Short Stories Books

Author Lisa Borders' novel, CLOUD CUCKOO LAND, the winner of the prestigious Fred Bonnie Memorial Award for Best First Novel, will introduce its readers to a talented writer with a gift for portraying the depth of emotions stored in Miri's tumultuous journey through life. Miri,the protagonist,who s abandoned by her mother, makes her way from childhood through adolescence using her amazing singing voice as her tool for survival. Miri is a paradox in the roles she plays; sometimes passionately in love with Juan and making out on the beach, sometimes a mistress for Ian a fading Rock star, and finally sharing a life with Jamie, a Gay musician. CLOUD CUCKOO LAND will take you on an emotional Roller Coaster ride. I heartily recommend this book as a must read . . . it is in fact a "page turner."

Lisa Borders debut will be remembered for generations as a paradigm shift in the art of writing. As I read this incredibly seductive novel, I recognized a wave of comfort not felt since reading McMurty and Cormac McCarthy. Ms. Borders managed this feat while drawing me in, and spitting me out into the hyper-urban music scene. I am at a loss for words in describing this transition. The novel is a gem, and I take extreme pleasure in knowing that Ms. Borders has many years of writing ahead, which will fill out her literary tiara! Bravo!!!

This book made me laugh and cry. I loved the references to the underground music scene of the 80s. I loved the realistic treatment of these complex characters, straight and gay alike. Miri, the main character of this richly detailed novel, will stay with you long after you've finished the book. She's handed some of life's worse misfortunes and a gorgeous singing voice and must somehow make the best of it. The most refreshing aspect of the book? It does not succumb to the tell-all mentality of much of today's fiction and memoir. Its portrayal of teens who trade home violence and dysfunction for the dangers of the street is real more so because of details the author chooses to leave out. With this finely written debut, the author has proven herself to be a wonderful, talented storyteller. Read this book and keep your eye on Lisa Borders. She'll be back.

Cloud Cuckoo Land begins life as an engaging coming of age story, told in a fresh and authentic adolescent voice. It's impossible not to be drawn into young Miri's world as she describes her chaotic childhood, nonexistent father, irresponsible mother, and frequent moves. We're there with Miri as she finds a sane refuge with her grandmother in Texas, and there with her as that refuge is taken away. Unlike some coming of age novels, however, Cloud Cuckoo Land doesn't run out of steam as its heroine grows up. As Miri moves from child to homeless teenager to young woman finding her way as a musician, her voice stays strong and her journeys and struggles are painted just as vividly.

Some books seem to evoke their own soundtrack, and this is one of them, from an old Patsy Cline song heard from a passing Cadillac on a flat Texas highway to early REM drifting out of a diner at 5 a.m. on a grey, haunted Philadelphia morning.

Cloud Cuckoo Land is realistic fiction that isn't mundane. Like the mythical place recalled by its title, this beautifully written novel has a strange magic that can't really be defined; it's hard to categorize and just as hard to forget.

Remember when you were young and first discovered a favorite author or book? I remember I was nine and it was Agatha Christie. I read every single installment, and then I longed for the time when I hadn't discovered her, just to have that first-time pleasure all over again. I recall actually feeling a gritted-stomach jealousy of people who still had the chance to uncork the bottle and have that first delicious taste.

I feel that way again now about those of you who have yet to read Lisa Borders' Cloud Cuckoo Land. Miri (short for Miriam) Ortiz has everything you'd ever want in a protagonist. She's lovable, smart, flawed, authentic, and layered as an onion. Experiencing the twisting road she traverses, starting with her less-than- perfect childhood in Prairie Rose, Texas, means not only the discovery of unknown and resonant worlds (foster homes of varying degrees of heartbreak; street life, at turns shadowy and joyful; the Philadelphia music scene in the 1980s) but also an opportunity to know these worlds through Miri's compelling and wholly original viewpoint.

And then there's Borders' language. Oh. So often we read books that feel affected, too self-aware, "workshopped" to death. Borders' prose, on the other hand, is at turns skippingly light and hauntingly fragile. There are turns of phrase in these pages that make you have to run and tell somebody.

Maybe I should stop being jealous, though, because the best thing about Cloud Cuckoo Land might be the feeling the author leaves you with after the book is done. Even in the face of Miri's upheavals, Borders manages to uplift with a non-saccharine kind of hope. In scenes that hover and drift back into the mind long after the cover is closed, Borders restores one's faith in in the power of human connections -- wherever and however one finds them.

Paul is flawless in his execution of the thought-provoking life of Concrete. He weaves his tale and makes you always think about the life you lead. The best stories are the ones that stay with you and cause you to think time and again.

This is no exception.

=s=

One of the best graphic series I've ever read, if not the best -- beautifully and imaginatively drawn, with deep, moving stories that contain most every characteristic people look for in storytelling (intellect, humor, pathos, adventure, sorrow, joy, awe, sex, movie parodies, and a three-legged dog). What would your life become if you were suddenly transformed into a 1,200-pound hunk of ugly, indestructible rock? Paul Chadwick answers that question from most every conceivable direction, often with unexpected, hilarious, exciting, and very touching results. The series hasn't lagged at all in quality so far -- this second volume is, overall, just as good as the first. And the way the stories are being collected is great -- chronology is preserved while at the same time presenting relevant side stories that may have originally appeared in entirely different times/places.

One of the best graphic series I've ever read, if not the best -- beautifully and imaginatively drawn, with deep, moving stories that contain most every characteristic people look for in storytelling (intellect, humor, pathos, adventure, sorrow, joy, awe, sex, movie parodies, and a three-legged dog). What would your life become if you were suddenly transformed into a 1,200-pound hunk of ugly rock? Paul Chadwick answers that question from most every conceivable direction, often with unexpected, hilarious, exciting, and very touching results. The series hasn't lagged at all in quality so far--this third volume is just as good as the first, sometimes even better.

Nothing against super heroes, but Concrete shows the depth that can be portrayed in comic book form. Chadwick has also issued stories, but the comics are complete in many other ways. There is no violence nor sex yet it is entertaining for adults as well as teenagers. Concrete is humorous, sentimental, thought provoking, and entertaining. I wish a movie had been made, even a tv show since the concept of a human trapped in an alien body has a lot of mileage.

One of the best graphic series I've ever read, if not the best -- beautifully and imaginatively drawn, with deep, moving stories that contain most every characteristic people look for in storytelling (intellect, humor, pathos, adventure, sorrow, joy, awe, sex, movie parodies, and a three-legged dog). What would your life become if you were suddenly transformed into a 1,200-pound hunk of ugly, indestructible rock? Paul Chadwick answers that question from most every conceivable direction, often with unexpected, hilarious, exciting, and very touching results.

I found this book around the house, no idea who bought it or when, and read it over the last week in bits before falling asleep, or waiting in the car, then finishing the last 100 pages this afternoon.

Sam Shepard tells the kind of stories we all wish we had experienced - acting in movies, serious action, funny exploits, deep emotions. Lots of surprising twists, the narrator often detaches himself from the callow preoccupations of lesser mortals.

The brevity of some of the tales and the lack of continuity are offset by the continuing exposure of novel incidents and thoughts. It reminded me of sitting in front of a TV and flipping through the channels.

It was good enough that I ordered more Shepard writing from Amazon.

Through Cruising Paradise the voice of Sam Shepard kept me company during a week or two. I read his fragmented stories before falling asleep and felt at ease. I think it's the way he uses the language; lucid, clear, to the point, intense. The language flows and takes you to the images of endless roads, wide open spaces and the people who live there or just drive through it . You can feel the heat, you can hear the conversations, while all the time, in the back of your head Shepards voice leads you. He doesn't describe the situations in very much detail, he just lets the people talk, or think and that's enough. Wonderful experience. I believe it is the art of leaving out, to show what's there, in language and in imagery. Hope to find this again.

What can I say! This is simply the best book I've ever read! Shepard's short stories strike you right in the hart in a way other authors only can dream about. Who can for example ever forget about the boy with his drunken father in the desert, or the actor who travels by car from L.A. down to the djungles of Mexico? No other author I have read have so completly spellbound me before, and I have read all of the so called great authors. One can only hope that the Nobel foundation discovers the greatness in Shepard.

Cruising Paradise is a lean muscular book. The writing is sometimes brutal and always powerful. His writing is reminiscent of Hemingway and Jim Harrison, but with a Southwestern flair and a stronger sense of immediacy. It is not the plots or so much the characters in the story that drive the book, but the sense of movement and restlessness in the stories peppered with stoicism that make his stories so interesting. His stories seem to be autobiographical, even those he clearly passes off as fiction. Recommended stories in the book are Nuevo Mundo, A Small Company of Friends, and Cruising Paradise. If you are sick of reading books that seemed contrived or cliche' give this one a look.

While reading this book, I had to stop more than a few times either to catch my breath or close my eyes and let what I just read sink in. I grew up down on the Mexican border, and Shepard's descriptions of events in that part of the world rang true, and were written in a terse manner, as is appropriate for the setting and characters. Brilliant.

Dance Into Destiny is a wonderfully "edgy" yet not "preachy" novel that tackles real issues people deal with in their daily lives. Through the lives of Keeva and Shara, the reader experiences what it's like to live a life abundant with material wealth, yet be miserable; to know your purpose and destiny, yet not be able to enjoy the freedoms God provides.
Ultimately, through special relationships, both women gain balance in their personal and professional lives. This is a coming of age story that is worth reading.

Sherri Lewis did another fantastic job with this book. The story was written in a way in which I could feel the emotions from the characters as if they were right here next to me. I love the Christian message that the books gives to its readers. I can't wait to read Sherri's next book.

Once again Sherri Lewis has pulled it off. Just as she did in "My Soul Cries Out", Sherri creates a believable story of friendship and love.

What I liked most about this book is how important having a personal relationship with God is shown and how without that relationship, one can't be truly happy.

And just like I told Sherri after reading "My Soul Cries Out", I need a sequel.

In the book Dance Into Destiny by Sherri L. Lewis, Keeva Banks had been kicked out of one prestigious school and was now on the brink of flunking out of another and being cut
off financially by her parents. Keeva was used to getting everything that she wanted from
her parents as long as she lived the life they wanted for her to live. Keeva's dreams
of becoming a dancer as a little girl died when her father pretty much planned her profession and pushed his ideas of success on her. Keeva was in a relationship that long ago lost its luster and had a group of girlfriends that she could care less about hanging out with. It was now the end of the semester and grades were soon to come. She needed to study and get a good grade on her finals. Keeva did not think that things could get any worse until she was assigned to work with a homely looking girl on a school project. The stress was unbearable and her only release was going back to her first love, but little did she know that she would find a greater love during this journey.

Shara Anderson worked hard in school and for the youth in her community. She
wasn't into fashion, dating, and all of the frills and thrills that many sought after in
college. Shara, the daughter, of a strict pastor had always been in the church and was now saved. Shara's passion was the youth and helping to motivate them to achieve good grades and instill faith that they could be more than what their environment dictated. From the outside it seemed as if everything in Shara's life was in order, and things perfect. Shara was more concerned about helping people than having a personal life. Shara focused on helping the kids and her new project partner, Keeva but did not feel
that she could do enough for either. She met the potential youth pastor, Quinton and fights the growing attraction to him Shara could not deny the similarities between him and her. Shara had a hard time breaking free from the strict teachings of her father concerning men and allowing herself to get a complete makeover to be the woman of God that He created her to be.


Quinton Mercer was in a new town, ready to work with the youth of Kingdom Builders Christian Church, which was located in the inner city, to build up the kingdom of God. Quinton's motives were pure although not well thought, thinking that money could buy
the kids and was only temporary. Quinton and Shara had to work together since he was
seeking the position of youth pastor and she was one of the youth leaders. Quinton felt
something in his spirit stir as she began talking about her vision for the youth. He did not worry too much about her disheveled look. Quinton fell for Shara at first sight and was glad that she did not recognize him from the basketball court. He was trying to outrun his own demons. God can only heal what is revealed!



It was a great book ; I could barely put it down and I was done with it too quickly. I could visualize the storyline and connected with each character. It is an excellent read! It is heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time, but truly is exemplary of our God and how he uses what the devil means for the bad and turns it into something good.

Reviewed by: Lacha' Mitchell
AAMBC -Book Reviewer

Shara Anderson and Keeva Banks are the two main characters in this book about friendship, love and letting go of the past.
Keeva Banks parents have money to send her to the school that THEY want her to go to, so she can graduate to become who THEY want her to be.
Keeva's boyfriend Mark is wrapped up in his own self and what Keeva can give him. He couldn't careless about what she wants. Now Keeva has reached a time in her life where she has begun to questions herself as to why she isn't doing things to make herself happy. Her unhappiness has started to affect her grades, and grad school has become a place where instead of listening to the professor, she day dreams on how to let go of her current "purposeless" life. But the big question is how and then what?

Shara Anderson is doing exactly what makes her happy. Her relationship with God is a healthy one and she is also in grad school pursuing a Masters in Education. The main highlight in Shara's world is her track and tutoring programs for the less fortunate children in the area. But Shara's life is robotic
and one sided...Shara often speaks of her intimate relationship with God and her satisfaction when helping others; but never speaks of her past and how that may have been the catalyst to her current situation.
Yes, Shara walks the Christian walk but why is she lacking balance?

Pick up this excellent book and learn how two very different young women are thrown together and how they deal with their past issues and current friendships.

I liked how the author gave us a glimpse of all the characters personalities while still keeping the focus on the two main characters.
Ms Lewis embraced the sub plots while she kept on point, never losing sight of the main storyline, producing a well rounded novel that had my full attention.
The epilogue answered the one question I had and I finished this read with a smile.


Locksie
ARC Book Club Inc.

I was captured by characters that inspire, questions that are timely if we are to create the future we want, and a land and culture that is timeless. A masterful work.

The Kresny's have combined scientific and spiritual knowledge, with a strong dash of imagination and common sense, to craft a novel that is as enlightening as it is exciting.

Darkness of Dawn is an absorbing fiction set in the locale of Albuquerque and the beautiful mountain areas of New Mexico. The authors have woven the plot on a pioneering theme of the sudden collapse of civilized life of the entire world from its zenith to a primitive low caused by a natural phenomenon. The story is the saga of struggle and sacrifice of a group of motivated intellectuals led by an Asian Indian and an American Indian in back-starting the process of recovery of civilized life from the abyss. The authors have concocted an ingenious blend of a science fiction and a thriller. The title of the book is apt as it depicts a journey in pursuit of light and hope in a condition of darkenss and despair. The characters are vivid, as if drawn from real life. The language is lucid from beginning to the climactic situation. A recommended reading for all book lovers.

Hans and Ann Kresny bring new meaning to "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" with their excellent word crafting of "Darkness of Dawn". They skillfully position you to experience a future where, in a fraction of an instant, life as we know it suddenly stops - the power plug is yanked out on the whole world and nothing works. The stoppage doesn't come from outer space invaders, or from an overheated greenhouse effect, or from some monster computer running wild - in fact, every computer has stopped and won't reboot ever again. Those fancy do everything smart chips are nothing more than cubes of worthless sand - and to make matters worse, humankind has brains that have turned mostly to cold mush. The majority of society has surrenered their individual abilities to do creative thinking, because all those collective computers apply the logic of sound reasoning to do almost all the thinking about things that need to be thought about and done. There's no need for mind control when the simple act of thinking through a problem can quickly be done for you - of course that was before the darkness came like a modern day black plague. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, and the Kresny's depict people living in a future where their minds have gone barren of basic knowledge - knowledge is seen as being old fashioned, because anything you want to know is waiting in your computer. However, vast parts of basic knowledge are missing - like primary survival skills. Even in this dark mindless future, there are sparks of thoughts that come together to light anew the torch of learning as the olden ways of doing life become the dawn of a hopeful tomorrow. This futuristic page-turner is set in the beautiful Land of Enchantment that the reader can see with word pictures, and all the highly techno stuff is based on technologies presently in the early stages of development. The Kresny's have created a unique blend of spiritual myths that help to restore the balance which thoughtlessness has taken away. Their cast of players becomes real in this unreal world that's warped back in time -to a time when time is once again told by the sun and the moon.

The book allowed me to become a participant in a world brought to a complete technological halt. I was there through experiences of panic, tragedy, and every kind of personal loss. I observed selfless giving of time, talent, possessions, and I rejoiced in the acknowledgement of the wisdom of an old soul. Perhaps the greatest gift I received from this volume was the reminder that 'BALANCE" is of major importance in our lives, never to be neglected. Yes, "Darkness of Dawn" is timely, sensitive and often beautiful. The authors allowed me to be an active participant.

One of the most famous - and infamous - letters in all of literature, De Profundis is a strange little piece of work: either much more than it appears on the surface, or much less. It is something I think everyone should read, if only for its insight into the human character, particularly that of one under great personal suffering. Wilde wrote this extraordinarily long letter from prison to Lord Alfred Douglas, his friend, lover, and the man who - by all accounts - was the reason Wilde was in jail in the first place. Despite repeated assertions in the first few pages alone to the contrary, Wilde seems reluctant to blame himself. He clearly blames Douglas to the hilt, and harbors a certain bitter resentment towards him. And yet... he clearly still hold much dear affection toward - and even loves - Douglas. He still seems to be asking for forgiveness - despite the fact that, by all accounts hardly excluding his own, he was the man wronged. It is quite clear from reading this letter that, desite the view history holds of him, Wilde was clearly a man of very high moral character. Certainly, one would not put Wilde atop a pedastal as the zenith of ethics - he himself says that morals contain "absolutely nothing" for him, and clearly admits - and is proud of - his having lived the high life to the hilt during his youth - but Wilde was a man of principles, and he stuck to those principles to the tragic, bitter end. Perhaps you might say he carried them too far. One gets the sense in reading this letter - or a biography of Wilde - that, not only could he have stopped his immiment imprisonment, but could have severed his ties with Douglas completely - had he wanted to. Apparently, he had his own utterly compelling reasons for not doing so. Whatever the case, Oscar Wilde is one of the most fundamentally and perpetually interesting characters in the whole of history. A self-described man of paradoxes - Wilde was subsequently the true essence of his time, while also being far ahead of his time - De Profundis makes for required reading by one of the most endlessly fascinating individuals you'll ever read about, and also provides a startling - indeed, perhaps too much so - insight into human nature.

De Profundis, though long for a letter, is not a long work in the conventional sense. Consequently, as many editions of Wilde's collected works are available, buying this on its own may be deemed questionable. I highly reccommend purchasing a Collected Works of Oscar if you have not done so already - it's well worth the price - but, should you desire to have more compact editions of specific works, an edition such as this will be privy to your needs.

This is a very moving account of a heartbroken man who was betrayed by a person he loved dearly. The pain, the trauma, the love, the anger, the frustration is evident in every single well-written sentence. This book is not only a window into the mind of one of the best British writers of the late 19th century. It is also a timeless lesson on what can happen when one falls in love with someone who doesn't truly appreciate what they have before them. Of course there are other lessons to be learned in this book but rather than point them out here, I'd much prefer you pick up a copy of "De Profundis" as soon as you can.

Not actually a "letter," though it had to be originally presented as such for him to be allowed to write it while in prison, *De Profundis* is Wilde's masterpiece--one has to have really lived and really, really suffered to have written it and it's amazing that he achieved it.

I only very recently read it--and "got" it. It rings true to me, and is very, very moving and "profound." It ain't summer beach reading.

Wilde is still and will probably always be best known as a "Personality"--that and the author of a couple of decent period plays, a short novel, a few stories, and lots of forgettable poems and such. But THIS--THIS is IT.

He really WAS a great writer, it turns out, after all.

So many people concentrate on De Profundis' accusations cast towards Alfred Douglas. Yes, it's true that the letter was written to him and that Wilde is ruthless in letting Douglas know exactly what he thinks of him but that's not why De Profundis is a great piece of work. It is great for three reasons. Number one - It contains the best account of the life of Christ. Christ as the romantic artist is the only account that has moved me to tears and the only account I can personally embrace. Number two - it is chock full of the Oscar Wilde voice and wit and as a result it reverbates as a true work of art and number three - It is ultimately a work that celebrates the things in life worth feeling - failure, love, injustice, strength and forgiveness.

Don't waste your time with the accusations towards Douglas. He is unimportant. Oscar Wilde is what's important and De Profundis is Oscar Wilde bare.

Ah, me...one doesn't know which to be more irritated
and exasperated with: whether it be Walt Whitman doing
his dissembling shuck-and-shuffle about the children
he had sired (to throw off a probing, serious John
Addington Symonds) -- or Oscar, in this "j'accuse," which
he should have spoken while looking in a mirror, rather
than writing it on paper to Lord Alfred.
This is without doubt a fascinating, horrifying,
and yet in places humorous, "piece de Miserere mei"
(to combine a bit of French with Latin).
If one chooses to believe Oscar, his only fault
was weakness in "giving in" to Lord Alfred. Oh,
come now. Blinded by Eros, reason flies out the
door...if ever reason was in control. There are
some sentences which are devastatingly revealing,
but Oscar doesn't seem to see it. "The trivial in
thought and action is charming. I had made it
the keystone of a very brilliant philosophy expressed
in plays and paradoxes." Ye gods, and little fishes!

And this man dared to call himself a "Classicist?!"
Yikes!!!
The best exercise for the reader is to just take
many of the things which Oscar accuses Lord Alfred
of, and turn them toward the self-blind, self-
justifying Oscar, to see their devastating hitting
of the mark. Never having met the young man, but
only having the "benefit" of hearsay (mostly from
Oscar's literary defenders) Lord Alfred seems to have
been calculating, temperamental (using anger to get
his way), manipulative, etc., etc., etc. The best
description of him may be Wilde's referring to him
with the lines from Aeschylus' play AGAMEMNON,
about the lion cub being raised in a house and
being let loose to wreak havoc and ruin.
But Oscar bears his share of blame -- more than just
that of the "sin" of weakness which he constantly falls
back upon in his own justification. Even in the midst
of what purports to be some sort of penitent cry from
the depths of hell...Oscar still is ever the poseur:
"And I remember that afternoon, as I was in the railway
carriage whirling up to Paris, thinking what an impossible,
terrible, utterly wrong state my life had got into, when
I, a man of world-wide reputation, was actually forced
to run away from England, in order to try and get rid
of a friendship that was entirely destructive of everything
fine in me either from the intellectual or ethical point
of view...." Er, when was the last time that the
"everything fine" had last seen the light of day?
Was Oscar an "Artist," as he consistently claims?
Was he the wronged, harmed Artist? Perhaps only the
reader can decide that for himself. Without doubt
he was witty, acerbic, funny, cute, clever, perhaps
even charming (to some -- sort of like a Pillsbury
Dough Boy with flair and a clever tongue), perhaps
stylish (in a frumpy, velveteen sort of way). Was
he wronged by a predatory clinger and manipulator,
and a hypocritical social prudery and class power
play (Oscar is no Socrates--that's for sure!)? He
hardly seems worthy, in some ways, of being a poster-boy
for Gay Pride parades. More likely, he is a better
warning poster boy for the self-excusing, and never
take-responsibility-for-your-own-actions crowd.
But this is an incredible piece to read and think
about. There is some of it that is mordantly hilarious.

I enjoyed reading this book, and learned a lot of things. What I learned the most is how to be strong and never give up.

Angel Brown

I was happy to have corresponded with the author a while back and have read the book. This is a type of book like The Dream Merchant in that respect. In this book, you have a young girl who goes into a coma and meets some unique people who encourage,challenge, and sometimes emphasize the importance of having a dream and never giving up. It seems as though it is a book for children, but I, as an adult has also been drawn to it as well and have recommended it to others. My daughters saw the book and now they want a copy of their own.

Destiny Unlimited is truly a life changing novel. The main character is placed in a position were she (Amethyst) has a journey to take. The story starts off with Amethyst going over one of her friends home to play and finds out that her friend really wasn't her friend, but someone who wanted to show off all the material things they had. Amethyst was somewhat upset and wanted to go home. Well, instead of her going home, she wanted to be dropped off in the park. The park was not far from her home and she felt safe in the park. As she was walking home she ran into a man in the park who she wanted to know why he looked the way that he did. (Like a bum).

Well that bum turned out to be one of the most interested people she met along her journey. Some of the other characters also gave her good directions that would eventually help her get through her journey in one piece and return back home with her mother. Some of the things I have learn throughout this whole novel is... having faith and beliefs in what you do will get you through. Then keep your expectations obtainable and make commiments you can keep. Once the seed is planted,imagine it's strengh and proclaim I - AM - A - Genie! (IMAGINE)

Thank you Vanessa Davis Griggs for writing such a novel. My tongue is the pen of a Ready Writer! Keep writing these powerful novels for they will make a mark on today's society one way or another!

Destiny Unlimited takes you on a journey with Amethyst Destiny Price. On this journey Amethyst learns very important lessons of life. She learns the power of words, the power of thoughts, how to plant seeds of knowledge, and so much more. Vanessa Griggs tells a very powerful, inspirational story. I became totally engrossed in this book and could not put it down. I found myself trying to figure out the lesson before the story told it. This is a fabulous book - a must read!

Destiny Unlimited is a novel centered around a young Black female whose name is Amethyst. She goes on a very interesting journey that will help us all to get focused on what really matters in our lives. The novel was inspiring and motivating and truly has made a difference in my life.

This book was a real departure for James Norman Hall, and demonstrates Hall's ability to create a series of unified but stand-alone short stories, each with a tongue-in-cheek ability to tell a (usually~!) believable story. Well, let's face it, they're all lies, but they're such INTERESTING lies!

F. Dogbody, Surgeon in the Royal Navy, has lost a leg- and each of his stories that he related in the cozy Plymouth inn as how he lost the leg is as entertaining at the last. If you're a fan of Jack Aubrey novels (as I am), you will like these stories.

The introduction about James Norman Hall is as interesting as the book. Hall, an American, fought in the trenches in World War I before America joined the war, then fought as an American fighter pilot- and was the commanding officer of America's leading ace, Eddie Rickenbacker.

Get two or three copies of this nice little book and share with your friends. They'll love you for it.

Doctor Dogbody was a navy surgeon who spent most of his life at sea on sailing ships. As long as people can remember he has had a wooden leg. Whenever old mates gather around the fire with a pint in their hand and long to hear a tale, they anxiously await the tale of how the good doctor lost his leg. The tale is never the same twice!

This is one of those rare books that you keep on your bookshelf for re-reading. I have read "Doctor Dogbody's Leg" at least 20 times. I made the mistake of letting somebody borrow it and it
has disappeared. Guess I am just going to have to buy another copy!

A beautifully written and conceived collection (or is it one continuous tale?), this book will grab anyone who appreciates great humor and skillful writing. A true test of a book's greatness, this one I was truly sorry to see end. Grab a tankard of ale, or a glass of Port Royal, and settle down by the fire at the Cheerful Tortoise. You'll roar with laughter and gasp with astonishment at the good Doctor's tales.

A must read for any and all O'brien fans. This is one the funniest books I have ever read. The good doctor spins increasingly outragous yarns and somehow makes it all seem plausible. The writing is first rate and the characters are vivid and real.

This book was a change of pace for the author, who was the co-author of Mutiny on the Bounty and other books. It is humorous light reading, with the tales set in the Cheerful Tortoise, as Dr. Dogbody, Royal Naval, meets with old acquaintances and tells tales about how he lost his leg. It sometimes rambles a bit, as tales might if told by an old-timer reminiscing. Overall, it is a good collection of stories that could probably be shared with children. So get a pint of ale, and sit down in front of the fire at the Cheerful Tortoise while Dr. Dogbody relates his adventures.

Nice concurrence of words and thoughts. Magical reality. All stories were quite fine. I enjoyed 'The Hitchhiker Tale at Anton's Restaurant' the best.
'The Uninvited Guest' with its political statements would have been even stronger, in my opinion, by not being placed in a magical reality - which ended. The issues are too important and too real.

Dreamtime is a term for the magical period of the creation of the world...it grasps the meaning of mystery and mystical wonder. The title "Dreamtime" captures the essence of Robert Steiner's short story collection and gives the correct suggestion that this too is a thing of mystery and mystical wonder.

This collection offers stories of great variety, from an odd summer job of being a decoy for muggings to the consequences of space travel. All of the stories contain some sort of oddity, lending them all an air of the "Twilight Zone." Each is a short, satisfying episode of fiction that will be sure to please its readers.

Robert Steiner is a storyteller with a gift for description. He grabs the reader's attention from the first word and offers tidbits of uniqueness to carry you through to the end of each tale. "Dreamtime" is an interesting and enjoyable read that touches on the paranormal but also demonstrates the very human qualities of its characters.

Review by Heather Froeschl of BookReview.com.

What is a dream? Is it merely that state achieved during sleep when fleeting images only half remembered later trace their way through your mind? Or are there other dream states? How about an alternate reality? Could one stumble into something so extraordinary and so beyond the common frame of reference that it constitutes a sort of waking dream? Author Robert Steiner seems to think so. He compiled eleven short stories outlining his belief under the title "Dreamtime." The author, a Harvard graduate who worked as a research scientist at the Naval Medical Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, has written a series of tales that evoke memories of such writers of the supernatural as William Hope Hodgson and even, in a certain narrative way, Clark Ashton Smith. Not all of the stories delve into the paranormal, but all of the stories do give the reader a decidedly eerie sensation of "not quite rightness" that only the masters of supernatural fiction manage to achieve. You won't find a lot of monsters from beyond time and space or fabled lands on other planets in "Dreamtime." What we do get is something far more sinister and far more personal. This is one creepy set of stories.

The first story in the collection, "The Decoy," doesn't exactly set the tone for the rest of the book. Don't get me wrong; it's a great story. But it doesn't expose us to the bizarre like the rest of the tales do. In this one, a young man ready to head off to graduate school decides to take a most unusual summer job in Italy helping the authorities there crack down on street criminals. Why he would be perfect for the job only emerges in degrees: it seems that his physical appearance is so repugnant that the Italian cops think he looks like a dupe of the type criminals love to victimize. He's actually quite intelligent, of course, which is another trait the police are looking for. Needless to say, he works wonders busting up packs of pickpockets until an encounter with a particularly ruthless gang of Russian thugs changes our young hero forever.

The next story, "The Hiker's Tale: At Anton's Restaurant," is more conventionally weird, if that makes any sense. A man decides to take a long hike to a dinner party only to run headlong into a dangerous snowstorm. He sits down on a stump to rest--never a good thing to do when it's cold and snowing outside--only to resume his trip a few minutes later. He stumbles over a brightly lit gentleman's club/restaurant in a place he never noticed on previous excursions. Invited inside by the friendly personnel, he sits down to partake of the inn's fantastic menu only to wake up suddenly in the hospital, a victim of frostbite and extreme exhaustion. Was it real or only a dream of a warm, welcoming place conjured up by an injured mind and body in order to sustain itself?

The next four tales share a similar trait in that we are seeing people or animals emerging from some other place or time to affect characters in the present day. "The Student Pilot" introduces us to a mysterious man who shows up for flight lessons even though he seems to know everything about flying airplanes. His identity, strongly hinted at toward the end of the story, makes us wonder whether what we are seeing is a case of reincarnation or something more eerie. The same can be said for "Canine Fantasies," a truly odd tale of a man hypnotized into thinking a phantom dog follows him everywhere he goes. Is it the recalled spirit of his childhood pet or a merely a hallucination? Problem is, this spirit helps the main character out in a big way on several occasions. "The Returning Student" eschews pilots and dogs in favor of a university teacher's encounter with an enigmatic student resembling one of our most famous authors. In "The Disappearance" the author treats us to yet another reappearing historical figure, this time a figure straight out of the Bible.

For something darker and scarier, turn to "Phoenix Street," "The Seaside Witch," and "The Uninvited Guest." The first involves a Harvard graduate student stressing out over finishing his thesis who disintegrates into a nervous wreck after glimpsing the visage of an evil looking woman glaring at him from the window of a house. "The Seaside Witch" involves a strange case of two individuals meeting again years after a chance encounter. The witch appears only briefly and in a way that doesn't set off alarm bells until the end of the story. My favorite story, and one that will definitely stay with me for some time, is "The Uninvited Guest." Some poor wretch caught in the fog pulls up to a house filled with chattering people throwing out very grim political opinions. This story made me think of Jack London's "The Iron Heel." The last tales include a science fiction story, "Round Trip," about an astronaut returning to earth after a forty-year excursion among the stars, and a delightfully optimistic look at the afterlife called "The Pilgrim."

Steiner has written some real gems here. He definitely has a knack for creating delightfully bizarre environments in the space of a few pages. His writing style works well too: you get the sense rather quickly that this is an author who ponders over each and every sentence to make sure he gets everything just right. He might have worked in science as a career, but his talents extend far beyond the laboratory and the microscope.

Robert Steiner named his collection of short stories from the Australian Aborigine "Dreamtime"--that world of the past, present and future that is a spiritual mystery. The title is apt--each story, whether set in this world or some other takes place in that nebulous region between life and death, between real and imagined.

The stories reminded me a bit of Edgar Allen Poe, but without being so bitterly dark. In a way, reading these was a bit like listening to "Hotel California" (but I mean that in a good way!)

There is a story of an unremarkable-looking young man who signs up for a stint patrolling the tourist areas of Rome. The work is not exactly without dangers, and he finds that even the darkest situation can yield some unexpected benefits. There is a story of a man who finds an abandoned mansion in Pennsylvania. The guests are captains of industry and society dames, but the uninvited guest finds out that they are far more dangerous than their conversation. A student in Cambridge, Massachusetts learns about the residue that pure evil can leave behind. And a professor in a third-rate college has a star pupil who is as elusive as he is brilliant. Who is the old guy that sits in on the classes, aces the exams but won't sign up for a campus ID and eludes security with the ease of a cat burglar?

The stories are enjoyable--reading this is like telling ghost stories around a campfire, but as if you had very literary camping friends, indeed. I enjoyed "Dreamtime" --once picked up, it's hard to put it down. If you like fantasy-horror on the light and fanciful side, this will appeal to you.

Dreamtime is an apt title for this collection of short stories. The author has a wonderfully natural writing style, and in all but one case the story feels as if the author is right there with you recounting personal stories beside the hearth - indeed, the majority of the stories are drawn from personal experience, as the author tells us in his Preface. The naturalistic style of the writing makes for a perfect medium in which Steiner introduces touches of the dream-like and supernatural. In story after story, the world of the mundane is gradually infused with an atmosphere of intellectual, almost dreamlike fog.

The initial story, The Decoy, is rather atypical of the eleven stories collected here, in that it does not stray into the realm of the unusual. It does, however, show how good can come of seemingly bad occurrences. The sense of dreamlike experience first manifests itself in The Hiker's Tale: At Anton's Restaurant, in my opinion the most effective story in the collection. In this tale, an older gentleman finds himself caught in a sudden snowstorm, only to find a needed respite in the form of a most unusual restaurant.

Two of the stories, The Student Pilot and The Returning Student, share a similar theme; they don't deal with reincarnation per se, but in each case a great man of the past seems to make an unexpected and relatively brief trip into a contemporary but otherwise mundane setting. Canine Fantasies was a story I particularly enjoyed; here, the main character is given an invisible canine companion by a hypnotist, and this supposedly transient spirit eventually becomes the man's best friend in ways few would believe.

Several of the stories are open-ended explorations of extreme possibilities. The Disappearance, for instance, puts forth one possible scenario of The Rapture in the form of a man with whom the protagonist has, he realizes after the fact, a brief but personal connection. Events and personalities coming back together for a seemingly preordained purpose is also the formula for the story The Sea Witch. Phoenix Street is the only story with a real feeling of creepiness embedded within it - in the form of a malevolent old lady who affects a young Harvard graduate student's life, despite the fact the two individuals have never truly met.

A palpable sense of unreality or perhaps hyper-reality is evinced in the story The Uninvited Guest. Here, a stranded traveler wanders into an upscale party of strange characters espousing radical ideas. There would seem to be a context of political philosophy built into this story, but it is hard to say more without giving anything away.

The Pilgrim proves to be the most unusual story in the collection; it offers an allegorically striking and most unusual take on the subject of dying. I would have liked to have seen this story close out the book rather than the much less effective tale Round Trip. This final tale differs from the others in that it is told from the perspective of a third person, and its somewhat depressing account of an astronaut returning to a world forty years in his future (thanks to the conundrum of relativity) casts a dark reflection on the reader's consciousness.

Needless to say, I found Dreamtime a most impressive short story collection. While the author devoted his life to science, he obviously developed at the same time a deep sense of the human condition, with all its fears, desires, and mysteries. His writing style, far from the cold and sterile manner you might associate with a man of science, is in fact vibrant and exceedingly smooth and natural. Steiner chose the title Dreamtime because the word reflects a time of creativity and dreamlike magic, and as such it seems to fit this collection of stories perfectly.

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Este es uno de esos libros que deben acompañarnos en la vida, para releerlos y recordarnos que siempre podemos crecer más, no sólo como profesionales, sino como criaturas de este Universo. Para mí es parte de una trilogía especial que comprende a "Juan Salvador Gaviota," de Richard Bach; y "El Profeta," de Gibrán Jalil Gibrán. Una vez lo presté y no creo que lo recupere, así que vine aquí para comprarlo de nuevo.

Al contrario de lo que yo pensaba. No es un manual de ventas, yo me goze y ,termine en lagrimas...Me senti Hafidal comienzo de mi carrera, el estomago vacio, el caminar,el azote de puertas en la nariz,y el lenguje espiritual-romantico.Siempre han puesto de manifiesto que este libro ha sido el mas vendido en todo el mundo, despues de la biblia...Este libro fue de inspiracionpara conocer mas a fondo de Dios y rendir mi vida a ElOg Mandino sin saberlo se ha convertido tambien en predicador de la Santa Bibliaal poner algunos parajes Biblicos dentro del libro..en exacta concordancia a los hechos en cuanto tiempo y espacio...He leido todos sus libros, lo recomiendo a aquellos que deseanser independientes en cuestion de trabjo y a los estudiantes de todo tipo de estudios...Esta es la inspracion de unhombre en vien de la humanidady nolos esajeros que tratan de ver el comunismo , como una solucion...al bien de la humanidad

La lectura de este libro, como todos los de Og Mandino, nos lleva a encontrar otros campos que son mucho más ricos que aquellos en los que vivimos. La historia es simple, las enseñanzas que esta historia trae, es maravillosa. Yo recomendaría este libro sin más. Es un MUST en la literatura de la autoayuda, y, creo yo, del crecimiento personal.