O Books

I am a semi-professional chéf. I saw this book in a friend's library and fell in love with it. I bought one myself recently and found it even better as I read it. I highly recommend it.

I have 2 more sushi (at home) books in my library. They are also quite good but this one is superior. Detailed descriptions, beautiful pictures and perfect knowledge. There's no need for another sushi book.

Also, congratulations to DK publishing and authors Kimiko Barber & Hiroki Takemura on such a masterpiece.

Excelent book with lot of pictures to show the final result.

Absolutely loved this book. I like to make my own sushi and this book is simply amazing. Excellent photos with very detailed instructions.

I especially like the section with all the different types of fish and how to cut each one.

This book is really good for beginner, very simple to learn too.

The photos in this book are beautiful and inspiring. I cannot read it without wanting to make sushi.

Contents include under these major categories:
-Basics
-Making
-Eating

The best part is the simple and clean photography, especially of the fish which the show what they look like both whole (scales and all) to cut up.

The "pressed sushi" section is my favorite, very impressive!

I believe that a well written short story is easy to imagine but difficult to capture. Mr. O'Hara, however, seems to capture different moments and ideas in his short stories with effortless flair. His writing is both sparse and ornate--which is just the way I like my stories. His words took me to places that were magical and raw. Reading The Swan also made me want to visit the Sacremento Valley immediately.

Mr. O'Hara has given us such a gift with this book. I will read it again and again. I am honored to have it in my collection.

lavish Lines/luscious Lies

The Swan: Tales of the Sacramento Valley is the debut book of Andrew F. O'Hara, a former patrolman and current editor of the online magazine, The Jimston Journal www.jimstonjournal.com. Mr. O' Hara's book is a collection of short stories and from past experiences, any collection of short stories that I've read with the exception of Carol Riley Cain's Ghosts, Spooks and Spirits of South Texas, have been rather dismal or uninspiring to say the least. But this little 140-paged book was a welcomed change.
The Swan, as mentioned before, is a diverse range of short stories. From humorous yarns about a nagging wife to a patrolman who's losing his sanity and resorting to alcohol for some solace, there is something here that caters to everyone's taste.
There's a mantra that has been around for many years now and that is, "never judge a book by its cover." Well when one glances upon the cover of The Swan, they are greeted with an image of a swan with its wings poised in the air as it glides along the shimmering waters of some anonymous pond or lake. This image of pleasantry does somehow go hand-in-hand with the stories of this book as they are beautifully written. Every tale was unique and written in a fresh approach but what was really distinctive was the method in which the author was able to breathe new life into each character. From start to finish, one has a vivid picture in their mind of the character's actions in all the compositions. My favourites are "A Poet's Song" and "An Act of Cowardice" because these contain, in my opinion, the strongest characters of the entire collection. In "A Poet's Song", an old husband and poet, has to listen to the nagging of his wife as she no longer likes to see him writing poetry. Her biting words or comments ring in the ears of the reader and you cannot help but feel pity for the old man. The main character in, "An Act of Cowardice", is a World War II vet who feels guilty about a deed he did in his past and although anyone in his position would've done the same if they were in his position, his feeling of guilt resonates with the reader. Another talent that O'Hara possesses is a certain richness in his descriptions. For those of you who may never get a chance to visit the Sacramento Valley or indeed the US, Andrew paints a scenic picture of the location in which each tale is set in. It's these attributes that make Tales of The Sacramento Valley a worthwhile addition to your bookshelf.
If you're remotely interested in compiling a book of short stories, then The Swan is a must read as O'Hara expertly displays how it's done. With splendid characterisation, picturesque descriptions, and excellent stories, this should be on everyone's "to buy" list and would make a great gift at Christmas to pass away the winter blues.

Aidan Lucid
www.iol.ie/~thelucidreview

Andy O'Hara is a storyteller who understands the value of a good story, well told. And that is what you'll find in The Swan - a collection of very good stories, very well told by a writer who understands that a whispered word can pack more punch than a raised voice. These are stories of love and death (and really what else is there worth writing about?). They are not easy stories and they are, perhaps, uneven (which is just another way of saying you'll have your favorites). They are written with a gentleness of spirit that some might call old-fashioned. So be it. I just call it good writing.

This 2007 revised edition is a collection of wonderful provoking short stories. Each as engaging as the one before. The descriptions of the small towns made me feel that I was in each place; seeing and feeling the scenery, people and even the stars.
I could not put it down. My only disappointment was that there was not another story and I had to close the book with its beautiful cover.

This is the new Swan, the 2007 Edition with feathers all bright white, fluffed and ready to lull and captivate you at the same time. Andy O'Hara has improved on the un-improvable this time around. The weave is tight, but so smoothly done the stories blend into each other, carrying two common themes to fruition by the turn of the last page. The fun is how Andy has taken the reader on a swing through his beloved Sacramento Valley. He describes obscure towns giving us a mental picture along with the smell of the dust, the fields, the eucalyptus groves and more. The stories, Andy claims, are fiction, but I would bet most have been drawn from his own experiences. A great read and a great buy, one I will enjoy over and over again...J.B. Bergstad

This book teaches us what everyone should know about Autism and I can't thank Miss O'Neill enough for her insight. And her poetry is lovely!
Autism is a different way of being and should be respected and appreciated.

My 7 year old son is autistic and has opened doors in my mind and in my heart to things that I never knew existed. He changed how I view the world entirely. I've never ounce wished for him to be like other children, nor would I ever teach him that something is 'wrong' with him.
He is unique person, an interesting person. He is different and that's okay, differences is what makes our world beautiful. I am so glad that I found this book and I not only recommend it as a 'must read' but as a 'need to read' for anyone on the spectrum or for anyone who's life has been IMPROVED by an autistic person :)

I am Autistic, and I love this book. Autism is not a condition, it is a personality type. This book succeeds in making that point. This book is all about acceptance of the Autistic individual, a refreshing change from books about eradicating Autism from the face of the earth. I would also recommend "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau. I believe that it is another book about how an Autistic person views the world. It is of my own opinion that I think he was Asperger's Syndrome.

Ms. O'Neill gave me a chance to see and feel some of the things my beautiful 6 year old son does. He is Autistic and truly a gift. The words to thank Ms. O'Neill for this opportunity of letting this "big worlder" inside my sons private world, escape me. I had highlighter ready and used it often. I will refer back to many passages for years to come.
I was unable though, to give this the highest rating due to the very personal experiences and generalization of them for all autistics the author gave. I felt the authors pain from past discriminations and crule treatment especially in a public school setting. My son is now in 1st grade and fully mainstreamed. He is obviously different to the other children. The kids in his kindergarten class last year and now in 1st grade are nothing but affectionate, kind, patient and understanding. I do not feel it is wrong to mainstream some Autistics. They are individuals and each situation is unique. What is good for one may not be for another.
I also believe this book may not be for the parent of a newly diagnoised child especially if the child is very young. There are portions of the book that are hard to handle for even the experienced parent like myself. What I mean by "handle" is Ms. O'Neills statements that lead me to think she is totally against any intervention at all. While some parents might be looking for the "cure", which in my opinion is pointless and also is denying your childs special gifts , others want to help their child learn to deal with the big world around them. Our goal should be to find a balance. We should give them all chances of being able to cope with life, possibly become independent and to rejoice in who they are and what a gift they are to us and the world.
I encourage you to read this book, though I caution any reader who might not understand this is one persons experiences and may not reflect all Autistics lives.

I will struggle to find words to describe this book, though I can say I think it is beautiful and it is one of my favourites. This is such a lovely, strong, positive look at the autistic experience. It is practical and well informed, realistic, and yet inspirational. I don't know what else to say other than read it, and perhaps a warning... as a person on the spectrum myself, during and after reading this book I felt so much more relaxed and comfortable about being me that I felt even more disconnected than ever from the neurotypical people with whom I must share my life. This book is not just a book for autistic people though... it will give invaluable insight and advice to anyone who wants to see 'through the eyes of aliens'.

This author, while she writes with crystalline and seemingly fragile prose, is absolutely uncompromising in her view that autistic people are a unique form of human being who should not be forced to conform to the standards of other people.

By this, she does not mean that autistic people should not learn, or that there are no difficulties associated with autism -- critics often read it as if she says this, but she clearly discusses autism's unpleasant side. She also clearly demonstrates ways to teach autistic people, although, like much of her book, she seems to base her details on a combination of her personal experience and some dubious but well-accepted research. There are more factual errors than it would be possible to list in a review, but this ends up not mattering much to me in the end. Most autistic authors overgeneralize about what the experience of autism is like; O'Neill is no exception to that rule.

What bothers me most about this book, however, is the view that autistic people are fragile creatures that must be shielded at all costs from the "big world". One would think, reading this, that we were all special little dolls made of porcelain. It makes me suspect that the author has experienced the horrors of being abandoned to the clutches of an uncaring and hostile world, but has not experienced the at-least-equal horrors of being overprotected to the point of imprisonment. As such, she unflinchingly advocates residential homes for autistic adolescents, and naively believes that it is possible to tell a good one from a bad one by visiting. Having been placed in a beautiful, abusive residential home as a teen, I'm forced to disagree. You can't judge a book by its cover -- as surely the delicate face on the cover of this book full of tough ideas shows -- and you can't judge a residential home by its appearance on visiting day. Thinking we could led my whole family into grief that none of us have recovered from. After experiences like that, I'm quite willing to take my chances with the abuse the "big world" could dish out -- at least in the outside world you can pack up and move on if you don't like a place.

The only other noteworthy potentially dangerous advice in the book is the author's equally naive belief that herbal remedies are automatically safer than traditional medicines. Plants can be just as poisonous as extracted chemicals, and while I have used a few herbal remedies, I used them with that knowledge in mind.

The author, who has a gentle writing style that belies the strength of her plea for acceptance, never once wavers and says, "Well, in this case autism should be cured." She doesn't believe in prolonging suffering. She believes that unusual-but-harmless things about autism -- like augmentative communication techniques and stimming -- should not be stopped in a person just because more neurotypical movements and communication styles are the social norm. She does not believe in social norms that exclude certain kinds of people, and she explains why very well.

Even among the other books that urge acceptance of autism, a person is unlikely to run across a book with such a pervasive and unswerving attitude of this kind, even in the years since its publication. This is an important book, a historic book, and a book which, if read properly, can translate to an attitude of accepting *all* autistic people as real and valid human beings as we are, and learning to teach us and learn along with us rather than force us into a mold we can never fit. It is a rare book that can cause me to discard nearly all of my misgivings about the details, but this is one of them. I would recommend reading it along with William Stillman's _Demystifying the Autistic Experience_. I would prefer to give this a 9 out of 10 stars, or 4.5 out of 5, but since there are only 5, rounding up can't hurt.

In the past, I've approached all investment primers with the same enthusiasm I reserve for visits to the dentist. But after my first half-hour with this one, I was happily hooked! Not only is the investment advice top-notch, but the method of delivery outstanding. O'Shaughnessy exhibits an amazing ability to make sophisticated concepts digestible. Her breezy writing style makes the advice seem like it's coming from a trusted friend, and her sense of humor keeps you smiling while you learn how to make that first -- or second -- million.

The Unofficial Guide to Investing is wonderful. If it wasn't, I wouldn't be dragging this fat book around in my brief case as I travel around the world on business. I'm too busy to spend a lot of time reading or even thinking about my own finances, which is why I especially like this book. It covers all the bases and the author writes in a style that is fun to read.

This book is engagingly written with wit & humor as well as lots of factual material and sound advice that you can actually use. Clear and straightforward for the novice, there is also lots of information and advice on on-line investing information and tools for the web-accessing sophisticated and savvy investor. Whether you are a novice or an experienced investor, Ms. O'Shaughnessy serves you up lots of good advice and information with respect and gentle humor. A good read, and a keeper for later reference with wonderful resource and reference material as a supplement at the back. - A San Diego cardiologist

This book has everything for those of us who are timid about investing. Ms. O'Shaughnessy shares insights and information which help both the novice and experienced investor navigate the world of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. She uses anecdotal and even personal stories to inform and amuse throughout the book. There is an incredible amount of valuable information and tons of resources for the reader, and Ms. O'Shaughnessy covers the pros and cons of many investment topics. This user-friendly guide is a winner!

Over the years, I've concluded that most financial books are unrealistic in the marching orders they give us, their poor readers. I'm a long-term investor (not a day trader!), so I don't appreciate a lot of fancy financial formulas that require a great deal of thought or time. Thank goodness the author of The Unofficial Guide to Investing understands that. She provides solid advice that makes an awful lot of sense to me. I also appreciate all the tips she sprinkles into the book's margins. For instance, I discovered how I could very easily determine how much my savings bonds are worth. I also learned the phone number to call to find out how much my Social Security benefits will be worth someday.

i love this book very simple to follow very easy yet the outcome so fantastic. This is good book for quilters of all ages and all levels of skill.

Excellent book of Christmas applique designs! I did take my book to a copy shop and enlarged the designs, but this is easily and inexpensively done. Beautiful and colorful use of fabrics. Applique designs are simple to make. This books inspires fun and creativity. Definitely, one of my very favorite quilt books.

This purchase was made for my wife who states:-

Having had the book for a few weeks now, I find the contents very informative, and the instructions easey to follow. I can recommend this product to any would-be enthusiast.

I found this to be a charming project. Very versatile for making one block or many. Also, the possibilities were endless for decorating and using materials, buttons etc on hand. Instructions were clear and it could be easy (iron on ) or more experienced (hand appliqued completely.) I will be making several for next year. (Not enough time for this year)!

I can't wait to make this quilt. I saw one made up at a quilt show or something very similar and couldn't wait to find the pattern. It is just so clever and fun. My quilt group is planning on making it as a block of the month. I am so happy I bought this book, it makes me smile every time I look through it.
Sincerely, LPotts

There couldn't be two more different places than New York City and the lands of the Maasai in Tanzania. Tepilit Ole Saitoti's story of his journey in and between these two worlds is fascinating. I am looking forward to the update he is writing now that he is a Maasai Elder. This insight into another land and culture is a gift.

Excellent book, very accurate and really worth the money. It gives the picture of a boy growing up as a real Maasai and the new life in civilized world of Germany and USA - a man between two cultures and the difficult question to decide which way to go along. Makes yourself wondering about the way we Western people are living and gives a chance to see our world with other eyers.

After having visited the Maasai area some months ago a good opportunity to compare facts with my own experience and found it even more interesting. Go for it!

I read this book 12 years ago and was so moved that I wrote a letter to to the author - something I have never done before or since. I was so struck by his ability to navigate between two cultures that seemingly had little in common. His book is a testimonial to the flexibility of the human spirit and the power of education. Last week, out of the blue, I received a telephone call from the author. Apparently, he had saved my address all these years. Saitoti is currently in the US as a visiting scholar. He will be speaking in various institutions and he has just started writing a follow up to The Worlds of a Maasai Warrior (The Worlds of a Maasai Elder). I have just shown him these amazon reviews. He is sitting here beside me and
would like to take this opportunity to say: "Thank you to the reviewers of my book for such beautiful reviews and to amazon.com for posting such a wonderful display of my work."

Very interesting first person account of a Maasai man who becomes western educationed and gives insight to what growing up in a Maasai village was like. Quick read - powerful story. You must read this book if you plan on going to Kenya or Tanzania.

After having just visited Africa, I wanted to get a better feel for what it's really like to be Maasai. This book is very real, and gives interesting insights from the "inside". I enjoyed it thoroughly.

My granddaughter is with me during part of the summer. When the books arrived, she was almost six.
We found some interesting things to do. I monitor her tv and computer viewing. So when she got bored and it was not tv time, she would say: get the book! And we always found some fun things to do.

This book is great for days when your board. You need almost nothing to to all the activities. We use it much more than our other craft books! You must by it!

For each activity, the authors explain how to do the activity, materials required and materials that are optional to use

365 activities to choose from which are grouped into 16 categories

Safety reminders are included to ensure safe play environments and to monitor potentially tricky materials

The authors explains the importance of quality tiem and quailty play

Few of the many activites includes:
Alphabet Hands
Atlas Adventure
Crayon Rubbings
Easy House of Cards
Family Calender

Gotcha!
House Detective
I've Got a List
Phone Words
Sand Painting

I tripped across this book at my local library and I am here looking for my own copy, as we are limited on how long we keep it. I brutally removed the kids from their TV addiction, and the transition has been difficult on the older ones especially. This book has been my salvation. The prereader like to pick out things by picture, my beginner read has no problem understanding the direction and my toddler and teen get involved too. We have used this to fill the huge void of television and to stave of the "mom I am bored..." routine. This is a small book it fits in my purse and we take it with us everywhere. Breaking the index down by activity type means I can have a Doctor's waiting room idea or a park idea up in running in 2 minutes. The materials list is in the margin for easy access and all the material are everyday every house items, half of which are in my purse any way... This book is a keeper!

This book was recommended in the book Living the Simple Life. I'm so glad I took the time to get it. It's a wonderful resource for busy families looking to spend some quality time together. So turn that TV off and buy this book. Encourages you and your child's imagination and they learn through playing with simple things around the house and the bonus is that by not watching that TV, you've spent memorable time with each other...what could be better?

Alter's purpose in the book is made very clear, and that is to show readers of biblical narrative that there are authorial devices implanted in the narrative to heighten and signify parts of the narrative that the author feels is important or worth noting. He begins to show this purpose in chapter one by seeing the Bible as a literary piece of art. He illustrate mainly with the story of Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38 because it does not seem to fit with the rest of the Joseph narrative. However when one steps back and looks at the literary whole of Genesis they will see how themes of deceit and divine election run through Genesis 38 as well as the rest of the book. That one chapter may seem out of place, but in reality it flows beautifully in the larger scope of the book and not merely the Joseph narrative. One cannot read books as a compilation of short stories, but they must see the stories as having a literary and overarching theme that intertwines them together.
In chapter two, he further develops his purpose by proposing the biblical authors used literary devices like word-plays, embellishment, and fictitious characters to give color to the narrative. He suggests that the authors received the historical data from their sources, and then proceeded to make the message and intended application clearer by use of literary devices. So their use of a fictitious character would be acceptable because they are not changing the meaning or moral message of the text. He states that they would often detail the main characters speech and actions to give insight to their motives. It is helpful to see some of these literary features in seeing how the author might have pointed out characters and events in Israel's history, but only a foundationally different hermeneutic (as Alter pointed out) could accept all of these.
The third chapter really begins to illustrate Alter's purpose. Here he points out a literary device called "type-scenes", and they are the typical "flags" that the original reader would have expected to see for certain events. One illustration was the betrothal scene, where the typical events include a man (master or servant) goes to a well in a foreign land, meets a girl, wants to marry her, she goes back to her family, and etc. Alter points out the situation with Saul going to the well and instead of asking for a wife he asks for a seer. Then the story of Ruth where the roles of hero and heroine are reversed and Ruth goes to a foreign land and Boaz has his men-servants fetch her water. The idea is presented that the original reader is used to the typical sequence, and so when someone different or completely unordinary happens the author has now arrested their attention. That is the point Alter wants to make. The author wrote in such a way to highlight certain points or characters to the original reader, but the problem is that three thousand years later those literary features are not as clear. This chapter was really eye-opening to begin reading narratives looking for those points of deviation from the typical to better understand the author's intended meaning.
In the fourth chapter, Alter shows the importance of dialogue imbedded in the narrative sequence. The author uses direct speech to develop the characters in the narrative. The reader only knows what the characters are thinking by what the author has them say. The narrative events are a mere background to dialogue. Sometimes the speech that the author mentions is a shortened form of what actually must have been said. The reader needs to pay attention to when there is speech, when it stops, and when it seems that the author has purposely not said something that should have been said. This idea of dialogue intersects with the type-scenes and other literary devices to make the Bible a real literary masterpiece.
Chapter five points out the use of repetition in the Old Testament narrative. Alter says that this point of repetition is the one that is the hardest for the modern English reader and also the one feature that is most over-looked. For instance, the writer of Exodus repeats himself when he states the plague that is going to happen to Egypt and then he restates the plague when it happened. The modern reader is not going to think anything of this device; however the original reader was mostly likely hearing this read, and so the author is making sure the hearer gets the full details at least once. He also gives the repetition of key words or "word-roots" in the narrative and called it Leitwort. His example of this idea is the Samuel story and the repetition or emphasis on the words "listen, voice, word". This is not going to be done easily in an English translation, but it will aid the reader in understanding the author's intended meaning. He showed how different repetition is in poetry where there is no direct copying of a phrase or use of synonyms, but instead poetry is styled and creative repetition of thoughts that move the poem. Alter ascribes this use of repetition to the tension between the freedom of the biblical authors to write and the Divine plan for the text.
In chapter six, Alter describes the art of characterization as a literary device. It was already mentioned briefly that much of what is known of a character comes in direct speech. That is true, and it is often the most important things that can be known about that character is by what he says, because when that character acts then the reader has to infer things about that character. However in direct speech the character cannot hide what he is thinking or who he is. The author has the ability to only allow the reader to know certain things about each character. It must be noted why the author would switch names for a person, for instance, Michal is sometimes called the "wife of David" and other times she is called the "daughter of Saul". The author could be telling something simply by changing a name about the mindset of Michal, her current marital status, or another idea laid out by context. This is another interesting literary device that is probably overlooked by modern readers, but it can, like the others, aid in better understanding the author.
Chapter seven explains a literary device that has many authors each contributing to the finished product. Because the Bible has seeming inconsistencies in it, Alter assumes that it must be a book put together by multiple authors in a type of patchwork way. However, later he says that the author may have received differing historical accounts and then purposely put both accounts in the Bible. He says that the author could have contradicted himself and done it in such a way to be artistic.
The last chapter makes the argument that the narrative and narrator give knowledge to the reader. The narrator, he says, is omniscient because they know people's thought and even God's thoughts. The author is sort of "teasing" the reader with perfect knowledge, which the author seems to have and the reader can only see a glimpse of. However, the author often tells the crux of the narrative and then goes back and tells how that happened.
This book's purpose was to show how the Hebrew author's use literary devices to "jolt" the reader out of the norm. Although these devices are often purposely or ignorantly overlooked by modern reader because of the language divide, the literary features here (for the most part) are extremely helpful for the reader. Alter accomplished his purpose, and this text is very beneficial for Hebrew students to better understand the characteristics of OT narrative.

love this book. I am only on page 40 but am really enjoying every bit of it. Anyone interested in the Bible should read this book or any books by Robert Alter. He illuminates subtle literary devises in the text that you wont find anywhere else in Biblical scholarship, except maybe if you were a Torah Scholar and studied the Midrash Tanchuma (Hebrew commentary on the 5 Books of Moses) and understood it completely. But then Professor Alter translates all this into understanding the structure of well-written prose or poetry. Anyone who writes plots or makes film, or is interested in Joseph Campbell will find this extremely rich in content. He suggests that the Bible is not fictionalized History, but historicized fiction, a proposal too blasphemes for most "believers" to entertain, yet in reading this book, we find that it is not so blasphemes at all. This book will push your study of ancient Hebrew texts to a new level. All educators should read and be familiar with Professor Alters work. I think he is a breath of fresh air that encourages, not dissuades, people from going deeper into study of the Bible, from the secular to the ultra orthodox. It is densely written so if you have trouble with big words or lofty word filled sentences, this might be a problem, but I found each sentence strangely palpable and easily digested even for the non-scholar, mostly illiterate-type like myself. The book is magical and I am ordering it for a few of my same-minded friends

This book is dense with fairly small print, small margins and long chapters without section breaks; but, it is well written and does a good job showing the complexities and intricacies of scripture that lend credence to its inspiration. The author's perspective that scripture is historicised fiction can be ignored for the rest of the benefits of reading this book. Frankly, the argument for historicised fiction could just as well be used to suggest its inspiration.

Needless to say, as a result of reading this book, I bought Alter's book on Biblical Poetry.

Robert Alter's "Art of Biblical Narrative" provides illuminating insights into the artful literary structure of the stories in the Hebrew Bible, and into human nature itself. Always respectful of the text, Alter reveals techniques of purposeful characterization and structure that are at work to achieve the effect of these ancient, yet ever-timely narratives. Never overly technical, written in clear and skillful prose, Alter's criticism is top-notch. I recommend this work highly.

This is a great book. I love how Alter points out the literary artfulness of some of the great stories of the Bible. He shows how the writers use symmetry, repetition, parallelism, wordplay, and tension to hold the interest of the reader. He begins with Genesis 38, the story of Judah and Tamar. Scholars have written this text off as a later insertion with little relevance to the Joseph narrative, but Alter shows how Judah's sexual indiscretion is perfectly and deliberately in contrast with Joseph's sexual purity. He notes how both narratives have themes of betrayal and deception (which is consistent with the rest of Genesis).

Alter also discusses stories from the life of David, how the extensive speech by David climaxes at the point of Saul's choked cry "Is that you, David, my son?"

Alter also points out names in the Hebrew Bible which carry meaning and significance for the meaning of certain narratives.

The book is an eye-opening look at the narrative art found on the pages of Holy Scripture. It is well written and holds your attention. Recommended.

I only had the privilege of reading the excerpt and it left me wanting more! So now my only hope is to be able to get my hands on the rest of the book so that I can continue this enjoyment. The style of this writer grabbed me within the first few paragraphs. I am already intrigued by the characters and am curious to find out how they develop and what unfolds. Kudos!

Great timing for a novel of this type. Solid characters and love the human touch. A lot packed into just a few chapters. Feel this could be a real page turner and would look forward to reading the entire book.

I had the delight and the honor to read the entire manuscript and frankly I could not put it down. At times,in the reading, I became surprised and also filled with apprehension. In other areas throughout the script I became a cheerleader...and a vocal one.
In my retired years,when my mind isn't filled with workplace stress and "the daily grind" I found this draft to have been most relaxing only adding to my easy years. Thanks to Mr. O'Donnell for the entertainment. Good Luck.

Michael

A true page-turner. I wanted to read more, but only had the excerpt. I would love to read this entire book. In the year 2019, can our democracy survive despite the politics in place? Can't wait to read what happens next, and to find out what happens to the richly described characters only briefly introduced here. Suspenseful, thoughtful, and well-written.

Benevolent Dictator by James O'Donnell.--With technology that will certainly capture the imagination of the Gen-X reader and steam-rolling politicos that older, more cynical types will recognize--this book has the earmarks of a page-turning read. The story captures your attention early on and keeps you riveted to the pages through thrust and counter-thrust of characters and plot. It's a great escape while it lasts and yet it poses some thought-provoking questions when it ends. I can think of all kinds of friends who wouldn't be able to put this one down.

This is currently my four year old's favorite, favorite book. The art is great & the storyline has kept him riveted for nearly a month now. If you enjoyed comics as a kid or even an adult, this book is a great way to introduce the format to your little one!

This is one of our favorite books! After checking it out multiple times from the library we decided this was one we just had to own. The illustrations are beautiful and detailed. The story holds up to many, many readings and is told with humor and just enough suspence to keep my boys (4 & 6) rivetted without being really scared. Our favorite parts are the cliffhanger pages that end with Captain Raptor in peril and the question "Is this the end of Captain Raptor?" My boys shout NO! as we turn the page to see his exciting escape from danger.

My 4 year old loves this book ever since his grandpa brought it home from the library. We have read it probably 100 times and he has the whole thing memorized! In this day and age when young children are exposed to way too much violence and fighting at a young age, this book provides an exciting adventure without that stuff....noone dies, even though there are "weapons" there is no violence, there is nothing too scary, and all the "dangerous" situations get resolved quickly. It's a witty book that is fun to read and has a great twist with the "aliens" being human. The two species are helpful and kind to each other. We love it. I sure hope Captain Raptor will have another adventure...the ending leaves the possibilities wide open! Well done!

My 3 year old loves dinosaurs and space so this book seemed like a no brainer. However, I was very surprised to see such sophisticated comic book style artwork in a book for children. The writing was cool because it will remind parents of the original Star Trek and that only makes it more fun to mimic the Trek cast and dazzle your child with "your" ingenuity.
At first I read the book in installments, every couple of pages has a cliffhanger like an episode of the live-action Batman series, so that we wouldn't be overwhelmed by the long story before naps. But he quickly caught on that the story would continue if he helped me turn the page. He immediately started requesting the story for almost every nap & bedtime placing this great book in his top 5.
Hope to see more from this author & artist!

My five year old son LOVES this book. He's a HUGE Star Wars fan and adding dinosaurs into the space mix is a no fail combination for him. It's such an intelligent and original children's book--I just can't say enough about it. The book is written a bit like a comic book but much more readable for a younger crowd. It's such a fun read--I definitely don't have that "Oh boy, not THAT book again" feeling when he reaches for it for the 800th time. I hope this turns into a series!