Reds Books

This is the story of a girl from Mississippi who comes of age during the 1960s after her mother, a well-known local blues singer, is murdered. Jubilee moves to California to attend Berkeley and join the hippie movement. Along the way, she learns that she is revered as "real" by her new California friends. Eventually, she comes to appreciate where she came from and her background as she begins to learn the truth of her mother's murder.

Kay Sloan is a relatively new writer, but she has an easy style and her writing is fluid and original. Some of the settings bordered on stereotype, but I think she will blossom as an interesting new writer. I recommend giving this book a try and look forward to seeing more from her in the future.

This is a marvelous second novel, by the author of Worry Beads (1991). Set in Biloxi, Mississipi, during the early 1960s, when the Beatles were building their American audience and Elvis was beginning to step aside, Kay Sloan's Patron Saint is a novel that follows the coming of age of the novel's young protagonist and narrator, Jubilee Starling. Out of the horrific circumstances of her mother's murder, Jubilee negotiates a crew of characters, including her family, who seem to have walked right out of the red dust and swamps of the delta. Along the way she learns about the Klan, young love, anti-semitism, and madness, and catches the powerful fever of moving out and away from there that marks so much of great American literature. Yet for all that she leaves behind, she takes with her that beat up old red chevy and the legacy of the old south that hangs on like a recurrent dream. When she winds up on the West coast, at college, she becomes something of the "real thing," for suburban California wannabees who have heard about Mississipi blues but never lived it like Jubilee has. This is a novel drenched in music, with a fresh take on the rock and roll that once made the period seem new, at every turn a surprise that could change everything-prejudice, bigotry, envy and despair. And that's what makes this novel so fun and great, the imagination that insists, that well, it could be different - everything.

Murder and touches of Faulkner-Welty Southern Gothic intrigue haunt the pages of Kay Sloan's long-awaited second novel. In The Patron Saint of Red Chevys the author of Worry Beads (1991) has upped the horsepower of her plot, which careens along like an unstoppable vintage pickup truck. Then, too, Sloan's characters in this taut new book -- especially the narrator, Jubilee Starling, whose very name is wonderfully suggestive (and whose given name pays homage to Sloan's fellow Mississippian Margaret Walker's celebrated novel) -- are drawn with more complexity and finesse than ever. Sloan's unerring yet offbeat depiction of the Magnolia State during the segregated 60s; her rendition of blues songs and jazzy trumpet solos belted out in Biloxi and Berkeley, CA; her sentences which are terrifically vivid and arresting, right from the start, "I'm going to kill you" -- all this, for me, plus innumerable other goodies have made The Patron Saint of Red Chevys a coming-of-age page-turner worth waiting for.

The title of this fine first novel quotes the young narrator's warm, flamboyant mother, referring to the bouncy hula girl on the dashboard of her vintage red Chevy pick-up truck. Bernice Starling dies in that truck, stabbed to death early one morning in 1963 in her own driveway in Biloxi, Mississippi, while her daughter is inside putting on mascara and her father is urging her to hurry or she'll be late for school.

Jubilee Starling, motherless at 13, has vehement loyalties. The police, of course, suspect her father. Even her older sister, Charlene, wonders if he did it. But Jubilee, who knows her father had reason to be jealous, never wavers.

Bernice was a colorful, vibrant woman with a rich, soulful singing voice. Her love of music had taken her deeper into the black community than most Mississippians approved and, in those turbulent times, Bernice was quick to speak her mind. She'd been called an "agitator" and in Biloxi in 1963, you could hardly be called anything worse.

Things do get worse, though, when another death is connected to Bernice's murder. Levi Litvak, the Jewish TV weatherman from Up North wrapped his sporty convertible around a tree shortly after Bernice was killed. It's only a coincidence until his secretary, Loretta Holliday (soprano at the Catholic church, singing student of Bernice's and abused wife) finds a letter in his desk, proclaiming his love for Bernice and swearing if he couldn't have her, nobody could.

"Imagining ways to find the killer couldn't save me anymore," mourns Jubilee, who knows the story of an affair is true. When the police release her mother's 1948 truck, she begs her father to let her have it. While other people, including her sister, find it morbid, even ghoulish to drive that truck, Jubilee makes it her own while keeping her mother with her. The truck is her freedom and her link to the past. Jubilee is always asking herself what Mama would say, what Mama would think.

The sisters have very different ways of coping with grief and the fact of motherless ness. Jubilee has inherited her mother's musical talent and in addition to the standout voice she plays a mean, bluesy trumpet. Music keeps her company in her solitary rambles. Charlene dislikes the noisy trumpet, and as Jubilee turns off the narrow path of their segregationist church, Charlene clings to it, looking for love. The church provides the social structure and public face she needs and she grows increasingly impatient with Jubilee's anti-social tendencies. Jubilee works at keeping her mother's spirit alive, always asking herself what mama would think or say or do.

Yet it's Charlene who flat-out resents Marilyn, the young stepmother who enters their lives four years later. " `Why don't you wait a couple of weeks, till the anniversary of Mama's death?'" she snaps at her father when he makes his announcement. But the girls are growing up, and their sad, sensitive father is lonely. Marilyn is timid, conventional, and not too bright. But she tries hard, and she needs him.

The sisters are on the brink of adulthood as the turbulent 60s explode in anti-war protests and the killings of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. Jubilee's killing remains a subject of gossip as well as family grief. There are rumors that Levi Litvak never died and Jubilee still keeps a woman's scarf she found in the garage.

Charlene turns her back on all that `60s upheaval, preferring her personal brand of anger and hope. Jubilee gets a scholarship to Berkeley, much to everyone's dismay. From her father to her boyfriend, everyone is sure she'll be ruined for Biloxi. And Jubilee hopes they're right. But, certain she will find the acceptance she longs for in the urban expansiveness of Berkeley, she is dismayed to discover a different version of the same mean-spirited small-mindedness she left behind. Along with just the sort of education her friends and family feared. And a new story to go with her mother's death.

Sloan captures the unattractive smugness of 60s radicals as precisely as she does the acid in the sugar of the Deep South, a place where the announcement of President Kennedy's assassination brings cheers in school. Jubilee's beguiling voice is yearning, and a little lost. She has flashes of anger and sass, but mostly she takes everything in, weighing it all against her mother's voice.

Sloan's prose is deceptively simple, drawing subtleties and complex emotions from Jubilee's straightforward accounts of events in her life - inadvertently attending the fair on Colored night, playing a dangerous prank on Halloween, overheard gossip in the Piggly Wiggly, first love, second love. Sloan's portrayal of the South seethes. Like many Southern writers she has a love-hate relationship with the place and there's a mournful feel to the racial hatred that pervades the story, and a melancholy to the soft nights and whispered confidences.

This is a debut with the emotional charge and atmospheric richness particular to Southern writers. Sloan has struck all the right notes in her portrayal of coming of age motherless in the turbulence of Mississippi in the 60s.

The Patron Saint of Red Chevys was wonderful. I was really engrossed and I thought is was a great story about two teenagers, although I can't say I am that much like them, they are really believable characters. I would give it a 5

Priestess shouted to me in a whisper to pursue my life long goal--to enter the priestesshood!!!

In her highly cerebral style, Eakins once again explores the events of all ages that bear so heavily on our culture. We need to know what has been and what will be if we are to enter the next millenium with confidence. She caters to this fundamental need magnificantly!!!

This book is a powerful journey through time and space; an exploration of Truth and Spirit that takes the reader through history and into the future. The writing is deeply thought-provoking. So many books of this genre can be pretty mindless pap, but not this one. A Spiritual journey is full of joy, terror, pain and pleasure -- and so is this book. If you are looking for an in depth exploration of alternative spirituality, this book is highly recommended by me.

This book shows the potential for the all-but-lost Priestess within each of us (regardless of gender) to be reborn by REMEMBERING who we are at very deep spiritual levels. It reads like a good novel, but it brings forth deep truth. A Must Read for everyone becoming spirtually conscious.....Bill Mayo

I was amazed at the detail in this fabulous work by Pamela Eakins. She is an extraordinary writer with a fabulous talent for storytelling. If you are interested in the history of women as celebrants of the sacred, you will definitely want to read this. A read you will never forget.

"Welcome to a new way to cope with the demands of a too-busy life. Welcome to a way that requires no difficult skills, adds no new burdens, and accommodates all spiritual systems and life-styles. Welcome to all who want to do nothing-more often, more creatively, with joy, and without guilt. Welcome to one-minute retreats that can be yours at any time of the day or night." - From the book

According to author David Kundtz, a mindful posture centered from the quiet state of your being is *crucial* for any undertaking. In fact, he asserts, if we do not take the time to pause with purpose, disappointment and failure awaits us.

In his book Quiet Mind, Kundtz invites us to do nothing-but to "do" it with purpose, meaning, and value. That is, to take time for ourselves, to rest, to find peace, to awaken, to remember, and to find ways to recognize what we may have forgotten, and how not to forget again.

At 370-pages, Quiet Mind: One-Minute Retreats from a Busy World is brimming with dozens of meditations designed to promote thoughtfulness, calm, and quietude. The mini-retreats, one and a half to two pages long, feature a sage quote and Kundtz's wise and gentle commentary. At the end of each, the author offers one-sentence encouragement, inviting readers to observe life and apply the wisdom found in the meditation.

Kundtz has organized these meditations under fourteen general categories, including:

* Making Room for Life
* Creating Opportunities for Serenity
* Defining Your Values
* Finding Peace at Work
* Knowing Thyself
* Awakening to Wonder
* Giving Back to the World

Under the category Finding Peace at Work, for example, is a meditation about Weariness. Beginning with a quote from Eric Hoff saying, "Our greatest weariness comes from work not done", Kundtz observes:

"...what tires us most is not work, but the anticipation of work still to do. Here is a time when living in the present moment is vital. The past is gone, the future is a just a concept and a projection of our minds. All you have is now. It's all you need..."

In the section Making Room for Life, a meditation called What's Going on Here begins with a quote by George Wilson: "Things are seldom about what they seem to be about." Kundtz notes that all too often we narrowly focus on accomplishing a particular task that we overlook the obvious cause of pain and distress in those around us. He relates the story of a frustrated mother bringing her son to him for counseling. The boy refused to go to school, and neither the son nor the mother was very communicative as to possible causes. Kundtz couldn't figure out what was at the heart of the problem! When he suggested they come back next week the mother replied that they could not come back next week because they were moving across the country. Aha! At last, a window into the boy's world: he was grieving the loss of his friends and all things familiar.

Quiet Mind by David Kundtz is a delightful book, providing a much-needed respite from overloaded senses, cluttered thoughts, and hurried lives.

I originally picked up this book because of the title, figuring it would have some nice observations about existing in our "busy" world. I was surprised that not only did it have some pithy, and relevant thoughts about our lives, but that they were insightful and thought provoking as well. The short one or two page comments are just enough to read quickly, but deep enough that I found myself thinking about them at various times throughout the day. I have enjoyed this book so much, that I bought four more for Christmas gifts. One of those incidental purchases that turned into a real find.

Quiet Mind is such a thought provoking book. It points out issues that, in our ridiculously busy lives, we forget to even think about. Kundtz challenges the reader to be introspective and to take the time to notice, consider, be, and most importantly, look inward to determine what is really important in our lives.

The quick, two-page bursts of thought are perfect. They really are one-minute retreats.

One criticism, though, is that there are some editing problems. Being a grammar instructor and freelance proofreader, I can't help but find these things where they exist. It's the curse on my life.

This is a great little book that reminds us to stop and breathe to clear the mind. It helps us to manage some peace among our crazy lives. Thanks!

This book is a miracle of mindfulness! In short segments that can be read in less than 10 minutes, Kundtz manages to distill the philospohy of Christian, Buddhist, and other religous traditions in a way that is refreshingly non-sectarian. The exercises that conclude each segment can easily be remembered and conducted throught the day and, taken together, form a transformational course in mindfulness for the everday person. My only complaint about the book is that I wish it weighed less, so it could more easily be tossed into a briefcase or purse.

When I was a graduate student in Philosophy the academic line was that Engels's writings on dialectical materialsim were of purely historical interest. His examples of the dialectical nature of material reality reflected the limits of scientific knowledge of the late-19th century, at best. Well, Ted Grant and Alan Woods have written a book that not only makes the basic "laws of the dialectic" intelligible to any reader, but grapples with the most current developments in the sciences from "punctuated equilibrium" in evolution, to chaos theory in physics, the big bang and relativity in cosmology, to an excellent chapter on the Human Genome Project. As nonacademics, Grant and Woods's style is straightforward, lucid, and unencumbered by the referential shadows of the "current discourses." As long-time revolutionary Marxists in the tradition of British Trotskyism, Woods and Grant have been through the wars (in Grant's case since the '30s). They are the rare working-class autodidacts who manage through sheer guts and fortitude to cut through the prevailing rubbish, get to the essence of things, and make abstruse ideas clear without watering them down. In fact they both challenge and excite the reader. This is the most exciting book I've read since I encountered Marx and Engels thirty-five years ago. I think I get it now.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in socialism, science or why capitalism is in such decay.

i first read this work in one sitting off a computer screen
A clear and unmudled view of reality is a necessary component for any one seeking to bring about true and profound change for the benefit of all mankind. Reason in revolt openly defends the gains of humanitys attemts and successes at further understanding this world (universe) agianst those forces capitulating to conservitism and reaction with in the various branches of science its self, however as any marxist knows these atacks of mysticism are only but a deeper reflection on currantly prevailing economic/productive relations between men.
Alan Woods and Ted Grant in the great traditions of Marx, Engels,Lenin,Trostky... keep on the fight for a society based on "each from his own abilities, to each from his own need" in a scientific fashion dealing with concrete realistic terms, dialectics defended in this book is a most necessary tool to not only understand the world but to actualy change it through conscious activity.
i recomend this book to anyone how seeks to join in the fight for a truely better society.

This book is probobly the most important work ever published within the last 50 years. Grant and Woods lucidly explain from the most recent discoveries of science and technology what humanity's possibilities are, but also what present day restrictions will ultimately impede real progress. A must read for anyone either concerned with the current quasi-religious direction of scientific endeavor or about the state of the world in general today. Again, it would be completely valid to say that Reason in Revolt is one of the most important contributions to science since the publication of Engel's 'The Role Played by Labor in the Transition from Ape to Man.'

Ted Grant and Alan Woods have created yet another masterpiece! The book is dense, yet very readable and highly illuminating. If you're like me you'll find that you have to keep putting the book down to think about the concepts. I'm a philosophy major and this book has made me rethink all of my old ideas. Break free from metaphysics, the dialectic is much more accurate. I'd recomend this book to anyone.

These stories of drifting, down-and-out, disenfranchised characters searching for redemption read with the bleakness of the landscape of one of Georgia O'Keeffe's Southwestern paintings - which is no coincidence as that is the setting. The circumstances of each of these stories are odd, a fact that adds to their drawing power. We get to peek behind the scenes within a hypnotist's trailer as well as within the mind of a child waiting to meet a man who may be a pedophile.
Author Cummings' stories take place in the realm of endless deserts and bleached skies, and her brilliant prose sears with the power of a relentless sun.
Super-fine.

Ann Cummins is fantastic! I read the title story in McSweeney's and then flipped when I found out about this collection. Her stories, mostly concerning working class folk, are both tender and brutal. the OilCan highly recommends

If you like impeccable prose combined with the dark details that make us all human, mixed in with a little surrealism, this collection is for you. Ann Cummins is a masterful writer--no wonder she gets the great quote from Dave Eggers!--and I will look forward to her future work. Each one of these stories packs a very powerful punch and will leave you emotionally affected, no matter how tough you think you are. :)

2003 is shaping up to be a really great year for short story lovers. Already this year John Murray published "A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies," ZZ Packer published "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere," and now Ann Cummins gives us the terrific "Red Ant House." These stories are the best single collection I've read since Flannery O'Conner published "A Good Man is Hard to Find." The characters are real and the stories are memorable. I've read Cummins in the "New Yorker" and in the "Best American Short Stories," but it is a real treat to have 12 of her stories in one book. She's just about as good as it gets when it comes to short stories. Happy reading!

Ann Cummins sets most of the twelve stories in her debut collection, RED ANT HOUSE, in small desert towns and reservation communities that dot the American Southwest --- locales surrounded by "miles and miles of sand" and not much else. This extreme setting, which she evokes through tactile details, informs almost every aspect of the book, creating an atmosphere of hostile uncertainty, determining the course of characters' actions, affecting and even invading them: "The inside of the cab felt like sand, and so did the inside of her mouth," Cummins writes in "Headhunter." "The tops of her arms had separated into hundreds of little lines, and her hand, when she touched it to her tongue, tasted like salt . . . The absence of moisture gave the landscape an edge, like glass."

Cummins, who studied and now teaches creative writing at Northern Arizona University, uses this jagged terrain to create tension in her stories and evoke the desolation of its inhabitants. She renders this landscape in rough-hewn prose that bursts with short, targeted sentences and blunt declarations of brutal insights. The result is a collection of textured stories that are shorn of all unnecessary words and details: they are rangy but precise, unpredictable but seemingly ineluctable.

Several of the stories here, including "Bitterwater" and the standout "Trapeze," are about whites living on reservations, "company people" who feel like outsiders and who chafe at the wide-open boredom of the desert. They feel constantly on their guard, never at home in their own homes, and always looking beyond the horizon for a means of escape.

Theirs is an anywhere-but-here mentality. In the short "Dr. War Is a Voice on the Phone," Dina abandons her sick aunt and her uncle snoring in his chair to join a man who called her out of the blue. For her, strangers like Dr. War are preferable to family, and the unknown --- despite its threats and dangers --- is more attractive than the known.

Cummins writes persuasively about this need for escape, which is strongest and most artfully pronounced in the stories narrated by young girls just reaching or still suffering through adolescence, frightened by the demands of adulthood and the larger world. In "Where I Work," a young woman cherishes her new apartment and dreams about how she will furnish it, yet she cannot hold down a job to pay for it. In "Bitterwater," Brenda rushes into a teenage marriage to a Todacheene Indian named Manny, only to watch him grow from an idealistic young man into a jaded drunk.

"Whatever's happening inside you," a cancer-ridden mother tells her son, Peter, in "Crazy Yellow," "remember that you are about to change. If you feel like you're in a well, you're about to climb out of it. That's the nature of life." She doesn't warn him, however, about the terrors that await him on the surface. Left alone while his mother undergoes more tests, Peter stirs up more trouble for himself than he could imagine. The tragic inevitability of climbing out of that well makes this and the other stories in RED ANT HOUSE so devastating.

Ultimately, these characters long for "one sweet moment" away from the world and all its troubles. Few of them get to enjoy it, but their dreams of something more than the wasteland around them enliven these solid, sturdy stories and reveal Cummins as a genuinely talented and immensely sensitive writer.

--- Reviewed by Stephen M. Deusner

An endearing if imperfect collection of mysteries from G. K. Chesterton. This was the last work of fiction he ever wrote. Certainly all of his trademarks are still here: clever plot twists, seemingly impossible paradoxes, philosophical discussion mixed in with the story, and endearing comedy mixed in with the philosophy. But with that said, this particular set of stories is a mixed bag.

At the top of the heap (and the top of the order) is "The Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse". This tale takes us to Poland, where a headstrong German general fails because he has two loyal Prussian servants. If he'd had only one, he would have succeeded. How can this be? Mr. Pond narrates out of the apparent contradiction in fine fashion, complete with unforgettable characters, creepy setting, and a titanic clash of wills.

On the other hand, other stories in the collection are definitely lacking some real Chestertonian zing. Some of them are frankly predictable, others seem arbitrarily constructed just to build up to a clever punch line. One hesitates to suggest that Chesterton's talents were failing at the end of his life. After all, he wrote some of his best books in the 1930's, including his towering autobiography. Nevertheless, he certainly let some substandard material slip through here.

Even so, "The Paradoxes of Mr. Pond" is well worth reading for anyone who appreciates a good mystery or just a little fun. Further, all the stories are still packed with the unflagging spirit that is G. K. Chesterton. Even when his literally skills slipped a notch, he remained committed to principles, and determined to fit important statements into all his works. In particular, both the first and last story in this collection contain echoes of the horrors of the Nazi regime. With the Holocaust beginning in earnest shortly after this book was written, it's worth considering how much a seemingly innocent collection of tales could tell us about the human condition. Perhaps we should pay a bit more attention to the messages in our popular writings today.

"Paradox has been defined as 'Truth standing on her head to attract attention.' Paradox has been defended; on the ground that so many fashionable fallacies still stand firmly on their feet, because they have no heads to stand on."
- "When Doctors Agree"

As Chesterton's fellow members of the Detection Club, Sayers and Christie, could tell you, his chief tool in the gentle art of misdirection - getting the reader running the wrong way - was the paradox. The Pond stories are only a few of the many examples of Chesterton's tricks in that line. Several have opening statements about paradoxes in general that are worth reading, over and above the cleverness of the mysteries or Chesterton's lyrical touch with language. (Like Lord Dunsany, Chesterton likes to illuminate the romance and poetry of quite ordinary settings and prosaic-seeming people.)

Mr. Pond is a bureaucrat who, wanting to cut his stories short, often produces odd paradoxical statements, which defeat the purpose as everyone then badgers him into telling the whole story. His closest friends are a pair of extremes. Sir Hubert Wotton, a colleague in Pond's nameless department, has no nonsense about him. Gahagan, on the other hand, has a robust '18th century' turn of phrase, and plays up to the image of a colorful Irish wit as definitely Wotton plays to that of English stolidity.

"The Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse" The Prussian marshal had both feet firmly on the ground, espousing the principle that the world is affected not by what people believe or say, but by what is *done*. Observing the practical effect of a great poet and musician upon the conquered citizenry, the Marshal paid his greatest compliment to the arts in sending a courier with a sentence of death. His plan might have worked just fine, if he hadn't had not one, but *two* soldiers who obeyed orders.

"The Crime of Captain Gahagan" Gahagan is popularly supposed in love with Joan Varney, but he's been spending an awful lot of time hanging around Olivia Malone Feversham, the actress. Her husband is 'something worse than an unsuccessful actor; he was one who had been successful'. In sort, Feversham doesn't bother with his career anymore, but only cares about suing people in the law courts for spoiling his chances. Not a good man to cross - and someone fatally stabbed him in his own garden. What looks worst for Gahagan is that 3 young ladies - among them the Varney sisters - have reported 3 different stories he told them of where he was bound that night.

"When Doctors Agree" Talking shop - international politics - with his friends, after Gahagan chaffs Wotton, saying he thinks everyone who isn't English is as alike as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Pond steps in, saying that how lucky it is that people generally go on disagreeing, and how he once knew two men who came to agree so completely that one murdered the other.

"Pond the Pantaloon" The background of this story is very cool: a conspiracy aiming at a coup d'etat, which was so widespread that Pond and company had to smuggle important documents from a northern port to a government department in London, while on the surface life was just as usual. In an unusual turn, Gahagan, after becoming entangled in Pond's talk of red pencils leaving black marks, goes to Wotton for the story. Pond, in charge of seeing that the documents arrived safely, said he shouldn't show any particular care in this case.

"The Unmentionable Man" Mr. Pond recollects a visit to one of those little monarchies that, when it became a republic, didn't magically solve all its problems. In fact, they acquired a lot of Marxist revolutionary types that the government tried to suppress, including some almost professional agitators. One of the government's most troubling problems was that they couldn't deport a desirable alien. 'You mean an *un*desirable alien.' Here we go again...

"Ring of Lovers" Gahagan tells of an incident at a stag party he attended the previous night, where the distinguished guests appeared to have nothing in common, involving the disappearance a valuable ring bearing a romantic inscription. The incident would be enough for a story, but here it is wielded beautifully to make Gahagan realize that he's taken a wrong turning in his life. (He doesn't lose his sense of humor, thank God.)

"The Terrible Troubadour" This, the third time Gahagan is mixed up in a mess, shows Chesterton's talent for dealing with continuing characters: talk is beginning to spread about Gahagan's suspicious previous history. :) The incident happened some years back, when Gahagan was on leave from the Great War - a holiday from hell, as he puts it - and flamboyantly competing with a rival to impress a vicar's daughter, climbing balconies and so on. The rival disappeared...

The biologist Paul Green, an expert on natural selection, is a recurring type in Chesterton's stories - G.K., speaking through Pond, disagreed with the science on religious principles.

"A Tall Story" This begins with an echo of the oncoming Holocaust; the story itself is set in a major seaport, like Brighton, during the WWI rather than WWII. Mr. Pond had an office there, and kept track of secret plans and possible spies. The paradoxes here are that a man too tall to be seen murdered one of Pond's colleagues, and that a tiresome woman, seeing spies under every bed, provides the key clue. The German governess in the story is contrasted with a certain type of Latin; the other half of the comparison can be found in the beautiful young Italian actress in "The Actor and the Alibi", in _The Secret of Father Brown_.

It should be quoted more often among the greatest Chesterton's books. Mr. Pond is no less likable as a character than Father Brown (most other characters are charming as well). Each short story revolves around a paradox stated in earnest by Mr. Pond, such as "naturally, he was so tall that no one saw him" and things like that. (All is wonderfully explained later). Great crime stories (with no serious crimes involved) for those who consider "whodunits" too gory.

G. K. Chesterton, a contemporary of Sir Conan Doyle, is known today for his delightful short stories, especially those involving Father Brown, a priest with a penchant for solving crimes.

Like myself, most readers of Father Brown stories are less aware of Chesterton's other collections of mystery tales. Following the advice of previous reviewers, I recently introduced myself to Mr. Pond and his friends, Captain Gahagan and Sir Hubert Wotton, in "The Paradoxes of Mr. Pond".

Once again Chesterton pleasantly surprised me. Mr. Pond, a quiet, mild mannered, obscure English bureaucrat relates an odd mix of adventures. All stories are initiated by some paradoxical comment that he unwittingly utters. After some confusion, Mr. Pond is persuaded to explain himself. The tales are usually a little convoluted, but in the end we have a solution that is logically possible, but not necessarily probable. (Many Sherlock Holmes cases share this characteristic.)

In "The Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse" Mr. Pond mentions that a Prussian Marshall Van Grock failed his mission "because the discipline was too good". His plan failed "because his soldiers obeyed him. Of course, if only one of his soldiers had obeyed him, it wouldn't have been so bad." Failure couldn't be avoided "when two of his soldiers obeyed him".

Mr. Pond's statements were equally incongruous in "When Doctors Agree". "Funny things agreements. Fortunately people generally go on disagreeing, till they die peacefully in their beds. Men very seldom do fully and finally agree. I did know two men who came to agree so completely that one of them naturally had to murder the other."

Chesterton's stories move at a more leisurely pace than many readers are now accustom, often involve improbable events and unusual characters, and occasionally digress to consider a moral issue.

If you are already an admirer of Chesterton, definitely acquire this inexpensive Dover edition. If you are new to Chesterton, consider also acquiring Chesterton's famed Father Brown detective stories.

Each story in this collection is the gradual and entertaining explanation of some paradox stated by Mr. Pond, such as this one from "When Doctors Agree:" 'I once knew two men who came to agree with each other so completely that one of them, naturally, murdered the other, but as a general rule...." The story that follows is convoluted, thanks to Pond's digressions on society hostesses and what he calls 'the sanctity of really futile conversation,' but more than lives up to the high promise of that opening paradox. "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" is nearly as good and just as clever; the rest of the stories are good and clever, and would shine in nearly any other collection, but those two are so outstanding that they make the merely good look ordinary. Buy it! Read it! Read parts of it out loud to your helpless friends and convert them!

I was very pleased with the service and the book
came to me in excellant condition

If you're not in the neighborhood to enjoy the gourmet meals at the Red Cat resaurant, this cookbook is the next best alternative. Beautiful photographs and fresh writing make it a joy to peruse. The directions are clear and encouraging to even a novice cook like me. This is the only cookbook I own that I actually read from cover to cover. Try the green beans tempura--you'll be hooked forever. And if you're in NYC, the Red Cat is worth going out of your way for.

My first thought on seeing this book was 'where ever can I find some red cats to cook?' But of course that's not what the book is about. It turns out that The Red Cat is a restaurant in Manhattan. Yet this is not a typical restaurant menu cookbook.

This is a cookbook that takes a lot of food tastes, primarily from the Eastern seaboard (think clam chowder), and Europe (think France, Italy, Germany) and presents them is a clear and easy to understand manner. Although it is not that big a book, it is abook that covers all aspects of a meal from finger foods at the start to home made ice creams at the end.

While a lot of the recipies have a down home simple aspect about them, many of them add higher end ingredients (lobster) and some very tasty sauces.

Neighborhood restaurants are always a favorite! Warm, friendly, inviting, and great food! The Italian-American foods are delish! If you want more pesto recipes, add Mary El-Baz's "Simply Elegant and Easy Pesto" to your bookshelf. There's a fantastic pesto made with pepperoncini that's just scrumptious on roast-beef or salami sandwiches!

Wonderful book, and easy to use for an average cook. Great food.

This wonderful book was bought for me from the author who spoke at a meeting my sister attended. Reading this book takes you down your own memory lane right along with her family memories, the things you remember! The thankfulness in your heart for the family love and get togethers and the funny things that happened too. RED CLAY AND VINEGAR is a magic carpet to take you back in time and warm your heart - get a copy today!
Jackie Griffey, author of the Maryvale series.

Naomi Haines Griffith writes a powerful recollection of her childhood memories. After hearing her speak, reading the book I felt as if she was talking to me. I could feel her emotion in each part and experience she shared. Red Clay and Vinegar is a good read that you can learn the small lessons in life from, and share them with your family, friends and neighbors.

This book left me with a very warm and secure feeling of family and growing up in the South. Any baby boomer who grew up in the South will be able to relate to this wonderful story. Good job Naomi!

I heard Naomi speak at a conference on parenting and families recently. I was moved to tears when she spoke about the love she has for her 100 year old mother and cried again when I read her words in print. Naomi helps us understand that it is our responsibility to "teach" our children and others how to be good parents because if we don't,how else will they know? I admire this women and loved the book.

I started reading this book last night after putting the kids down, intending to read a chapter to wind down. At 1:30 am, I was closing the book, wishing there were more to read. This is the absolute best book I have read in quite some time that reaches to the core of who we are as family, and what we could do to strengthen it. What I especially liked was the fact it wasn't preachy, textbook dull or the type that would make you feel like a terrible mother if there were ways you could improve. It was learning by example of her life, how she was raised, mistakes made, losses, successes, and at the chapter's end she would write one paragraph that would encourage the reader to implement one value or tradition to strengthen the family unit he/she was a part of. Excellent book--I'm buying copies for my mother, mother-in-law and sisters!

My mother-in-law used this cook book as my husband was growing up. I found out this was the one she shared recipes from the most. I was excited to get this. It really took my cooking skills to a new level. I bought professional, aluminum pans for "The Perfect Chocolate Cake" recipe and it was superb. I used the EggPlant Parmesan recipe for chicken and it is heavenly. It has taught me cooking skills I will use for the rest of my life. It is a "how to cook" book filled with recipes that are tried and true. I can't wait to try more of the recipes.

I have owned and devoured most of the recipes in this book since 1973 (am I really that old?). If you like good, basic recipes made with ingredients you already have on hand, then this is the cookbook for you. Unfortunately, you may have a wait to find it. Please, Random House, publish a new edition.

I collect cookbooks for those special recipes that hit my fancy from time to time. But this Cookbook, is the best overall cookbook I own. The directions are comprehensible and I am never left with that horrible question(s): "do they really mean this?" or "do I add the ingredient in sequence or at that same time?". The charts on cooking time are great and the additional information on ingredients is so helpful that I use it in conjunction with other books that do not provide such help. Yes Random House, put out a new printing (or a computerized version)!

I like to cook, and I have a lot of cookbooks. But whenever I don't know where to turn, I fall back to my good old McCall's. For beginners, it's much less intimidating than "The Joy" yet still very comprehensive. For the more advanced, you'll still find plenty of tempting recipes (try the Cornish hen) as well as the best potato salad recipe going. The broken spine on my book and the spattered pages are testament to years of great meals. In fact, several years ago I purchased another copy for the day this one completely dies. However, I recently gave it to a friend who was bemoaning the loss of her favorite cookbook . . . you guessed it - McCall's! So, I too am ready for a reissue, Random House.

I received a copy of this cookbook as a wedding present in 1969 from my grandmother. I still have it and use it often. The recipes are easy to follow and understand. My daughters all love cooking also, and I usually have to "track down" the cookbook in order to use it. I'd loved to buy a copy for my daughters so I can get my copy back!

R. D. Henham (aka Rebecca Shelley) has added an excellent book to the fantasy genre. Its fast pace and many twists ensures that kids hang on every word. In a world where many kids' books seem to be migrating to the "edgy," it is refreshing to have an exciting adventure sans the slime.

A delightful book that I believe will be fun for the middle-school age child, but also a joy to parents who love to read to kids of all ages. With a style that "tastes" of Judy Blume, which is unusual for the normal fantasy story, it's witty, cute, full of adventure and action without getting too "gross" for younger children, and doesn't leave out anything that most readers expect of a sword-and-sorcery story. Beautiful cover, reads fast, and several unexpected surprises right to the end.

I love dragons, so picking up this book was a no-brainer--even though I'm a long way out of the "target age group" (never mind how far). Like all the great quest stories, this book has great characters, mysteries, dangers, and unexpected heroes. Though a super-fast read for me, I was never bored. In fact, as it progressed, I didn't want to put it down. Like with Harry Potter, it doesn't matter what age you are--you will love this book!

Red Dragon Codex is a great fantasy story that includes not just dragons, but all kinds of magical creatures. The best part is that it is written specifically for middle grade readers. Girls and boys alike will love that the plot moves along quickly, and the story is full of action, thought and bravery. I grew to love Mudd, Hiera, Kirak, Greenthumb, and Iroden. I highly recommend this book.

My son has recently gotten into Dungeons and Dragons in a big way and wants to read all the books. The problem is that many of the books are a bit too 'adult' for him. I love the young reader books that the company is now putting out.