Short Stories Books


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Short Stories Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Short Stories
Uncle Wiggly's Story Book
Published in Hardcover by Grosset & Dunlap (1987-01-12)
Author: Howard Garis
List price: $16.99
New price: $9.34
Used price: $4.75
Collectible price: $35.00

Average review score:

husband looking for
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-12
My husband remembers his Grandmother reading Uncle Wiggliy to him growing up and he was looking everywhere for a book. The day we received this my husband started reading one store every night to my 4 and 5 year old. Every night my 5 yr. old would say "Dad are you gonna read Uncle Wiggliy tonight, he loves the book.

Great bedtime stories
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-22
My daughter loves these stories. Hard to find this copy locally. Good price here too.

Great Children's Book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-02
I grew up with Uncle Wiggly and had to get this when I saw it. Kids and adults will both love it :)

Captivating Children's Book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-13
Uncle Wiggly's stories are fun and exciting in the fantasy world of yesteryear. Children love to will him out of perilous situations and learn to cope vicariously with their own real-world challenges.

uncle wiggly's
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-06
I packaged together the Jim Weiss cd of Uncle Wiggly, the Uncle Wiggly book, the Uncel Wiggly game and a small portable cd player for my Grandson's birthday he loved it all and tied so well together. It has now become my Grandson's favorite!

Short Stories
A World Between: Poems, Short Stories, and Essays by Iranian-Americans
Published in Paperback by George Braziller (1999-04)
Author:
List price: $18.50
New price: $8.95
Used price: $4.00

Average review score:

A good read for anyone, especiallly these days.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2001-10-16
I read this one soon after it came out--and it informs some of my thinking about current events in and around the Persian Gulf. I'd encourage it for the non-Iranian American who lived through the 'Iranian hostage crisis' period especially. Poignant.

The View from Afar
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2000-05-16
When searching for a book- for my cultural anthropology class, I found this incredible and extraordinary book. I am Mexican, and my boyfriend is Iranian. Hence, sometimes it was difficult to comprehend many things about his culture, but this book really helped me to understand and appreciate Iranian culture. He is more American than Iranian, but he has faced the ongoing negotiation between his past and present, his native home and his adopted home I will recommend this book to anyone who is interested in achieving a personal enrichment and wants to see our modern world with different eyes.

A must-read!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2001-03-15
I am 1st generation American. I grew up drinking tea and hearing the stories of Ferdowsi but it didn't seem to capture me completely into my father's culture.

When I came across this book, I fell in love with my culture! I understand so much more of my father's past, his sorrows, his joys, and his beliefs. I also learned more about myself.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Iranian culture!

The View from Afar
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2000-05-16
When searching for a book- for my cultural anthropology class, I found this incredible and extraordinary book. I am Mexican, and my boyfriend is Iranian. Hence, sometimes it was difficult to comprehend many things about his culture, but this book really helped me to understand and appreciate Iranian culture. He is more American than Iranian, but he has faced the ongoing negotiation between his past and present, his native home and his adopted home I will recommend this book to anyone who is interested in achieving a personal enrichment and wants to see our modern world with different eyes.

A superb ethnic American anthology
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2002-03-10
"A World Between: Poems, Short Stories, and Essays by Iranian-Americans," edited by Persis M. Karim and Mohammad Mehdi Khorrami, is an excellent anthology which greatly enriches the world of ethnic American literature. The pieces in this collection deal with many issues: language, biculturalism and the anxieties of assimilation, family ties, male-female relationships, Islamic fundamentalism, the role of Zoroastrians as a religious minority, war and its aftermath, etc. Although many such issues are specific to Iranian-Americans, others are universal to all "ethnic" Americans. The stories take place in both Iran and the United States, and one even takes place in France.

Some of my favorite pieces in this book include the following: "Made You Mine, America," Ali Zarrin's joyful poem which invokes both Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes; Mariam Salari's humorous short-short story "Ed McMahon Is Iranian"; Ramin M. Tabib's story "Tuesdays," about two Iranian-Americans in the L.A. club scene; Nazanin Sioshansi's essay "The Suffocating Sense of Injustice," about Zoroastrians in Iran; and Siamak Namazi's fascinating essay "Finding Peace in the Iranian Army," about an Iranian citizen who returns to fulfill his military obligation after living in the United States.

"A World Between" really opened my eyes to some of the pain and beauty of the world(s) of Iranian-Americans. This anthology would be ideal both for classroom use and individual reading. For a fascinating complementary text, try "Boricuas: Influential Puerto Rican Writings," edited by Roberto Santiago.

Short Stories
The 60-Second Novelist - What 22,613 People Taught Me About Life
Published in Paperback by Health Communications (1999-12)
Author: Dan Hurley
List price: $9.95
New price: $1.99
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $10.00

Average review score:

60-Seconds or 60-Minutes
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-06-03
A good way to spend a little while--or a little longer while is to jump into these human interest stories.

A wonderful touch by a writer who knows his craft. Anytimre reading.

Chicken Soup with Dear Abby
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2004-04-09
This book is amazing! Hurley's dazzling, normal, starving artist lifestyle is an inspiration. His book's style is kind of chicken soup for the soul meets Dear Abby. Snaps to Dan Hurley, the sixty second novelist.

Wonderful and Interesting Stories
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2000-10-06
Everyone's life has a story to tell. Dan Hurley, the author of "The 60-Second Novelist," does an excellent job drawing out stories and writing about the people he meets all over America. The fun part about reading this book is that Hurley writes the stories in roughly 60 seconds!

Some of the stories will make you laugh, others will make you cry, and some will make you smile or laugh aloud. The 60-second novel may inspire you to write a 60-second novel about yourself or someone you know.

Dan Hurley Does Planet Earth
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2001-04-17
Dan Hurley Does Planet Earth . . . Oh wait. That's his NEXT book. I found The 60-Second Novelist to be very real, and easy to relate to. Dan's gentle psychological approach to people brims with humor, yet gets to the point. It is good storytelling, yet a unique take on very real people and situations. The spontaneity factor makes it all the better. And though I am partial to Dan's Evil Twisted Twin and his absurdist humor, I do enjoy Dan's warm and fuzzy side. I found the biographical element of the book to be especially fascinating.Dan followed his dream of being a writer, and set up his Remington on a Chicago street, eventually creating a wonderful success story. 'Just DO it!' his behavior seems to encourage us. It is difficult for me to choose a favorite story from The 60 Second Novelist. I especially enjoyed the romantic stories (Donna's Dream Lover, Walk Along The Ocean)and the absurdist (I Like Eyes, The Reclamation, Fly By Night Monkeys). In the book design, I really liked the copies of Dan's original stories, typos and corrections included, peppered throughout. But two questions remain. Who will play Dan in The Dan Hurley bio-pic? I suggest that we take a poll. And when is his next book coming out?!

Hurley would have been burned at the stake in Old Salem!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2000-08-01
His uncanny ability to look into a person's eyes and see straight into their soul is nothing short of magic! His ability to then share with the reader, through the written word, what the soul has shown him makes the enchantment complete. From page one, I was utterly under his spell.

Each story is as different and varied as we are as human beings. Each evoked a strong emotion. Hurley's insight and compassion, mixed with his wacky sense of humor, makes this book a treasure to be read over and over again. A rollercoaster ride for the heart.

Short Stories
The Animals' Merry Christmas
Published in Library Binding by Golden Books (2005-09-13)
Author: Kathryn Jackson
List price: $16.99
New price: $9.94
Used price: $7.98
Collectible price: $16.99

Average review score:

Whoopie! It's back again!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-28
Three generations have loved The Animals' Merry Christmas by Richard Scary. For a while, it seemed to have disappeared from the shops. Now it's back in all its glory, ready for a new generation of young readers to love!

There are lots of great memories here with wonderful illustrations to bring them back to life for you!

Christmas Nostalgia
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-02
My sister and I had this book when we were kids in the '80s. We broke it out every Christmas and read the delightful stories of "The Naughty Teddy Bear" and "The Snow Shoe Rabbits" until the insomnia of Christmas Eve gave in to sleep. The illustrations really make the book for me. I'm so glad this book is back in production. This year I bought a copy for my nieces and nephew and they love it too.

Golden Books reprints
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-24
Four stars because this book is so wonderful, but Golden Books has a nasty habit of making some deletions when reprinting their classics. There are also a few pages missing from the reprinted "Santa's Toy Shop," another Christmas favorite.

Four stars anyway because the deleted stories were not particular favorites of mine, but people who remember the original will be disappointed. Better this, however, than no Richard Scarry, and I do not want to discourage anyone from purchasing this marvelous book and reading it to the current generation of children. This is my 60th Christmas, and few of my Christmas memories are more precious than those wrapped up with this book.

Great Book!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-12
My three year old twins are enjoying this new book. So far their favorite stories are "The Naughty Reindeer" and "Terrible Teddy Bear". I can see that this will book will be read during the Christmas season for many years to come!

old style :)-
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-10
My husband and I love this book for the old illustrations from when we were kids. The colors and pictures are vibrant and captures the eyes of even our 2 year old. Lots of fun poems and short stories. This is such a cozy book that brings back old fond memories.

Short Stories
Broken Wings
Published in Hardcover by White Cloud Press (1998-07-01)
Author: Kahlil Gibran
List price: $17.00
New price: $12.09
Used price: $2.97

Average review score:

Pure love
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-07
This is the third book I read by Gibran. I started with "The Prophet" and "Voice of the Master". "Broken Wings" is the first novel I read by this author. It is a love story between two young people at the tender age of 18 that meet and establish spiritual connection between each other immediately. The girl, Selma is raised by her wealthy widower father, who in spite of his wealth seems to be ignorant of the way the world works. The young man, our narrator, is somewhat of a dreamer and idealist who believes that patience and perseverance will grant him the hand of the woman he loves (Selma). But world, being the cruel place that it is has different plans. Everyone pure and true ends up being hurt in the process, only the cruel and greedy get to go on with their lives as if nothing happened. Beautiful story beautifully told and wise as only Gibran can make it so.

One thought changes everything
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-25
"Every beauty and greatness in this world is created by a single thought or emotion inside a man. Every thing we see today, made by past generation, was, before its appearance, a thought in the mind of a man or an impulse in the heart of a woman. The revolutions that shed so much blood and turned men's minds toward liberty were the idea of one man who lived in the midst of thousands of men. The devastating wars which destroyed empires were a thought that existed in the mind of an individual. The supreme teachings that changed the course of humanity were the ideas of a man whose genius separated him from his environment. A single thought build the Pyramids, founded the glory of Islam, and caused the burning of the library at Alexandria.

One thought will come to you at night which will elevate you to glory or lead you to asylum. One look from a woman's eye makes you the happiest man in the world. One word from a man's lips will make you rich or poor."

--Khalil Gibran, Broken Wings

We have all the tools to keep us connected that our forefathers never could have dreamed of. Cars and airplanes allow regular visitations between friends thousands of miles apart. The telephone and the internet allow direct connection with those not in our presence, the cell phone extends this connection to all times and virtually all places. Yet, do we take the time see what we do to those who really are around us, when we leave the guest in our living room to check and see who is signed on to our buddy list on our computer? Do we see our friends' hopes and dreams, joys and sorrows, when we ignore them across the booth in the restaurant to answer our cell phones?

Every action I perform has an effect on someone else. Many people that we meet, we only see that one time. I wonder what their impression of me is. I wonder if I have uplifted them, or hurt them, or barely made an imprint at all. I wonder if they ever look beyond how I have changed them to see me, to see beyond the generally relaxed, goofy, at ease outlook I put on the situation to see how I really am feeling at the time.

Our feelings, our outlook on life, our hopes and expectations can change in an instant. When that person you are thinking about calls or emails, elation ensues. When you don't hear back for awhile, doubt and yearning go through you mind. Yet, it could just be random, the person deciding to send a message just to say hi, like I often do to my friends.

Okay, I am rambling again. That passage above by Khalil Gibran comes from his short book Broken Wings, written from a first person perspective about a man's first love, Selma, who was betrothed to another. This passage was from one of the middle chapters. It caught my eye, and I am still trying to make sense of it, what it is really saying. Any thoughts? Feel free to share. You can post comments on my blog anonymously.

What a beautiful story!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-01
Kahlil Gibran once again tells a beautiful love story. I fell in love with this novel, and would recommend it to anyone who loves to read a beautiful, and realistic love story. It made me cry!

The Fire of Love in Full Inferno
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-18
Khalil Gibran's fiery book on first love and its undying potency. A must have read for fans of the Prophet. A fictional tale that captures the essence of love awakening energy in the context of culture, social rules, and family ambition. A juxtaposition on the distinction between a love marriage and a marriage as a merger and acquisiton.

Love, the source of eternal bliss and spirituality!
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-02
Gibran says, "I was eighteen years of age when love opened my eyes with its magic rays and touched my spirit for the first time with its fiery fingers and Selma Karamy was the first woman who awakened my spirit with her beauty and led me into the garden of high affection, where days pass like dreams and nights like weddings."

In his typical lyrical prose, interlaced with subtle imagery and deep philosophy, Kibran creates a masterpiece of first love. The story is poignant, and is full of platonic ideals, so characteristic of first love, especially in the East. I say so, as in the East, be it South Asia or the Middle East, first love is a cherished territory where spirituality overwhelms every idea of sexuality. The prose is delightful in content as well as intent, and is laced with a wisdom, so reminiscent of his most famous work, the Prophet.

Gibran always wrote short novels, and this one too is a short, but intense read. The sentences are rich with poetic descriptions, and the way author describes nature and love is refreshing, soothing, and beautiful.

I recommend Gibran to one and all. His writings may not appeal to you if you are looking for cheap thrills, but if you pine for a love story that defies the usual pot-broiler stuff, a love story full of purity and selflessness, read this one.

Short Stories
Collected Stories
Published in Hardcover by Penguin Putnam~trade (1999-05)
Author: William Trevor
List price: $24.10
Used price: $33.23

Average review score:

A Book for the Ages
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-14
If you enjoy consummate skill in the written word you will treasure this book. It is the most beautifully crafted collection of short stories I have ever encountered. The characters are powerful, endearing, heartbreaking, loving, loathsome, self centered, generous, and sometimes frightening - the scope of this work is breathtaking. It is unfortunate that a book perfect for "dipping into" is so large and heavy - a reissue in rice paper would halve both (The Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1918 has 1166 pages and fits quite comfortably in a coat pocket!) William Trevor is a genius - if you buy his book you will not be disappointed. Dr Peter J Kirby.

Masterful and dazzling, with an astonishing variety
Helpful Votes: 10 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2005-06-14
It took me a couple of months to make my way through these 85 stories and it was definitely worth the time I spent with them. Trevor's prose is always simple and clear, yet his range of characters and plots is astonishing because of their superbly captured detail and variety. Most of these stories deal with Irish and English characters, and many swirl around the realities or possibilities of extramarital affairs. "In Isfahan," one of Trevor's best stories, a married middle-aged man carries on an impromptu affair with a young woman he meets while in Iran; in "Lovers of Their Time," another top-notch story, a married man carries on a long-term affair with a shop girl by meeting her in a hotel's second-floor public bathroom. Trevor is also quite adept of presenting the romantic yearnings of women. In "The Ballroom of Romance," a country girl's dreams and consequences are highlighted in her trips to the local dance hall; in "Afternoon Dancing," a middle-aged married woman dallies with the idea of an affair with her dance partner after the death of her close friend. Like Chekhov, to whom Trevor is often compared, this writer also has an admirable sense of comedy. "Mulvhill's Memorial" finds an unlikely pornographic set-up within an office; "The Trinity" has a couple booking a vacation to Venice and ending up in Switzerland. Accidents spiral out of control in "The Penthouse Apartment," and in "A Complicated Nature," a man is forced to help his upstairs neighbor when her suitor unexpectedly dies. Another one of the best stories of this collection is "Broken Homes," where an elderly woman suffers the indignities of having her kitchen painted by a team of indifferent youths. Other first-rate stories include "The Smoke Trees of San Pietro," where a boy's sickness propels his mother into an affair, and "Death in Jerusalem" where a mother dies while on vacation.

The Master's Collection
Helpful Votes: 11 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2002-11-03
Someone else here refers to the problems of 'star' hyperbole. He's right. The five stars Trevor deserves must be especially large and dazzling.
He goes wrong, just a little, once in a while. So did every truly great writer we know. Most of the time he opens a door on the world of two or three people, and shows us the universe in the process. He is a breathtaking artist. Witness 'Another Christmas' - in a dingy living room and armed with no one but an aging Irish couple, he brings home the Troubles in Ireland in epic, heartbreaking scope. And 'Torridge'...a girl said to me when this story first appeared in The New Yorker that it was like Beethoven's Fifth; you can't imagine it not having been around before. It's that good.
Readers! You can do no better than to get to know what this man can do with a pen.

WARNING: Intemperate Review Ahead!
Helpful Votes: 44 out of 44 total.
Review Date: 2002-10-09
Not all stars are created equal. By awarding 5 stars to this book, the implication must be that they are stars of the purest gold. I have read some "5-star" novels and short story collections before, but little, in my experience, compares with this: the combination of an extraordinarily beautiful prose style, the seemingly effortless creation of literally hundreds if not thousands of alternately sympathetic and detestable (but always vividly memorable) characters, a profound insight into the psychology of the human mind to rival (and pretty easily surpass) that of any other writer alive, a recreation of atmosphere so real it clings, and a brilliant inventiveness when it comes to creating great story lines (and, often, superbly twisty [but never illogical] endings) places this collection among the very greatest of its kind. One measure of how deeply impressed I was with this book is that now, more than half a year since I finished it, I can look back through the table of contents and still remember not merely every story with tremendous vividness, but often where I was at the time I read it.

Stated broadly, Trevor's stories seem to fall into two distinct types, English and Irish. The former tend to be (as do many of the earlier stories) sharp and edgy, whereas the latter tend to be quiet and pastoral. Although it is the Irish stories that appear to garner the greatest praise from the critics, I prefer the greater cynicism (often bordering on, but never quite reaching, downright misanthropy) of the English stories.

Having to choose my favorites from among this potent collection is akin to separating gold coins that are 100% pure from those that are 99.975% pure (soft though they would be!), but three continue to haunt me just a little more than the others. "The Death of Peggy Meehan," one of the Irish stories, and one of the collection's shortest, tells the tale of a young lad who is taken to his first movie during a summer vacation, and how the fantasies he draws after seeing that movie color (for better or worse) the rest of his life. "In at the Birth," is, unusually for Trevor, a creepy ghost story that Rod Serling would have marveled over. In it, an elderly woman takes a baby-sitting job for a peculiar couple who turn out to be (and this is hardly among the most riveting revelations provided) childless. But rather than leave me frightened, it left me pondering the meaning of life, age, and human relationships. Finally, "The Hotel of the Idle Moon," is what I described to a friend as "the greatest short story ever written." Its title is especially evocative and, in its context, has a host (no pun intended!) of powerful resonances. The "set up" is baldly cliche: on a dark and stormy night a middle-aged couple stop in front of an estate, pretending that their car has broken down. Foul play, one can be sure, is bound to ensue. And so it does. But the play is much fouler and more upsetting than anything anyone can imagine (trust me, until you read this story you cannot imagine what happens). It is one of Trevor's gifts that such a story can't be adequately explained. It has to be read, felt, lived. Suffice it to say that by the end we realize that we have read nothing less than a parable of (very) contemporary times (I don't know when it was written) that manages, in a trice, to both limn and condemn humankind since the beginning of history.

High marks also to "The Table," which reads like a hilarious comedy of errors until the last line suddenly blackens everything that came before it with perfect (and perfectly uncanny) inevitability, "The Forty-Seventh Saturday," as poignant a story of loneliness as I know, and "O Fat White Woman" (the title may be funny; the story is anything but), which spins a tale of the tragedy that follows passive resistance. (And when is the last time you read a story that dealt with that? Why does it seem that Trevor is our only contemporary writer who consistently confronts such common yet seemingly taboo foibles?). As is usual with Trevor, the tragedy occurs on many planes and is of an inestimable magnitude.

Oh, heck, let me not forget "Nice Day at School," an incredibly sensitive and piercing drama, and the superb and highly regarded "In Isfahan," in which a married, middle-aged English man meets a married, youngish English woman on tour in Iran. They try to get close, but their chequered pasts prevent them. What we don't realize until the end, however, is that one of their pasts isn't real. Or is it? And what purpose does fantasy play in encroaching human relationships? Can it be used to repel as well as to lure? Or is it there to comfort? And, if so, comfort whom? Particularly rich stuff.

Amidst a sea of great short story collections, this one by William Trevor will always have its place at the top. There's a word for books like this, and that word is "perfect." May it never go out of print.

real good
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2005-03-21
Had never heard of the guy - got it at a bookstore because it had 1200 pages (I needed a lot to read) and because it was written by an old guy (well, he's old now, at least - well- wrinkled but kind looking). So far I'm about a third of the way through it, but like everyone else has said, this book is great. Some writers get lazy and write the same story over and over. Not this guy - every character, every situation is unique. For people who like movies, read the one about Istafan and compare it to "Lost in Translation". The story about the swingers party is indescribably great also, just in the way he describes a man kissing a woman's hair or them barely dancing at all.

Short Stories
A Day of Small Beginnings: A Novel
Published in Hardcover by Little, Brown and Company (2006-11-03)
Author: Lisa Pearl Rosenbaum
List price: $24.99
New price: $5.98
Used price: $0.24

Average review score:

Spiritually Moving and Thought Provoking
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-12
I couldn't put the book down from beginning to end. I was stirred by the lack of awareness I had about the tensions between Polish people and those who were of Jewish descent. So much so that it made me think about the levels of anti-Semitism that still exist today. It raised the issue of how we need to continue educating our children to be mindful of what they've gained through the pains of our ancestors and that they still bear a responsibility to learn and keep watch while also (as seen through Ellen's and Marek's relationship) stay open to others' plights.
The second emotion I had was the impact of the loss of living European ancestors on our newer generation. How much of our strength and humor have provided us backbone from the immigrants, and their Yiddish, as seen through the translations of Rafael's and Friedl's words that are lost to our children of today.
Finally, the meaning of beshert is fully appreciated as these three generations are left to individually and silently confront their faith and relationship with G-d.
Thank you Ms. Rosenbaum for a wonderful book. I hope you write others and will look for them.

Delightful!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-21
Rarely do I come upon a book that is readable, lyrical,charming, and an example of good literature. Rosenbaum's book is one. Her novel will not be a challenge for the average reader. Yet, the strong reader will be able to enjoy the lyrical language and the various levels of meaning the book offers. We meet Itzik the patriarch, Nathan, the very assimilated American born Jew, Ellen, Nathan's daughter, Friedl, a spirit who can find no rest, Rafael, the last Jew in Zokof, and Marek, Ellen's Klezmer playing Polish boyfriend. The story opens with Itzik fleeing from Zocof after breaking Friedl's tombstone and ends by an attempt to reconcile Poland's terrible history of anti-semitism and its Jewish heritage through art. The author uses techniques of magical realism, Jewish mysticism, character soul searching, Yiddish cadences, Yiddish phrases and romance to take the reader on a wild ride. Friedl's spirit cannot rest until she fulfills the prophecy inherited by all Jewish women. She must pass down Jewish traditions and history to the next generation. With the ghost as a literary device the author reveals the importance of passing on one's history and especially an ethnic history to the next generation. So many immigrants tried to abolish their ethnicities upon landing on these shores. So much history was lost as recent immigrants tried to become "real Americans." With this novel the author is telling us that our immigrant histories are part of the American experience. As such they should be treasured and revered. I did not want this book to end. It is both an immigrant story and a holocaust story. It is a tale both of scholarship and performance, of curse and redemption. To call it a ghost story is an oversimplification of the role played by Friedl's spirit.

This novel has big heart.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-08
I really loved the family story behind this book. Every character was beautifully developed and compelling. The book has its own momentum, taking the reader from generation to generation, leaving you wanting to know more at the end of each chapter. I didn't want it to end - how about a sequel?

A Novel that Resonated with Me
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-08
Mazel Tov! to Lisa Pearl Rosenbaum. This novel is a wonderful, thoughtful, finely woven, well-researched, beautifully-written read.
The stories, the characters, generational connections and variances, the mystical and the struggles all resonated with me. I especially related to the questions asked by Nathan and Ellen in their wrestling and the wisdom offered them.
A neighbor, who had a copy for her book group, loaned it to me. Wanting a copy of my own, I bought one the day after completing it.
Nancy Smiler Levinson, Beverly Hills, CA

Enthralling blend of mysticism, music, dance and history
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-25
My mother recommended this book. Said she couldn't put it down, so I bought a copy. I struggled a bit with the first chapter, but once the story got going I really got pulled in and also found that I couldn't put it down.
Maybe it helps to say that my father's family came from northern Poland, that I am the president of a landsmanschaft (organization of Jews who came from that particular area) and an amateur Jewish genealogist, and also administer the cemeteries for my landsmanschaft, so this story struck many personal chords for me.
It is very well written for a first novel, well produced, richly imagined. At times the dialogue becomes heavily didactic, but not so much as to detract from the overall thrust of the story.

Short Stories
Delta Green: Dark Theatres (Short Fiction Collection, Delta Green Cthulhu Mythos)
Published in Mass Market Paperback by Armitage House (2001-11-01)
Authors: Benjamin Adams, Martin Cirulis, Arinn Dembo, Dennis Detwiller, Robert E. Furey, A. Scott Glancy, Greg Stolze, and John Tynes
List price: $19.95
New price: $30.00
Used price: $28.98

Average review score:

Delta Green, back in print!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-26
This amazing game (and just plain interesting read!) is currently back in print. You can pick up the new edition, converted to D20, by heading to the publisher's web site. Pagan Publishing and TC Corp have done a great service to its fans by releasing this reprint!

Best game ever
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-22
I don't have a long, thoughtful review to write. Just wanted to say this is the BEST RPG idea/supplement I've ever seen. Intelligent, thoughtful, scary, fun...get it get it get it!

Delta Green- Best RPG book Ever?
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-30
This is the best RPG suppliment I have ever read, bar none. It's a great READ, even if you are not a gamer. Interesting background, lots of plot hooks as well. The group that did this book are great writers and are loving what they do and it shows. If you are into Horror, X-Files, Call of Cthulhu, ect...buy it to read, if not play.
The book is curently out of print, but I understand that it will be reprinted in 2006 as a hardcover with d20 rules. Anyone wanting to write or publish an RPG should read this book and use it as an example. A MUST.

Second Fiction Anthology for Award-Winning DELTA GREEN
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2004-11-15
DELTA GREEN is the modern adaptation of Call of Cthulhu. Drawing on the same body of UFO lore and paranormal activity as the X-Files, DELTA GREEN has tapped into something very deep. And of course, once you have a successful RPG, you might as well start the fiction flowing, right?

Dark Theaters has some fairly lenghty short stories, designed to flesh out the world of DELTA GREEN. Some clues and hints are elaborated on; what exactly happened during the fabled raid on Innsmouth in 1928? What was the final mission of Gen. Fairfield? We find out more about the summoning by the Karotechia that was a dress rehearsal for the end of the world, but the entirety of the episode remains tantalizingly removed.

Dark Theaters, like the rest of DELTA GREEN fiction, is about what it means to be human. Or not human. The monstrosities which are called up and cannot easily be put away serve to highlight our humanity. But in the end, humanity is just short-hand for a fundamental incomprehension of the universe. We are carrying on a rear-guard action against reality, buying our fellow-man time for ... what? To say that humanity loses in the end is to pretend that there are other players, rules agreed upon, some validity to having tried and lost. Life is a game of solitaire, and we're not playing with a full deck. All is meaninglessness, a blowing of the wind.

And yet humanity means staying in the game. Like Lucifer, the real patron saint of lost causes, we know that we will lose and darnit, we are going to keep playing the hand we were dealt. It gives meaning to life, death, and the passing of the seasons, the sacrifices we have made and those we have sacrificed, to play by the rules, even if there aren't any. So let us cheer for the hero and jeer for the villain, and not go gently into that dark night.

Best CoC Supplement, possibly best RPG book period
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2003-07-22
I'm writing this review because the rumors that a new edition with stats for d20 play are getting harder and harder to ignore. Even though the book is old and sometimes hard to find, anyone who seeks it will probably not be disappointed.

Delta Green revitalizes the Call of Cthulhu milieu in two ways. First, it plants the setting squarely within our time, developed from a backstory that starts in 1929 and gets downright spooky in 1947. Eldritch horrors still stalk humanity from beyond - only now the entities that menaced the 20's are content to scheme behind the scenes. Unfortunately for the Earth, some humans are content to betray us all for the ephemeral promises dangled before them. These men are not the frothing cultists and brute savages of Lovecraft: they are scientists, priests, and four-star generals. Plus there are new foes and surprises to keep jaded players guessing.

Second, there is finally a good reason for unusual characters to find themselves allied against the dark. Will a cop balk at sharing forensic evidence with a detective, a journalist, and a Marine? Not anymore. All the PCs are members of or friendly to Delta Green, an illegal conspiracy operating within the federal government. Of course, it's not the ONLY illegal conspiracy operating within the federal government. While Delta Green has adopted the sensible tack of trying to blow away every Mythos problem they encounter, its opponents are convinced that some mysteries can be studied, contained, or even harnessed for their own use.

That's just an overview. There is so much to Delta Green that any gaming group interested in conspiracy-style RPGs could find something useful. There are sections on U.S. government agencies, modern firearms, and mind-blowing adventures that are not for the faint of heart.

With Delta Green, CoC players can feel more confident with a nice gun in their hands, and the assurance that a backup team of ex-SEALs in on the way. Their characters will still die or go insane, but at least they should enjoy the ride.

Short Stories
Does Your Mama Know?: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Coming Out Stories
Published in Paperback by REDBONE PRESS (1997)
Author: Lisa C., Ed. Moore
List price: $19.95
New price: $115.47
Used price: $69.52

Average review score:

Thanks to the author
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2003-07-25
I'm still reading this book and it has brought many good things to light for me. I'm sending my copy to a friend so she can read it and understand more things about herself.

A black lesbian bookshelf basic
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2005-07-29
This book unites the coming out experiences of black women from different socioeconomic and geographic backgrounds.
This collection of 49 short stories/poems/essays and interviews offers an insight into the complexities and issues surrounding women of colour as they search for and claim their identities. The selections which are fictional and non-fictional, are personal, daring, honest, funny, moving and thought provoking.
In short, this is a powerful book which easily transcends the Women's Studies/African American Studies and the Gay and Lesbian arenas, making it the quintessential "must read" for all.

Great book!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2002-10-16
Readers will absolutely love this book. It is filled from cover to cover with great stories. I've read some of the stories more than once.

If you like this book and enjoy fiction...feel free to look at my book, Foundations: A Novel of New Beginnings...listed right here...

A MUST READ, COULDNT PUT IT DOWN...
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2002-02-15
READING THIS BOOK WAS AN INSIDE PEEP AT WHAT GOES ON INSIDE THE HEART AND SOUL OF EVERY WOMAN WHO EVER THOUGHT ABOUT LOVING ANOTHER WOMAN....IT CONFIRMED THAT THE WARMTH, INTIMACY, CLOSENESS, SISTERGIRL CONNECTION THAT I FEEL WHEN IM WITH MY SPECIAL FRIEND IS NOT SICK, OR IMMORAL BUT SPECIAL AND WORTH HOLDING ON TO DESPITE WHAT PEOPLE WHO CANT RELATE MIGHT THINK. THANK YOU TO ALL THE WRITERS AND ESPECIALLY LISA C. MOORE. LOOKING FORWARD TO DOES YOUR POPS KNOW ? (SMILE)

Superb
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2002-07-30
"Does Your Mama Know?" was worth the time and effort that I spent visiting four different bookstores and walking a total of four miles or so. "Does Your Mama Know?" is like "The Color Purple," "The Women of Brewster Place" and "Zami" but better. Similar to these books, Moore's book validated my experiences as a lesbian of color. Her well-chosen stories highlight almost every conceivable coming out experience. Although the book is VERY hard to find -- there are only 8,000 copies floating around the world -- I would recommend this to any black lesbian, regardless of nationality.

Short Stories
Don Quijote de la Mancha
Published in Hardcover by Alfaguara (2004-11)
Authors: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra and Francisco Rico
List price: $15.95
New price: $10.75
Used price: $6.20
Collectible price: $75.00

Average review score:

Don Quijote de la Mancha
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-15
Thanks, is a classic, is special for me, I read 40 years ago, and now I felt to read and enjoy his lexicon and fantasy.

A must read!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-05
The book should be a mandatory reading at university level.
It gives you a different perspective about the human psychological behavior and how it interacts with the reality of society.

Don is Great
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-10
Its a great book but the binding was questionable. This is the 2nd book I have seen that has come apart made by the same publisher. Be cautious. It looks nice but the binding could come apart.

Authoritative edition
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-05
This is a wonderful edition (in Spanish) of this classic. It's surprisingly modern and entertaining in the original Spanish. The footnotes are very helpful. The book is compact and easy to transport. Essays about the text round out the novel. If you want to read Don Quijote in the original language, this is the book to get. The price is right. The binding is excellent. My only complaint is the small print which is a little hard on the eyes, but probably only for older readers (like me).

A highly entertaining, unforgettable masterpiece
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-21
I read Don Quijote in Spanish (my native language) and actually started the book as a sort of challenge. I am not daunted by long books or by the classics, but I was afraid I would not care much for the story of the madman who fancies himself a knight after reading too many chivalry novels.

I started out with a lot of dread - the language is old-fashioned and it needs a little getting used to. I had to look up words frequently and I thought the whole 1100 pages would be a chore. But I was in for a big surprise: not only did I get used to the language right away (the notes to this edition are very helpful in that regard), I also started to enjoy its beauty. Cervantes has a way with words that is a delight to Spanish speakers of any time or age. And it is so funny! I found myself laughing out loud many times, especially at Cervantes' turns of phrase or at the sheer ridiculousness of the situations Don Quijote and Sancho get themselves into... what a delight! I had certainly not expected this book to be FUNNY - but it IS!

Also: Don Quijote and Sancho Panza are two of the most endearing characters I have found in literature, absolutely lovable. I had a hard time saying goodbye to them at the end of the book. And as Jorge Luis Borges said, it seems Cervantes had a hard time letting go of Alonso Quijano, too: the death of Don Quijote is told in a sentence that gets me every time in its simplicity and its love for the subject.

I won't go into the metafiction aspect of the novel - I mostly read for pleasure and I'm not a literary critic, but I enjoyed the essays that accompany this edition. In particular, that of Mario Vargas Llosa really opened my eyes to the fiction-within-fiction and the construction of the novel, as well as to other aspects of Don Quijote that enriched my experience of the novel.

In sum - this book works at all levels and for almost anyone, old or young. It delivers entertainment, two memorable and thoroughly lovable characters and food for thought, all in one package. Quite an accomplishment. No wonder Cervantes is among the literature greats!


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