Reviews Books

What a novel idea, that movies are more than just entertainment. The author points out that watching some of the traditional Christmas movies (It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol) makes us feel safe and comfortable. They relieve stress and give us a feeling of control.
I remember my family having a ritual of watching Yankee Doodle Dandy every fourth of July. Even now, if I sing a few lines from one of those songs, my sisters join in (40 years later) with all the words.
Movies like these, are "very rich in spiritual messages," according to the author.

"Reel Fulfillment"
A 12-Step Plan For Transforming Your Life Through Movies
Maria Grace, Author
McGraw Hill, Publisher
ISBN 0-07-145907-3

Reviewed by Donna Van Straten Remmert,
Author of "The Littlest Big Kid" and "The Jitterbug Girl"

If you love movies as much as I do, "Reel Fulfillment" is an insightful guidebook that will entertain as well as transform you. It will explain why you love some movies enough to see them over and over again, and why you laugh or cry your heart out each time. Psychotherapist and author Maria Grace is well known in Austin for her live, standing-room-only movie reviews that humorously and poignantly probe into our psychological make-up and help us realize truths about ourselves, as reflected by characters in the movies. She is also well known at SCN for her fabulous Be Our Guest presentation. If you've witnessed Maria's gigs, I know you haven't forgotten how delightful they were. The same is true about "Reel Fulfillment". It's delightful.

Maria moved to New York City a few years ago, and she has already received a great deal of praise and recognition for her inspiring book, her seminars, and her ezine that I highly recommend as a way to continue analyzing your responses to movies after you've read "Reel Fulfillment". Each week's ezine is about something new and different and it's always fun and thought provoking. This week's challenge, for instance, is to watch movies that are about food cravings. She tells you some of her secrets for relating to food in a more healthy way, learned from having attended a spa in Brazil, she invites you to click onto her 60-minute seminar "Eating Without Guilt: The Joy of Conscious Eating" and she asks you to watch two fabulous movies about food to better understand yourself: "Chocolat" and "Real Women Have Curves". Go to www.mariagrace.com to learn about Maria's adventures and to read more about the ezine that's free for the asking. Subscribe!

Thanks to "Reel Fulfillment", I can now say it right out-I am a movie addict! I watch at least one, sometimes two, movies a day. In the privacy of my bedroom where I can laugh or cry to my heart's content. I'm obsessed, and I now know that I don't need to feel shame or guilt for spending so much relaxation time in bed, because through my obsession and with the help of Maria's 12-step plan for transforming my life through movies, I accomplish major self-awareness fetes. There is a Questions to Answer section in each chapter of "Reel Fulfillment". I glance at these questions in advance of watching a movie recommended by Maria in that chapter. Then, as I'm watching, I think about possible answers to these questions, viewing the movie as if it were a story about my life. Metaphorically, it usually is!

After my movie(s) for the night is over, I sink into my unconscious for a good night of dreaming. When the movies I've seen are especially relevant to my life, they often trigger fantastic dreams that reveal things about me that I'd otherwise not know consciously. What a gift! Imagine all of the unlived lives I've been able to experience through this process!

I am so in love with Maria's work that I flew to NYC to attend one of her seminars. She's better than ever, and what a good excuse for having fun in The Big Apple. Reading "Reel Fulfillment" is like being with Maria again. Order an autographed copy and browse her other learning tools at her online store at www.mariagrace.com.

Life should be as happy as we can make it. Life should be as fulfilling as we can make it. Life should be as free of fear and doubt as we can make it. No one book, no one program can provide all these needs. But this work, Reel Fulfillment, is certainly a tool you will want to add to your tool box. If you are building a house, you cannot do it with only a hammer. You must have saws, screwdrivers, rulers, pliers, and on and on. To build a full life you must have many tools also. Most certainly, this work, I feel, can be one of those tools, quite an important tool, actually. What a unique and fascinating concept...using movies to help analyze your life and help correct those little and big blimps and bumps in life that we all encounter. This is not a just a book about "going to a movie and feeling good." It is far more. The author, Dr. Grace, gives us a twelve step plan or program for truly changing the way we perceive ourselves and the way we meet and treat the various crises and challenges we all encounter. The subjects, Gaining Inner Clarity, Emotional Health, Joy, and Gaining Spiritual Fitness, are all more or less hung on a unique framework, on the concept of movies, on the stories that we can relate our own experiences to, and learn from, which we see on the screen. We can and, indeed, do learn from these stories.

Movie, of course, are art. Who has not been emotionally changed by a great piece of literature, a great painting, a wonderful photograph, a deeply felt and written poem or one of the world's great paintings. Most of us can be driven to either tears or great joy by any of these. Movies are no different. More importantly, with movies, we can learn from the stories these artists, the movie makers, writers and actors bring us. We can relate. I dare say that not one person reading this review has ever not been moved, in some way, after watching some film story at some time in their life. Dr. Grace has given order to this. Each chapter includes a wonderful section of self examination, profound questions, which, if answered truthfully by the reader, can indeed shed great light on our inner being. She has been able to articulate what most of us actually know, but we simply did not know we knew. She has given us a tool and then explained how to use that tool effectively.

Now, this work, like any work in this particular genre, is only effective if you actually DO IT! I wonder how many "self help books" are purchased, skimmed, shelved and forgotten. You actually have to work through the program for it to help. Folks, there are no free lunches...you get out of something just about what you put into it. This book is no exception.

On the other hand, if you want to purchase it, skim it and then shelf it, that is okay too. As an added bonus, even it you don't work through the doctor's program, you will certainly pick up some great tips to make your movie going far more pleasurable. You really cannot loose with this one. I highly recommend! Recommend you add this one to your library.

This new self-help book is really good with this new method of watching movies combined with exercises in each step to find fulfillment.

At the beginning I thought it was about analyzing movies but was pleasently surprised that the method uses the movies to help the reader find answers and create awareness. I did watch a couple of the movies suggested and then followed the exercises and it really works.

I highly recommend this book to anybody who likes movies. Watching them from this new angle will make you enjoy even more your favorite films and even better appreciate the ones not so good.

"Reliquary" offers us two distinct pleasures not often encountered in poetry today. The first is the pleasure of pure learnedness, the pleasure all poets feel, whether they admit it or not, in participating in the age-old conversation among words and books.
The second pleasure offered up by the book is the rather voyeuristic one of partaking of another's spiritual yearning, in this case mediated through a close and loving observation of the natural world. Few poets today have the courage to reveal their craving for spiritual comfort so nakedly. I for one am grateful for it. Keep writing!

Ande writes with the close confessional voice of Sharon Olds, the ecstatic vision of Blake and the scientific pinpoint accuracy of Pattiann Rogers. Weaving through almost every poem is her quiet yet almost slap-stick sense of humor, if there is such a thing as spiritual slap-stick. Hopeful and wise, these poems are welcome in these troubled, self-absorbed times.

Jan Lee Ande's second full-length book of poems "Reliquary," solidly enriches what the reader encountered in the poet's first offering "Instructions for Walking on Water." Reliquary, defined as a receptacle, such as a coffer or shrine, for keeping or displaying relics is such an apt title because in "Reliquary" the poet invites the reader into a showroom where they find moments of consciousness where words push up against themselves and reveal new meaning. Words are given the sacred task to speak to worlds beyond and sometimes below. I was surprised as I engaged in the depth of the journey. If we think of books as sacred objects the poems of "Reliquary" must be thought of as sacred glimpses. Each poem opens a door. The poet provides the key. I have been involved in the medical field for twenty years so it isn't surprising that I was drawn to the poem "Learning Anatomy." Here a mother, as "study partner," is stationed next to her son and a human skeleton where they take on the task of learning the bones of the body and what each one means on many levels. What is surprising is what the poet finds in her dialogue with these bones and their articulations. The poem concludes, "After the soul has fled the body, after the organs / crumble into dust, bones pass time in the urn of the earth." This is what you'll find in reading Jan Lee Ande. Surprise! Regardless of background I'm convinced a door can open for anyone who is moved to read her. She pushes the reader beyond the ordinary and into realms where the familiar is new and fresh.

Ande's Reliquary is a superbly crafted collection of poetry that cracks through surfaces and reveals the sacredness and connected nature of underlying things: the celestial mix of physical and mystical that permeates rocks, trees, hearts, thoughts and which drives science, religion, and wonder.

Ande invites us:

If you are lost in this world, bewildered
in the middle ground
between heaven and earth, stand here.

And so begins the delicious ascent into the incredible world of Ande's language and imagery, for the very first thing one notices, before one even considers poetic form, is the sheer beauty of the language and the freshness of the imagery. In her poetry, words exceed their representational function - they sparkle, they shoot like stars through the soul - and, as one rereads each piece, the words emerge and reemerge in a metamorphosis that, for all its metaphysical qualities, is at the same time as grounded in realism as the texture of the page upon which the images are so craftfully arranged.

The title poem, "Reliquary," epitomizes the book's theme of sacredness-in-the-ordinary. Ande writes:

I do not have a theca issued by the pope
- the red wax seal and a length of thread -
to prove these relics are authentic.

My theca is the pollen sac of an anther,
spore case of a greeny moss,
outer layer of the pupa of the rose weevil.

However, it is the intangible collection of reliquaries that gives the poem a deeper import: questions (Do you believe in nature spirits, / can oak trees talk, have you walked on water?) and embellished remembrances (My sky blue traveling case. Sarcophagus / of the holy bones of my black dog who could fly.) remind the reader that relics are more than carefully preserved items - they are magical, they house our dreams, they hold incredible secrets.

Ande's gift for blending concrete and metaphysical images infuses her work. Yet, there is a fine balance between Ande's poetic gifts and the poems' forms, as well. Usually filling just one page, and usually written in couplets or triplets, the poems are easy on the eye; as a result, their framework provides just the right space for the reader to perfectly engage with the spirit of the poem.

This book was the single thing i studied and i passed with flying colors. I studied about 2 weeks in advance. The test was so close to the book, and i felt like it prepared me! Thanks for the great book, i would suggest it to anyone wanting to become certified.

I took the test once! This book helped me a lot! Get this book and keep practicing. The only problem you need to get some extra help for new drugs on the market or new generics now available.

I've been in pharmacy for 10 years; CPhT for 7. This was the only book I needed.
Highly recommend!!!

I took the March 2006 PTCE and began studying for it in November 2005. Over that time I aquired many different books (as I suggest you do if you already haven't) to study for the test (Check out the rates of passing on ptcb.org).

When used with a multitude of other books it will obviously take a lot more time to get through all of the books in entirity.

this book in particular is a bire more of a review over many things you may already know. So I wouldn't necessarily reccomend this as the first book you begin study with.

I found this to be very informative and helpful. Every chapter is like a review and it is followed by a series of quizzes.

But if this is one of the books you are using to study (keep in mind studying for more than 20 minutes at a time is considered cramming and you absorb less of what you read) you may just possibly want to begin studying sooner than I had.

This, is no small book. You need a very fair amount of time to properly read through then review all you should have learned by books end.

This is a great book, telling the story of a man who has inspired generations of doctors (and non-doctors) to try to cure more than just human disease. Norman Bethune, whose life this book describes, was a multifaceted man, for whom the adjective "great" would be quite appropriate. He was a surgeon, a health activist, a communist, a poet, a painter, a journalist and above all a great human being. This book describes his early life, his battle against tuberculosis,against fascism and all those who injure other human beings. Quoting his speeches,his newspaper articles and his journal extensively, the book informs and inspires and should be a must read for everyone who aspires to be a doctor or just loves humanity.

There are simple people and there are complicated people. Norm Bethune was definitely of the latter strain. Independent, erratic, gifted, persistent-ever searching for the next direction, or "mission."

His parents were great admirers of D.L. Moody. His father was a pastor at various small towns throughout Ontario, Canada, and his mother was a missionary. Bethune himself didn't seem to have the same interest as his parents in the things of God. But his mother's missionary fervor was obviously a very prominent influence in his life.

His genius as a surgeon first emerged when he contracted tuberculosis and decided that he must prepare to die. He encouraged his wife to divorce him, and he went to a sanitarium. But once he got there, he found the boredom of waiting to die was more tortuous than the illness itself, and he began to research the disease. His fortunes changed drastically when he happened upon a book describing a new procedure which involved removing part of the ribs to collapse an ailing lung. This procedure was new-only about a year old, but Bethune was interested. He was determined to be a beneficiary of this new innovation, and this determination eventually led to his recovery. It was 1927.

After his recovery, he became a thoracic surgeon. But he was frustrated by the numbers of indigent patients who did not get timely treatment because they were too poor. His preoccupation with, an concern for the "underdogs" of the world eventually led him to Spain, where he got involved in the Spanish civil war, working with the forces battling Franco. This experience had a profound effect on his thinking. He joined the Communist Party, and campaigned for support for the resistance forces.

But the heart of this book really begins when Dr. Bethune goes to China. His experiences as a battlefield surgeon make fascinating reading. He was hot-tempered and impatient, but his decision to use his genius as a surgeon to help the guerrilla fighters has given us a story well worth the reading. Edison said that "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." Well, I don't know about the actual percentages, but it is clear that Bethune's life had a good dose of both. He was not only a physician, he was an inventor. He invented 12 different surgical instruments, and published 14 articles outlining his innovations in surgical technique. He was very creative, and a very, very hard worker. And he would not tolerate incompetence. He was vehement almost to the point of violence in his determination to give the best possible treatment to the wounded. The descriptions of battlefield surgery in this book are sometimes painful to read, but very, very compelling.

But I am not a medical person. My primary interest in this book stems from my interest in history. There are several ways that this book is helpful in that area. First of all, the story takes place during the Sino-Japanese war, a time in which Jiang jieshi got a lot of criticism from the Americans because of his refusal to fight the Japanese. Jiang jieshi always said, "The Japanese are a disease of the skin. The Communists are a disease of the heart." Although, he certainly did not want the Japanese to overrun China, he was very hesitant to expend men and resources against what he saw as a major enemy of the Communist armies, which he despised. He obviously felt that if he burned himself out fighting the Japanese, he would make it that much easier for the Communists to take over. That being the case, I have always wondered how much the Communists concentrated on fighting the Japanese themselves. This book answers that question. The wounds Bethune treated were inflicted by the Japanese. And the book gives weight to the idea that perhaps Jiang jie shi's approach backfired, because his refusal to fight the Japanese caused the Chinese people to lose respect for him.

Bethune died of septicemia in November of 1939. In her forward to the book, Soong Ching ling makes much of the charge that his death was due to the fact that the Guomindang refused to let the medicine through. I don't know about that. But it is terribly frustrating to read a story like this, because it is clear that a simple antibiotic could have saved him, as well as many other soldiers he would have been able to save if he had lived.

Finally, Bethune's life had a unique influence on history in a way that I am sure he never could have anticipated. During the days before the opening of China, which began with Nixon's visit in 1972, very few countries had any relationship at all with China. But Canada was a notable exception. Mao and others in China always viewed Canada in a positive light, and much of this was due to the overwhelming tendency to identify Canada with Dr. Norman Bethune, who is a national hero in China.

This is a book that should be on the essential reading list for those planning a career in medicine (surgery). It is truly inspiring, and it provides an interesting history of the early years of thoracic surgery, transfusion medicine, and humanitarian committment. I recommend those who have the opportunity to visit the Bethune Peace Hospital in China, about a two hour drive from Beijing. The Bethune Museum there is wonderful.

I remember this story from my mother reading it to me a s a child and again reading it as a highschool student. I gave me hope that one person can make a difference. That we can do things to help people not for fame and fortune but because people need our help and we have the expertise to help ease their pain and suffering.

Norman bethume was such a man and his story needs to be told again and again. I highly recommend it to anyone who values the efforts of individulas and the love of community.

Chester

Unplug the phone, cancel all your appointments, put the cat out -- okay, you can keep the cat. But Robert Walser's wonderful "Selected Stories" must be read in an atmosphere of silence, with complete attention. You owe it to yourself to have a chance to appreciate this utterly distinctive voice. Others have called him a "comic Kafka," and others have complained that he is not a "comic Kafka," so perhaps we can stipulate that he is "the writer who is not a comic Kafka." He is, indeed a good deal more hospitable and accessible than Kafka, but he is not always comic in "A Little Ramble," (which might be my favorite of these collected short items), he can stop you in your tracks. I haven't read Walser's novel, "Jakob von Gunten," yet (though I certainly plan to) but I wonder if Walser's peculiar talents aren't particularly suited to a form that is ephemeral, almost furtive.

Read "The She Owl," which has a gentle charm. Read "Parisian Newspapers," which has an edge. Oh, read them all, listening to catch Walser's extraordinary voice. And aboave all, read "A Little Ramble," which might be the best onc-page story in the language.

Although his novel "Jakob von Gunten" is a masterpiece, the maniacal genius of Walser is more easily discovered in his short fiction. If Kafka's vision is maddening and claustrophobic, Walser, who deals with a similar kind of surrealistic world, applies a lighter, more deftly playful touch. Sometimes, the puns and literary license Walser take can be willful and test a reader's patience, but the sheer force of his philosophy and world view contained in these miniaturist stories are awe-inspiring, and are on par with the delirious vision of Kafka. Walser is a kind of a writer who can turn from anger to unbearable tenderness within a sentence. Many of these stories will move you and frustrate you at the same time, but all the risks he takes are still, and I suspect always will be, thrillingly modern and relevant. I only wish his excellent reworkings of fairy tales (I'm thinking especially of 'Snow White') could have been included in this volume. Walser has been neglected for far too long, and the longer his work languishes in obscurity, the world is that much more at a loss.

Robert Walser. I came to this Teutonic scribner by way of a jackass professor I had in graduate school. In his class on Modern European literature we read "Jacob von Gunten," a 1st person neurotic diatribe about a man enrolled in a servant's college. Unlike the professor's lectures, I enjoyed certain passages of that work immensely, especially the transcendental moments where the main character describes how he melts into the shuffling masses in the city where he lives. Other sections were less engaging.

I believe that Walser's short stories, at least the ones collected here, are better able to display his literary gifts than that novella. Clearly the masses are an issue he enjoyed writing about, and there are several stories that deal vividly with the dehumanizing reality of city living, as well as office work. Clearly, Walser writes most prolifically in the fist person, a voice that is often driven by angst and inflected with various neuroses (Walser himself ended up in a mental hospital). But what I enjoyed most about this collection were the stories that differed from his normal style. Stories like the "She-Owl," "Balloon Journey," and "Kliest in Thum" are some examples. These are short third-person pieces, often only a page and a half long, which tell simple stories as they bend perception, causing the reader to see the world with new eyes. I find these short pieces more entertaining than the fist-person stories, which tend to be heavy on the solipsism and lack structure (see "The Walk"). There is something Borges about the economy of these stories, and maybe some Cortazar in their oddness. This collection rewards a thorough reading. And afterward the reader will get a better appreciation for Walser's influence upon two of the world's greatest writers - Kafka and WG Sebald. Does Walser eclipse his literary offspring? I'll leave that up to you to decide. But one thing is clear, Walser's literary reputation needs to be reinstated -- and this collection helps.

"Wandering, what a brilliant, light blue joy you are!"

If the absolute inevitable truth of every word of that sentence isn't immediately clear to you, you may not be the kind of reader who will be knocked off your feet by Robert Walser, whose typical prose piece is always a kind of wandering. The most acclaimed piece (and the best, I think) in this collection is in fact titled "The Walk," a perfectly honest title that serves to summarize the plot.

If you're one who needs beginnings, middles, and ends...
If you insist on naturalistic dialogue...
If you want at least a modicum of happening...
you may not be the kind of reader who will rave about Walser to your friends, as I have been doing since I started reading him a couple years ago.

Walser was roughly a contemporary of Franz Kafka, who read and seems to have been influenced by Walser. Although Walser wrote four long pieces usually labeled as novels, his most characteristic works are short sketches, two to ten pages, only rarely resembling anything most people would call a story. Some of Walser's work was published in his lifetime, and he had a coterie of distinguished fans like Hermann Hesse. Then, after 1933, when he was committed to a "madhouse," he was as forgotten as a politician's promise. His rediscovery began with American and English readers, especially translator Christopher Middleton.

By our times, Walser is widely perceived as a pioneer surrealist; his work certainly has surreal effects, but his intentions, as I read him, were never to extend reality but merely to capture it as he alone saw it. That he was, perhaps, slightly mad and certainly eccentric did refract his vision in unexpected and original colors. His subject, even when writing in his not-fooling-anyone disguise as a simple man, was always his own strange, joyful, aimless personality.

Catch the word "joyful" there! Walser is NOT a depressing writer. He's a man enchanted with everything, from mustard to mountains. He's wry, salty, silly, satirical, and sooo penetrating.

The translations in this collection are close to the character of Walser's "wandering" German. There's another collection - Masquerade - translated by Susan Bernofsky. I prefer Bernofsky somewhat for syntactical cleverness in translating, but this collection includes The Walk, the most picturesquely brilliant of all Walser's prose.

Some critics have said that Walser was a columnist before there were columns, and it's easy to imagine Walser being a huge success reading his pieces on NPR, but for all their apparent inconsequentiality, Walser's works have a profundity that will accumulate as you read.

As a Shelley lover I've read numerous biographies, but this will be the last one as no amount of research or writing talent can improve on this book. Richard Holmes clearly did an enormous amount of research and his attention to detail is extraordinary. His love for his subject comes through strongly yet he remains objective throughout and is not blind to Shelley's flaws. His descriptive writing also paints a fascinating picture of the interesting and tough times during which Shelley lived and his wonderful vocabulary had me reaching for my dictionary many times!. He pays as much attention to the other colourful characters in Shelley's life as he does to the poet himself. His analysis of Shelley's complex psyche is intense and I believe his perceptions are very accurate. This book impressed and excited me more than any biography I have ever read.

How is it possible that the world's largest online bookstore doesn't stock any biography of Shelley? He was, after all, not just a poet, but a fascinating character even without taking his literary accomplishments into account. I found Mr. Holmes's great biography in an Oxford, UK bookstore. And I must say it's amazing. I can't believe it was written by a 28-year-old. The research done here is nothing short of astounding. I must say, however, that the long pages devoted to Shelley's political creed and activities can get a bit wearisome - at least for me, who was more interested in the personal and literary aspects of his life, than in the political ones - but then, I understand that this reflects my personal preferences, and admit it doesn't much deter from the book's qualities. In fact, you could say it makes it more solid and thorough, in including a part of Shelley's life that has been traditionally neglected by his biographers.

A nice feature of Mr. Holmes's work is the description of the physical places in Shelley's life - for instance, the house where he was born and the ones which he inhabited during his years in Italy. All of these had some endearing and fascinating trait, from the rolling lawns of Field Place to the sun-soaked terrace of the Casa Magni. I only wish these descriptions had been more in-depth, since it is obvious that Shelley often built strong emotional connections with the places where he lived. I look forward to reading "Footsteps", which is the account of Holmes's literary travels and research, and which is already awaiting me in my bookshelf!

It's probably time for a new Shelley biography, despite Holmes' excellent work. I couldn't recommend this book without a number of caveats.

It was valuable in its time, for countering that Victorian view of the angelic depoliticised and emasculated Shelley. But it's still a document of its time.

There are two things that were wrong with the book even at the time it was written. One is the constant failure to mention instances of Shelley's extraordinary generosity and kindness to others. Maybe it was boring, to a 1970s writer, to mention the old women carried in out of the cold, the children fed, the money given away to strangers in hard times: but to leave most of it out badly distorts the reality of Shelley. He was no saint, but he was a remarkably kind person, and practical with it, and that central and salient characteristic is glossed over, though "gloss" is not quite the word. White's earlier biography is actually more comprehensive on this sort of thing.

The second issue is a grotesque mis-reading of the "Adelaide Shelley" affair, in which Shelley put his name down as the father of an Italian baby. Holmes invents from whole cloth an incident in which Shelley seduced the maid, turning her out of the house when she became pregnant. This is simply bizarre, as Holmes himself later acknowledged. In his next book, "Footsteps", Holmes concedes that not only was there no evidence in favour of this claim, but that it would have been completely out of character for all three of the key figures (Shelley, Claire Clairemont and the maid whose name, from memory, is something like Paola Foggi) who would have had to have been involved in Holmes' scenario.

The story, acknowledged by Holmes to be false, did Shelley's reputation enormous harm (Paul Johnson siezed on it, and added inaccuracies of his own, for his attack on Shelley in the ludicrous "Intellectuals" book; Johnson's Shelley chapter is virtually a cut and paste job from Holmes).

So this has always frustrated me: Why on earth hasn't Holmes corrected it in a later edition? I suspect that Holmes feels that it is a form of integrity, of trueness to himself as a young man, or something, to leave the book in its current form. But since the book is supposed to be a record about Shelley, not Holmes, I'd rather he made this and other corrections.

As well as that, there's new information about the circumstances of Shelley's break with his family, and about his life in Italy, which Holmes doesn't include, because they are based on documents that have only recently come to light or been studied.

So while this was a landmark in its time, it is from this distance not as good as some earlier biographies, and it is due for replacement. If I were to recommend a biographical work to someone with a strong interest in Shelley, I'd recommend his Letters.

Laon (no relation)

After reading Miranda Seymour's biography of Mary Shelley I looked around for an account of P. B. Shelley and found this excellent biography of the poet. The whole generation and family from Mary Wollstonecraft onwards makes a dynastic epic, and a good history of the social politics of a radical generation living through the Restoration. There the ethereal Shelley myth is corrected by a portrait of a radical who had the courage and will to attempt to extract himself form his aristocratic family and class to pursue a radical dream in the unforgiving world of the reactionary wake of the French Revolution. Literary portraits of Shelley still suffer the fate of the poet's work after his death when his reputation was crippled by the conservative age against he revolted. It reminds one of the fate of the Sixties in the minds of the (current) powers that be. It is significant, and mostly forgotten, that the early Queen Mab that so shocked the establishments of the times passed into the bloodstream of the left via the radical underground press, thence to influence the early labor movements and Chartists. Meanwhile the image of Shelley was sanctified by several packs of lies as the quality of genius forced its way into anthological immortality.

This was a fantastic book and a long one (I like that). I took it on a ski vacation and was tempted to take it to the slopes with me. I finally realized that was not a great idea but I could hardly wait to get back to my room, get comfortable, and begin reading again.

"The Shuttle* was written in the early 1900's, but it shows the brutality of spousal abuse--mental and physical--with no holds barred. Gentle Rosalie undergoes years of cruel emotional battering which is described with absolute psychological accuracy. It turns out that her sister Bettina is strong and determined enough to save both of them. Sir Nigel's end is satisfying, although it might have been even better if he'd fallen into the pigpen and been devoured by swine. This is a very early and powerful feminist novel as well as a skillfully written, entertaining page-turner.

I have a 1907 edition of this book that I love.. I've read it several times and each time I savour the language and the world that Frances Hodgeson Burnett described before the First World War: a world of English village streets with sound of carts clattering past hawthorn hedges and brash young American boys bicyling in buttonup boots and celluloid collars up the pleached alleys of country estates.
I think that the previous reviewer has unfortunetely missed much of the subtlety of the story, painting it in almost comicbook colours. It's "comfort reading" for adults who grew up making friends with Little Lord Fauntleroy and a Secret Garden. This is a novel that celebrates the goodness of people and cultures on both sides of the Atlantic in tender and funny ways that remind me of Lousia May Alcott's books and in the end, metes out justice in very satisfying ways. You might also want to see if you can find F H Burnett's "T. Tembarom" --which is, as her characters themselves might put it, a "bang-up" book as well.

The book is set in the 19th century, but the heroine, Bettina Vanderpoel of the filthy rich New York Vanderpoels, is no shrinking violet. That role is left to her older sister, sweet and not overly bright Rosalie. The story starts out with Rosalie being courted by and married to Sir Nigel Anstruthers, an impoverished English aristocrat on the make for a rich wife. Although she is only eight at the time, Betty hates Sir Nigel. Her instincts are on the money. Sir Nigel is a rotter, a blackguard, a cad, and a bounder. He is utterly infuriated that he did not automatically gain control of Rosalie's money when he married her. He and his equally appalling mother start a loathsome campaign of emotional abuse that gentle Rosalie is not equal to. Luckily, by chapter five it is 12 years later and Bettina has grown into a fine, strong-minded woman who has all the business sense that made the Vanderpoel fortune. The rest of the book tells us how she rescues her sister, her nephew, and the Anstruthers estate from Sir Nigel. The hero of the book is another impoverished aristocrat, but cut from genuinely noble cloth, even if most of his ancestors were of the Sir Nigel type.
Before the book is over, Bettina will be trapped, injured, and at the mercy of Sir Nigel, who has Perfectly Awful plans for the lovely lady. Will Bettina wring her hands helplessly and beg?
Don't be silly. Read and see how love, virtue, and justice triumph and Sir Nigel gets his.

Leonard Kohl's book fills a much needed gap in my personal knowledge of cinema history. The serial is a form I remember with great fondness. As a child, it was a part of my first forays into the world on my own when my chums and I hoofed it to the Strand Theater on Saturday mornings for an hour of cartoons, a cowboy double feature, a humiliating go in the yo-yo contest and, of course, to catch the latest installment of ..... Radio Patrol....Don Winslow of the Navy...Tim Tyler's Luck... Whatever! By then (circa 1950), the heyday of the cheap and keep-em-coming-back cinema serial was ending and the subjects of Mr. Kohl's excellent work had gone on to bigger things (except, sadly, for Bela Lugosi, who -- as I discovered in "Sinister Serials" -- began his American film career with bigger things, only to slide into the world of serials).

This book is clear, concise, and well written. Kohl spins out the stories of these three seminal film figures and provides us with an outstanding look at a now-past era in film history. An excellent piece of work!

Because Mr. Kohl will blow you away!!!! This is a fine book. The research is impeccable. The photos are sublime. Kudos to the author!!! I saw Mr. Kohl give the commencement address at the University of Chicago and the crowd was mesmerized. Most likely, because he hadn't been invited by the school to give it.

Kudos to Kohl, who has done a fine job of presenting an informative, and always fair-handed, look at a fascinating period in movie making. This is clearly the product of painstaking research, resulting in a heaping-helping of historical data, elucidating testimonials, with a rich array of pictures to boot. Every true fan of "The Sreamsome Threesome"--Karloff, Lugosi, and Chaney--and the too-often overlooked serials genre, should get their hands on this.

Leonard Kohl's first book is a fine effort, a splendid purchase for any fan of the big three horror icons who made serials. It is loaded with interesting facts. Where else could you discover that silent comedy star Harry Langdon almost co-starred with Lugosi in THE WHISPERING SHADOW. The book is chock full of rare photos, and they are a genuine treat. Fans of Charle Chan would be happy to find rare photos of Warner Oland from silent serials. This volume is a recommended purchase. As an author myself, I can see the hard work and dedication that went ito this volume.

FYI, my thumb nail says this is by Stacy Morrision; she wrote the forward to the book. Rita Arens wrote the chapter introductions, several of the essays, and gathered the rest of the essays together.

I really enjoyed this book and showed several of the essays to friends and coworkers. I have recommended it to several people. The essays are posts from mommy-bloggers written over the last several years. The essays are very real and discuss the good, bad, and in between of motherhood. At turns it made me tear up, question my own mothering, feel I had a co-conspirator, made me go eehhk, and uhg, and ohhh, and snort out load in laughter.

Sleep is for the Weak is a great read for any mom. You will identify with so many of the situations. And the ones you don't identify with will give you more perspective on your own experiences.

I rarely laugh out loud when reading a book, but I certainly did when I read the first chapter. Hilarious! And because the book is a collection of stories, it is easy to read a few, put the book down, and then pick up again later -- which is so essential with the inevitable distractions a mommy reader will have.

As a fan of the blog, Surrender, Dorothy and so many of the other blogs that contributed to this book, I found it to be a wonderful collection of essays.

That being said, you don't need to read any of these blogs to enjoy this book. I wish I had read it prior to having my kids. Helps you realize you are not alone in this struggle called parenthood and that there are ways to see the funny side to almost any parenting situation.

Super read!

I purchased this book over the weekend, and was lucky enough to have it signed by several of the phenomenal women who contributed essays.

Wow. Instead of spending time with my husband (whom I haven't seen for three days), I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning laughing and crying. These women GET IT. It is so refreshing to read REAL stories from REAL moms---the good, bad, dirty, and hysterically funny.

Rita did a fantastic job of picking the best of the best, and I look forward to many more volumes.

This is a superb gift for any woman, anywhere. I am terribly pleased to have Christmas completely taken care of!

As long as books have been published there have been those who have felt the need to comment on them. We call such folks 'reviewers'. These literary critics can be self-appointed volunteers, freelance professionals, employed journalists and academicians whose commentaries about what is being written and published is a part of their job. Reviewers (much like the authors and publishers whose work they pass judgments upon) come in three basic categories: The Good; The Bad; and The Mediocre. There really hasn't been a 'how to' guide of any appreciable length or substance to explain the role of a book reviewer, how to become established as a credible reviewer of books, or how to create and operative a book review business. That is, there really hasn't been such an instructional manual until the publication of Mayra Calvani and Anne K. Edwards collaborative work titled "The Slippery Art Of Book Reviewing". Following an informative foreword by James A. Cox (best known within the publishing industry as the Editor-in-Chief of the Midwest Book Review), "The Slippery Art Of Book Reviewing" is divided into three major sections: 'The Art of Reviewing' which lays out in considerable detail the actual 'nuts and bolts' of what a book review actually is, how to go about reviewing books, and the basics of creating a professional reputation and maintaining a successful book review operation; 'The Influence of Book Reviews' which focuses upon the relationship of book reviews to libraries, bookstores, publishers, authors, publicists, book clubs, and readers; and 'Resources' which provides advice and extensive lists of resources for book reviews as they relate to print publications, academia, online review sites, and more. ""The Slippery Art Of Book Reviewing" concludes with providing a 'Sample of a Press Release'. Offering a wealth of practical, experience-tested advice, commentary, technical information, techniques, and resources, "The Slippery Art Of Book Reviewing" should be considered mandatory reading for novice and aspiring book reviewers, as well as having a great deal of enduring value as a reference for even the more experienced reviewer. Additionally, "The Slippery Art Of Book Reviewing" will provide to be informed and informative reading about the book review process for authors, publishers, publicists, booksellers, librarians, and the general reading public.

I have long advocated reviewing as a way for freelance writers to begin a career and for the authors of books to network with other authors and lots of editors. The trouble is there are few books that approach the subject from any but the most traditional, literary and academic point of view.

The world has turned, and turned...and turned. We now have Amazon and other online bookstores. We have online review sites that specialize in the quick and easy (for screen-tired eyes and busy people) to those who prefer edgy or esoteric. There is room for all and Calvani and Edwards address that.

What I like best, though, is the lists of publications in their last chapters. Those pages are a veritable storehouse of helpful information for any would-be reviewer but also for any author who would like to get reviewed!
----
Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the author of the award-winning HowToDoIt series of books for writers.

Reviewed by Irene Watson for Reader Views (5/08)

Calvani and Edwards certainly produced a much-needed reference book that covers all aspects of becoming a book reviewer. Their concise narrative covers areas such as defining a book review and explaining the difference between it and a book report and press release; the don'ts; tips; ownership; as well as many other pertinent concerns. They also include resources and how libraries, book clubs, booksellers, etc. are influenced by reviewers.

As an owner of a book review service I was very interested what other reviewers had to say about the industry and what advice they give potential reviewers. Calvani is an author as well as a freelance reviewer and I'm sure much of the information came from her own experience although throughout the book there are excerpts of advice from other known online reviewers. The authors of "The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing" are very much to the point and it doesn't look like they missed anything.

Although this book is targeting potential reviewers, I encourage authors looking for reviews to peruse the book. The information about reviews, specifically if it's a negative review is enlightening. As well, there is an appendix with a list of online reviewers. Although the list is somewhat dated, it is a very thorough list. And, I don't mean dated in a negative way but I encourage the authors to also research the net for new services that recently emerged or reviewers that didn't make the list.

I do recommend "The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing" as a must-have resource guide. Calvani and Edwards present a well-written gold-mine to potential reviewers as well as a source of information for experienced reviewers and authors.

Newspapers continue to drop their book review columns and few magazines include them in their issues. What is a reviewer to do to get that much needed visibility? The answer might be in the proliferation of reputable online websites devoted to reviewing books. But where do the reviewers come from? And how can a lover of books break into the reviewing business?

There are numerous answers to these two questions, but an excellent place to start is by reading and studying The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing by Mayra Calvani and Anne K. Edwards. Calvani and Edwards give detailed, practical tips and techniques to help the reader learn how to review books. It also covers information about the review organizations themselves.

As an experienced reviewer I learned that I do not know it all and will keep my copy of The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing for reference. It is not a book I will loan outbecause it won't be returned.

If you want to break into book reviewing, The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing is a must-have reference. Heed the author's advice and you can write reviews that will get you and the books you review noticed.

Armchair Interviews says: You won't get rich, but you'll have a lot of fun.