Othello Books

Othello Bach has written one of the most heart-rendering memoirs in existence. Home for her and her six siblings was the back of a truck, a trench in the field, or if they were lucky - a shack with no running water or electricity. For much of the time the family is without shoes, heat or food. Food, if there was any, was on most occasions "greens and vinegar." Othello's mother loves her children dearly, but Dad is an alcoholic who comes and goes like the wind. When Othello brought a school friend home for lunch, she was so appalled by the disgusting greens and patchwork newspapers covering the walls, she ran from the shack never to speak to Othello again. It was not uncommon for Othello and her family to be referred to by others as "white trash." What Othello really wanted in life was something to eat other than greens, a pair of shiny black shoes and a rubber doll. Her mother told her she might as well, "cry into the wind" because the possibility of getting any of those was next to none - hence the name of the book.

When Othello's mother dies as a result of burns from a fire, the situation takes a turn for the worse, if that is possible. The book makes one take a look at their own surroundings and count their blessings, no matter how great or humble the conditions may be. "Cry into the Wind" is comparable to other books like "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt, "Change Me into Zeus's Daughter" by Barbara Robinette Moss and "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls - all of which are a testimony to the strength of the human spirit. Just make sure you have some tissues handy because all of these books are about survival in a world that has not been kind, compassionate or fair. "Cry into the Wind" is no exception. Othello's strength is an inspiration to anyone who has survived insurmountable odds.

Othello Bach has been amazingly honest in Cry Into The Wind. This courageous woman needs to be commended for her honesty about such personal and heart touching subjects. Othello's story will make most of us count our blessing and marvel at the road traveled by Othello to become the person that she is today. What an example Ohtello has been for humanity. I recommend everybody read Cry Into The Wind.

When I first got "Cry Into the Wind" I wasn't sure how quick I was going to get to it. I had a lot of other books I was wanting to start. But my wife pick it up off my night stand and she had it read in two days. She just kept saying WOW. So I thought I better start this one soon and I did. I do have to say once you start Othello's Book "Cry Into the Wind" it is hard to put it down. This is no fluff book and it is a real heart breaker. I think knowing Othello is OK and safe made this book easier to read. So if you read this one and you see no hope for her don't worry she is OK and she has turned out to be a very special lady. The nice thing about reading "Cry Into the Wind" was that my wife and I talked about the book as I was reading it and that made the book more enjoyable to read. This book really floored me and I think it will have an affect all that read this book. I wish I could write a better review on "Cry Into the Wind" I can't do it justice. Read it you will not regret it.

All though this book, I kept thinking what a special person the author was (is), all her life. And what a hard-scrabble life she had! I was so pleased to learn that she had the fortitude and courage to get out when she was able, and it appears she has led a good life since then, which was the young age of 16. The story of her and her family is inspiring, and I feel like I want to say I am so sorry she had to go through all that she endured, even though it may have inspired her to be the wonderful person she appears to be today. If you liked The Glass House and other recent memoirs, you will love this book.

This is by far the most riveting book I have ever read. From the moment I saw the first words, I could not put it down. But beware - you cannot read this book and not cry! However, although Ms. Bach's life story is often heart-wrenching, her message is full of hope and comfort for us all: there is nothing in this life, no hardship so great, no suffering so deep, that it cannot be overcome.

Everyone, regardless of background or circumstance, should read this book.

This is a very good guide for a new writer. The main points are brief and clear, and reinforced with one or more exercises. My recommendation on how to use this book: read through and do the exercises; grab your favorite writing implement or PC and put down a short (or short-short) story without referring to this book; let your story "rest" for a week or more; pick a topic (e.g. dull verbs) from this book and review/revise your writing; pick the next topic (e.g. characters); repeat until satisfied with your story.
Eventually, you'll want to move on to broader treatments like Stephen Minot's "Three Genres" or into more depth with books from the Write Great Fiction or Elements of Fiction Writing series.

How to Write a Great Story is a modest yet powerful book. With explanations, examples and exercises, the author takes you through formulas, characterization, dialogue, plotting, and action scenes. Then she goes on to cover manuscript preparation, sales and rejections.

For a full description of the book's coverage, click on Table of Contents in the left-hand column of this page.

Othello Bach has written a number of suspense novels and children's books. She wrote her first best-selling novel, House of Secrets, at the age of 24.

As a publisher, author of 113 nonfiction books (including revisions and foreign-language editions) and over 500 magazine articles, I find reading about crafting fiction fascinating. DanPoynter@ParaPublishing.com.

How to Write a Great Story, is a fnatastic, easy to use and understand, yet powerful book. With explanations, examples and exercises, (Do the exercises they will amaze you) the author takes you through them step by step, characterization, dialogue, plotting, and action and passive scenes. Then she goes on to cover manuscript preparation, and this is how you get your A+.

Othello Bach is a wizard at making the art of wrighting seem so easy, Many thanks to this wonderful lady.

Ms. Bach has accomplished the near impossible in crystallizing the writer's craft onto a pin-head in this little jewel of a book.

I've read close to fifty books on writing over the years, and I have yet to find one that so clearly, plainly, and most of all understandably, outlines what the craft consists of.

In less than a hundred pages she hits every single important craft nail squarely on the head with a precise blow or two. She has done an outstanding job!

It's a modern Wen Fun in its conciseness, and a concentrated Gardner in its pragmatism. I count myself lucky to have found it.

Rowan Wolf

This wonderful little book is easy to read and easy to follow. When I feel like I can't write, I pick it up and do one of the writing exercises... then I can't stop! If you want to write a great story this is the book to get you started and keep you going! Othello Bach is a terrific teacher who has mastered more genres then most writers would dare to try! If writing is your dream...this book will get you started!

I am so glad this book is still in print (it was first published in 1904, I think). My original copy was second-hand and it would be awful to think I couldn't get another! Bradley is so illuminating on Shakespeare's intentions, and on the characters of his great tragic figures. If nothing else, read his brilliant discussion of Macbeth - it will convince you that, for a perspective on human nature, for conceiving a dramatic character whole, Bradley was as great a critic as Shakespeare was a playwright. Don't miss him!

Bradley offers some of the most eloquent, complete, and balanced criticisms of the tragedies that I have yet read. Unlike so many literary critics of today, Bradley does not disdain to view Shakespeare's characters as actual people, which lends his view of the works a sense of import and meaning which so few critics manage to convey. These lectures are necessary reading for anyone at all who wishes to understand Shakespeare's tragedies better, actors, directors, and academics alike.

A.C. Bradley wrote these lectures in 1904, and the book has gone through at least 26 printings. It is significant that the Folger Shakespeare Library has republished these lectures. They are hugely important and vibrantly written. I am sure my father read these in college, and I know my son did, too. I'm glad I finally got around to them! You will be, also, for all the reasons that other reviewers have noted.

(Amazon should spell Macbeth's name correctly - not as "MacBeth"!) This has for almost a century been, and continues to be today, one of the most important books on Shakespeare's best and most popular tragedies. For much of the time since around 1930, it has been severely criticised: on the grounds, chiefly, that the author is too much inclined to respect or have sympathy for the heroes (which he is), and that he treats them too much like "real" people (which he does, and which they aren't).

Yet, for all that, Bradley's approach to the heroes as though they were characters we all know has revealed a great deal about what Shakespeare has made those characters, and those who see the characters as complex and psychologically worth exploring identify a more significant aspect of Shakespeare's interest in humans and his art than do many of Bradley's opponents. Moreover, the detail of his examinations of the texts makes it possible to probe much with him, even if one continues to question or quarrel with him on the way (and he is not infrequently demonstrably wrong). Thus this remains a work of criticism which is inspirational and searching even if at times quite wrongheaded; and every serious reader of Shakespeare (including actors and directors) should read this book and own it. - Joost Daalder, Professor of English, Flinders University, South Australia

In his opening chapter Bradley defines for us the essence of Shakespearean tragedy. He points out that Tragedy involves the fall of a great hero, but that this fall does not come as random event or as willful act of God , but rather through the results and consequences of the action of the hero himself. He points out too that the effect of this fall is not to leave us in despair or depression, but rather to leave us with a sense of the wonder, mystery and greatness of life i.e. that paradoxically Shakespearean tragedy has an effect on its audience which is uplifting. And this though the hero invariably is killed at the end.
Bradley points out also that the death in tragedy is not the slow crawling death of an illness, but comes out of a sudden violent effect of the action. This too sharpens our sense of wonder and mystery.
The heroes of tragedy and their stories somehow give us a feeling of life and its terrible end which magnifies our feeling of 'greatness' while somehow leaving us more humbled.
I do not know if the paragraphs written above translate Bradley in a completely accurate way.
I do know his writing is inspirational, moving and uplifting. The criticism of the plays makes you want to know and read the plays more.
This is the kind of Literary criticism which is great literature in and by itself.

What else could you expect!

There isn't much to say...its exactly what you should expect when ordering Shakespeare...seriously.

4 of his best i strongly recomend this group of storys.

Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth are Shakespeare's greatest works. These fantastic stories, coupled with strong footnotes, make for superb reading material. I would recommend this book to beginning and master Shakespeare readers.

Having a love of literature, and being an English Lit. major has given me the oportunity to read most of Shakespeare's works. Shakespeare's talent and genius has surely endured and his beautiful writings are essential to mankind not only in the classroom but throughout our lives. His tragedies speak the loudest to me, as they are charged with drama, emotion and memorable quotations. Having to choose a favorite book of all time I would say, "Othello." Yet Hamlet is my second favorite drama of Shakespeare's, and Macbeth also holds strong. I do not care for King Lear but having Shakespeare's 4 greatest and most popular tragedies in one book is a collection worth having.

My first day of vacation was spent sleeping because this book kept me awake most of the night before. What a fantastic read! I could NOT put it down. Stoddard shines a light on the dark side of today's "business is business" mentality with a shockingly funny story that hooked me from page one. The tale came alive through unforgettable characters, both captivating and repulsive. They seem oddly familiar as they reflect the personalities in corporate America today. This is an energetic battle between good and evil. Pick this one up and hang on for a wild ride!

Knights in Dark Satin was a surprisingly great read. The author develops the charaters so well, very reminiscent of Carl Hiaasen's style, I had to find out what they were going to do next. Darkly humorous, the shenanagans of the consulting firm and how they try to take over the third generation family run tractor company ring true in todays corporate mentality with no morals or conscience. The Kansas small town values and many twist and turns, including a tornadic conclusion kept me totally absorbed through the entire book.

In an era of leveraged buy-outs, sleazy take-overs and corporate ethics gone amuck, Christopher Stoddard weaves an authentic, darkly humorous and endlessly entertaining tale of an outside consulting firm's attempts to ruthlessly profit on the misfortunes of a family-owned Kansas tractor company. Beyond this new author's unique and fresh story-telling abilities, Stoddard is surely someone who has lived close to his subject matter. This much is guaranteed. You won't put this book down until you follow each twist and turn to this writer's clever conclusion. I highly recommend Knights in Dark Satin to anyone interested in an outrageously funny and painfully present-day account of American business practices.

The author's research on Moorish History is second to none!

This book is a must-read! The research is superb, insightful, and elegantly infused into the social commentary of the text. Pimienta-Bey has undoubtedly risen to the top of scholars addressing the history of the Moors and their worldwide influence on civilization. As engaging as it is informative, I find this book to be a necessary addition to anyone's library!

This author breaks down the hidden history of the Moors in North America throughly researched and scholarly. This book takes the history of the MSTA from obscure bits of history and information to full blown historical facts from documents that many do not study or even know about. This is a much needed book and should be on the library of every African American family. I also suggest African Origins of Freemasonry by Zachary Gremillion, Huevolution of Sacred Muur Science by Timothy Myers-El, and Moorish Circle Seven by Keith Moore. All excellent books and links our true history in the world and our indigenous origin on this continent. These books are a powerful arsenal to debate with detractors of our history and origins. I thank the author of this book.

"Once, there was a fird. Just an ordinary fird--part fish, part bird--and he wanted to find a herd of fird. But nobody had ever heard of a fird."

I don't remember how I found it. I do remember checking it out from the library at every conceivable opportunity and listening to it constantly. Enough that after some ten years without it, I can still quote the story almost word for word (I can sing the songs, too, just not well). And the words are eminently memorable, chosen for sound and feel as much as for the story they convey.

I was almost adult when I found out that there was a book version as well. Let me say this: The publishing world has for some reason decided that kids want books that they read once or twice and throw away. Trash paperbacks. Believe me, this isn't one of them. You can read this to your grandkids for the five thousandth time, and as much as it delights the kids, you'll find that it still delights you as well. The story is still fresh, the characters still vibrant. The major lyrics will still speak to you, reminding you to live your life with all the joy and anticipation and determination of a little fird who's just trying to find a herd of fird.

I recently discovered that some of the themes are particularly relevant to our time:

PREJUDICE: "The Snoose only like other Snooses; they do not like anyone who is different" and, speaking of the Dickens, "They've spent their whole life being afraid of something they've never met."

INDIVIDUALITY: "I'm a fird! And it doesn't matter where I came from, or what I'm SUPPOSED to be; all that matters is where I'm going, and what I do."

HOPE: "Don't say it can't be done! Just tell me that it can't be done, then stand back, watch me do it!"

CALL TO SELF-ACTUALIZATION: "You can't sit around hopin' for to be someone great: Gotta start bein' today...You can't sit around thinkin' that you aren't good enough, unless you want to prove you really ain't; can't sit around blamin' other folks for your luck--it's YOU who determines if you can or can't."

("Self-actualization"? Sorry, can't think of the synonym I want. Being all that you can be, and not letting worries and fears get in the way of that.)

Let me add the song list (not all songs have obvious names):

1. Lucille Dicken's "Wake Up in the Morning"
2. Fird's "I'm So Glad to Just Be Me"
3. The Monster Boogie
4. The Woose
5. The Shamels
6. The Driders (music only)
7. The Blizard's funny questions song
8. The Burtles' "Some Folks"
9. Ms. Girouse's "You Can't Sit Around"
10. Fird's "Reverse Psychology"
11. Fird's "Isn't There Anyone in the World...?"
12. Belinda's "I Dream a Dream"


In closing: I truly hope that Fird (both book and tape) gets republished--soon--because I just can't deal with a world in which my niece and nephews know less about Fird and Snyder than they do about SpongeBob SquarePants.

The first book my mother ever checked out for me was "Whoever Heard of a Fird?" when I was 3 or 4 years old. That was 14 years ago and I still remember how wonderful it was. It taught me early on that everyone is unique, and although you might not know of anyone that is like you off hand, that no matter what, there is someone that will accept you for you. I'll always remember the story about a poor half-fish, half-bird named Fird and his journey to find others of his kind.

One the very first books I ever remember reading when I was a little kid was Whoever Heard of a Fird. I picked it out because it had big, colorful pictures not knowing about the story held within. Once I began reading it, I couldn't put it down. (...)

As in his Readings on Hamlet, which I have also reviewed for Amazon, literary scholar Don Nardo has compiled an impressive collection of articles by well-known Shakespearean scholars and critics. In this case, they include Charles and Mary Lamb, D.A. Traversi, the great Harley Granville-Baker, and film critic Roger Manvell. I was especially intrigued with the article titled "Iago the Poisoner," an original and insightful piece by George W. Williams, of Duke University. Mr. Nardo must be commended for his own insights and skill in putting together this outstanding volume.

Don Nardo's "Readings on Othello" is the most readable book of essays on this play that I've ever come across. The book is geared toward students, but it's not dumbed-down; instead of a plot summary, you'll find intriguing essays on different themes and issues in Othello. The essays are all written by Shakespeare teachers/scholars, and they are thought-provoking without being too complex to grasp.

I especially liked the chapter in the beginning that deals with Othello's origins (the source that Shakespeare used for inspiration), offers background information on the locales and peoples in the play, and gives a brief yet thorough overview of Shakespeare's life.

If you are interested in some in-depth study of Othello, or need to write a paper on this play, I highly recommend that you read this book. It will make you see the play from so many different angles, and guide you towards better understanding of what Shakespeare was trying to say.

As my first introduction to Shakespeare working in a senior high school collaborative English class, this book helped me enormously with its Modern Day English interpretation on one side of the book and the Shakespearean writing on the other which follows the regular novels. This proved to be a lifesaver!

The Play, the Book, the Format---all outstanding, absolutely outstanding...With the original text on the left page and a modern easy to read and understand text on the right, Shakespeare reads like a Vince Flynn novel--well, almost. It really opens up the story, the ideas, the characters and the struggles. (Iago is still reprehensible! In any time, in any format!!) And in Act 5, "Othello" turns into a page turner, like a modern day novel. Who would have ever thought it!!! Good way of doing it, well done. The Bard is alive and well...And we are all the better for it.

This is a thoroughly edited and explained version of Othello. The introduction and other additional writings are well-researched and well-written, and provide valuable background on the play and the way it has been performed and interpreted over the years. For the scholar, the notes are incredibly thorough, describing the way the poetry is scanned as well as the differing texts in the Quartos and Folios. More information than the casual reader would need, perhaps, but a definitive text for someone who wants research along with their reading.

This edition will be a boon for any instructor or advanced student who wants the usual Oxford treatment--extensive, thorough footnotes; wonderful appendices about music and performance; an excellent introduction that could stand alone as its own book; and well-chosen illustrations and photographs from performances throughout history.