U Books

This is unquestionably the best written book of its type that I have read. It's about time somebody took the time to write a book as a teaching vehicle using a light, humorous approach. I've a huge library of books on the subject, but this one has become my favorite. I fully intend to recommend it to others interested in the subject My advice to the author: don't stop now, write more !!!

This is really a great book!! It's very informative and easy and fun to read.This book gave me all the information I needed to visit the rock art and ruins sites I did while I was in Utah.It gives you directions,the type of hike to get there,when to go,photography tips and other useful comments.It also has lots of nice pictures,some in color and some in black and white.It's one of the best books I've read on visiting these sites in the Southwest.

IF MY HOUSE WERE ON FIRE THIS IS ONE OF THE FIRST BOOKS I'D SAVE! IT IS FUNNY, CREATIVE, PRACTICAL, AND VERY WELL ORGANIZED. EXPERIENCED HIKERS, BEGINNING HIKERS, OR ARM CHAIR TRAVLERS - YOU WILL LOVE THIS BOOK - AND IT JUST MIGHT GET YOU OUT OF YOUR ARMCHAIR.

Rock Art And Ruins For Beginners And Old Guys is a travel and field guide to more than forty major Native American prehistoric rock art sites as well as fifty other ruins and attractions that can teach even the most urbanized city slicker the basics of prehistoric rock art in the West, including where to find it, as well as how to hike, camp, and cook while making the journey. From the equipment needed on the trail to the type of vehicles that are best to drive, Rock Art and Ruins for Beginners has it all - along with descriptions and directions for many ancient, fascinating rock art sites. If you are planning on viewing rock art in the American West, begin by reading Albert School's Rock Art Ruins For Beginners And Old Guys!

With a sence of humor Mr. Scholl does a great job of educating others about rock art.

In an introduction chapter he discusses what rock art is and types of rock art. He discusses what rock art means and refers you to other well written books. He also provides lists of emergency equipment, camping equipment and more that you should consider taking as you begin looking at rock art.

In the next chapters he tells where to go to see rock art. He also instructs the reader about the expected behavior, tours to take, and more.

There are directions for taking pictures of rock art and explanations of clothes to wear, weather, and even a few recipes for crockpot cooking... so you can cook while you are looking and come home to a nice meal. Great!

This is a very exciting book. It made me want to jump out of my seat and go looking. The pictures are nice. His enthusiasm is catching and the format is easy to understand. Well worth the money.

Enjoy

It's a story about cowboys - good guys and bad - but it doesn't really matter.

The beauty of this tale lies in that you have a master story teller who carries you along with lyrical prose and engaging illustrations.

I have the feeling Roy Gerrard could write about anything, and it would be a great story.

Excuse me while I purchase every other children's book he's written...

I don't know why this book isn't listed as a classic in children's literature...but it should be! I first bought a copy for my two youngest toddlers in the late 80's, a copy that we enjoyed enormously over and over again. Gerrard's crisply detailed illustrations are perfectly matched to the rythmical text, allowing each page to be entertainingly and imaginatively explored at liesurely length. Some overly purient parents might object to the "innate violence" of the storyline, but in so doing they will only be depriving themselves of an enchanting piece of Americana populated with some of the most wonderfully drawn western characters to ever appear in a children's book!

My two sons are now 18 & 20 years old and I bought it for him this Christmas.
We read this book at least 30 times when they were around 7 years old.
I puchased this for my younger son he could enjoy reading it to his children some day. It has great illustrations and a wonderful ryhming story line.

I read this book to my granddaughters when they were small. I made up a tune so that I could sing the ryming text to them and they were simply thrilled with the book and the illustrations. Soon they were able to sing the words along with Grampa. It is a treasured memory for us all.

Roy Gerrard is a rare talent. The charming text, the masterful watercolor illustrations (as an advertising creative, I see a LOT of illustration. Few illustrators hold a candle to Roy) come together in a wonderful book. The rhyming text entertains my kids and I at storytime

I bought this book out of desperation for something to read while i was out of town and what a GREAT choice i made! I don't wont to get into too much detail and spoil the ending, but I wasn't able to guess who the killer was, until the very minute he was revealed toward the end of the book, his identity was very well hidden. This is the first book i've read by Colleen Thompson, but it want be the last.

I have just finished reading The Salt Maiden. (I am a slow reader.) It is, there are many adjectives to describe this book. So my best one is, fantastic, stimulating, provocative,sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat. Simply put, I loved it.

You will love Dana, a very sensitive animal lover. Jay, a war veteran, now Sheriff, with traumas that haunt him, will capture your heart,make you wish that you could comfort him. And as they are thrown together to find Dana's sister, in an effort save a sick child, you will travel with them on a journey wondering what will happen to the child and to Dana and Jay as they struggle against all odds to save each other and themselves.

THE SALT MAIDEN by Colleen Thompson is riveting suspense with an emotionally satisfying romance. The finely detailed characterization combines with an eerie exquisitely written landscape to make this novel a reading and re-reading pleasure.

Dana Vanover needs to locate her sister Angie and time is of the essence. Nikki Harrison needs a bone marrow transplant to save her life. Dana and her mother, Nikki's grandmother, are not matches, so as her biological mother, Angie is Nikki's last hope. With urgency to save Nikki and please her mother, Dana travels to Devil's Claw, a desert in Rimrock County, Texas --- the last place Angie was located. The deeper Dana delves into her sister's life, the more danger she unearths... including a body preserved in salt. The town's residents were none to keen on Angie's eclectic ways or her interference in town affairs nor do they relish Dana's digging up the past. As soon as she arrives in Devil's Claw, danger lurks everywhere. Sheriff Jay Eversole is Dana's only ally in the small town but as a former desert warrior and war veteran, he is plagued by day time nightmares. Can Dana find her sister in time and is her growing attraction for Jay a threat to her safety? Will the sheriff's past come back to haunt their search, making him a threat?

Each chapter of THE SALT MAIDEN begins with either an entry from Angie's sobriety journal or a quote about salt, adding a suspenseful or reflective dimension to the novel. The desert wasteland haunts the landscape of this novel, creating an almost paranormal character in THE SALT MAIDEN. Colleen Thompson creates an intriguing landscape, not only of the natural world of the desert but also a landscape that extends into the daily life and dynamics of the community of Devil's Claw. The outer landscape becomes an internal landscape of her characters as Colleen Thompson reveals the vulnerabilities and inner psychological wasteland within Dana, Angie and Jay.

The suspense of THE SALT MAIDEN twists and turns as the motivations of different characters conflict and add new suspects. When one clue is solved, another even more intriguing mystery remains. Colleen Thompson creates fast-paced suspense where every second contains both danger and a pressing need to find answers. At the same time, Colleen Thompson creates a romance that is reflective in tone through her portrait of the wasteland, adding a fresh intriguing vision to the genre. As the desert warrior Jay and Dana work together, they are forced to reveal parts of their pasts that they have kept hidden. THE SALT MAIDEN is a romance that dares to look into the wasteland of the heart and heal wounded souls. Readers will appreciate THE SALT MAIDEN both for the immediate reading pleasure but also the mysteries and questions that remain afterwards. The almost mystical nature of salt and the salt maiden haunts even once the suspense resolves. THE SALT MAIDEN leaves the reader with a question that will make this book a re-reading or book club discussion delight: are some unforgivable acts redeemable?

I'm so glad to be finally giving a 5 star review. I've recently tried 3 new authors (based on 5 star reviews) and have been sorely disappointed in two of them.

This book was excellent! The detail of the author's writing was tremendous - one could actually picture what she was describing. Very few authors have that capability so Kudos! to Ms. Thompson. I also liked the originality of the story. Jay and Dana seemed like "real people in real situations" so the reader wasn't asked to suspend reality. I've read too many books where the author writes some unbelievable, unrealistic heroics even for a romance book.

Anyway, wonderful book going on my keeper shelf.

The Salt Maiden is an amazing book with so much texture and depth. The setting is haunting and the twists and turns drew me in. In fact, the suspense was so exciting that I read this instead of watching my favorite basketball team play on television.

Colleen Thompson has been one of my favorite authors, but this is her very best.

I found this book fascinating and it actually brought back fond memories of life when life was not so hurried. While Howard Mansfield's thoughts seem to flash from one event to another, it gives the reader time to pause and reflect on their own historical experiences in perhaps a small town they once lived or at least wished they had lived. This book reminds us how sweet life was before the words tract (home), fast (food) and drive-thru (service) became a prefix of our vocabulary. Don't think for a moment it's a dull book--its far from! Appropriately, Mansfield manages to interject his humor which at times had this reader in stitches! He also reminds us how much we ache for that simple, easy existence and that deep sense of community. A great book from a genius author.

*A powerful book with a unique perspective on the following:

--What we can learn from the past

--The fragile finite nature of physical objects and the material world

--How to breathe life into a restoration and learn from it, as opposed
to shellaking it over with a polished artificial veneer

--That the work of restoration is as much about the action of
restoring as about the finished product

--That the work of restoration is never done

*Personal essays and interviews rather than a how-to-manual

*Poetic and thoughtful

*SPECIAL NOTE FOR PEOPLE WITH SEVERE CLUTTER/HOARDING problems*
Please note that for people with a hoarding/severe clutter problem, this will be a hard book to read, because it definitely hammers home the fact of "dust to dust".

You will find a new name for yourself however: a "Noah"! In fact one of the chapters is called "An Arkload of Noahs."

And you might even find for yourself a paradigm 180 degree shift in the way you view the objects you are trying to save. The lesson here may be to save less, so that you conserve your energy to try to protect the objects you love the most. Also to realize that the act of preserving should be one of life-giving affirmation for YOURSELF in the
process. It's what you learn and pass on that matters, more than the actual objects.

*Most interesting fact from the book:
(p. 5) "We have our own shrine,...the U.S.S. Constitution, Old Ironsides, the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world.....The ship has survived some close calls with oblivion....Saving a wooden ship is a job that's never finished. The Constitution has been rebuilt and repaired in 1833, 1858, 1871077, 1906, 1927-30, 1953, 1963-65, 1973-75, and the most recent and most extensive...1992-96. ANYWHERE FROM 10 TO 20 PERCENT OF OLD IRONSIDES IS ORIGINAL." (The rest has been replaced over the years through restoration.)

*Here are some favorite quotes from the book:
(pp. 270-271) "Noah gathered two of all that lived, following some of the most specific instructions in the bible. We aren't always so carefully guided. Voices, visions, burning bushes are given only to a few....All Noahs are like Sadie Huntoon. They pull from the wreck we have made of the world what they can, and time will judge its value."

(p.274) "We must let go of some things--some beloved things--to allow the birth of the new, which at times will be shocking and awkward."

(p. 58) "An earthquake in 1997 destroyed important frescoes in the 13th-century Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, the ceiling came down in thousands of pieces....One Franciscan nun said: Sometimes things
need to be destroyed so they can be renewed."

(p. 58) "All materials are fugitive. Things fade, dry out, crizzle and craze. Glass is a liquid. Mountains are borne to the sea. Life is fugitive."

(p. 275) "Nothing is ever (permanently) saved. ...Restoration is a legacy. The job isn't finished; it is handed off to the next generation of caretakers."

(p. 53) "To the keeper of a historic house, the earth is a science-fiction horror film. Life-giving water rots roofs and dissolves stone; benign sunshine reduces silk curtains to rags, bleaches wood, and cracks leather.....The curators are condemned to live on a planet where the fingertips of earthlings leave behind acid that tarnishes silver, where bronze and pewter are prone to 'diseases,' and dust can defeat a suit of medieval armor.
Life is a fire. Sunlight, air, and water sustain us and destroy us. Life consumes all we wish to save."

(pp. 55-57) "The curators' task is impossible: preserve all this stuff FOREVER. They are in a pitched battle with the elements.....Says Pam Hatchfield, an objects conservator at the museum. At best, you can extend the life with low humidity. 'You have to assume that objects you're using are disposable,' she says. 'No matter how much you love them.'"

(pp. 57-58 )"The philosophers call it EVANESCENCE, the passing from one state to the next. Under the right conditions, ice evanescences to vapor....Evanescence is a wonderful phrase, but when I pry back a board on our old house and reach in, and the beam comes out in moist handfuls like devil's food cake, it's not evanescence, it's rot....Everything
created will rot eventually: the Mona Lisa, the Brooklyn Bridge....The world works to recycle itself.....Without rot, life itself is impossible. Rot probably deserves a better name....Most of life is....maintenance."

(p. 276) "Ours in an age of broken connections...Restoration is renewal--and effort to mend the world--or it is not worth doing. Good restoration is a prayer, an offering. It's praise, attention paid; it revels in the glory and spirit of this life."

I just want to pass on this review from the Spring 2002 issue of ArchitectureBoston:

THE SAME AX, TWICE is one of those quiet books that foments revolution. Although identified as merely "journalist and author" (and by implication, non-scholar?), Howard Mansfield has just the right combination of erudition and humor to challenge conventionally held ideas about historic preservation. Like IN THE MEMORY HOUSE , his wise 1993 exploration of the New Englander's defining relationship with the past, THE SAME AX, TWICE ought to be on your bookshelf along with Wendell Berry and Noel Perrin."
-- William Morgan, Professor of Art, Wheaton College
--

Howard Mansfield has written an immensely insightful book about the ways we see our own past. If you were to say something to fault this book it would be that it has crammed twice too many ideas into half too little space, but for those of us who are tired of books with next to nothing to say, Mansfield delivers a powerhouse of ideas about where we are and where we are going.

From the Wright Brothers to the Gillette razor, Mansfield explores American culture and the complex interplay between who we are and who we think we would like to become. Solid pleasure.

This is not the kind of book I usually read. It's probably not the kind of book that **anyone** usually reads. I bought it because of a favorable review in the New York Times. The review made the book sound good and, what do you know, the book really is good.

Now, I'll never renovate a house. I'll never live in a log cabin or an old stone house. I don't want to live in New England or visit Walden Pond or petition city hall to save an old building. But when I read this book, I found out I was a "Noah." (A "Noah" is someone, according to Mansfield, who tries to preserve things that are beautiful or useful from extinction.)

I encourage you to read this book as an allegory for renewal in your own life. What important things in your own world are threatened by what's new? What can you do to preserve those things you find useful as they're encroached upon by change?

My norm is to buy books on Amazon.com and then sell them on half.com to support my habit. But not this book! This book is staying on my shelf. I'll read it again whenever I'm in need of inspiration or creative insight.

As a San Francisco resident of nearly 20 years, I loved this book. It is not a typical, boring guidebook, but rather a very well written, witty book that reads more like a novel. There are many places that Wach writes about that I have never heard of and I am so glad that I recently purchased this book. A must read for San Franciscans!

This book is a great way to get to know SF. As a local, you can do all the things you're "supposed to do" that you haven't done, even though you've lived here for years. Visitors to the city will get a great mix of must-do tourist attractions, and an inside peek into the many things that make San Francisco great that don't begin with "Fish" or "Golden" - a real local flavor.

The author is a regular contributor to the SF Chronicle Newspaper, and her articles are always a treat. She has a great writing style and is extremely witty - this book is actually an entertaining read straight up even if you're not looking for a guide book. She "gets" San Francisco and passes it on to you.

Especially invaluable if you have friends/family coming to SF and you need to show off our little city by the bay, but can't for the life of you remember anything to show them, except for things starting with "Fish" and "Golden". Many chapters that customize a visit to SF for each visitor type - from that "interesting older aunt" to the "wornout by the kids couple". It's a lifesaver when you're expected to give someone the "SF Experience".

Over twenty tailor-made tours of San Francisco are outlined for specialty tourists, from food fans to shopaholics. This isn't your normal tourist's view of the city. At the heart of San Francisco As You Like It: 23 Tailor-Made Tours for Culture Vultures, Shopaholics, Neo-Bohemians, Famished Foodies, Savvy Natives & Everyone Else lies its small neighborhoods and long-lasting shops and restaurants which often are hidden from casual visitors. Add a healthy dose of humor and you'll find a tour to suit all kinds of visitor - and even the San Francisco native.

It doesn't matter if you never go to San Francisco -- buy this book just for the sheer joy of reading it. Bonnie Wach has real opinions and does not dish out the usual everything-is-great travel-guide drivel. Her writing sparkles with personality, wit and humor. All the particulars for the places she writes about are listed in the margins, making the information easy to find when you're looking for it. If you have any interest in San Francisco or travel books in general, buy this book.

This is one of my favorite guidebooks to one of my favorite cities. Witty and funny writing style. Filled with interesting detail and juicy tidbits, yet at the same time simple to navigate. The approach is clever too - tailor made tours for a wide variety of perspectives and preferences. Even though I used to live in SF and know it fairly well, I've gotten so that I don't visit The City without this book.

I have known Scrappy for several years and I have heard many River Rats talk about him. But until he wrote this book I never knew the details of his life, and what an interesting and exciting life it has been. If you have interest in flying and history, this is the book for you. Scrappy takes you through all of his adventures.

Scrappy is not only an interesting book, but Scrappy the man and warrior is just unbeatable. A great read not easy to stop, enjoyed it immensely.

Scrappy and my dad, Brig. Gen. Robin Olds, were cohorts and compadres in a world that only fighter pilots can understand. I read this book with great enjoyment, appreciation, laughter and admiration. Through no end of great tales, self-deprecating honesty and acute analysis of the political bureaucracy in play during the Vietnam war, I learned far more about fighter pilots than I already knew I didn't know! "Scrappy" is a great read and should be on everyone's list - not only for Air force veterans but for active duty pilots of today.

I had the honor of reading Scrappy over the past three days while traveling by air on a business trip. I found his book difficult to put down. The book just keeps moving without ever getting bogged down. Every time I turned the page I found something new and refreshing.

I feel like I have known Scrappy my whole life now after reading his story. In fact when I got home last night I kept telling my wife Scrappy this and Scrappy that.

The story is at times very touching. I felt like Scrappy was able to take words from my soul and put them on paper. He showed me insight to my own experiences as a son, or a father, or a husband. On the other hand it was full of action and excitement too. Scrappy is filled with his professional and private ups and downs. And most of all it was filled with stories about flying.

All in all this is a great book. I found it refreshing and easy to read. This was no school book that I had to pull myself through. No, Scrappy pulled me through. Page after page he carried my attention to the end. This was a real page turner of a story. This is Scrappy.

I had the pleasure of meeting Scrappy a couple of years ago at an astronaut and aviator autograph show in Florida. He was more interesting and likeable than the more famous spacemen sitting around him. His new autobiography is excellent. I couldn't put the book down until I had finished reading it...in one sitting. I enjoyed it so much I purchased another copy as a gift!

Is a tremendously informative resource and well written so that a novice in real estate can understand and must have. It was so helpful, I purchased 4 more to give as gifts.

This book is very well written; logically organized and concise. The information is priceless! For the cost of this book you could be saving 30% of your capital gains money! That's what I call positive ROI. This book is a must have!

Understanding the tax implications of your investments is one of the most important things you can do as a current, or aspiring real estate investor. While Mr. Williamson's book will not make you a "tax expert" it will give you the foundational knowledge you will need in order to intelligently converse with your attorney/accountant, and to make wise investing decisions.

Chapters include information on: capital gains, tax basis, exclusions, exchanges, installment sales, and trusts. I have personally given this book to new agents in my company in order to familiarize them with the tax implications of real estate investing.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I should say that I am an attorney, real estate broker, investor, trainer, and author of another unique and highly readable book on real estate investing that can also be found here on Amazon -- The WealthLoop Series Beginner's Guide to Building Wealth Buying Houses: The Foolproof Roadmap to Real Estate Riches Without the Risks and Hassles of Landlording. Unlike many real estate investing books, it is written to be a genuine "How To" book that "takes you by the hand" and walks you through a step-by-step process for getting started in real estate investing -- investors across the country are giving it rave reviews. The book also includes sample leases, forms, and checklists, so that you can actually go out and implement the investing strategy it teaches as soon as you're done reading. You might want to check out the companion CD too -- The WealthLoop Series Beginner's Guide to Building Wealth Buying Houses (Combo Audio/Data CD): Author's Audio Commentary Plus Downloadable 32-page Marketing Manual, Checklists, Spreadsheets, and Forms.

A related program that's well worth checking out is:

The WealthLoop Series Beginner's Guide to Personal Wealth Creation (Combo Audio/Data CD): Audio Seminar With Downloadable 40-Page Action Manual and Active Link Library.

I believe that Williamson has written an informative book that's worthy of your time. Buy it if you are serious about making a success of real estate investing.

I have read a number of books about real estate tax planning, and this is by far the best. It is clear, to the point, and very readable. The author goes through the basics of how a capital gains basis is calculated, rules about stepping up basis, primary residence exclusion rules, etc. He then discusses various ways of deferring or eliminating capital gain consequences via 1031, installment sales, private annuity trusts, charitable remainder trusts and Roth IRAs. The chapter on private annuity trusts is one of the least known, yet most valuable strategies that exists. Buy this book!

This book answered all my tax and property questions quickly and precisely. It was well written and perfect for someone who is not a CPA or property specialist. Highly recommended.

I saw this book at my brother's house and immediately knew I had to buy it for my husband. It is a high quality reprint of an older book and has that "60's" feel. Much excellent info and lots of great pictures. Very eclectic. We got it specifically for the info on Geodesic Dome houses but there's plenty more for shelter freaks.

I bought this book when I was fourteen years old and it blew my tiny little mind! Now that I've lived a bunch of years in the design field, and I take it off the shelf, tattered from three decades of intense study, it still blows my (now even tinier) mind. Mr. Kahn has done us all a great service with this book that goes beyond architecture to higher values and has a spirit that leads by example. Sure it's got some crazy hippy parts, do with that what you will. But a deep devotion to what you make and why; it's all here. I'm thankful for this inspiring work.

Throughout the 1960s and `70s, hundreds of unwashed, longhaired youth from around the world descended on the open foothills around Placitas, New Mexico, and established multiple communal hippie settlements. These youth had read of the Placitas scene in national magazines and counterculture books, or heard about it from other hippies; they were idealistic types from all around the world, and they came to the area to try to raise their own food, escape The Man, indulge in free love and mind-altering drugs, and live communally in tents, geodesic domes, adobe shacks, and experimental homes they built themselves out of plastic and scrap metal.
This book, "Shelter" documents their bizarre housing experiments in wild detail. It also documents curvaceous mud homes in Africa, riverside huts in Yugoslavia, thatched huts in Ireland, homes in busses, homes in caves, dome homes, homes made of car parts, homes carved into mountainsides, homes made of hay, tipis, barns, gypsy tents, and more.
If there's a strange kind of housing, you'll probably find it in here, and you'll probably be inspired by it.
"Building this house was more of like feeling where you went as you started working with it, you know, the material and just playing it from there," said one Placitas hippie interviewed in this book. "...It's like three dimensional sculpturing, you know, we just got into building a house out here that's like jewelry. ...OK, let me put it this way, the inspiration like as we move along through it, like I found it in [Stanley Kubrick's film] 2001, where the dude had finally split out of the satellite and was heading towards Jupiter, just as he was coming in, what they had done was they had used different types of film, infrared for one, and just taken a plane and flown over Grand Canyon at a high speed, low, what is created you know, is in some respects synonymous to what the house is, you know, and certainly our cell structure in our body is synonymous with that...."
As you can probably tell, this is not "Better Homes and Gardens" or even "MTV Cribs." It's "Shelter," and it's a trip.

Now I don't know if I want to live in a tree, a yurt, or on a converted vehicle. This makes my 'normal' house seem quite ordinary. Drat!

I studied architecture in Australia and dragged my feet through the course. That is until a mate suggested I check out this book.
It liberated me.

Here was a bunch of common folk who met one of the most basic needs of all humanity - shelter.

So much of what we encounter in our 'western' enlightened age is alien and regulated. The materials that we commonly use in buildings & infrastruture is devoid of any life or connection with the earth. They are not in or close to their natural state. And even if they are, there is so much regulation and stipulation on how we are to use them.

But this book gives you hope, a chance to dream. It shows buildings as art forms, useful & practical but completely expressive of the owners they serve. They are not bound by regulations and conventions. This is craftsmanship not industrialisation. They are made from from natural unrefined materials which in essence connects us to the earth, which we all belong to. From dust we came, to dust we will all return. The beauty of nature is your own home.

This book is filled with ideas and ways in which people have often 'escaped' from the life draining cities to a more peacuful and harmonious way of life. It's superb photo's, hand illustrations and even the way the book is laid out are a freedom in itself. This is one book you will not regret owning and will always find pleasure returning again and again to.

incredibly spot on in terms of the emotional rollercoaster of an unwanted divorce, I cracked up on the "obligatory trip across the ocean" and many other escapades. I managed to skip the sex with the ex but otherwise it was a perfect mirror. Read it and laugh!

Shame on you Suzanne Finnamore, in your first to memoirs you didn't share with your faithful readers the huge red flags that were waving in your face about your husband "N". Thus, some of us justifiably felt a little cheated ourselves when we found out about these omens after the fact in your latest memoir of divorce, "Split". That aside, you did a superb job describing the horrors and heartbreak of betrayal. You made us laugh and cry and feel joyful at your survival.

But now...enough about you, okay? You are such a terrific writer, I can imagine that your fiction would be sensational! Funny, pithy, insightful, deep...how about a whole story based on characters modeled after Betty Lady and Christopher? Make something up...enough real life already.

One Friday evening, Suzanne Finnamore's life splits wide open. She stands in her kitchen in black cigarette pants, checking her lipstick and anticipating the weekend when her husband strolls in the door, gives her a kiss, grabs a martini, and, very soon, delivers the life-rending blow.

He states it simply and explicitly, "I. Want. A. Divorce." After telling his devastated spouse that he deserves happiness, he packs, puts on his best blazer and is out the door.

What about her? Both the reader and the soon-to-be-former wife wonder.

Split is painful and enlightening to read as Finnamore recounts her despair and eventual recovery. (She assures us in the preface that both she and her son are well and happy, so I'm not giving anything away.) What is delightful and riveting about the book is that Finnamore is a fine writer with a quick and insightful sense of humor. What could be bleak and discouraging turns out to be quite the opposite.

The heroine (and she is one) may lose N, as she designates him, but she gains insight from her more-than-delightful mother, Bunny. The morning after the leave-taking, Bunny shows up with a fifth of Jack Daniels and a half-gallon of butter pecan ice cream. Now there's a mom! Bunny isn't the only one to stick by Finnamore. Her friend Lisa is always there for her and never, ever, there for N. Lisa is wise. She knows just when to reveal some difficult truths and when to offer moral support.

Some people say that divorce is harder than widowhood because the jerk keeps showing up. Both are the loss of a relationship; mourning must be done. Finnamore casts her successful journey to recovery in terms of the classic model of loss, moving forward across the stages from denial through anger, bargaining, and grief until finally arriving at acceptance. And she does it with good nature and understanding.

Consider, for example, a few of her entries: "Ten Simple Yet Elegant Tips for Divorce;" "Change the locks;" and "When confronted with a practical question regarding fairness to your ex, err on the side of lifetime vendetta." Clearly, these are from the "Acceptance" stage.

While anyone who has been part of an ending relationship, whether through divorce or otherwise, will appreciate Split. The audience is not that limited. All readers who enjoy a skillfully written memoir will relish this book and be looking for more Finnamore to delight in.

by Patricia Nordyke Pando
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

I've been a fan of Finnamore since -- well, it feels like it's been since the day I started reading books, but we all know that makes no sense, as I'm not an infant. She is by far one of the most underrated writers of our time, and her background as an advertising copywriter is reflected in every page, every pithy sentence that is perfectly constructed to capture as much meaning as possible. Split is no exception, and brings the same concise brilliance that Otherwise Engaged and The Zygote Chronicles demonstrated so successfully. There isn't a wasted word here -- she perfectly captures entire scenes, emotions, inner monologues -- in raw, electric sentences that leap off the page.

I'll admit, I read this with a touch of melancholy, for I have always read "Otherwise Engaged" and "The Zygote Chronicles" as fictionalized memoirs, and I felt that I knew the characters already, it's just that they happened to be wearing new pseudonyms. And to watch the dissolution of the family I felt that I was privileged to see grow was an oddly personal experience for me. Although, to be frank, it would be difficult NOT to read this novel with a personal sense of sadness, for Finnamore so accurately captures every emotion -- every tortured moment of anger and frustration and sadness -- in such a universal way that it's as though you're living through it with her. It's a brilliant journey of heartbreak, sadness, and ultimately redemption, laced with Finnamore's trademark black humor. Divorce, it seems, can be deadly funny.

That being said, I don't recommend you start here if you're new to Finnamore. Although the book stands alone on its own merit, I must add that there is an extra layer of poignancy added if you've read her other two novels. By the time she emerges victorious, if battered, from her journey, you're as triumphant as she is, for you've seen not just the bad, but the good, too, that made the road that much more difficult.

I am in the midst of an unwanted divorce. Suzanne absolutely nails the feelings of those of us left behind in the dust of our husband's quest for eternal youth and "happiness" - their happiness, not ours and our children's. If you want a glimpse inside the emotional trainwreck that is divorce, but with humor and style, read this book. It may help you wade through your own divorce or help you understand women in your life who have been betrayed by their spouse. It is a quick read - I read it in two hours without stopping.

Gumbel has run over the history of American electoral fraud, starting as early as 1788 and running through extensive discussions of the 2000 and 2004 elections.

On the way we learn about a number of fascinating scandals of the past, now largely forgotten, along with some that haven't been, such as the famous Tammany Hall gang that dominated New York City for a decade. Gumbel shows that, while big-city corruption got the publicity, elections in many rural areas were equally dirty. He also show how periodic concerns over ballot box stuffing have resulted in a numbr of reforms that, by making voting harder, have effectively lowered participation, which was once at around 80% of eligible voters, and now is sometimes below 50%. For instance, the secret ballot, by replacing earlier party-distributed ballots that had shown, by color and logos, which party they represented, had the quite intentional effect of disenfranchising many illiterate immigrants and former slaves. The practice of denying the vote to convicted felons even after completion of their sentence was invented entirely to prevent former slaves from voting, and is used to disenfranchise blacks to this day, as notably happened in Florida 2000.

Gumbel's discussion of the Florida crisis is useful, although I thought a little too hard on Gore. His discussion of Ohio 2004, which he feels was clearly a legitimate victory, although he does show the strong evidence of illegitimate means used to suppress the Kerry vote, is obviously unconvincing for many of his readers here. (It's interesting to note that, although the book really works not to be a partisan tract, the reviewers on Amazon seem to be overwhelmingly Democrats.)

The extensive discussion in this book of touch screen voting shows clearly how flawed the technology is in current form. He also adds a fascinating historical perspective by showing how past changes, earlier voting machines and punch card ballots, were promoted in their time as technological wonders which would eliminate corruption and make voting easier.

One thing that is very convincing indeed in this section is the discussion of how professional election administrators have repeatedly ignored, downplayed, or just flat lied about the flaws in technology they have committed taxpayer money to, both with e-voting and with previous technologies. I used to think that the professionals who explained how my fears of touch screen voting were groundless probably knew what they were talking about, since they worked with the systems so closely. I won't ever trust those quotes again after reading this book.

Gumbel's discussion of touch screen voting in other countries is also interesting, both for how he shows that such advanced nations as Venezuela do far better than the US at holding clean and reliable elections, as well as some anecdotes showing that American voting equipment companies have just as doubtful a record overseas as they do at home. This section will give you the mild relief of knowing that the way they're screwing up our elections is (probably) more a matter of corporate greed and incompetence than a deep conspiracy to install permanent right-wing government by fixing elections.

Steal This Vote is a fascinating book whose interesting premise is unfortunately marred by a boring and choppy writing style. Gumbel's accusations, arguments and images are stirring and rather frightening; the fact that elections have been stolen for the last two hundred years isn't exactly encouraging to those supporting election reform. He paints a very clear picture of each point in election-stealing history, from the early days of the Republic to Chicago's Daley machine to the 2000 and 2004 debacles. Each shocking detail comes out fast and harsh, which is alarming (as it should be) for the first few chapters, but then soon becomes repetitive and tiring. That doesn't keep the whole story from enlightening the reader, however. Even if I struggled to get through this book, I learned the history of elections in this country and how they are taken for granted and are almost never clean. And though I am constantly distressed by the American population's election habits, Gumbel's suggestions for reform are reasonable goals for which I will fight to the end. With some more editing, perhaps a new edition of this book could be more easily read, and I think it should be read. This population is too ignorant of its system's workings; if the people knew that their perfect democracy is not so perfect, there would be hell to pay, and then there may at last be change.

One would have thought that of all the boring topics that an author could select, the mechanics and history of the secret ballot in the world's pre-eminent democracy should have been close to the top. But far from it, Mr Gumbel has documented and told a quite extraordinary and at times amazing tale. Whether he is right in every detail I have no idea but either way it ought to have every US citizen asking some very tough questions. Politics can be a venal game but surely the actual electoral process itself ought to be above question. Sadly it seems in the USA it's not.

I was really impressed with this book. This is an incredibly important topic, and the author is so immensely knowledgeable, and his handling of the material is so comprehensive and fair, that by the end, I felt closer to grasping what's been going on with American politics than ever before. It turned my perception of the whole voting process in America completely around (I really never suspected it was THIS bad). If you have any interest at all in politics (and if you don't, well, you might be past saving), you should read this, and pass it along, and talk about it. It's an eye-opener. And so entertaining! I laughed out loud several times, and throughout, I felt that the author was presenting really substantial, weighty information in an appealing, witty style. (It's a fun book to cart around, too -- about 15 people stopped me and asked me about the book after glimpsing the title.)

The election travesties of 2000 and 2004 left me angry and disgusted. I'm still angry and disgusted about those events and their conduct, but after reading Gumbel's book, I've softened my impressions a bit and redirected the focus of my ire and disgust. It's clear to me now that no American political party has ever seriously objected to election theft as long as the result was victory. Since achieving honest elections has never been an honest goal (except temporarily for the losers), a party in power has never had genuine interest in realizing honest results! So, here we are.
I shouldn't be surprised at all that, but Gumbel's detail, clarity and focus make me wonder why I'm so late coming to the full realization table.
Gumbel provides clear insight. Nevertheless, the reader is left to judge for himself what all this says about the alleged state of democracy in the U.S.A., past and present.