Short Stories Books

Did you ever read a children's bobk that has no pictures? This book stands on its own and stimulates the child's imagination. Hats off to the author for having the guts to create such an amazing book!

As a retired Teacher,College Professor, Clinical/Counseling/ School Psychologist in private practice for over 25 years, I have had the opportunity to read many texts on children, parents, & how to help them. This one speaks directly to the childs unconscious, much like the fables of Hans Christian Anderson did, and carry powerful messages of good role model behaviour. For the child it's an easy read of recognizable situations which are instantly remembered for reference.This gives the parent a wonderful opportunity to share the stories and to discuss the implications as similarities impact on the childs real life.I wish it had been available when I was working-it would have been of considerable value to my students and patients. Highly Recomended.

"Marcy" is a wonderful and worthwhile book filled with exquisite life lessons in each story for both children and parents. The stories are creative, enjoyable and deal effectively with life situations that parents and children face. It allows an adult to really understand and appreciate a child's experience through a child's eyes. Your child will love these simply sweet stories while learning powerful lessons. If you're interested in being the best parent you can be, this book is a great tool.

Marcy and Her Friends is a very realistic and touching book. The situation are so real that it seems like they are written about each one of us. I can see why children can relate to these stories. It takes a great insight to be able to write a book about children from their points of view. Reading the stories,we the adults can learn a lot about situations that our children are facing and dealing with. I highly recomend it. And maybe someone will take the challange to translate it to Hebrew.

Deeply insightful. Kids can identify with problems presented in this book and gain strength from the situational analysis. Adults can re-visit childhood events and place them in perpective. It is a powerful book with positive messages, conveyed in easy to understand language. Strongly recommend this book!

Excellent as with all of the Miss Marple stories by Christie. I was disappointed a little because I thought I was getting a collection of Marple stories I did'nt already own. In fact, the book begins with the Tuesday Club Murders (which is already on my bookshelf). This was an error on my part because I should have checked the book out in more detail before purchasing. Still, a good collection to buy if you don't already have the stories in separate books. Besides, we Christie fans never tire of rereading about the exploits of her most famous detectives.

This short story collection is wonderful! Twenty delightful stories featuring Miss Jane Marple solving difficult cases. Miss Marples sharp observations, her spunk, wit, and intelligence shine through in these tales, making clear why Agatha Christie has created one of the greatest female sleuths of all time. If you're a fan of Christie's or Marple's, you can't go wrong with this colleciton.

Quick response, book in good condition. there was a printing defect with the book, but it is still OK.

The words quoted above appeared in a short story by Agatha Christie called "The Four Suspects." They were not spoken by Miss Marple but by "that well-groomed man of the world, Sir Henry Clithering," retired now and residing in St Mary Mead or nearby, but "until lately Commissioner of Scotland Yard." The words were addressed to Sir Henry's new neighbour, a certain Miss Jane Marple. There is EVERY reason to assume that Miss Marple agreed.

An earlier reviewer quoted a short passage from "An Autobiography" by Christie. I shall quote a little more extensively from the same source: "Miss Marple," wrote Dame Agatha, "insinuated herself so quickly into my life that I hardly noticed her arrival. I wrote a series of six short stories for a magazine, and chose six people whom I thought might meet once a week in a small village and describe some unsolved crime. I started with Miss Jane Marple, the sort of old lady who would have been rather like some of my grandmother's Ealing cronies--old ladies whom I met in so many villages where I had gone to stay as a girl. Miss Marple was not in any way a picture of my grandmother; she was far more fussy and spinsterish than my grandmother ever was. But one thing she did have in common with her--though a cheerful person, she always expected the worst of everyone and everything, and was, with almost frightening accuracy, usually proved right...."

Later, she added, "Miss Marple was born a the age of sixty-five to seventy--which, as with Poirot, proved most unfortunate, because she was gong to have to last a long time in my life. If I had had any second sight, I would have provided myself with a precocious schoolboy as my first detective; then he would have grown old with me."

The first sextet of magazine stories were published in the late 1920s but did not achieve the dignity of book publication until 1932, two years after the publication of "Murder at the Vicarage," the first novel to feature Miss Marple.

The 1932 volume contained the first sextet of stories mentioned by Christie in her autobiography, plus a second sextet and one more story to provide a satisfactorily ominous title for the collection, "The Thirteen Problems." (In the US, the book appeared--less happily--as "The Tuesday Club Murders.") Christie wrote seven more short stories for Miss Marple. They all are included in this volume. The later stories are good enough, but Miss Marple had so grown in stature that her true milieu was the full-length mystery novel.

I suggest that special note be taken of the tenth story, "A Christmas Tragedy." This story represents a sea change in Miss Jane Marple. In all prior appearances she had been a mere device, a voice through which the author could resolve her little puzzles. With this story, the fully developed, elderly, tough as nails, knitting Nemesis of the novels emerges.

These twenty stories are competent, if not brilliant. No-one, least of all Agatha Christie, would call them literature. They are amusements, clever puzzles set to dialogue. As such, most of them are splendid. There are a couple of minor misfires, one in which the solution to a coded message is in English when by the logic of the story it should have been in German, another in which Christie chose to emulate the mechanically-oriented stories common in those days among the works of her less-talented contemporaries. A classic Christie work incorporates some deceptively simple example of what might be called mental sleight-of-hand. Stories that depend on gimmicked mechanical implements and the like seem somehow beneath Dame Agatha's dignity.

Reading these stories quickly demonstrates that Agatha Christie was born one of nature's great re-cyclers. Dame Aggie had a strong tendency to ... ahem, quote from herself when a good plot was involved. For those who would put a more positive spin on the simple facts, then it might be said that within these stories may be found seeds that later sprouted into full-length mystery classics such as "A Murder is Announced" and "Murder Under the Sun."

The collection, I was surprised to discover, was dedicated to Leonard and Katherine Woolley. Sir Leonard Woolley was a great archeologist who famously excavated the ancient city of Ur in Sumeria, a land that would one day come to be known as southern Iraq. He became a media superstar when he dug down through the artifact-laden soil of Ur to find a very thick layer almost entirely free of man-made remains, and beneath that yet another layer of artifacts. Woolley attributed the break in the artifact layers to an extensive flood--or as he suggested a bit prematurely and the newspapers shouted loudly to all the world, not a flood but The Flood. When the shouting was at its height, Christie was already a world-famous author and an enthusiastic traveler. She visited the dig at Ur and stayed on for some time to lend a hand. There she met and fell in love with archeologist Max Mallowan, whom she married in the same year that she published "Murder at the Vicarage."

Doubtless, anyone who has slogged this far is wondering why I've wandered so far off-track with all this biographical blather. The reason is simply that I am astonished to see Katherine Woolley's name in the dedication. When Christie arrived, Lady Woolley was very much in residence at her husband's archeological site. She regarded herself as Queen of all she surveyed and she went out of her way to make sure that the upstart mystery novelist knew it. Christie got on with Leonard Woolley, but she simply could not abide his wife. In one of her novels, she made a perfectly obvious caricature of Lady Woolley into the murderess. When she transformed the book into a stage play, Christie slyly converted her novel's villainess into her play's comic relief.

This collection of the twenty Marple short stories are, as I've said, not literature themselves, nor even necessarily vintage Christie. Nevertheless, they are clever, entertaining and an invaluable memento of one of the great literary characters of the Twentieth Century.

Five stars for Agatha, for Jane and for St Mary Mead.

"Miss Marple insinuated herself so quickly into my life that I hardly noticed her arrival," Agatha Christie wrote in her posthumously-published autobiography (1977) about the elderly lady who, next to Belgian super-sleuth Hercule Poirot, quickly became one of her most beloved characters. Somewhat resembling Christie's own grandmother and her friends, although "far more fussy and spinsterish" and "not in any way a picture" of the author's granny, like her, she had a certain gift for prophecy and, "though a cheerful person, she always expected the worst of everyone and everything, and was, with almost frightening accuracy, usually proved right."

Although Christie herself considered Miss Marple her favorite creation - preferred even over the prim and proper Belgian with the many "little grey cells," of whose exploits she occasionally tired and whom she brought back again and again chiefly because of her audience's undying demand - there are only twelve Miss Marple novels and twenty short stories: while no small feat in any other author's body of work, just over one tenth of the lifetime output of the writer justifiedly dubbed The Queen of Crime.

This compilation unites the twenty short stories revolving around St. Mary Mead's elderly village sleuth, beginning with the canon of originally six and, after an expansion for republication in book form, later thirteen stories which, in addition to the novel "A Murder at the Vicarage" (1930) introduced Miss Marple to the world; a series of unsolved problems told by her guests one Tuesday night, to be followed by six further problems narrated during a similar gathering at the home of village squire Colonel Bantry and his wife Dolly, about a year later. In attendance on those two nights are a number of people who make recurring appearances next to Miss Marple; first and foremost her doting nephew - thriller novelist Raymond West - and retired Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Henry Clithering, as well as village solicitor Petherick, and of course the Bantrys (who will move center stage, much to their embarrassment, in "A Body in the Library," 1942); furthermore Raymond's new flame, artist Joyce (later reincarnated as his wife Joan), a doctor, a clergyman, and a well-known actress. Later stories also feature appearances of Miss Marple's niece Diana "Bunch" Harmon, married to the vicar of Chipping Cleghorn, a village not unlike St. Mary Mead (see "A Murder Is Announced," 1950), St. Mary Mead's Dr. Haydock, several maids called Gladys, as well as Inspectors Slack and Craddock and Colonel Melchett of Melchester C.I.D. and village Constable Palk; and of course the usual cast of other unique characters, many of whom could just as well figure in one of the elderly lady's "village parallels," those seemingly unimportant events summing up her knowledge of life, on which she unfailingly draws in unmasking even the cleverest killer. Avid Christie readers will also recognize certain other character types, plot snippets, settings and other features here and there; for Dame Agatha was known to draw repeatedly on devices she found to have worked before, and she tended to use her short stories as mini-laboratories for elements later expanded on in novels. Caveat, lector, of premature conclusions, however, for Christie was equally known to throw in a little extra twist in such cases: what is a real clue in one instance may well be a red herring in another and vice versa, and one story's innocent bystander may easily be the next story's murderer.

"The Thirteen Problems" (1932, a/k/a "The Tuesday Club Murders"):

"The Tuesday Night Club:" Sir Henry Clithering opens the evening with the case of a woman's mysterious poisoning by arsenic.

"The Idol House of Astarte:" A man inexplicably dies after a costume party's nightly excursion to a pagan temple.

"Ingots of Gold:" Raymond West tells about a treasure hunt, sunken ships and murder on the Cornish coast.

"The Bloodstained Pavement:" Joyce and the case of a drowned wife in a Cornish watering place called Rathole.

"Motive vs. Opportunity:" Mr. Petherick's tale of a will that mysteriously vanishes from its sealed envelope.

"The Thumb Mark of St. Peter:" Miss Marple's story how she quashed rumors about the sudden death of her niece Mabel's husband.

"The Blue Geranium:" Opening the second round of mysteries, Colonel Bantry's narration about a prophecy involving death and three uncharacteristically blue flowers.

"The Companion:" Two English ladies go on a holiday in Tenerife, but only one returns home alive.

"The Four Suspects:" Sir Henry Clithering's account of the murder of a retired secret agent.

"A Christmas Tragedy:" Having failed to prevent a murder, Miss Marple is all the more eager to unmask the murderer.

"The Herb of Death:" Mrs. Bantry's gifts as a storyteller, a serving of sage and foxglove, and a charming young girl's unexpected death.

"The Affair at the Bungalow:" Double-dealings, charades and mischief on stage and off, just outside of London.

"Death by Drowning:" A village girl "in trouble" finds a desperate solution - or does she?

From "The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories" (1939):

"Miss Marple Tells a Story:" Miss Marple assists Mr. Petherick in the case of a client accused of having murdered his wife.*

From "Three Blind Mice and Other Stories" (1950):

"Strange Jest:" A rich iconoclast's final joke - at the expense of his heirs?*

"Tape-Measure Murder:" Miss Marple's knowledge of village life and human nature (once more) corrects the all-too straightforward path of Inspector Slack's investigation of an elderly lady's murder.*

"The Case of the Caretaker:" Dr. Haydock's story about a rural rascal, a poor little rich girl, an old estate and its grumpy caretaker.*

"The Case of the Perfect Maid:" Domestic service and burglary in a Victorian estate-turned-apartment building.*

From "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding" (1960):

"Greenshaw's Folly" (republished in "Double Sin," below): A reverse-locked-room mystery at an eccentrically-built country estate.

From "Double Sin and Other Stories" (1961):

"Sanctuary" (first published 1954, a/k/a "The Man on the Chancel Steps"): The last secret of a man found dying on Chipping Cleghorn's church steps.*
_______________________________

*Republished posthumously in "Miss Marple's Final Cases" (1979).

With the exception of Nietzsche, never has been philosophy been so much fun! Mist comes across to me as a romping Borges - by this I mean it is full of ideas and creative, as is Borges, but Miguel De Unamuno seems to have the almost girlish exuberance of the Spanish while the Argentinan stays more alof and academic.
Contemporary philosophy normally involves a trained vocabulary and historical understanding, but De Unamuno manages to make this an interesting story and throwing in bones for us to ponder. I often found myself pausing and chewing on my lip, lost in thought. Oh, and how I laughed! At one point the absent minded main character has fallen is asleep and is called to dinner by his servant. Wondering whether the voice was in his head or not he exclaims: "Psychological mysteries!"
It is a shame De Unamuno is not better known.

This is one of my favorite books of all time. It's about everything and nothing at the same time. It's a tragic love story, a philosophical quest, and a literary experiment all in one. An existential novel about how to write an existential novel! Unamuno's writing is both very funny and deeply insightful, and at the end, he has you questioning whether or not you yourself are alive. A mind-bending work, and one I have read again and again.

" Ni los recuerdos ni los suenos son tan efimeros como la NIEBLA"

This book deals with human emotions, thoughts and fears in a deep, meaningful and funny way. It has a little bit of everything, private conversations with God, the search for the true meaning of life, the quest to find an everlasting love, the fear of facing death, and the hardships that every single human faces during a lifetime.

I read it in Spanish, and I have to say it is one of the best written books I have read so far. Every single word is where it should be, and the story flows magnificently. Im sure that with a good translation this book won't lose its magic in English.

Although it deals with very serious topics, the story is simple, well written, funny, easy to read and with a very unexpected twist at the end...

It simply belongs to a class of its own.

Miguel de Unamuno was definitely ahead of his time. This is a wonderful book, full of great lines you'll be quoting (e.g., "The best mnemonic device is a notebook in your pocket."). The structure of this book is really unique, and the story is so unusual! The main character in the book wants to kill himself and the author won't let him, so the character argues with the author. Very twisted, very mind-bending, very wonderful. The writing is clever, the characters are familiar but I've never met them before, and the style is engaging. I'm off to read more Unamuno!

This is the typical novel that when in schooldays, the Teacher order the pupils to read it. And obviously, you do (or you pretend that you do) without paying very much attention on what you read. Sometimes this novel do not appear in the Compulsory Lecture Program, and you escape from it. This is what happened to me...
Later, a friend of yours (in my case it was my partner) recommends you to go over it again, and you discover a Gem.
There are very little things than can be said about the plot, the characters, the language... because I risk to spoil the whole experience of reading it. But I would not avoid saying that Unamuno was one of the most clever writers that ever existed in my country (everyone has heard of him here), and that in "Mist", mostly all things that worries the Human being, such as love, relationships between men and women, marriage, the Meaning of life, the aim of Literature itself... is within its pages, and that is exposed in a very surprising and entertaining way.
As every Masterpiece, it admits many different lectures and points of view, and it might be a very good piece of literature to be discussed in one of those Book Clubs that are so popular in the States.
Trust me: Read it and you won't be disappointed.

This book read like a hollywood movie. This is a well written colorful story. I admired the way that he weaved the lives of all these characters together with such richness. I have a new favorite author.

I thoroughly enjoyed this latest "story" by Victor. The character development as well as the plots were great and the book overall was rip roaring fun. I truly enjoyed the dialogue between the characters as well as the time Mr. McGlothin took to research the dialect and news of the times. I believe we have another hit. Great Work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Victor, you've done it again! This one was off the chiz'zain, LOL! No seriously, I really enjoyed Ms. Etta's Fast House. The setting and the characters were great. Reads just like a motion picture and it would surely be a good one, when that happens. I recommend this one to all. If you haven't read it, go out and get it, it's guarenteed to entertain you.

Victor McGlothin has written a fascinating story that reads like a screen play adventure that will grab and hold your attention to the very end. This novel dramatically unfolds the life and times of a smooth operator by the pseudo-name Baltimore Floyd, who is clever to the bone. With his versatile show stopper personality, Baltimore is able to amass friends on both the straight-laced and shady side of the track. Those daring enough to ride with Baltimore, are sure to encounter some interesting times ahead that will guarantee them a storehouse of memories to rehash with friends and family alike. Also, because of the era in which the story is told, the reader gets a cultural education that engages the mind on many different levels. The character Baltimore is cataclysmic and he is a force of nature. Well done Victor.

Sisters of Adinkra Book Club
Dallas, TX

This book was phenomenal. This was a fast pace tale about a hustler named Baltimore Floyd who always came to the rescue for a friend. When the tables turned and he got into trouble his friends came through for him. I loved this character. He was a true ladies man who got caught up in the game.
The character development was great. The descriptions were so vivid that I felt like I was watching a film. It was an emotional roller coaster. The historical information and medical facts were very impressive. The author really did his research. A few of the facts that I enjoyed were the integration of the The St Louis police force and the training of the African American surgeons at "Homer G. Phillips Hospital" in St Louis. This book reminded me of a time in the past where the community united to help one another.
I loved this book. I highly recommend it. McGlothin has done a phenomenal job with this story. He captured me and I did not want it to end. I can hardly wait for his next journey because I know it will be a great one. Keep them coming!!!

There is a reason why all the reviewers (so far) give this book 5 stars; it belongs on the national best-seller list. The Mullah With No Legs and Other Stories is a thin volume (perfect for busy lives)of beautifully crafted short stories. Written by Iranian-American Ari Siletz, it has to be THE book for academics and lovers of literature with an interest in cross-cultural literary themes. The characters in Siletz's stories are acutely drawn and treated with a degree of sensitivity and mischievous humor normally attributed to some of the best writers of our era. His stories are infused with warmly depicted, foible-ridden individuals whose lives unfold in completely recognizable ways to the Western reader, albeit laced with an Iranian gestalt: ancient Persian traditions, religious custom, and highly complex familial motivations. Because he is a masterful story-teller with a brilliant affinity for evocative prose, Siletz belongs firmly in the world of literature; but he has the insight and observational acumen of a skilled anthropologist. These are the reasons I think The Mullah With No Legs And Other Stories belongs on the bestseller list. His talent eclipses that of many contemporary writers whose names are now household words.

In the last few years, so many memoirs and stories have been written by Iranians and published in English (mostly by Iranian women). It looks like the market is hot for these titles. This has resulted in publication of many disingenuous works that are politically reactionary and artistically inferior (such as Reading Lolita in Tehran).
"The Mullah with No Legs and Other Stories" is politically progressive (even though it does not directly deal with politics) and artistically superb. It is a personal journey of an Iranian boy written with an excellent humor and wit. The stories are mostly sad, but you can't stop laughing! This book reserves recognition. Read it! (I have heard that the author's name is a pen name. I don't know why he did not publish this work with his real Persian name.)

I have read so many so called memoirs about Iranians, mostly about Iranian women, with a few exceptions, such as Persepolis and funny in Farsi, I have found most of them dishonest and insincere; full of illusions and delusions not memoirs! However, "The Mullah with no legs and other stories" by Ari Siletz is the most honest account of a society going through rapid changes and a true experience of a little boy trying to come to terms with his society, his family, and himself. I enjoyed reading this book tremendously and I visited the "garden of memory" with Ari in every page of this book. I was laughing in one moment and crying in another moment. It touched my heart. I recommend this book to everyone who loves literature and enjoys reading and learning, Iranians, non-Iranians, men, women, adults, and children! Ari, please write more, we need more of you and less of those who write for an emerging marker of the "Iranian women memoir industry".

Siletz has a graceful manner in telling stories that leads the reader into territory that feels unfamiliar at the outset, but brings understanding of the commonality of the human condition by the end.

His stories have an autobiographical feel to them, but they are fiction. They are based on his childhood experiences in Iran and are written with an eye towards enlightening American audiences about life in Iran.

One of my favorite stories was "The Dog" for it showed the cultural differences in how dogs are perceived between Iranians and Americans. The funniest aspect was showing how his Iranian family was surprised to hear that anyone could make money selling dog food, dog toys and dog soaps. Because dogs, while not forbidden are considered to be unclean.

A favorite line of mine was "Give a parched Iranian the choice between a glass of water sniffed by a dog and a glass of radioactive waste, and he will have to think about it."

I highly recommend this book, and it will soon be back in print!

Initially, seeing the word "Mullah" in the title, I thought this was going to be mostly about politics and Mullah/Islam bashing.... I was so off!
This is a must read. I enjoyed this book on so many levels. I was able to see a side of Iran and the Iranian culture not usually talked about, through the eyes of a child, an Iranian adult, with a twist of an American perspective making serious subjects/moments humorous to read. It was well written. Sanazbanu N.

I enjoyed this book. I do think this is a book for all children , it has great stiries for the whole family. I love to read this book to my daughter.

I can only hope that this brilliant book helpd educate muslims and non-muslims about the true beauty of Islam.

My favorite short stroy is the Black Ghost. The children run from fear of her and her young son is dreadfully embarrassed until the black ghost rescues one of the boys. Reaching out from under her black abaya, the mysterious woman is soft and gentle. The young boys confront their friend, "You never told us you had such a nice mother."

Children's Nonfiction

This is a wonderful book. It's informative, non-judgemental, and non-proselytizing. I was especially impressed that the authors managed to tell a series of situational stories from a child's point of view. My favorite was the one about the little boy who becomes separated from his parents at Mecca and finds shelter with a kindly old man. This book covers such topics as Muslim minority children having to choose between adherences to their religion, e.g. forgoing observance of prayer times and dietary restrictions for the sake of convenience and fitting in with the crowd. I could feel the self-consciousness myself when a little boy overhears his friends mistaken his mother for a ghost after being frightened by her veil, and the guilt when a young girl succumbs to temptation and devours the delicious candies that contain pork byproducts.

This book is so informative and well-written it should be in every muslim house. However, this book is not only very good for muslim children, it is also an excellent book for non-muslim children to read and learn more about islam. It can be used as an excellent tool in a classroom to dispel any misconceptions non-muslim children may carry against their muslim classmates. They will be able to learn more about prayer, fasting, eid and other things that their muslim classmates and friends follow in their lives.

Remember when Harry Kemelman's Rabbi Small tales were about all there was of Jewish crime fiction? No longer, as editor Lawrence W. Raphael makes clear in "Mystery Midrash: An Anthology of Jewish Mystery and Detective Fiction." Some familiar wordsmiths and characters are to be found in these pages, from Stuart M. Kaminsky (whose Chicago detective, Abe Lieberman, here takes a confession from a lapsed and irate Jew) to Ronald Levitsky (contributing a story in which civil-liberties lawyer Nate Rosen faces a truly unique First Amendment case) and Howard Engel (providing P.I. Benny Cooperman with a light-hearted locked-room puzzle). Although Raphael's selections often deal with Jewish issues, fans of this book will likely stretch across the religious spectrum. ...

A Yiddishe Kop, I know... but a Yiddishe Cop? Will dvar mysteries replace dvar torahs on Shabbat morn? Will parents stop hoping their child will be a doctor or a lawyer, and hope for a Jewish cop or detective? What is midrash? Isn't it a deep investigation of the text in order to learn more about it, and piece things together, to compare various texts and clues? Isn't that what a P.I. (Private Investigator) does, too? In this book are original stories by notable mystery writers. Batya contributes "Kaddish", a mystery about a secular Jew who must console a dead rabbi's family by helping them focus on the rabbi's goodness and not the alleged, scandalous events surrounding his death. In "Bread of Affliction" by Michael Kahn (author of the Rachel Gold series, Sheer Gall, Grave Designs), Chicago Attorney Rachel Gold must use her knowledge of Pesach to solve a mystery surrounding a contested will. Richard Fliegel, creator of the Jewish detective, Shelly Lowenkopf ("A Minyan for the Dead"), writes in "A Final Midrash" about four rabbi's who help a detective solve a murder that one of them has committed. If I had a sack of cash, I would certainly option the film rights for "A Final Midrash"! For not only is it an interesting short mystery, but it is a well crafted allusion to the 3 rabbis who entered Pardes with Rabbi Akiva, as well as the four ways to create a drash, namely Pshat, Sot, Drash, and Mysticism. Other contributors include: Toni Brill, Howard Engel, Stuart Kaminsky, Faye Kellerman, Ronald Levitsky, Ellen Rawlings, Shelly Singer, Bob Sloan, Janice Steinberg, and James Yaffe. I was not used to reading mysteries prior to reading this book, but I think this anthology has sparked that "Pintelye Mystery".

This anthology was one of the "best reads" of 1999. Most likely the book will be overlooked, hence this review. The storylines, variety, and exceptional writing by the authors make this book a must. Enjoy!

Lawrence Raphael has edited a collection of short stories that allowed me to do two of my favorite things at the same time: reading mysteries and reading about Jews. The collection is a great delight. It combines the comfort of familiarity with the intrigue of the mysterious. The stories span the spectrum of the religious to the assimilated; there's something for everyone. I'm looking forward to Volume II.

Clever, funny, humane, with a nod at the dark side of the human mind, Mystery Midrash is just what it says: the exploration and development of a common theme, in this case, the mystery short story. As with all midrash, each different take on a story tells us something new; as with all good midrash, that something new returns us to the innate unchangability of the human dilemma, and to humankind's steady relationship with the forces of order in a world of chaos.

Even readers who are not sure why a cheeseburger is a moral decision for a Jew will love this feast.

I would not know where to begin to try to summarize this book. There are several story arcs, and several narrative voices which are actually all one voice-- different guises of Humberto Peñaloza. He is an unborn fetus (miracle baby), a frustrated nun, an improbable mute, and the secretary to a rich man who may or may not have fathered the rich man's deformed baby.

The Obscene Bird of Night is justly considered one of the best books in Chilean literature. Richly and skilfully written, its myth and metaphor wraps around itself to be moving, horrifying, mystifying and satisfying.

This is a book that needs some time. It is very far from an easy read. If I have not given it five stars, it is not a comment on the genius of the book. Rather, it is simply that it is more grotesque than I really have the stomach to enjoy in an unqualified way. I admire it immensely, and recommend it unhesitatingly.

This is one of the best latinamerican books, further than magic realismus (realismo mágico) this novel traspasses all the borders beyond time, gender, reality and absurd. Dark novel that takes you into your own clue du sac. This wonderful story narrated by a mute man, who becomes all the voices in the novel, is like a monad of humanity, himself represents all the human disgraces, inherited from generation to generation and unable to scape fate. Must not be missed if you want to take a deep immersion into human condition.

I have a really hard time finding fitting words for describing this work. I will, perhaps in the manner of the author and the formal lines the story follows, will make the following word association: voices, flux, silence, gravitational intermitence, mentalese, overcrowding, sensation overflow, vertiginous, fast, schizophrenic, haunting, implosive, relentlessness... extremes, circles, spirals, ouroboros that eventually finds that recursion leads to nothing; that is, indeed, the last word: Nothingness.

I tried to show you by way of just a chain of emotions and ideas what you will most certainly experience by reading it.

There are two advices I most heartily provide:

1) Read it in spanish. Please do try. No translation can do justice to this piece, specially in terms of rythm and word play.

2) Prepare your mental voice to adopt the rythms given by the author on each paragraph, on each sentence. I do know this may sound obvious, but in this specific case, it cannot be overstated. Almost every paragraph will be an extreme and wild travel, a rollercoaster of voices and emotions and images, all entwined and tangled together quite organically. The author made a strategic use of commas and dots, comply with his strategy and the trip, the mesmerizing experience, will be unavoidable.

This is by no means a literary critic, since I barely enjoy most kinds of novels but, in this very particular case, you cannot avoid the gravitation of the work, the way it draws you near as if it had a thousand hooks, the way it never completely lets go, even upon reaching its end. This is, by far, one of the most superbly accomplished works of narrative I've ever read. I thought no one could even begin to compare to Rulfo, Sartre or Kafka, three of my personal favorites, but this book, although essentially different, even surpasses them.

That much I recommend you this work of art, a supernova of images and spears and apneas, multi-dimensional apneas.

This novel is the most weird and fantastical novel I have ever read. This, of course, means it is one of the best. The plot is surreal, the words are deep and rich, and it is so original, so beautiful and so brave, that any reader if affected by it.
When reading, you are plunged into such a different world that the images created encase you, lock you into the plot.
This novel, is a step into the mist for anyone who has only stuck to the odd thriller. It is a opening to wider horizons - that of magic realism.

Rarely is a book more complex, more funny or more harrowing. The magical tale of Humberto Penazola who spends the last days of his life in a convent taking care of old women, is narrated through a series of surreal hallucinations. Questions of his identity and his sexuality are explored beyond the realms of imagination. Tumbling through a dark spiral of black magic - this book is a MUST read for one and all!!

When it comes to writing from the heart, Joe Parry has few peers. His ability to weave a story in such a way that it brings out the true essence of our most basic emotions is a tremendous talent, for sure, but it also reflects the hard, agonizing work Joe puts into selecting just the right words to say exactly what he wants to say, when he wants to say it. It truly has been my pleasure to work with Joe for going on three decades, on the many features he's contributed to Pennsylvania Game News. Reading Joes's first book, "Of A Predatory Heart" was a tremendous showcase of Joe's talent, and I'm sure "A Rising Son" will be just as good-Bob Mitchell, Editor, Pennsylvania Game News.

This is a wonderful book, full of stories for anyone who enjoys or appreciates the outdoors! Joe Parry weaves a tapestry of wonderful tales in the stories contained within the pages of this book. Mr. Parry captures the very essence of the spirit of outdoors. His method of writing ensnares his readers, as he writes not only about the outdoors, hunting and fishing, but also of life, love, parenting, and fellowship between men. Fantastic work, Mr. Parry! Please keep them coming!

Reviewed by William Phenn for Reader Views (3/08)

Joe Parry is a Vietnam vet that is also an outdoorsman and a writer. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife, son and daughter and writes his stories about this area. His stories have appeared in: Fins and Feathers, Turkey Magazine, Sports and Field, the Pennsylvania Game News, Field and Stream, Readers Digest, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Northwest Outdoors, the Philadelphia Daily News, and the Wellsboro Gazette.

Joe's stories on hunting, fishing and the outdoors cover so many areas of this lifestyle, from rip-snortingly funny to tear-jerking and sad. The tales that Joe recounts in his book are compelling and full of life. He mentions the torment within the heart of a hunter that has returned from the war, not wanting to kill again but missing the hunt -- taking that first shot and how it brought him back. Then there are the amusing tales of missed game, falling out of a tree stand and killing a tree with multiple arrows. The heartfelt stories of a young man's first hunting rifle. Joe introduced his children to the outdoors and instilled in them the appreciation of nature. He tells of his daughter being all excited about going hunting and the excitement of his son's first kill.

Joe does not limit his stories to just the people of the wilderness and outdoors, he also includes vignettes about his pets Bear and Tippy Two. He tells a very sweet story of how Bear saved his life by bringing him his Nitro when Joe left home without it. Out in the woods one day as the pain started shooting in his chest, who came to the rescue but his trusted hound Bear? Joe tells about his other hound Tippy Two, a little Beagle he bought for forty dollars. The story of her death is very sad and gives the reader an insight into Joe's feelings for his animals.

"Of a Predatory Heart" is a great book of the outdoors and it's more than just hunting stories. It is a book of love and feeling, sadness and courage, it is an emotional adventure. I enjoyed "Of a Predatory Heart" and gave it a very well-deserved A; it was an enjoyable read.

If you love the outdoors, you will love this book! Joe Parry is a phenomenal writer as well as a true outdoorsman. B. Krug

I very, very, very rarely read outdoorsy type books. I almost NEVER read hunting/fishing oriented books. The only type of book I read less is romance (and I never read them). So, why did I read this book? I'm not really sure. I stumbled upon one story and halfway through realized I was laughing so hard I was almost crying. So, I read another one. And ended up bawling my eyes out. Hmmmmm. After reading a third and then a fourth, I realized that hunting/fishing/outdoorsy or not, the stories in this book are addictive. It doesn't matter what type they are, they're stories from the heart and those stories work for anyone and everyone. So, whether you're an outdoorsy type who loves to hunt and fish or just someone who enjoys REAL stories that make you laugh and cry and just be glad that the author decided to share life with you for awhile, you really WILL love this book. Give it a shot, you won't be sorry.

This was a new experience for me. As a male who likes short stories and has read dozens of anthologies, this book by a woman about men and women made me feel like a voyeur unable to turn his eye away from the keyhole. The author is incredibly skilled and insightful as she takes the reader on 10 very enjoyable rides through periods in a number of lives -- each artfully constructed around romantic relationships (some in crisis) -- and each with the presence of at least one cat. The gemlike stories are so gripping several could turn into screen plays. They are interesting, unpredictable and provocative. The psychological elements reminded one of Ibsen, the social caste clashes brought to mind the fine 18th and 19th -Century English writers, and the romantic entanglements twisted by karma evoked certain French authors. There is no need to describe plots. As soon as you start to read, you will know you are in very competent hands. The cats are important in different ways in different stories. I note that practically all the other reviewers are women, so I felt I should add my voice by saying to male readers,

"If you want to know what 'They' are really thinking, read this book!"

I grabbed this when I saw it because I've got a nonfiction book coming out next spring (2002) on the connection between women and cats, saw this as a reward for getting the ms. done, and I'm so happy I did. Beautiful, lucid writing about real relationships -- primarily romantic human ones, as opposed to human-feline -- and a joy to read. The one on the schizoaffective brother-in-law ("The Closest Place") broke my heart with its truth (yeah, I've got a book on growing up with mentally ill siblings out, too). Hope she does a novel next. - Clea Simon, author of "Mad House" (Penguin), "Fatherless Women" (Wiley), and the upcoming "Feline Mystique" (St. Martin's).

What a great, sweet book. And about so much more than cats and men!! If you're looking for a book about cats, it's a must-read, but make no mistake, this book appeals equally to non "cat people" like myself (it's not that I don't like them -- I'm allergic). The cats are critical to the work, however, because they allow us to be the fly on the wall we always want to be when reading a great piece of fiction, or in any other way peering into the lives of others and secretly desiring a place at the table (or in this case, in the bed, on the couch, on a driveway in the sun). De Gramont weaves this brilliant literary device around her wonderfully vivid characters and the situations they find themselves in, drawing the reader in so hauntingly deep that the line between fiction and reality starts to blur. I rarely find a book that I enjoy so much. The characters will either become some of your favorite characters in fiction or remind you keenly of some of the genre's most memorable. I want more - more stories, and more of these people's lives. Read this book. We'll be waiting in line together for a copy of De Gramont's next book. It'll be fun.

What a great, sweet book. And about so much more than cats and men!! If you're looking for a book about cats, it's a must-read, but make no mistake, this book appeals equally to non "cat people" like myself (it's not that I don't like them -- I'm allergic). The cats are critical to the work, however, because they allow us to be the fly on the wall we always want to be when reading a great piece of fiction, or in any other way peering into the lives of others and secretly desiring a place at the table (or in this case, in the bed, on the couch, on a driveway in the sun). De Gramont weaves this brilliant literary device around her wonderfully vivid characters and the situations they find themselves in, drawing the reader in so hauntingly deep that the line between fiction and reality starts to blur. I rarely find a book that I enjoy so much. The characters will either become some of your favorite characters in fiction or remind you keenly of some of the genre's most memorable. I want more - more stories, and more of these people's lives. Read this book. We'll be waiting in line together for a copy of De Gramont's next book. It'll be fun.

This was a new experience for me. As a male who likes short stories and has read dozens of anthologies, this book by a woman about men and women made me feel like a voyeur unable to turn his eye away from the keyhole. The author is incredibly skilled and insightful as she takes the reader on 10 very enjoyable rides through periods in a number of lives -- each artfully constructed around romantic relationships (some in crisis) -- and each with the presence of at least one cat. The gemlike stories are so gripping several could turn into screen plays. They are interesting, unpredictable and provocative. The psychological elements reminded one of Ibsen, the social caste clashes brought to mind the fine 18th and 19th -Century English writers, and the romantic entanglements twisted by karma evoked certain French authors. There is no need to describe plots. As soon as you start to read, you will know you are in very competent hands. The cats are important in different ways in different stories. I note that practically all the other reviewers are women, so I felt I should add my voice by saying to male readers,

"If you want to know what 'They' are really thinking, read this book!"