Reviews Books

To begin with, Victor Serge (1890-1947) is an anomaly. He is a Russian revolutionary and political agitator who just happened to be born in Belgium and who wrote most of his books in French. He is not widely read today because most of his books fall under the heading of politics, yet he wrote seven novels of which THE CASE OF COMRADE TULAYEV is perhaps the best known. He comes from a family of socialists, one of whom was involved in the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881. During the Russian Revolution, he took part in the siege of Petrograd and knew Lenin personally. (His wife was one of Lenin's stenographers.) He ran afoul of Stalin, who had him arrested for being a Trotsykite. After years of imprisonment, he was one of the few writers ever released by Stalin in response to international pressure from André Gide and other European cultural figures. Later, he was also "excommunicated" by the exiled Leon Trotsky as an anarchist. Always on the edge of poverty and now on the outs with the Communist Party in all its many flavors, he wound up in Mexico after Trotsky's assassination and worked on a biography of the slain leader. In the end, the high altitude proved too much for his heart, and he died in 1947 while in the back seat of a Mexico City taxicab.

THE CASE OF COMRADE TULAYEV has been reprinted in the excellent Willard R. Trask translation by New York Review Books, with an introduction by Susan Sontag. Although there have been other novels about Stalin's purges of the 1930s--most notably Arthur Koestler's DARKNESS AT NOON--nothing comes close to Serge's treatment. His story begins with two bachelors in Moscow who share adjacent rooms in an apartment building. On a sudden whim, one of them, the fusty Romachkin, buys a pistol and takes to carrying it around on his nocturnal rambles through the city. One day, just outside the Kremlin, he is shocked to find himself within a few feet of Stalin himself. Realizing that he could have taken out and shot the dictator before his bodyguards could intervene, he goes home and hands the gun over to his neighbor, Kostia, who also takes to walking around at night with it. When Kostia sees one of the more repressive members of the Central Committee, one Comrade Tulayev, getting out of a chauffeured limo to walk the extra few blocks for a clandestine tryst with his mistress, he shoots and kills him and gets away.

In the chapters that follow, the murder of Comrade Tulayev, whom we never really get to know, extends like a ripple through the upper levels of the Russian leadership. It is said that the character of Tulayev was inspired by Sergei Kirov, who was reportedly murdered at the instigation of Stalin. As in the case with Kirov, Stalin puts unrelenting pressure on his political bosses to find the culprit or culprits, even if they have to manufacture them:

"The case ramified in every direction, linked itself to hundreds of others, mingled with them, disappeared in them, re-emerged like a dangerous little blue flame from under fire-blackened ruins. The examiners herded along a motley crew of prisoners, all exhausted, all desperate, all despairing, all innocent in the old legal meaning of the word, all suspect and guilty in many ways; but it was in vain that the examiners herded them along, the examiners always ended up in some fantastic impasse."

Each of the major figures thus framed gets a chapter to himself in Serge's novel. Some of these chapters, such as the ones on party boss Artyem Makeyev ("To Build Is to Perish") and the character known only as Deportee Ryzhik ("The Brink of Nothing"), almost rise to the level of poetry. Makeyev is one of those talentless people who rise to the top through sheer consistency and brute strength. One day, he is visited by an old comrade, who for the first time plants the seeds of doubt in his friend's mind:

"Artyemich, I have been thinking things over. Our plans are 50 to 60 percent impossible to carry out. To carry them out to the extent of the remaining 40 per cent, the real wages of the working class will have to be reduced below the level they reached under the Imperial Government [i..e., the Tsar]--far below the present level even in backward capitalist countries... Have you thought about that? I fear not. In six months at most, we will have to declare war on the peasants and begin shooting them down--as sure as two and two makes four...."

As he goes backstage at a Moscow theater, Makeyev is picked up by the security services and whisked off, uncomprehending.

At the beginning of his chapter, Ryzhik is a prisoner in exile in a tiny hamlet in a godforsaken part of Siberia:

"Incomparable dawns rose for Ryzhik from the profound indifference of desert lands. He lived in the last of the five houses which made up the hamlet of Dyra (Dirty Hole), at the junction of two icy rivers lost in solitude. The houses were built of unhewn logs which had come down in the spring drives. The landscape had neither bounds nor landmarks. At first, when he still wrote letters, Ryzhik had named the place the Brink of Nothing ... He felt that he was at the extreme limit of the human world, at the very verge of an immense tomb. Most of the letters he wrote never reached any destination, of course, and none came from anywhere. To write from here was to shout into the emptiness which he sometimes did, to hear his own voice...."

Even so, the long arm of Stalin's prosecutors reaches him as a possible person to frame for the Tulayev murder, and he is whisked off to Moscow. He escapes having to admit his guilt only by cleverly going on a hunger strike unknown to the guards. He slowly feeds all his meals to the toilet until he is too weak to confess to anything and escapes further interrogation by his suicide.

In the end, three of Stalin's former associates are framed and executed. After a candid confrontation with the whimsical Stalin, one suspect is assigned to supervise a gold extraction operation in Siberia. As in the French Revolution, even the prosecutors and their stooges are picked off one by one and ground up in the mills of what passed for justice during those perilous times.

You will not find Victor Serge filed under Russian literature. You will not find him under French literature. You are not likely to find him at all unless you are extraordinarily fortunate. Reading The Case of Comrade Tulayev has whetted my appetite to hunt down other works by this most elusive of writers.

A voracious reader I thought I finished the Russian classics when I completed Cancer Ward and the First Circle having devoured Crime and Punishment and War and Peace years before. Not so . Victor Serge has it all :the prose of Tolstoy, the impending doom of Dosteyesky and the currency of the Stalin era. Don't miss this one. FPB Ann Arbor

A repressive shadow looms over the destiny of these men of all age, beliefs, and ranks ... insidious terror creeps into those innocent minds and their lives ends before they know it or before their hearts stopped beating. Some vainly fight back, some don't, but all are hopeless.
The implacable and revengeful wave of the Soviet rotten bureaucracy destroys the life of innocent men. When tyranny and deception shutters the greatest hope of and for humanity, one ought to question if it had to be that way.

This book is amazing for its ability to communicate the intimate thoughts of the characters and employ beautiful prose to describe the physical settings in which the action takes place, without abandoning the larger narrative. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in Soviet history or literature. I read it after reading several other books on the period, and felt that they were an excellent preparation for this one (The Unquiet Ghost - Hochschild, Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar - Montefiore, The Gulage Archipeligo), but even without the background this is a fantastic read.

Most of the other reviews of this book are right on the money and more articulate than I could be, so I won't try to repeat them. But I will say that I found this book to be a compelling piece of work; a classic. I never quite appreciated the depth of dysfunction, even depravity, of the Soviet system. It bewilders me that such an abomination took place in my lifetime. It frightens me that it could happen again. I just finished reading about the Spanish Inquisition, where the same terrible mechanics were perpetrated on the Spanish. Whether the motivating spark is political ideology or religious orthodoxy, demented societies like this can spring up like mushrooms. Communism was a massive crime upon the Russian people. And it provides little satisfaction that the criminals were often the victims of their own crimes. A devastating but outstanding book!

I read Dark Card on my vacation. I reacted most deeply to Perfect Target, Sweet Heart, Begin Again - all three made me pause and just feel sick about how cruel people can be to each other and the impacts of seemingly small events on a precious life. It makes me wonder how easily we as individuals and a culture are afraid of vulnerability and the need for eliminating the weak to make ourselves feel strong rather than embracing them. These three poems are marked with tears. There were a few others that really hit me in the gut for how much the emotional content of the poem became my own: Apologies to My OB-GYN, No Longer Medusa, Unreachable Child, He Never Lies, Eighteen (he made it!), Refrigorator Mom. These poems are marked with a check to reread. Thank you for sharing yourself and your son's journey through poetry.

Life as art ... there is a special gift in the ability to share one's life as art, to issue a challenge to each beholder, to trigger a deeper reaching within and without, to one's coming away changed. The amazingly insightful cover and the signpost of a title dare us to pass through this doorway, to accept the challenge to go beyond and experience what these travelers before us offer to share. Will any two come away with the same experience? I don't think so. For me this journey was worth the beauty, love, and mystery revealed along side the pain of Dark Card. Without the presence of light, we would not even see this silhouette. I am thankful that there are artists and poets who can transcend the dark to share their lives by shining light.

In Dark Card, Rebecca Foust gives the reader a lesson in courage -- the courage of a mother raising a child with a disability, the courage to face the reality this forces upon her, the courage to probe the feelings deep within, and the courage to put those feelings into unforgettable words. This is the open heart of a mother, with all the pain and joy exposed. Read it with respect. It will move you.

Raw and beautiful, this collection captures the complexities of motherhood in a way few writers ever have. There isn't a mother alive who -- if she is honest -- won't recognize herself on these pages. The cover art, with its dark haunting outline, makes clear that the child inside this book is not just Foust's. He belongs to all of us.

Rebecca Foust's has written a stirring book of poetry describing the mixed blessings of raising a son with Aspergers Syndrome. Dark Card is a must read for all families dealing with Autistic Spectrum Disorders, and for those who seek a better understanding of what it is like to live with them.

Etienne Gerrard is a delight, cocky, self important, vain as a peacock, he is also brave to a fault, resourceful, energetic and the best swordsman in all of Napoleon's cavalry. He is also a bit thick in the head. He struts through the most hair raising adventures, and almost always comes out in one piece. You will be convinced in each story that he could not possible carry out his mission successfully, but he almost always does. At a time in Great Britain when the human costs of the Napoleanic Wars were still felt and France and England had only recently mended fences, Conan Doyles "typical" Frenchman was a delight to the British reader. This is not Sherlock's cold intellect. It is the passion of a very decent, courageous man who is devoted to his sovreign, and who will take on any task from wooing a beautiful woman to a Russian Regiment of cavalry. If you enjoy the Flashman books you will love this one just as much.

These gems of action storytelling will make you laugh out loud-- they have the best of Doyle's plotting and some very witty characterization. Etienne Gerard is first-cousin to GM Fraser's Flashman: he finds himself in the thick of every battle, often playing a pivotal role that only now can be told...

Of course, Flashy is cowardly where Gerard is brave, but they both think themselves irresistable to women and are master horsemen. Bright, fast, and funny, these short stories belong on the shelf next to all the Flashman novels. Fraser himself calls Doyle a "genius" in the introduction, and they belong in the same league of inspired storytelling. Too bad Gerard and Flashy never met-- Flash would have called him a bloody crapaud and Gerard would have said Flashy was a British beef....

I knew Arthur Conan Doyle from his Sherlock Holmes series although I have not read any title from that. The "Exploits and Adventures of Birgadier Gerard" is surely one of the finest novels about the Napoleonic era and I highly recommend it to any fan of the Grand Armee and its battle hardened soldiers. The story begins with the long retired Brigadier starting to recall his war memories for the shake of his audience, over a glass of wine. And what a fascinating carreer did he have! He was a romantic lover, a proud Frenchman, an honest man, a terrific swordsman, a dashing cavalryman, and a soldier absolutely faithful to his duty: the real epitome of the French hussar who according to Colonel Lassale "should not live beyond the age of 30"! The old Brigadier explains with graphic detail and an amusing dose of egotism and pride how he lost his ear for the love of a girl in Venice, how he helped French troops to storm the spanish fortress of Saragossa, how he saved a whole army in the Peninsula, how he extricated himself from a grevious tactical mistake in Russia, how he beat the Englishmen in their national sport of fox-hunting and how Destiny prevented him from taking part in the climactic battle of Waterloo, a fact that Gerard honestly believes that doomed Napoleon! To build his story Doyle took many interesting facts and legends from real biographies of the period, like that of Baron de Marbot, but he made his story so enjoyable and colourful that is incomperable in terms of advenures and amusement.

Brigadier Gerard is everything that a Briton of Conan Doyle's time thought was an exemplar of the Napoleonic officer - and to a certain extent a charicature of the French themselves. Hopelessly and ridiculously brave, completely lacking in appreciation of the fine British virtues of sportsmanship, a devotion to L'Empereur, rather dim, obsessed with his honor and the honor of La France, and yet rather admirable too in his prickly way.

In this fine book the Brigadier regales us with stories of his youth, when most of Europe was part of the French Empire and opportunities abounded for young men who looked good in cavalry uniform. Gerard tells the story with no irony, but the reader laughs a good deal at the absurdities of the hero. When attempting to shoot the ash off a cigar he destroys the whole cigar instead to the dismay of its smoker who is smoking it at the time. Clearly, Gerard maintains, the pistol is at fault. On a few occasions he succeeds when all expect him to fail and as a result his success is actually a failure. The stories encompass many of the great events of the Napoleonic wars: the horrors of partisan fighting in Spain, the invasion of Russia, war in the German states and Prussia, even capture by the British. Always the stories are superbly told with a very fine eye for realistic detail and they are often quite gripping. Again this is one of those books I am amazed has never been made into a film or a TV series.

George MacDonald Fraser has taken a good deal of the Gerard style for his Flashman series, although of course the two characters are poles apart in morality.

I recommend this book to all lovers of history novels and also to anyone who just likes to read superb stories in the grand old manner, where manly men are engaged in "honest" combat, and where evil enemies, treacherous peasants, and duplicitous politicos usually meet their doom under Gerard's cavalry saber.

The success of the Sherlock Holmes stories has overshadowed the fact that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote many other stories of entirely different character. The New York Review of Books Classics has brought the `Exploits and Adventures of Brigadier Gerard' back to life. The Gerard character is said to be Conan Doyle's second best fictional invention.

The eight `Exploits' stories were published between 1894 and 1895 while the ten `Adventures' were published after a five year hiatus between 1900 and 1903. Like the Holmes tales, these pieces were published as serials in The Strand Magazine. Once again we owe a debt of happy gratitude to the NYRB for reviving this quirky, funny, heroic series of adventure tales.

The eponymous Gerard is one Etienne Gerard, a Hussar (a light cavalryman) in the French Army during the Napoleonic Wars. In other words, a character about as far removed from the dyspeptic intellectual detective of Baker Street as one can imagine. In the excellent introduction (one of the hallmarks of the NYRB Classics series), George Macdonald Fraser remarks on the courage Conan Doyle showed in showcasing a French hero fighting against the British less than 80 years after Napoleon was finally defeated (As Fraser notes "even today [the French ] are not notably popular north of the Channel"). Quite a feat of imagination.

Like Harry Flashman (Flashman: A Novel (Flashman)) and the lesser known Otto Prohaska (A Sailor of Austria: In Which, Without Really Intending to, Otto Prohaska Becomes Official War Hero No. 27 of the Habsburg Empire (The Otto Prohaska Novels)), Gerard is in his old age when he spins his stories to the reader. Gerard boasts that he is the greatest swordsman, horseman, and lover as well as the most loyal servant of Napoleon in the entire French army. And Conan Doyle permits Gerard to excel in all these measures and yet his excessive pride makes him obtuse. As Fraser put it Gerard is "vain, touchy, obstinate, reckless, boastful, and none too bright." He is entirely ingenuous, which repeatedly leads him to trouble and then he must slash his sword and dash away on his horse to escape. Gerard is charmingly unaware that he is a strutting French peacock; he assumes that others should and do recognize his exceptional qualities. Coming from a more self-aware man such cocksureness would be intolerable conceit.

I titled this review "What Would Harry Flashman Make of Etienne Gerard?" That's a fun question to speculate about. It would take a new Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or Sir George MacDonald Fraser to do it justice. My guess is Harry would laugh up his sleeve at Gerard until he saw Etienne's sword swinging dangerously toward his head. For his part, I expect Gerard would be blissfully unaware of Flashman's disdain, but might he also detect Harry's certain 'shyness'?

The `Exploits and Adventures of Brigadier Gerard' are wonderful entertainments. Like the Sherlock Holmes stories, the pity is there are so few of them. Highest recommendation.

I LOVED this book. I read a lot, and don't love most of what I read, but I loved this book. Kamla quickly and steadily emerged as the wise and quiet commentary over the unstable and difficult struggle faced by the family she came to love (and not love).

I swear I could SMELL and TASTE India while reading this book.

I am exhausted. I have just spent the last week racing around India in the late 1940's, struggling with the loss of love, fighting to keep faith and belief alive, and despairing at the imperfections of the human heart. Aimee Liu's Flash House is a myriad of subplots all rolled into one dazzling central theme - fighting for what you believe in and never giving up on what or who you love.

Joanna Shaw met her husband Aidan in a 'Maze of Mirrors' attraction at a beach-side carnvial. From word go, his interests in the world, his unique beliefs outside of Joanna's previous "Pleasantivlle" life were a gasping, sweet breath of fresh air for Joanna. When Aidan follows his journalism career to India, Joanna packs up their home and their son Simon and dutifully and happily follows. Settled in New Dehli, Aidan leaves Joanna asleep in their bed to set out on what she has been told is an 'assignment'. In his absence, Joanna goes ahead with her employment in New Delhi - running a Safe House for rescuing child prostitues...one of which becomes elemental in ironically rescuing Joanna. From the minute little Kamla, the girl with the turquoise eyes, rests her sight on "Mrs Shaw" she "claims" her as the physical entity of her freedom. After suffering a savage destruction of her innocence, Kamla runs to the only place she can think of, Joanna's residence. Amidst highly volatile political unrest, Joanna takes Kamla in after learning of her history and decides to deal with the consequences of personally rescuing an Indian orphan later. Just days later, Joanna receives a telegram of Aidan's disappearance after his plane went down in the Karakoram mountain range and Joanna's entire existence gets thrown off course.

So begins this wonderful, wild adventure told with scissor-sharp precision by the glorious writer, Aimee Liu. As it increasingly appears to the reader, the circumstances that Joanna met Aidan in, the maze of mirrors, may have laid the groundwork for what Liu slowly reveals of their smoke and mirror marriage. Accompanied by Lawrence Malcolm, an Australian friend of Aidan's and little Kamla who proves to be a talented translator, Joanna packs up her son Simon and does the only thing she feels sure of - going after Aidan.

This novel explores the strength, the stubborness, the fraility and the invicibility of unconditional love and all of the complicated mess of emotions that are unable to be contained, that don't fit neatly into a clean little box. Liu's language and descriptions left me breathless and shaking my head - walking alongside these beautifully crafted characters was an absolute joy...with the ultimate question of Aidan's location dangling above me like a carrot for the entire journey. Flash House is a convicting satsifying and unpredictable read and overall was a perfectly paced tale of adventure and love, a combination that Aimee Liu has pulled off with great skill and authenticity.

If I could give this novel ten stars, I would because this is everything that a novel should be. The twists and turns in the plot capture your interest and hold you captive yet it is the rich lyrical use of language that truly make the book memorable. This is an author who uses words like magic to weave you into a spell of love and intrigue.

The epilogue of this plot-driven novel is satisfying at all levels and the author does the reader the great service of truly wrapping up the novel to a lovely and believable ending.

The only negative that I would caution about is that on occasion the jump from the novel being told in the voice of Joanna to the voice of Kamla is not a smooth transition. However, it is hard to conceive of any way in which the author could have made the transition less jarring.

In the beginning it is somewhat disappointing that Aidan is not a fully drawn out character that would allow the reader to fully understand why Joanna is so driven in her search for the truth. Yet as the novel progresses, it becomes more clear why the author is so clever in slowly revealing the complexities of this character.

The insights into history and culture whet your appetite to learn more about Asia in the post World War II era. This is a book that will capture the delight of book clubs for the foreseeable future!

Set against the backdrop of The Game in which the U.K. and the Soviet Union strive to influence India's future, this historical espionage novel is a terrific read. The story is a good one, the writing better than usual and the detail and ambience superb.

I loved this book! I picked it up on impluse, just liked the look of it. I had no idea when I finished it, I would put it down as one of my favorites. Joanna Shaw and the people who make up her family and life are unforgettable.

I was introduced to West through her book The Thinking Reed. I liked her obeservations of rich Europeans, as seen through the eyes of an American, in the era before the first world war. The Fountain Overflows takes place in Edwardian England and tells the story of an educated but impoverished family, told through the eyes of one of the young daughters. Whereas The Thinking Reed was a pleasurable, almost fluffy read for me, The Fountain Overflows raised issues that I feel it didn't answer. The father is a gambler and not emotionally dependable, and the effects on the children are alluded to at the end of the story, but then dropped. I would have liked West to stay more superficial, describing the fascinating details of family life, and leave the emotional analysis out of the story, since she didn't follow the emotional analysis through. This is a quibble, however. I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Fountain Overflows, and will be moving on to Black Lamb and Gray Falcon soon.

to be savored - a real treasure.
This book is hard to classify because it is both densely written, and yet, it is like cotten candy. If you like to be transported to another place and time, and enjoy writers who know how to use the English language, this is a book for you!

This was my first encounter with Dame Rebecca West's writing, but it won't be my last. Nearly every paragraph stood alone, as a description to savor or an emotion remarkably described. The characters linger long after the book is closed. I believe that someone has suggested that they are somewhat Dickensian, with which I would agree. The plot conveys to the reader a deep understanding of the frustrations encountered by women whose lives are held in thrall by men who are indifferent to their wellbeing.

The only thing that keeps this book from being 5-stars in my mind are occasional spots where you want it to move more quickly. Its subtlety and richness make it a book well worth revisiting.

A general comment about the Classics series of the New York Review of Books. I am particularly pleased to have discovered this series for two reasons. First, because of the beauty of the books themselves; the cover art is of a very high quality and the paper, printing and binding is as well. The books themselves are pleasurable to experience. Second, the series is introducing me to literature that I would otherwise have never read. I just finished "A High Wind in Jamaica," have begun "Indian Summer" by William Dean Howells (and my middle-school introduction to "The Rise of Silas Lapham" would have predicted that I would never have picked up a book by Howells again, which would have been my loss - I might even tackle Silas Lapham again), and have ordered a few more. I recommend that readers explore some of these treasures.

The header says it all. If pressed, I will have to admit that this is my absolute favorite novel of all time. There is something so haunting and so human and so memorable about this book, I can't stay away from it--I must have read it 20 times, and I never grow tired of it.

I had heard of author Rebecca West, mainly as the young woman who had a long term affair with a much older H.G. Wells and produced a child out of wedlock, back when things like this were considered shocking. I stumbled across a copy of this book and decided it might make an interesting read.
I never imagined that I had found a true classic, a book that uses the English language to a degree unsurpassed by any other author I have ever read. The story of is simple, that of a down on their luck family, living in London during the early 1900's. Their trials and tribulations are faithfully described, as are the multitude of characters they befriend. Actually to describe the plot, one might assume that not much really happens and to be honest, the plot is not the main attribute of this novel. But the language! I have often thought that I would some day like to write a novel but after reading this book, I would not even attempt it! This is how language should be used...clear and concise but also able to convey atmosphere and emotions. Page after page of luscious words, all combining together to create an unforgettable reading experience. If, like me, you wanted to read more, please note that the sequel, This Real Night is almost as good. A third book, Cousin Rosamund is much weaker since it was not completed at the time of the author's death.
Please do yourself a favor and read this book. I think this ranks with Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights as books which define the best that the English language can offer.

This is a good FRIENDS book on series 1, although it needs more stuff about the actors of FRIENDS. It would be a lot better if we were given a behind the scenes look at the sets etc. However it's got loads of quotes, and in depth episode guides for series 1.

This book brought all the fun and laughter you remember from the episodes it covers, and more! With absolutely beautiful color pictures of the stars, as well as black and white pictures of some of the scenes from the episodes, and also candids of the stars themselves, a true Friends fan/addict can't go wrong with this one!! Every time I pick it up, it brings a smile to my face and heart! Fantastically written, I enjoy this book from first page to last no matter how many times I have read it. Just like the shows re-runs, I can't seem to get enough!! Thank you David Wild!! and the creator, director, and cast of Friends!

This book could not be more enjoyable, it is the perfect accompaniment to the best TV Show in the World of TV. If you think you know everything about Friends, well you dont know until you've Read this book.

I recently got a chance to read, Friends: The Official Companion and it was great. Everything you wanted to know about the first season of Friends was there. It was packed with all different pictures and side information that normally people wouldn't come across. This book was entertaining and was a lot of fun. I am really looking foward to reading the next one.

All friends fans will LOVE this book, It has a whole chapter "written" by Marcel the monkey, Quotes from season one episodes, a summery of season one episodes and a BIG friends quiz, chock-a-block with brain teasers.Not to mention interviews of all the cast-If you havent read this book you're missing out!

Along with every other reviewer below, I have to start by saying that this is my all-time favorite film review book, bar none. I picked up a copy back in 1986, read it so much it fell apart, and finally bought a "new" used copy last year. Like Melanie (below), I wrote to Danny Peary--sending a photo of my fallen-apart copy!--and received a lovely letter back. He said he's "delighted that people still read my movie books", but admitted to getting burned out on movies after writing GFTFF, and said that as much as he'd love to write a sequel, he thinks it would "kill him".!! Apparently his new editor may encourage him to reprint the first three Cult Movie books in a massive edition along with adding 50 newer movies.

[...]

I stumbled onto this about 14 years ago. At the time I thought it was just some HO-HUM fluff I could read at work. Reading it, though, I was impressed at Peary's 'everyman' take at film. He was also the first person in print that I'd read to see the merit of John Waters. Eventually this became known as "The Book" to friends and myself. I'd rent movies and instantly consult "The Book". I had other film guides, but this was THE take on movies. I think I've disagreed with him three times. At present, the book is in two parts, the binding giving out years ago. But it's still "The Book". I've wished for at least 10 years for an update and am still waiting. For an 'everyman' take on the classics, both cult and traditional, you can't go wrong with this one.

Well, Mr. Peary couldn't have picked a better title--this really is THE guide for the genuine film fanatic! It is a shame that the book is out-of-print. Anyone at all seriously addicted to film should read it (whether or not you always agree with Peary's opinions), so track down a copy any way you can.

I probably picked it up somewhere around 15 years ago, so my copy is really worn. And I'm still checking movies off as I see them. The main 'problem' is that there are, I think, 4200 films listed in the book, all told. I think I still have around 500 to go (the number of movies I've seen -- and this book lists only a fraction of them! -- qualifies me as a genuine fanatic). A large number of this 500 are titles that Peary admits are not 'musts': mostly low-budget horror and porno. Still, a good number are...simply impossible to find! They are not on video (not that I've found, and believe me I've looked) and are never shown on tv.

For example, who the hell knows where to locate 'Cuban Rebel Girls'? I've sent email to Turner Classic Movies, requesting such films as 'Storm Warning' and 'The Chapman Report' but, years later, they still haven't been shown. So, when you get near the end of Peary's list, good luck trying to complete it.

Maybe someone with resources should start a website for film fanatics and put all of these titles on it. Maybe there could be some sort of exchange system for people like myself (obviously I'm not alone here) who have been able to find movies on the list that others haven't.

Danny, are you reading? After all, you got us all into this!

But, seriously...dynamite book. Granted, it includes films that I can't believe I actually sat through but, on the other hand, there's a considerable number that I thoroughly enjoyed and never would have considered watching if this book hadn't introduced them to me.

One more thing: it's interesting that 1986 ends up being the cut-off point for this book, the year movies in general started causing me to hum 'Who Let The Dogs Out?' to myself on a regular basis. Although I'd be curious to see an updated version of this book -- one that would include reviews of such 'gems' as 'Showgirls', other 'must-sees', and those before 1986 that Peary somehow overlooked -- I think the book closes on a significant year.

I'm thrilled that so many people enjoy this book as much as I do. This book was a gift someone gave me as a teenager (that was over 10 years ago) and I still refer back to it at least once a week. In fact I have two copies.

I actually have a little story for fans. Probably about 10 years ago I decided to write a fan letter to Danny Peary. I basically told him how much I loved the book, and that I thought some of his reviews where actually more enjoyable than the movies themselves. I also begged him to write a sequel. To my surprise he wrote back to me! It was a very nice, hand-written letter thanking me and talking to me a little about the other books he's written.

This is a great film book and I would recommend it to everyone. The only complaint I have is that there really should be a Guide 2.

When you see multiple rave 5 star reviews for a book that has been out-of-print for ten years you know something is up. I picked this book up in the bargain bin section of a Waldenbooks many years ago and it eventually became the MOST tattered and abused film book in my library. Literally, pages were missing from the 'checklist' in the back, and the book had peeled away into three separate sections held together by a thread of a binding. Fortunately, I was able to pick up a mint condition copy from an online used book service last year and so I have a perfect copy that's just like new. I enjoy reading Pauline Kael, Stanley Kauffmann, Andrew Sarris, Roger Ebert, David Thomson...all the usual suspects but for sheer agreement, I tend to share Mr. Peary's opinions more often than possibly any other film writer.

An indispensible book!

Just read what everyone else has written...

She needs to climb out from those piles of ramie/cotton blends and update her book for us!

"If You Ask Me" collects 61 of Libby Gelman-Waxner's (aka Paul Rudnick) comedic movie columns from Premiere Magazine's first 5 years, 1988 until her 5th Anniversary column in 1993. Balancing roles as Assistant buyer in Junior's Activewear, East Side yenta, and "American's most beloved and irresponsible film critic", Libby lambasts movie cliches, aging movie stars, and directors who suffer from Auteur's Syndrome. She swoons over hunky actors and fixates on actresses' coiffures. She keeps us current on the movie-going adventures of her orthodontist husband Josh, perfect daughter Jennifer, tragically single friend Stacey Schiff, and cousin Andrew. Libby is laugh-out-loud funny.

Those who followed Libby's career until the demise of Premiere Magazine in spring 2007 can see how she became the critic we know and love and revisit some long-retired features like "The Libby Awards" and "Letters to Libby". It is amazing and hilarious how seriously some readers took her. Libby's first five years were more manic and plagued with run-on sentences than her later years. This book witnesses the point at which she hit her stride as a critic, about 2 ½ years in, with an article entitled "The Entertainment Factor". Before that, Libby was scattershot and not quite a reviewer.

Of course, Libby's foremost intention was always to entertain. But in those cases when more serious reviewers all got it wrong, which occur like clockwork twice a year, Libby set us straight. Those columns are among her best, and they earned her my respect as a critic. Libby's gossipy wit was also on hand to observe the cinematic transition from the 1980s to 1990s in her column "Making Nice". Her scrutiny of '80s Greed versus "'90s New Niceness", i.e. hypocrisy, is another example of incisive commentary in a deceptively shallow package.

"If You Ask Me" is a wonderfully entertaining volume that no movie buff should be without. Libby could get away with saying what other critics couldn't, because her comments were shrouded in humor. She got even better than this, so it's unfortunate that the other 14 years of Libby are not available as a book. The Introduction refers to this as "Volume 1", so I hope that Paul Rudnick has not completely forgotten about that implication and we can expect the rest of Libby soon. Although the movies are listed under the article titles in the table of contents, an index of movies would have been helpful, as would dates on the articles.

With the demise of Premiere magazine, the time has come to update this hysterical tome and bring every last one of Libby's incisive, razor-sharp observations together into one volume. Surely her devoted fanbase deserves that much...

If you ask me, Libby is the best thing - and sadly often the only thing - worth reading in Premiere. This book is a collection of some of her earlier columns.

I remember picking it up in a bookstore, and reading the part about "Rain Man" and laughing so much I was helplessly bent over and terrified that I would be thrown out or carted away by men in white coats. Luckily, I wasn't.

Hollywood badly needs someone to prick its enormous bubble of egotism, and Libby is always up to the job. Many movie stars are in desperate need of a reality check, a reminder that their hangnails aren't on the same level as say, world peace.

In addition to Libby, we meet her adorable children, Mitchell-Shawn and Jennifer, her friend the terminally single Stacy Schiff, her husband Josh (like Bill Clinton he can balance a budget, then jog over to pick up a bag of donuts), her mother, and her shrink - all of whom contribute columns.

Equally funny if not funnier than Dave Barry at his best, this book is a worthy addition to anyone with a slightly warped sense of humor's shelf.

You'll come for the hysterical observations, but you'll stay for the depth of thought. In reviewing Field of Dreams, for example, in between tart and hysterical observations about Kevin Costner's ambit, we get the incredible telling and onpoint observation that James Earl Jones' character seems oblivious to the fact that baseball was segregated in 1919. Whoa, Libby, you snuck that one in on us. Libby's humor is premised in her unabashed shallowness in movie tastes--she doesn't want to see Calcutta, she wants to see a cut up Patrick Swayze (one of the studs of her era)--and in her understanding of the Hollywood culture that movies reflect. In noting that the jobs women have in movies shift from art gallery director to caterers, she observes that these are great things for Hollywood wives of movie executives to do for "fulfillment" for a month or two, but not the way that the average woman in the real world will be pulling in the bread. Well, she makes that observation in a less heavy handed and much more hilarious way. Libby, forgive me, I lack your craft.

The most important thing about this book is that it is always fun and never self-important. Paul Rudnick, the man behind Libby, had fun with it, and so will you. In Libby fashion, I should note that my adorable mother, Mary Christine Motes, recommended this book to me. Thanks, Mum.

This book gives excellent advice on taking the NCLEX-RN with strategies on how to answer questions. Excellent review test included.

THIS IS A GREAT BOOK TO GET YOU READY FOR BOARDS. I WOULD ALSO RECOMMEND TAKING A REVIEW CLASS. THIS DISC IN THIS BOOK IS HELPFUL.

Take it from someone who has passed the board. You only need two books Lippincott & Kaplan. I'm selling both mine. Whatever you score in the practice tests will be almost equal to what you will get on the board. Good for sizing yourself up before taking the board. I cut off at 75Q. Take my advice if you are running out of time. Study concurrently x 5hrs QD x 6-8 weeks. Mosby & Davis are good while your in school, but not for the NCLEX exam.

This book is great--it shows how to take the NCLEX-RN, and gives example questions with each test-taking point. It even compares it to possible questions we had while in nursing school. It does have one drawback--you can only use the test on the CD once; if you don't finish the test you may use it again, but that is it. Kaplan shows HOW to think through the questions and answers, with an NCLEX mindset.

This is the ONLY review book that you will need to prepare for the NCLEX-RN. Forget those huge comprehensive review books, they don't work. This book is very fast and very easy reading. The book outlines 10 different stratigies to answering ANY and ALL types of NCLEX questions. Very, very informative, the chapters are well written and very easy to understand. The CD-ROM has 180 questions that are similar to what you will see on the NCLEX, and it gives you a detailed analysis of your performance to determine your weaknesess. The book also contains a practice test of 265 questions. Answers and rationales are in the back of the book also. I did not pass the NCLEX the first time around. I read one of those 1400 page comprehensive review books, answered 1000's of practice questions, and took a three day review course, it didn't work. The Kaplan NCLEX-RN 2000-2001 book is the ONLY book I used to prepair for the second go around, and I passed thanks to the strategies outlined in this book. I read this book over and over--it worked great!!! I can't say enough great things about it!!! BUY THIS BOOK!!!!

This book is perfect for ARRT test prep. Make sure you get the book with the internet access. With the internet, you get to do all the practice tests you need to prepare for the ARRT boards. There are quite a few questions in the book and internet that are verbatim.

I haven't taken the registry exam yet, but for those looking for a good book to review, I recommend this one. I haven't made it through the whole book yet, but there are a lot of questions with such detailed explainations for every section. The questions are difficult, but I have been told by numerous people that these questions are harder than that of the actual ARRT exam. There are questions designated to each section, way more than what the real test will be, but the end of the book contains 2 practice tests combining all of the sections. VERY HELPFUL!

I used pretty much just this book to prepare for the Registry exam in 2006. I did every question in it over the 2 weeks before I sat the Registry, and passed it with a score of 97. What more can I say? This is the only prep book you need.

This is a great resource!!! I recently took the ARRT board exam in Radiography and I used this prep book to prepare for it. I scored a 98% on the exam. I would recommend this guide to anyone who wants to rock the boards. AsB

With this book comes free access to an online testing web site. This online, create-your-own exam feature is what got me through the registry test. It allows you to select any number of questions (there are more than 1,400!), from any of the 5 main categories (and the myriad sub-categories), those you've already seen or not seen, or to use only the ones you've previously gotten wrong. And you can use the web site as many times as you need to during your allotted access time (details with the book.) The author was very responsive to my questions when I needed clarification, and there's a link right on the web site making it easy to ask.

Unlike other test-prep resources I've seen, the questions are equal to or HARDER than those on the registry exam! The service tracks your averages in each of the five categories, and reports results for an individual exam upon completion as well as your cumulative average. You can interrupt taking an exam and resume it at another time. And, speaking of time, your test results also include how long it took you to complete your custom-made exam, as well as the average number of seconds per question. The registry exam is timed, so knowing your time in advance can help you focus where you need to.

I could go on, but you've got the picture by now: I can't say enough about the positive contribution this resource made to my success!