays finds not only a loving and protective mother for young Zoë, but an alluring wife to soothe his soul. Thea Coulson discovers motherhood to be everything she dreams about and Booker Hays to be the man of those dreams.

A quick and easy read about an enjoyably sensitive story!

This was the first book that I have read by this author...and I wasn't disappionted. Booker Hayes has come for his niece who Thea has been raising. Thea is considered too tall for any man to want and doesn't trust that Booker wants her for herself and not just as a mother for his niece. If you are looking for a story that leaves you with a happyending this is a book you want to read.

A marriage of convenience leads to passion between Booker Hayes and Thea Coulson.

Booker Hayes is the perfect romantic hero: passionate, hard-working, reliable, and a good, caring father. Thea is practical, industrious, and level-headed, with an underlying sensuality that Booker releases. Their love for a young girl brings them together, and the love they find for each other keeps them together. This is a great romance, with interesting supporting players and touching, even heart-wrenching scenes involving abused children. Definitely five stars.

This is the 4th book that I have read by C. St. John and every one is a keeper. I highly recommend that this one is added to your library.

Ex-Major Booker Hayes finds a jewel of the prairie in Thea Coulson when he is trying to locate his little niece. He is not looking for a wife but does not let opportunity pass him by.

Little Zoe needs a mama and someone to love her [and help plant her acorn] -- Thea needs some one to love her and banish her too-tall image and provide her with a family of her own.

Lucas needs both Thea and Booker to bring stability to his life and to teach him to trust adults. And of course, Booker's friend, Red Horse helps even though he remains in the back ground of their lives.

Finally a heroine who remains true to herself and waits for a husband to teach her the mysteries of love. [Real love and respect]. And does she tantilize him! [grin] - Truly a great story of basic need and love and sharing. She stands by her man.

There are not enough words to express the satisfaction and enjoyment ones gets from these truly human characters.

Heroine:  very tall, statuesque

     Handsome ex-soldier Booker Hayes is on a desperate search for his niece: his only remaining relative since his sister and brother-in-law were taken by the Influenza. His trek leads him to the hell that is a 19th century New York city orphanage, but he comes away empty-handed when he discovers his young ward has been sent out west for adoption. 

Good-natured Thea Coulson is willing to help people to the point of letting them walk all over her. The townsfolk, assuming she'll do anything for charity since she's an old maid, ask her to organize a meal for some recently-arrived orphans and their prospective new families. Thea agrees and her tender heart, which goes out to anyone in need, now aches for unwanted six year old mute and crippled Zoe Galloway. The older woman bonds with the tow-headed child and offers to take her in, hoping against hope that somehow she'll be allowed to keep her.
 
Thea's dreams of motherhood are dashed when Zoe's uncle arrives at her Nebraska home and takes the child away to his own piece of land nearby. Realizing he can't build a house and business while watching over Zoe at the same time, Booker offers a compromise to Thea: be his housekeeper and take care of Zoe for him. Willing to do anything to be closer to Zoe and Booker, Thea takes on the job. But tongues start wagging, and Major Hayes decides to offer his lovely housekeeper marriage in order to save her reputation from the bitter town tabbies. Though she yearns for more, Thea accepts his proposal and becomes his wife-in-name-only.

Trouble begins to brew when Booker's friend and ex-army buddy, a Native American by the name of Red Horse, joins the Hayes family in a whites-only hotel dining parlor, which leads to a shooting at their homestead and threats of jail-time (or worse) for Booker from the bigoted Marshal and townsfolk. Will Booker and Thea survive the dangers of the western frontier long enough to be able to see past their marriage of convenience and realize the love they have for each other?  
     
What worked for me:

     Thea and Booker were an enjoyable couple and easy to feel sympathetic with. In addition to having such a warm and tender romance they managed to stir up some pretty good sparks between them in some rather steamy love scenes.  

Tall blonde Thea (think supermodel Emme) felt uncomfortable with her height at the beginning of the story but gradually overcame her feelings as she began to trust Booker.

What didn't work for me:

The plot was fairly predictable; you have a pretty good idea who the villain is and how (s)he will be unmasked. 

Overall:

    This was a very pleasant read. The story is well-written, features a large cast of interesting characters, and provides enough small details to give an authentic frontier flavor. Fans of Western Historicals should enjoy this one.

i was about 18 when i read "the last stand" for the first time. it hooked me from the start. mick farrens descriptions of battle scenes,people and technology never give too much info and never go into small details-and yet, they manage to give a very clear picture of every scene in the book.
the charecters are not your typical heros.they are not good people nor bad,and thats what makes them so special-what makes it so easy to identify with the charecters.
every weapon and every scene are described by farren with such colourful language and descriptions,that you FEEL like you were actually standing there,fighting some of crystallights worst scum to save renata de-lux, reeve using his awesome figherpower,spinning his guns like a madman,the
minstral right behind him and billy backing you up.

i only found out through AMAZON that there were previous DNA cowboys books, but unfortunately they are very hard to come by.

this book is a must - if you can get one. they are getting hard to come by.

good luck.

Where it is almost impossible to find an SF novel nowadays that doesn't spend infinite amounts of time with self psycho-analysis by its characters and an inevitable philisophical miasma, The Last Stand of the DNA Cowboys dispenses with the crap, and gets right down to some quality ass-kicking Sci-Fi. Despite the fact that the prose doesn't display the typical excessiveness of most modern SF, the characters are well rendered, the scenes and plot devices form clearly in one's imagination, and the plot actually makes its way to a solid conclusion. Imagine, a SF/Fantasy book that actually has an ending!

I read it when it first came out, lost my copy somewhere down the road, and expended no small effort to secure myself another copy even after it was out of print. For what it's worth, Amazon finally got it for me.

An excellent book! The only problem is you could never get the other DNA Cowboy books that preceeded it here in the US, only in the UK. Now that this one is out of print, chances of ever seeing those are slim. The good news is that this is a great stand alone novel, you don't need the others to enjoy this one! If you can get a copy, it is well worth it! Next to "Vickers" this is one of Farren's best works!

This book was alot of fun to read. The characters were well developed and interesting. The story was great. What more can I say.

The Quest of the DNA Cowboys, a trilogy by Mick published inthe fabulous 70's, has been heralded as the 'lost' classic ofadventure/pulp sci-fi novels. A long, entertaining tale of the picaresque misadventures of the 'DNA cowboys' (is the Minstrel not Mick's semi-biographical persona?), the original trilogy, of which this book is the purported finale, is a literary LSD head-trip thru Mick's unique, hallucinatory fantasy-scape of kung-fu movies, sphaghetti westerns, high-tech magnificence and dazed drugged decadence. In short, a deliciously addictive mixture of 70's Americana pop culture. The original trilogy is now very very rare and fanatically sought after by fans. This new book is a delightful surprise when it first came out, for no one had expected Mick to retread the DNA Cowboy gambit. A few continuity problems asides (poor Mick did not seem to have re-read his earlier work before writing this 'sequel'!), this latest installment is no less entertaining than the earlier ones, and has clearly benefitted from Mick's experience as a writer since. A rewarding and highly amusing read, a must-BUY!
Visit Mick's webpage
http://www.thanatosoft.freeserve.co.uk/

THE LAW AND MISS HARDISSON is delightful and an easy read. This one will capture your heart!

Thank you dear Lynna Banning for such a marvelous story ! An excellent book to spent a great afternoon with a smart Texas-Ranger and a lovely lawyer. I love it - even here in France, now, you've got a fan !

Lynna Banning proves that romance writing can and should be terrific WRITING. I'm in awe of her style and precision in the language. Did I also mention that she is a meticulous researcher and great storyteller?

Clayton Black was sure intrigued by the hat with the cherries.
His one sure way of identifying Irene Hardisson.

Irene Hardisson was raised and practiced law in Philadelphia, she wasn't used to the barbaric way of handling the law in Crazy Creek, Oregon.

She didn't agree with the concept of bringing in a prisoner, dead or alive. But she did like the challenge of games and wondered why her father was against learning to play poker.

As luck would have it, Clayton was willing to teach her. He just wasn't sure who was winning and losing, her or him.

Irene was certainly invading his thoughts and almost making him forget why he was in Crazy Creek, him being a Texas Ranger.

Follow the fumbles and foibles of Irene and Clayton discovering an attraction that was leading them to the unthinkable emotion called Love. How could either expect the other to give up their way of life. He has a ranch in Texas and she has a life in Oregon.

Highly Recommended --M definitely worht reading.

Once again, Lynna Banning brings us a delightful story set in the Wild West of days gone by. This time, heroine is the spunky Irene Hardisson, a lady lawyer in an era when such women were unheard of. When an act of violence deposits the good-looking Texas Ranger Clayton Black on her doorstep, you just know the sparks are going to fly between these two hard-headed, passionate people. The female characters in Lynna Banning's stories are independent and know their own mind, while still managing to be feminine. The male heroes are gorgeous and kind, a great combination. I enjoyed this intriguing tale, and look forward to more wonderful stories from this talented author. - Sharon Galligar Chance

This book was given to my oldest child and has been the favorite of all 3 so far. The older 2 have each signed their name in it, trying to claim ownership. The stories are about 10-15 minutes and are well illustrated. I reglued the binder once. It's the best bedtime story book we have.

This book is one of my favorites. It has many short stories that I like to read. When I was a little kid my dad would read me stories from this book. The stories were very entertaining to me. After my dad read to me I would go to bed and we would both be happy. I remember him reading stories from it to my little brother. My brother liked this story too. Neither of us read these stories very often, but we don't want to get rid of the book because it is so good. I would recommend this book for anyone.

My sister received this book at the same time that I received "Treasury of Fairy Tales." Although I personally like the Fairy Tales better, this book has as many great, colorful pictures as the other one, and they differ in the style of drawings, which I liked. This had a few of the stories that are in the Treasury of Fairy Tales, which I enjoyed comparing the story and pictures to. Treasury of Bedtime Stories is indeed a remarkable book filled with great stories to keep the children interested. The stories in this book are:
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Hansel and Gretel
Henny Penny
Puss in Boots
Jack and the Beanstalk
The Little Red Hen
Snow White
The Three Little Pigs
The Tortoise and the Hare
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
Cinderella
The Ugle Duckling
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Sleeping Beauty
Rumpelstiltskin
The Three Billy Goayts Gruff
Beauty and the Beast
Little Red Riding Hood
The Gingerbread Man

I can't choose a favorite out of these, because they are all really great, but the ones that I think have the best pictures are Beauty and the Beast, Goldilocks, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty.

This is a book that I strongly recommend be bought for your children, because they will thank you when they are older for giving them the opportunity to grow up with this book.

I bought this book about a year and a half ago and my daughter who is now 6 still enjoys this book. I used to read her stories from it every night because it is her absolute favorite. Eventually, she started picking up the book and reading me stories from it. It is not only great because it is written in a way that small children can understand, but, as stated before, it allows children to develop the skills to read alone.

It is a great buy.

My 3 year old son loves these stories. We started including this book as a bedtime book choice when he was about 2 1/2. They're the perfect story length when your child is too old for the little board books, but not yet ready for the original full-length story.

The book "Letters from Vinnie" is about a teenage girl who follows her dreams. She started sculpting and knew it was what she wanted to do in life. After sculpting a brilliant bust of President Lincoln's head, she entered a contest to sculpt a statue in remembrance of Abraham Lincoln. Though her lover Boudy wants her to stop sculpting and, marry him, she rejects the proposal because of her passion for sculpting. By winning the contest she gets $5,000 and decides to use it on a vacation to Europe with her parents. When things go wrong in Vinnie Ream's life she stands strong and fights her way through them.

THis is a great book for lovers of art, romance, and Civil War history. Vinnie is an intriging person that draws you in from page one- worth your time

I recentely finished "Letters from Vinnie" , a story of a young girl's letters from herself to her Counsin Regina. The time period is the time of Abraham Lincoln , and the subject on everybodys mind: Whether this war will end. Vinnie Ream , finds herself falling in love with sculpting and Abraham Lincoln himself. When she finally gets a grant to sculpt Mr.Lincolns head after his faitful death , all changes for Vinnie Ream. This book is based on true accounts and true characters.

I recentely finished "Letters from Vinnie" , a story of a young girl's letters from herself to her Counsin Regina. The time period is the time of Abraham Lincoln , and the subject on everybodys mind: Whether this war will end. Vinnie Ream , finds herself falling in love with sculpting and Abraham Lincoln himself. When she finally gets a grant to sculpt Mr.Lincolns head after his faitful death , all changes for Vinnie Ream. This book is based on true accounts and true characters.

History has always been fascinating to me.When I picked up the book, Letters From Vinnie by Maureen Stack Sappéy, I was transported back through time to Washington D.C. during the Civil War. There, through a girl's letters to her best friend, Regina I learned about Vinnie Ream, a high spirited, stubborn, head-strong individual. In the year 2000 with the advanced computers, e-mail, chat rooms, cell phones, and overnight rush delivery services, it's pleasant to read an author's version of a letter from a time period over one hundred years ago. The letters were composed so well that I actually began to believe that those letters were real and that I was Regina! You may not agree that learning about the hard life of an unwanted sculptress isn't the best plot for a book, but guess what? To me it is!

Paula Sunray's book "Life Skills for the New Millennium" is a precious guide for people in search of their true potentiality. This book is a great source of inspiration and encouragement to anyone interested in full living.

I like it! We can all profit from reading this insightful book. It feels right!

Here's a book that is destined for a place on my shelf that holds the best life-changing books I've read. It offers the best news you can get for this hysterically heralded turning point in history. For example, the world's rules are made up, no belief is worth fighting about, "absolute truth" changes, you get to invent yourself and you are a vessel that you get to fill with whatever you want.

One of the points Sunray makes is that we cannot be separate from God with whom we are co-creators. Specifically, we are creating ourselves.

Reading what Sunray has to say will improve our lives and relationships in direct proportion to our application of initiative.

excepted from Phoenix Newspaper review by Audrey De La Martre

Rev. Paula Sunray has written an insightful book that I highly recommend to everyone interested in developing a practical approach to active interchange.

Paula Sunray has been teaching classes on personal growth and metaphysical spirituality for 17 years. Dr. Sunray writes crisply and concisely. She introduces the concept of our Low Self and High Self. What are these selves anyway? They are Ego and Intuition. Dr. Sunray describes the behavior of both parts of ourselves to help the reader recognize the actions or feelings associated with them. Illusion is also explored.

This is a compact course in spiritual development. Many important ideas are given a fresh outlook. Power and Relationships, Struggling with Your Inner Dragons, Forgiveness, Processing Your Feelings. These self-actualization concepts are presented here in easy to comprehend language and style.

Dr. Sunray also offers ten powerful suggestions for Enlightenment. The most powerful techniques are the most simple. Let Go. Have Fun. Stay positive and expect the best. Life Skills for the New Millennium can bring forth your greatest potential. The energy of your own choice affects the entire world.

excerpted from print review by Marti Eicholz

Having met the author, Lester Atwell, and interpreting his comments about his youth, it is concievable that this wonderful treasure, Life with its Sorrow, Life with its Tear" is, indeed, a "curtained autobiography" of his days of youth. Truly a gentleman with an incredible sense of humor and memory! He was legally blind when we met him in 2001, shortly before his death. A veteran of WW11 as an infantryman in the 87th Infantry Div. of General Patton's 3rd Army, Atwell also wrote,"Private," his experiences in the European Theater 1944-1945. WELL WORTH THE READ!

This book is one of the best I've ever read---the story is wonderful, as well as the writing. I first read it when I was a teenager--now in my 40's, I have reread it more times than I can count. I am now passing it on to my daughter to read; I am sure she will enjoy it as many times as I have!

why i didn't know about this book, before a very well-read friend gave it to me and told me that it was one of her all-time favorites. readable, accessible, but beautifully-written and perfectly-described, it will absolutely transport you to another world. what can i say? it's made me give up TV. and i'm dreading reaching the final page because i just don't want it to end. do yourself a favor and order this one.

Paul. Uncle Reggie. Aunt Dottie. Aunty. Audrey. Aunt Viv. The cousins. "As the train roared in" you will be on that train and instantly captivated in their tale. The Great Depression is just a nuisance; Prohibition is a joke. Their parties and plans and hopes continue. Paul,the orphaned son of the family's sister, has heard from his late father about the family's extravagances and 'pretensions' all his life, but finds himself drawn into their way of life. Encouraged by them all, especially Uncle Reggie, his dreams grow beyond anything he had ever imagined, only to find that the people who love you most can have nearly fatal flaws.

I first came upon this book in a thrift store, and bought it because liked its title. From the moment I began to read it, I was totally absorbed in the story line, but what impressed me most was the character development. The characters ran the gamut from flamboyant and boastful to young and shy. Although the characters were all very different from one another, they melded perfectly in this story. This book has a very special place in my heart, alongside Gone With the Wind, Grapes of Wrath, and Thorn Birds. It is well worth the read.