Classics Books

This is a wonderful book with great rhythm and rhyme. My 3 month old already smiles when I start reading it, and I know as he gets older it will be one of his favorites, as he doesn't react this way to any other book. I also think it is a great story... VERY cute pictures!

My daughter loves this book (22 months old) and my husband and I enjoy the sing-song rhyme as well. It has a nice rhythm for reading aloud. We don't mind reading it over and over! The illustrations are great also.

My 11 month old son loves this book and has since he was little. He loves the cadence of my voice as I read the clever rhyming story and he loves the pictures. However for younger children like him this book is also available in a board book format. Just search amazon for bear snores on board book.

This book was given to us when our boy was born and it's been a favorite for his two years of life. We've given this as a gift now many times.

This book is one of our favorites. Great, original verse, lots of cute animals, and a repeating phrase make our 2-year-old pay attention. The other "Bear" books don't seem as original to me. We give this book as gifts, and everyone loves it!

I nearly fell asleep while reading this book. It only gets more than 1 star from me because of the somewhat predictable plot twist at the end.

This book is the first chapter book to interest my six year old. The characters, five sisters, each have their own personalities which are drawn in detail and carried through all of their adventures. The stories are sweet, focusing on everyday life in a poor jewish family at the turn of the century in New York (on the lower east side). The traditions will be familiar to an educated jewish reader but the setting just diferent enough to make it interesting. My daughter demands it every night and now cant sleep without her nightly dose of "naughty Henny and her sisters."

This book is just as entertaining as it was when I read it as a child! The book arrived quickly, in fantastic condition. Thanks!

Sydney Taylor's classic book for middle readers is set in the Lower East Side of New York City and depicts the life of a traditional Jewish family in the early 20th century. All-of-A-Kind Family is the first in a series of novels about the lively family and is a sweet, charming read. The story takes the reader through most of year and involves not just the family but their friends and acquaintances, too. The book opens with a chapter about going to the library, and the children's librarian (or "library lady," as the girls like to call her) is a gentle, recurring presence. The children's adventures include a trip to the market, scarlet fever and an outing to Coney Island, where one of the girls gets temporarily, and happily, lost. Meanwhile the story meanders through a year of Jewish holidays and teaches the reader a little about each one. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on Shabbat and how Taylor contrasts the hubbub of shopping and preparations with the simple serenity of the day itself. The family relationships struck me as very true and believable- for example, Papa's ambivalence regarding the present the girls get for his birthday and his quick turnaround struck me as realistic and human. I can imagine any parent reacting the way he did initially and then rallying in the end. I appreciate Taylor's honesty about her characters throughout the book, too. It's a great book for anyone and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series and sharing in the further adventures of this fun, busy family.

All-of-a-Kind Family was a turning point in the history of Judaic children's literature - the first mainstream book with Jewish characters! In memory of author Sydney Taylor, the Association of Jewish Libraries gives out the Sydney Taylor Book Award each year to the best in Judaic children's literature. See lists of winners at www.sydneytaylorbookaward.org.

Also, you can hear an interview with Jo Taylor Marshall, the daughter of Sydney Taylor, on The Book of Life podcast's October 2007 episode "Catch Me a Classic!" Jo shares memories of the real people who became the characters in the series. Tune in at www.bookoflifepodcast.com!

Don't read this book if you're looking for an over the top Rambo/Braddock conquer S.E. Asia single-handedly comic strip. If you want to learn a little bit about what it was like to fly a Huey in a strange land during an incomprehensible time, read this book. Read it then give it to someone else to read.

Read it in six days. Kept my interest. Hope Mason's life is going better these days.

As the cover says, "The best book to come out of Vietnam". This is a hard hitting book which is very well described. Approx. 50 pages in, you are already riding in the chopper with 'Bob' Mason. A sorry tale but a very true one.

I have read many military books. This is the best one I have ever read. I suggest the sequel "back in the life" as well as "Weapon" and "Solo". Anything written by Mason is good.

I finished reading Chickenhawk last night just a few minutes after midnight, July 4, 2008. I feel like I oughta apologize to its author, Bob Mason, for taking 25 years to "discover" his excellent account of one man's horrific wartime experiences in Vietnam over 40 years ago. Sam Hynes, author of the equally excellent WWII pilot's memoir, Flights of Passage, once told me that one of the most important ingredients in a memoir is that the narrator be likeable. Chickenhawk has that most vital element, for Bob Mason is as likeable a guy as you'll find in the literature of war, and his prose is absolutely real and riveting as he tells of his whirling descent into the madness that was Vietnam. His final chapter summarizes the kind of confusing nightmare his life became upon his return home, as he struggled to understand and survive this thing now commonly known as PTSD. I like this guy. In fact I like him well enough that I will try to find a copy of his out-of-print sequel to Chickenhawk. It may take a while, but I'll be back to comment on that one too. In the meantime, I urge anyone who enjoys good writing of any kind to read this book. It's the real deal. - Tim Bazzett, author of SoldierBoy: At Play in the ASA (RatholeBooks.com)

What does American history feel like, look like to someone who lived through the twentieth century without a formal education? Mr Dawson wrote: "My turn had come. My first day of school was January 4, 1996. I was 98 years old..." What a heart-felt, inspirational, insightful story on the life of a remarkable man who never felt remarkable. This book has a special place on my shelves. A must read for every high school student taking an American History course. His common sense view of life, his humor, humility, appreciation for what we take for granted are even more valuable now than the day the book was published. It's timeless.

This book will change your outlook on life and help you to appreciate your life more. Also helps you to feel more kindness to mankind. It is the kind of book that should be in schools. It's a must read for everyone - a feel good book.

Life Is So Good
This is an excellent extraordinary autobiography of a wonderful person. Every student in the US should have the opportunity to read this book. It's breath taking.... dcw

Life Is So Good An absolutely fascinating autobiography as told by Mr. Dawson. His experiances of growing up in the South and his travels across America and Mexico make for interesting reading. His personal experiances of growing up black in a 'white world' provide insight into how different parts of the country and Mexico viewed blacks. His personal moral and ethical insights about life cut across all racial barriers. He is truly and an example of 'you are never too old to learn'.

I guess some of the most important things I feel I've learned from this book is: don't dwell, take pride in your work, and focus on the power of beauty. This man (as thousands and thousands of others) had to endure more mental abuse in his life so far, then a million men, but was able and lucky enough to swim to top of that putrid pond of a life he was given and see the good in it, as fleeting as that was. I was thinking of this book as a mirror and what message I saw in it, that would be "Have a Lion's Heart" .

This is an excellent book which I read years ago. "The Law" by Frederic Bastiat, in which he discusses legalized plunder, is a highly recommended work which should be read by all Americans, especially before they vote. Should also be required reading by anyone running for public office, serving on a jury, or attending law school. In fact, why not make it required reading in all public schools? That would really change the political, social, and economic landscape! Let's all buy several copies and send one each to our Representatives and Senators, state and federal. We the People can make a difference, if we try!

A fantastic pamphlet written as Bastiat knew he was dying. Besides the middle bit, where he spends a bit too much time arguing against the specific positions of the political opponents of his day, it is a fast primer on what it means to be free. Highly recommended.

"The Law" could be printed in today's editorial page, and most would believe that Frederick Bastiat was speaking to today's events. But this little classic shows that the plagues of statism, class interest, and majority tyranny were just as timeless in 1850 as they are today.

Mr. Bastiat establishes that all rights are individual rights. A group, consisting only of individuals, has none inherently. Proper law, derived from individual rights and made effective by force, steps in for the individual when others overwhelm him and attack his rights. Had society simply stuck with this, its issues would be empty.

"But the law is made, generally, by one man, or by one class of men. And as law cannot exist without the sanction and the support of a preponderating force, it must finally place this force in the hands of those who legislate.

"This inevitable phenomenon, combined with the fatal tendency which, we have said, exists in the heart of man, explains the almost universal perversion of the law. It is easy to conceive that, instead of being a check upon injustice, it becomes its most invincible instrument."

And in come the activists, the planners, the egotistical, the greedy, and the law is turned on the individual and perverted into a tool for group power; division, group conflict, abuse, resentment, and law-worship result. Society's issues are legitimized only when the law is treated like this. And so Mr. Bastiat challenges the planners' blueprints for law as organized charity, organized welfare, organized commerce, etc., with his own definition: LAW IS ORGANIZED JUSTICE (capital letters are his).

Mr. Bastiat follows with his theory that statism is ubiquitous in Western history, even among the influences of the founding fathers. He offers many historic examples of ideas that man is passive, or must be made to be so. Robespierre was the worst: "The principle of Republican Government is virtue, and the means to be adopted during its establishment, is terror." You'll be surprised by the totalitarian talk of many figures we celebrate: we'd find it revolting if it were about foreign invaders. Yet it's about their own people.

Mr. Bastiat presents a solid challenge to democratists, universal suffrage, republicanism, any tentacle attached to state government. Socialism is merely the overt version of this problem.

Proper law is only about the individual. It isn't about creating anything. It isn't activist. It is reactive. Justice steps in for one's protection, not for one's profit.

Read this classic and be a little more free.

The author is able to eloquently define Law as well as the role of law and law-makers in any society. Although written for another country and another time, the content is just as applicable to this country today. This is a testiment to the fundamental truths expoused.

In 1850 a French guy wrote this little essay on the Law. It could have been written today in the US, in Europe, because we are certainly not progressing in terms of common-sense, politically. Here are some ideas:

-Justice is the absence of injustice. Nothing more than that.

-What God does is well done. Do not claim to know more than Him. The fact that this rule is almost universally broken says much about our level of hubris.

For Bastiat Law is a minus, it takes away. His subject is so relevant today that we can see the results of the States' false philanthropy, just as Orwell warned us in his Animal Farm. Western governments certainly know how to belittle us... we couldn't do without them. In Spain we have this government commercial encouraging drivers to drive well: "We can't drive for you!" They wished. The only idea that they think about it tells how far they've got under our skin.

This book is dynamite. Makes one see the world today in a clear and detached way. Who are the philanthropists that we "owe so much devotion to"? Take Gore's greedy schemes with his mineral mines behind his climactic facade. Take another homeless, Soros, the preacher of the Left, whose God is money.

To be a Pharisee is indeed to love the Law while hating man, to use the Law to make Injustice legal, to pervert Justice, to become a new god to modern State worshippers, wellfare addicts. Yes, Bastiat would sure be ashamed to see what the West has become: the legalized plunder by the State.

Please don't pass over this book for the movie. That said, I like the Chuck Jones-directed, 1966 television production but that doesn't stop me from bringing this book out from November through December for a regular rotation in our bedtime reading.

Now, I haven't perfected a Boris Karloff-style narration but I do work up a good, grinchy voice for the bedtime readings. I think you have to act it out to get the most out of the story (read my review of "The Monster at the End of the Book" for tips on imitating Grover). While my children prefer the animated movie to the Jim Carrey film version, I do borrow from Jim, too. I add a lot of scrunched eyebrows and sneers while I read the Grinch's part. I act out his faithful dog, Max, with a trembling lip and wide-eyes, especially during the sled ride down to Whoville.

My sons are now 5-years old and 4-years old. Their bookshelf holds about 80-100 books and at least 10 of those are from Dr. Suess. I recommend this book for your bedtime reading.

Purchased a lot of 8 books. All were in perfect condition, arriving in a timely manner. Great seller!

My husband and I both loved the Grinch as children. The book is wonderful and when read, you can't help but think of the animated short film and its music. Our son had his first Christmas this year and we've made reading about the Grinch part of our Christmas Eve traditions. It brings back such fond memories while creating new ones.

who doesn't love this book also love the shinny new cover

How The Grinch Stole Christmas is a classic tale about greed, materialism, and the kindness of man for his fellow man all wrapped up in one great big package! The illustrations are wonderful and the rhyming text impresses me. This is a story by Dr. Seuss that is so popular it was made into a Christmastime TV special; and it deserves every bit of recognition that it gets. (Note: this story is very popular; and because many, many people know it all the way through there are spoilers in this review.)

When the story begins we are introduced to the Grinch. He hates Christmas with all celebrations down in "Who-ville," a village he can see from his home on a mountain. The Grinch hates the noise, the caroling, the sharing of presents and the feast of "roast beast."

Eventually the Grinch gets an idea--he dresses up as Santa Claus and uses his dog Max for a reindeer; and this perverse take on the real Santa Claus tale is meant to strike people as ugly. The Grinch comes down from the mountain with his sled and his dog Max made up to look like a reindeer. Soon the Grinch steals all the presents, the stocking hung with care on the fireplace mantle, the roast beast, the Christmas trees--and even the firewood!

The Grinch gets quite a surprise when on Christmas day the "Whos" of "Who-ville" celebrate and rejoice anyway--without any material things to mark the holiday spirit. This shocks the Grinch and he must consider the possibility that Christmas doesn't just "come from a store."

Of course, once the Grinch learns his lesson he returns everything and there's quite a huge celebration with the Grinch leading the way as he carves the "roast beast." It's a very positive ending.

The moral of the story for our children is, of course, that Christmas DOESN'T just come from a store. The importance of Christmas with its religious significance and its message of good will toward all mankind is stressed without banging the child on the head too aggressively. The story overall makes for a fascinating experience for the children. I have many fond memories of watching this TV special and reading this book when I was a very young child.

As with many Dr. Seuss books, children can use this book on a concrete, literal level to improve their vocabulary and reading skills. Older kids will learn the importance of Christmas and the need for all mankind to respect each other and share the beauties of the world together.

I highly recommend this exceptional children's book.

So of course it thrills my heart that my two nieces (2.5 and 5) like it too.

This book is really an early reader, it's not *intended* for children under that age, though of course it can function as a read-aloud for little-little ones. (Not always - my younger niece won't always sit through this one, it's a bit long!)

There are two running plots in the book, one about hats, and one about where the dogs are all ultimately going; these two plots meet marvelously at the end of the book. (For *months*, I couldn't go a day without having to re-enact "Do you like my hat? I do, I like that hat, what a party hat!" with the older niece!)

Most of the book, however, is caught up with just basic vocabulary words, mostly about dogs - "One dog going in, three dogs going out" or "The sun is up, the sun is yellow, the yellow sun is over the house".

This can be a little tedious, but I the kids don't seem to think so - even at their fidgiest, they want me to say every word.

This is my favorite book of all time. I can't recommend it highly enough. If the "dog party in the trees" doesn't make you weep with joy, I don't know what will. For the last forty years or so, I have been looking -- and I mean this literally, not figuratively -- for said party. That's a bit cracked, I know, but I just can't help myself.

I loved this book and read it all the time when I was little. I plan on buying it when I have kids. The pictures are colorful and fun. The words are easy to learn and each page seems to come alive with it's own story.

Can recite the whole book. I always buy this for baby showers!. It is a fun and happy book and I always loved reading it to children.

My grandson loves this book. He's only 18 months but loves to cuddle up w/this book.

"I think I shall be a great poetess or a distinguished novelist."
That is Emily Starr talking, the young blossoming writer, that will touch your heart, with her creative and interesting, ways and ideas.

Within just the first chapter of the book, you'll already be intrigued by Emily's charm, and her topsy-turvy imagination. All through the story, Emily meets new people and friends. Some will help her on her way to becoming a writer, "a painter that uses words". Others will shoot her dreams down, as if they were nothing but mere dust. Just watch her take on all the distressing incidents that she overcomes with an intellect beyond her years.

She's always on a new enchanting romp, that'll keep you guessing. From giving up her beloved cat, to clashing with Miss Brownell (her unjust schoolteacher), to unraveling an age-old puzzle with her whimsical mind, you'll stay right by Emily's side the whole time.

Here's a small excerpt that I especially enjoyed:
"But there is a destiny which shapes the ends of young misses who are born with the itch for writing tingling in their baby fingertips, and in the fullness of time this destiny gave to Emily the desire of her heart---gave it to her, too, on the very day when she most needed it."

Personally, I have to state that this book is very inspirational for anyone endeavoring a priceless dream. I have read the entire set of the "Anne of Green Gables" books (that are written by the same author), but in my opinion, "Emily of New Moon" is much more enthralling! It is at the top of my list of my favorite books.

It is difficult for me to write an objective review about this beloved classic. Emily is like a childhood friend to me. Created by the author of Anne of Green Gables, she is a more complex character than Anne - introspective, determined, and deeply sensitive to life's joys and shadows. Her love for writing, or her need to write, defines her; indeed, much of the story is told through her writing. And yet this first book of the Emily trilogy is mostly lighthearted, though not without its passages of intense experience. Emily is orphaned in the beginning of the book, and moves to the farm of New Moon to live with two estranged aunts and one uncle, their brother. She thrives and flourishes in the beautifully prosaic, quaint world of New Moon and Blair Water on Prince Edward Island. Though she is a private and secretive person, she gives lavishly of herself in her closest friendships.

Montgomery's writing is at times indulgently over-descriptive, but not without vividity, wryness, feeling, and rich character development. Perhaps the most eloquent aspect of Emily of New Moon is its flavorful honesty about life both light and dark. Emily is a complex character, full of both faults and virtues, neither of which are expressed simplistically. The reader's sympathies are always with her. Montgomery's indirect insights into the writing life are also very valuable. Emily has writing in her blood, sees it as something intrinsically personal and sacred but wants to share it, does it with abandon yet later throws it away, and yearns to climb the ladder of fame. In this sense, I feel more kinship with her than with her more popular sister Anne Shirley.

Emily Starr is a daughter of a faith-confused father that her mother's family has shunned for his poverty. Her mother, Juliet Murray, died when she was five, and then when she is older, her father dies of consumption, leaving her an orphan.

Her mother's family takes her in, and teaches her all their traditions and strict codes of honor and pride.

Emily makes new friends, grows, and even has a few love intrests, despite her young age.

The only problem I had with this book was her father way of thinking of God. He says everyone has their own God, and that Emily shouldn't worship their housekeeper's God.

That is very untrute. Every one has their own PERSEPTION of God.

Get it right L.M. :)

Sheltered by her loving father, 10-year-old Emily Byrd Starr has never minded her isolated life. What child notices poverty and a lack of playmates when her intelligence and imagination make each day special and exciting?

Then one terrible day, Emily finds herself an orphan. A mass of never-before-met aunts and uncles descend upon Emily, criticizing and making plain the fact that whoever takes the child is only doing so out of their sense of duty.

Still reeling from the loss of her father, Emily must also leave her beloved little home and pets for New Moon, her mother's childhood home, where unmarried aunts Elizabeth and Laura currently reside. It is with stern matriarch Elizabeth, gentle, loving Laura and "simple-minded" Cousin Jimmy that Emily must now learn to form a family.

Despite the hardships, Emily's new life is quickly filled with many joys, as she makes friends at the village school and develops her interest for writing. Emily also experiences -- at the most unexpected moments -- "the flash," her word for the brief startling glimpses of other-worldliness, which has the power to change both her life and the lives of others around her.

Ask most people what they associate with L.M. Montgomery, and they'll likely say Anne of Green Gables. Yet despite the fame of Montgomery's "other orphan," the Emily books are quite possibly even more memorable and beautifully written. Like Anne, Emily is thrust into an unfamiliar world, where she must make the best of circumstances; but unlike Anne, Emily is possessed of a strangely adult maturity even at the tender age of ten, a glimpse of darkness which will accompany her through the years. This streak makes readers both more concerned for her well-being and perhaps more able to relate, as she is not nearly as happy-go-lucky and childlike as Anne in her early years.

If you enjoy this book, be sure to read "Emily Climbs" and "Emily's Quest," which follow the girl through her years at high school, through romantic relationships and her writing career as a young woman.

It's a shame that most people like either Anne or Emily; I've avoided the whole question by loving them both. The Emily books give a picture of a girl with lights and darks, reacting naturally (and therefore not always cheerfully) to the events of her life. She is far from perfect, but as L.M. Montgomery says about her, you may like her, you may hate her, but you'll never forget her.

If what you love about Anne is the sparkling, bubbly world she creates around herself, then you probably won't like Emily. But if you like L.M. Montgomery and would like to see her go a different route, the Emily trilogy is a great read!!

A 1000 recipes for comfort food, maybe not from your mother, but from someone else's.
Just good cooking, straightforward, cooking that you can do at home.

Give this cookbook to all your friends, even the ones addicted to complicated cooking full of exotic ingredients.

This book is GREAT!!! It has a ton to mouth-watering recepies and is really worth the money.

I have really enjoyed this cookbook. I'm finding that it's a great source for good, basic recipes for all of my favorite traditional dishes. I also like the variations I've discovered on some old favorites -- the Baked Acorn Squash, for example, which uses orange juice to create a delicious sauce.

I really like this cookbook. Some parts seem very retro and homey, others quite current. A few of the recipes seem so simple you'll wonder why they're in a book, but they're helpful anyway, and sometimes become a springboard to lily-gilding (my weakness). I've only had a problem with one recipe, the bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin (the instructions call for way too much time in the oven). I have also had to spice things up a bit for our tastes, but I think families with small children or picky eaters will be happy with the level of seasoning. This book has become my go-to for weeknight recipes especially because they're reliable and mostly utilize pantry items.

Wonderful cookbook! I read the reviews and just had to go out and buy it for myself! I've been looking for a cookbook with EVERY classic American comfort food recipe, and this is it! It has everything from Appetizers (Spinach-Artichoke Dip and Deviled Eggs) to Breakfast (Biscuits and Gravy; French Toast and Oatmeal), Main Dishes (Chicken Parmesan, Turkey Tetrazzini, Crown Roast) to Sides (Green Bean Casserole from scratch!) and luscious Desserts (Apple Turnovers, Chocolate Cream Pie and Lindy's Original New York Cheesecake!). If you love to cook and want to get back to the good old days of comfort food, this book is a must buy!

The definition of the word `requiem' is a musical service or hymn in honor of the dead. How fittingly that word rests with the subject matter of this novel. `Requiem for a Dream' is just that, a musical hymn in honor of those crushed and shattered dreams. When reading Selby's phenomenal (and I mean that in the most extreme sense of the word) novel about abolished hope and sheer desperation the reader is forced to face the ugly truth about our horrific society.

You ever read that novel or watch that film that just eats away at the pit of your stomach and pains you to your very core? You ever struggle to turn the page or fight to watch the screen because the onslaught of negativity is picking away at your spirit and bringing you to a dark and lonely place you never wished to visit? That is the feeling experienced when reading (or subsequently watching the Aronofsky film adaptation) this novel.

The novel opens by introducing us to four people. We have Sara, an older Jewish woman who lives for television. The opening scene depicts her son Harry, strung out as usual, stealing her television to pawn it for money in order to get his next hit. Harry also has a girlfriend Marion as well as a best friend Tyrone C. Love. The three of them enjoy a nice taste of heroin every now and again and will do just about anything to get it. Sara dreams of one day being on television, and when she gets to opportunity she grabs it by the horns. She is convinced to lose enough weight to fit into her favorite red dress, the one she wore to Harry's bar mitzvah. This leads her to diet pills which she quickly and dangerously forms an addiction to. Harry and Marion on the other hand begin to develop a plan to buy and sell heroin for a profit, that way they can one day by that little coffee shop and make a life for themselves. This little plan involves Tyrone as well, and as the dope starts pouring in, their idea of a small taste begins to grow until they can't stomach the thought of selling any of it but feel compelled to keep all of it for themselves.

The novel brilliantly portrays the mind of an addict; the `I'll never get that bad, I can stop whenever I want to' mentality that cripples the mind and fortifies the very essence of the domination of the soul. All four of these individuals are taken over and beaten down by the disease that is addiction. There is a scene where Tyrone is arrested and spends some time in the jail cell with an elderly addict, a man who is so far gone Tyrone is disgusted by him. Tyrone is determined never to be that man, never to become that dependant on the taste, but the first thing Tyrone does when he gets out is cop him that taste. He doesn't realize that he is already there.

The novel, like I mentioned, is horribly depressing and utterly frustrating, especially as the novel comes to a close and everything begins to spiral into oblivion. As we watch Sara, Harry, Marion and Tyrone's lives completely fall apart in a gradual yet perpetual tumble towards rock bottom we are left with the bitter taste of pain and misery in the back of our throats. Experiencing Sara's mental deterioration at the hands of the pill; watching Marion degrade herself to escape the sick feeling of withdrawals; seeing Harry cast aside his own well being in order to keep that high; watching Tyrone come to realize he is no better than the men he despises; all of this eats at our very being and transports us to a place unlike any we've ever been.

Like the movie, the novel excels when focusing on the female characters. Sara and Marion are by far the most sympathetic and interesting characters in the novel; with that said they are also the most depressing and utterly devastating to read about. Their final outcome is far from pretty and makes the reader feel helpless and alone; much like these characters.

`Requiem for a Dream' is far from pretty. It is dirty, gritty and at times unbearable; but there is no denying that it is a masterpiece; literature at its finest. Hubert Selby Jr. is a deeply controlled and phenomenally capable writer who understands the appropriate darkness of his subject; an author who takes something so terrible, so bleak and painful and makes it quite frankly one of the most important novels ever penned. In my humble opinion this is the type of novel that should be mandatory reading at any substance abuse rehabilitation center. After reading this grisly novel (and of course watching the equally grisly film) I could never even stomach the idea of drug use. In a world that glamorizes any and everything harmful to the soul, `Requiem for a Dream' stands apart as a very real depiction of all you stand to lose.

If you've seen the film, better fasten your seatbelts. Aronofsky went easy on you. I can't adequately describe what Selby achieved in this novel, or in "Last Exit to Brooklyn". He is capable of describing the most brutal things with apparent (but ONLY apparent) objectivity, but at other times he writes with astonishing delicacy. I can't even think of another writer who can do that half as well as Selby.

If you found the last 20 minutes of the film as horrifying as I did, Selby's account of the fates of Harry, Sara, Marion, and Tyrone will make you want to cry for all of them.

This is not going to be an easy read for a lot of people, but it's a masterwork.

It's just that good.

If you've read "Last Exit to Brooklyn," you'll be familiar with Selby's habit of not using quotation marks when he writes dialogue. But even if this is your first exposure to Selby, you'll figure out who's saying what pretty quickly.

And don't skip Selby's prologue.

As an aside: ELLEN BURSTYN WAS ROBBED! (As Sara in Requiem for a Dream, she really should have gotten an Oscar. I'm just saying.)

Hubert Selby Jr writes with in a way that is astounding. Bringing a story like this so heavily to life, to a point where it completely envelopes and engrossing you, all the while disgusting you is a great fete. I saw the movie, which is great in its own right, but not near comparison to the language of the book. Definitely recommended!

Selby's ability to capture inner monologue is incredible. You not only empathize, but you believe with each one of the characters. You hold on to the dream and it crushes you. Should be read in highschools everywhere.

You need to be ready before you read this book. Upon finishing this little dandy I was physically shaking. I can't think of any other book that has made of shake. The manic style and never ending punch in the face flow of this Hubert Selby Jr. masterpiece will stay with you for the rest of your life. If you saw the movie and so decided to not read the book, you are making a mistake. The book is a totally different experience then the movie. Each is a masterpiece in a completely unique way. It's amazing how real this book is. You will feel insane compassion for the lowest of individuals. You will want to reach out to these amazing characters. I don't know how Hubert Selby Jr. does it. His mind must have been a dark but beautiful and loving realm. If you want to be a book this one will make you its own. Read it.