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My sixth grade teacher read Me and Caleb and Me and Caleb Again to our class. I remember her laughing so hard she cried. And so did we. Later, I would check these books out from the town library and read them over and over and over again. I've read a lot of books in the 30 years since, but I will say that these are two of my all time favorites.

I recall reading and enjoying Me and Caleb in the 5th grade. Now I want to read it again...

Anyway, if you liked Me and Caleb by all means read the Penrod books by Boothe Tarkington!

POSTSCRIPT: THIS WONDERFUL BOOK AND THE FOLLOW-UP (ME AND CALEB AGAIN) ARE ONCE AGAIN IN PRINT! [...]

I inherited this book my second year of teaching in 1989 when the librarian was throwing out old books (imagine!)....
In any case, I read it out loud for the first time to my class of third graders and could hardly read it for laughing so hard. My class and I loved it. I read it to my own children in the 90's. I have the book and have thought of selling it on e-bay (as it fetches a great price), but my boys want to keep it to read to their own children one day. Now, that's a classic!

Back in the late 1960's, my wonderful sixth-grade homeroom teacher, Mr. Broglie, would read to us each morning. Tradition dictated that "Where the Red Fern Grows" would be one of the first books read that year (and it is indeed a great book), but he added a new book when I was in his class, one my older sisters had not heard: Me and Caleb.
I really wish I could find this book again, not just for my own enjoyment, but that my own kids could read it, too. (and a PS -- all these years later, I still shiver when I remember the poisonous snake in the river!)

Both my wife and I read this book as children, and were so impressed that 25 years later we named one of our own children Caleb. Bud just didn't seem to work. We have borrowed it from the school library and read it to our kids, who also loved it.

This is a timeless classic that is completly politically incorrect, and a total joy.

It needs another printing.

Miss Elizabeth Mapp lives in the English village of Tilling and there she attempts to be part of the cream of Tilling's society. With a steady diet of gossip, Miss Mapp and her circle of fellow residents flavor their lives with eyes on the goal of status. Benson's sharply observed and satirical tale is part of the Mapp & Lucia series, which pokes fun at English society of the times. Like an early ancestor of "Dynasty" or anything else produced by Aaron Spelling, the Mapp and Lucia stories are big fun for any Anglophile or fan of camp literature.

This book from the hilarious pen of Benson, is odd in a certain way. After all, Miss Mapp is the queen of Tilling in the book, and undisputed depot who rules with an iron tongue! Where is our dear Lucia, Mapp's sworn enemy, and the pretender to the throne? Well, she is back in her original home of Riseholme, with her dear husband Peppino. Those who know the Mapp and Lucia Saga from the wonderful television series, might find it strange to have Mapp ruling the roost without interference, however it makes for a delightful read (with one oblique allusion to Lucia), and shows that Miss Mapp is a strong enough character to carry her own book. The most significant event (though hardly significant at all really) is the rumored duel between Puffin and Flint over the affections of Miss Mapp. What really occured on that misty morning? Read this brilliant piece of humor to find out. I love it!

Well, after meeting Queen Lucia, I quite enjoyed learning all about Tilling and its dear Miss Mapp. You will wonder who she visited in Riseholm, and you will die from the anticipation of the two ladies meeting up in subsequent books (you won't be disappointed!). The characters are fantastic, the situations are comic, and I absolutely loved this book! I am officially hooked on the entire series! I hope you will try it and love it just as much as I.

Not only will the Reader of today recognize Miss Mapp amongst her acquaintances, dear Reader is only too likely to see *herself* in caricature. (I, for one, am Diva Plaistow; no getting round it.) A delight from the first paragraph, "Miss Mapp" is even more enjoyable if you've read the first two in the Lucia chronicles. Librarina@netscape.net

Miss Mapp rules the tiny English village of Tilling- that is she rules those who matter. It is a tiny circle of people who have enough class to rate her attention - but she manipulates and lauds over them with machiavellian schemes, and intelligent surmises - and she is intelligent.

Benson has written a village with a range of gorgeous characters - from Diva who is Miss Mapp's great rival, to Irene the local artist who keeps embarrassing Miss Mapp with her prosaic pronouncements. Then there is the local Vicar who talks in a combination of Shakespearian English and Burnsian dialect. There is also Mrs Poppit who is an up and coming social climber (hardly worthy of Miss Mapp's notice) and the novel begins with Miss Mapps machinations to the Poppitt Bridge party.

Village life you see seems to run around Bridge parties. In this petty world of card games there is a great deal of opportunity to expose one another's weaknesses and Miss Mapp, in order to be the center of village life in Tilling finds no object too petty to exploit. This is a novel of small things made into huge issues because of the smallness of the village. There is Miss Mapps constant running battle to dress better than Diva, the competition over Mr Wyse's attentions (with his supposed comtessa sister), and the ever pressing desire to be the First To Know all the gossip in town.

The physical descriptions both through the characters minds and from Benson's pen are wonderful for instance Diva is always depicted as whirling around the place - her legs circling. Mrs Poppit is ever present in a huge and weighty sable coat.

This is a wonderful book, and beautifully written. Benson seems to me to be very influenced by Austen - there is the small and claustrophobic atmosphere of village life - the characters (Miss Mapp seems so like Mrs Norris of Austen's 'Mansfield Park') to me - and then there are the odd Austen Names (in this case the Coles feature strongly as a family that is not quite up to snuff - just as the Coles are in 'Emma'). If nothing else Benson writes of English village life in the 1920's with the same Ironic pen as Austen did of village life in the early nineteenth century.

Highly recommended if you want a couple of days of laughter.

I'm beginning to realize that George Gissing is an author who is relatively unknown by the general public but who is frequently studied/referenced by academics. The main reason why I think this is true (and this relates to the book at hand) is that Gissing himself had more of an academic temperament than a writing temperament. He was very adept at analyzing the world around him and commenting on it to a point of depressing realism, but he wasn't a storyteller. In fact, he struggled with creating enough storylines in order to support himself. Thus, while his books give impressive looks at Victorian life, they don't always leave a reader fully satisfied.

Why do I say this so confidently? Well, as Gissing was particularly self-aware and as he was particularly oppressed when writing "New Grub Street," in this novel he writes about what it's like to be a writer in London in the 1880's and 1890's. He essentially writes about his own life and those he find around him, all of whom are trying to make a living on writing.

Gissings seems to portray himself through the main character, Reardon. When the story opens, Reardon is struggling. His sophisticated wife is getting fed up with their impoverished lifestyle and with her husband's inability to write decent material. Reardon, a sensitive soul, is floundering under mounting pressure and stress. He is torn between his desire to write sophisticated, meaningful material and the public demand for "fluff." The more stressed laid on him, the less he is able to create and stick with any plausible fiction novel. He becomes more and more fererish and unable to work, and he is devastated as he loses his wife's love and respect.

Around this central character Reardon, Gissing builds a very full and weighty cast of characters. A small sampling of these characters are:
- The embittered, older column writer/reviewer, Yule, whose temperament has made so many enemies during his career that he is still laboring hard to support his small family at the end of his life.
- Yule's daugher, Marion, who is very clever but who is also very vulnerable. Her education has made her too good for many positions and marriages but her lack of money makes her a poor match for the educated class.
- Reardon's friend Milvain, who is an ambitious young man who has no problem writing exactly what the masses want. He knows his talents, he knows the market, and he knows his stuff won't last for posterity. But he is determined to live a comfortable life, make a strategic marriage and become a semi-respected man.
- Biffen, another friend of Reardon's, sympathizes most with Reardon's situation and condition. Two peas in a pod, these men spend long hours discuss meter, prose and ancient poetry.

I found myself continually amazed at Gissing's amazing ability to get into the head of many individuals in his large cast and to see how the world makes sense through each's eyes. Gissing also provides us with a wealth of information about the Victorian publishing scene. It was amazing to read that writers and publishers then were struggling with the same issues writers and publishers are struggling with today.

Additionally, Gissing gives you an unglorified look at poverty and the impoverished educated class of London at that time. While Dickens' works on the poor is idyllic and sentimental, Gissing simply relates the life he has known. There is nothing exceptional or amazing, and Gissing seems to argue that poverty takes character out of a man rather then build up a man's character.

Overall, I found this to be a fascinating piece...though perhaps a slow read. For those interested in publishing, writing, realistic portrayals of Victorian England, or other such topics, this is a fantastic work.

Poor Gissing! I suspect his miserable, self-destructive life fuelled his wonderful novels much as (we now know) Dickens's traumatic "blacking-factory" experience explains so much of the nightmare world of those gargantuan fictions. Gissing greatly admired Dickens, and like Dostoyevsky, seems to have appreciated the grim side of Dickens most. Not much humor in Gissing; but there is the same shabby poetry one used to see in Bloomsbury back in the 1960s. The same wonderful appreciation of futile, obsessive scholarly lives. Gissing is a great poet and sometimes a rather fine moralist. His pictures of London rival those of the Master (Dickens --and Dore). Don't miss him. Start with "Workers in the Dawn" and "The Nether World"--his passion more than compensates for his crudities. Remember: he was also a very accomplished classicist--more of a scholar than any other major Victorian novelist! A not insignificant fact.

George Gissing's 1891 novel, "New Grub Street," is likely one of the most depressing books I've ever read. Certainly, in its descriptions of literary life, be it in publishing, or in my own realm of graduate scholarship, the situations, truths, and lives Gissing portrays are still all too relevant. "New Grub Street" itself points to the timelessness of Gissing's portrayals - as Grub Street was synonymous, even in the eighteenth century with the disrepute of hack writing, and the ignominy of having to make a living by authorship. One of Gissing's primary laments throughout the novel is that the life of the mind is of necessity one which is socially isolating and potentially devastating to any kind of relationships, familial or otherwise. "New Grub Street" gives us a world where friendship is never far from enmity, where love is never far from the most bitter kinds of hatred.

The anti-heroes of "New Grub Street" are presented to us as the novel begins - Jasper Milvain is a young, if somewhat impoverished, but highly ambitious man, eager to be a figure of influence in literary society at whatever cost. His friend, Edwin Reardon, on the other hand, was brought up on the classics, and toils away in obscurity, determined to gain fame and reputation through meaningful, psychological, and strictly literary fiction. Family matters beset the two - Jasper has two younger sisters to look out for, and Edwin has a beautiful and intelligent wife, who has become expectant of Edwin's potential fame. Throw into the mix Miss Marian Yule, daughter of a declining author of criticism, whose own reputation was never fully realized, and who has indentured his daughter to literary servitude, and we have a pretty list of discontented and anxious people struggling in the cut-throat literary marketplace of London.

Money is of supreme importance in "New Grub Street," and it would be pointless to write a review without making note of it. As always, the literary life is one which is not remunerative for the mass of people who engage upon it, and this causes no end of strife in the novel. As Milvain points out, the paradox of making money in the literary world is that one must have a well-known reputation in order to make money from one's labours. At the same time, one must have money in order to move in circles where one's reputation may be made. This is the center of the novel's difficulties - should one or must one sacrifice principles of strictly literary fame and pander to a vulgar audience in order to simply survive? The question is one in which Reardon finds the greatest challenges to his marriage, his self-esteem, and even his very existence. For Jasper Milvain and his sisters, as well as for Alfred and Marian Yule, there is no question that the needs of subsistence outweigh most other considerations.

"New Grub Street" profoundly questions the relevance of classic literature and high culture to the great mass of people, and by proxy, to the nation itself. For England, which propagated its sense of international importance throughout the nineteenth century by encouraging the study of English literature in its colonial holdings, the matter becomes one of great significance. The careers of Miss Dora Milvain and Mr. Whelpdale, easily the novel's two most charming, endearing, and sympathetic characters, attempt to illustrate the ways in which modern literature may be profitable to both the individual who writes it and the audiences towards which they aim. They may be considered the moral centers of the novel, and redeem Gissing's work from being entirely fatalistic.

"New Grub Street" is a novel that will haunt me for quite some time. As a "man of letters" myself, I can only hope that the novel will serve as an object lesson, and one to which I may turn in hope and despair. The novel is well written, its characters and situations drawn in a very realistic and often sympathetic way. Like the ill-fated "ignobly decent" novel of Mr. Biffen's, "Mr. Bailey, Grocer," "New Grub Street" may seem less like a novel, and more like a series of rambling biographical sketches, but they are indelible and lasting sketches of literary lives as they were in the original Grub Street, still yet in Gissing's time, and as they continue to-day. Very highly recommended.

I found Jasper Milvain, the "alarmingly modern young man," to be the most interesting character in Gissing's New Grub Street for a number of reasons, the most significant of which is that he evinces what can only be considered a modernist's consciousness in his approach to writing. That is, while it soon becomes clear to the reader that Milvain represents the antithesis of what Edwin Reardon personifies-i.e., the work of literature as an emanation of author's native genius-and thus one of the intercalated plots of the novel involves the incremental success of Milvain as a modern man of letters, and the concomitant gradual abjection of Reardon. In a manner of speaking, then, Milvain and Reardon's fates emerge from a common source, namely some sea change in the reading public's (the consumer's) preferences and tendencies.

Milvain identifies as vulgar the most lucrative market for the product of the man of letter's labor. The vulgarians, or "quarter educated," drive the market (479), and since they have been determined to desire nothing more than chatty ephemera, they have successfully opened an insuperable gulf between material success in writing and artistic success. Reardon's psychologically penetrating novels just aren't in demand. Therefore, there emerges quite an interesting conceptual shift within the nascent hegemony of the quarter-educated as established by their purchasing power: what was once considered healthy artistic integrity has transmuted into a peculiar kind of petit bourgeois hubris, if, in the new paradigm, the writer is more an artisan than an artist. Therefore, Reardon's artistically-compromised and padded three-volume novel, written with no other end in mind than to pander to the vulgar reader, nonetheless achieves only modest success because, the fact that it is indistinguishable from countless other similar works glutting the market aside, his novel is infected from his irrepressible integrity, and thus his novel becomes a strange sort of counterfeit, a psychological narrative masquerading as a popular novel. Reardon thus becomes a sort of Coriolanus among writers.

Milvain, on the other hand, is a sort of Henry Ford among writers; he reveals his particular genius when offering advice to his sister Maud about how to write religious works for juveniles: "I tell you, writing is a business. Get together half-a-dozen fair specimens of the Sunday school prize; study them; discover the essential points of such a composition; hit upon new attractions; then go to work methodically, so many pages a day" (13). In other words, Jasper has managed to streamline and to mechanize the writing process. He studies previous works, abstracts formulae from them, isolates the elements of these formulae, and then deploys and rearranges these elements to give his own writing a patina of originality. By treating writing as an exercise in manipulating formulae, Jasper exchanges "authenticity" (whatever that word means anymore) for the convenience and efficiency of not having to grapple with his own potentially mutable and recalcitrant genius. Jasper did not invent writing, just as Ford did not invent the automobile. But like Ford did with automobile manufacture, Milvain discovers those aspects of writing that lend themselves to mechanical reproduction. Thus he is able to capitalize on his time and effort, and effectively becomes the very machine Reardon believes himself to be but never actually becomes because of his lingering notions of artistic integrity (352).

Also of interest is the fact that Albert Yule is a sort of synthesis of Milvain and Reardon. Like Milvain, Yule attempts to streamline his own literary production by delegating some of the labor to his daughter Marian. However, like Reardon, Yule clings to the superannuated notion of the necessary individuality of writing: "[h]is failings, obvious enough, were the results of a strong and somewhat pedantic individuality ceaselessly at conflict with unpropitious circumstances" (38). In other words, Yule fails to recognize the obsolescence of the lone, learned genius within the realm of literary production. A market of vulgarians who demand occasional literary confections simply does not expect Works of individual genius. Moreover, even if they were in demand, works of individual genius are too ponderously inefficient to keep pace with the rate at which they are consumed. Therefore, Yule straddles the either/or proposition personified by Reardon and Milvain: One may preserve his artistic integrity and write "for the ages"--hence Yule, Biffen, and Reardon's fetishization of Shakespeare, Coleridge and authors of classical antiquity--and starve in the process, or one may write "for the moment" and actually turn a respectable profit.

The shadow of Charles Darwin indeed looms large over the events and characters of New Grub Street. The growth market brought about by the advent of the "quarter-educated" vulgar class, and their discretionary income coupled with their callow aesthetic sensibilities and truncated attention spans, represents a nascent economic, if not ecological niche, for certain social creatures to occupy. However, it's not simply a matter of being able to adapt one's skills to the tastes of these consumers. One must also be a prodigious enough writer to keep pace with an equally prodigious rate of consumption. Individuals like Milvain and Whelpdale are adequately adapted to this niche in that they satisfy the demands of this niche in terms of both content and output. Reardon panders to the vulgar taste only grudgingly and after long resistance and thereby cannot meet the production demands of this niche. Biffen absolutely refuses to pander at all. Alfred Yule does attempt to pander, but his mode of literary production is too inefficient to meet production demands, and he is also largely ignorant of vulgar literary taste. While more in touch with the vulgar reader than her father, Marian Yule is as inefficient in her literary production as her father. Therefore, each of the characters named above are equally maladaptive, albeit for various reasons, and thus their extinction by the novel's end strikes the reader as somehow inevitable. Whereas Milvain and Reardon's widow Amy are left to come together as the triumphant niche occupants and thus reproduce themselves in their offspring, should they decide to produce any.

I recently read New Grub Street, and I must say I was stunned by how much I enjoyed it. Gissing's prose and characterization hold up remarkably well. He's sort of an urban Hardy, though far more accessible to today's reader. I'd recommend this to any serious reader. Oh, and this novel is ripe for adaptation. A BBC miniseries would be great.

The quote right on the book cover says a lot about where the author is going to take the reader: "I'd follow Dolan into hell, and tell the devil to turn up the heat" (from fellow ranger Gary Norsworthy). This book is loosely based on the true life exploits of the author and those he served with in Vietnam with his Ranger unit. It is written as a novel and the story line carries lots of energy. Although there are profanities in the printed descriptions of the action and the men; they are clearly there to enhance the story line and give an authentic feel to the story. This may limit this book to a more mature audience (Certainly not recommended for children).

This book is an all meat and potatoes action book; but it also shows us a softer side through the loyalty and respect that these airborne soldiers had for each other. That side of the story becomes the thread that holds this unit together through difficult situations and times.

Author Gary Dolan has a thriller that will satisfy those who love this genre of books. This book has heroes and villains and good guys and bad guys and with some it is hard to tell which. This book will give you a look within one of the most elite units of the war and into some of their covert operations. Someone once said to me in Nam back in 1967, "Welcome to the jungles of hell!" Well, this is that kind of story.

I've finished reading the book, and i want to commend you for writing one of the best books ever published about "Charlie Rangers" in action. A very true and touching account of the men with Valor. The Thesis wrapped me up whereby i just couldn't put the book down. The missions, the men involved-placed the reader on the ground with them, sending the adrenalin within the body to its maxim. The danger,stress,fear,pain and excitment, from Contact to Extraction of every team is a reality of true accounts of missions carried out by "Charlie Rangers" in the Central Highlands- it invites the reader into the theater of WAR, sharing every single moment from start to finish. A reveting story of a young Ranger Officer.
I highly recommend this book for all forthcoming SOG Soldiers.

Great book. Written as fiction so the whole truth could be told. Forthright portrayal of a Ranger company in Vietnam by a veteran who took his lessons at West Point to heart.

Outstanding as a story of how an officer should lead men in combat. I recommend this book to every newly minted military officer and any one else who seeks the quintessential definition of good leadership.

John Reid, 173d Airborne Brigade (Sep) RVN 67-68 & 70, 101st Airborne Division RVN 68-69 & 71

Newly married and fresh out of school, Joe Dunn finds that instead of a year of familial intimacy and family comfort, he will be enduring three hundred and sixty-five days of jungle warfare in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam where one wrong move will get you impaled on bamboo spikes, covered with leeches, and hunted by strangers trying very hard to kill you. Joe Dunn is one of the elite long range fighters known as "Charlie Rangers of the American 75th Infantry. Of Their Own Accord gives the reader as close to a real feel for what went on in the jungles of Vietnam as can be had by anyone who wasn't actually there themselves. This is because back then, author Gary Dolan was Lieutenant Gary Dolan, Platoon Leader, 2nd Platoon Company C (Airborne), 75th Infantry (Rangers) and draws upon his first hand experiences and personal memories to breath life (and death) into his characters and the events that were an intimate part of a year in the life of an Airborne Ranger during the height of America's longest and least popular war of the 20th Century. A truly riveting read from beginning to end, Of Their Own Accord is an impressive literary creation and a superbly crafted work of novelized military history.

I read Gary's book, "Of Their Own Accord," in the fall of 2004. Gary and I were West Point classmates (Class of '69), we went thru Airborne, Ranger and Infantry Officer Basic together at Ft. Benning, and I was his best man at his wedding. After his wedding we only saw each other twice in 30-some years; once in Saigon in 1971 and once in the late '70s when he came out to California on a business trip. Then in the summer of 2004 we made contact again, via a WP class email list, and he sent me and advance electronic "pdf" copy of his book, asking me to read it and give him my opinion. I printed it out at work, because it took almost a full ream of 8.5x11 inch paper to print out, put a couple of rubber bands around it, and then proceeded to read it a lunch every day down in a large cafeteria in our office complex. Well, all the other hundreds of regulars down there probably thought I was a very concientious worker, always bringing what looked like a very think document to lunch every day to pore over. What they did not know was that I was reading one heck of a story, based on Gary's real life experiences as a Ranger platoon leader in Vietnam, circa 1970-1971. And what a story...! Gary had what could arguably be one of the most interesting, demanding and dangerous tours of duty any Infantry lieutenant could have had in Vietnam. As a Ranger platoon leader he was responsible for six recon teams: he sometimes personally went out with them "on the ground" on missions, often flew over them in a little military version of a Piper Cub where he was "the man," listening to five radios almost simultaneuously, directiy helicopters troopships and gunships, USAF jet fighters, US Army artillery mission, even on one occasion a fire mission from a US Navy battleship..! And doing all this from the back seat of a very small and vulnerable kite of a plane, which was bobbing and weaving around in the sky dodging enemy ground fire... But his book is more than tales of derring do, it is also about leadership, about looking after your men, leading by example, doing the right thing in very dangerous circumstances... In short, Gary's conduct as Ranger platoon leader epitomized both the motto of West Point, "Duty, Honor, Country," and the Ranger motto "Sua Sprente" (Of Their Own Accord"... Gary marched to the sound of the guns, accomplished the mission and cared for and took care of his men

I couldn't put this book down! I love the anticipation and dilemmas that this author put her characters through- characters who were so identifiable that were in situations that we have all been in at some time in our lives! The ride was a wild one, but so worth every page! I definitely recommend this book! Charlene Green is an author to watch out for!

I could not put this book down once I started reading it. I finished it in less than two days. My imagination was put to work right off the bat. This book just keeps you wanting to read more and more to find out what happens. I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone and everyone. =)

I was lucky enough to be given this book as a Christmas gift. I had some free time before work one day so I started the first chapter. I was instantly captured by the well developed characters and intriguing storyline. I ended up staying on the couch all day, reading, until it was finished. I rescheduled all of my lessons so I wouldn't have to go into work and would be able to find out how the story ended. A few times during the day I tried to put it down long enough to eat some lunch or answer a phone call but my mind would uncontrollably drift back to the characters and I was compelled to pick up the book again. You will not regret buying this book as it is a valuable addition to any library and a must read for those who appreciate such an exceptional work of art.

This was a great book. It capture me from the start and I could not put it down. It is truly a page turner. Great job Charlene. I can't wait to read more of your writing. The story line was great. I really would like to know more of Katrice and Weston life after the twins.

This is fun read that quickly involves you in the life of the characters. I didn't want to put it down, and was anxious to find out the fate of these well-written, true-to-life characters. It's a roller-coaster ride of laughter and tears, like life.

One of my favorite lexicons is Oxford Ameican Dictionary by Ehlich, Flexner, Carruth and Hawkins. As a matter of fact, I have been browsing for its publisher Avon Publishers of Bard, a division of Hearst Corporation of NY but could not locate it anywhere. I am so pleased with the entire format of the work that I am now looking for a replacement copy, a hardcover, if it is at all available. If only someone out there could advise where it might be found in and around Toronto, Ontario.

I am not a native speaker of North American English, and as such have relied extensively on OAD for all the help I can get -- particularly in the area of pronunciation. The system is uniquely logical, makes a lot of sense and is easy to master. I've recommended it to so many who are in my position. I would be thoroughly disappointed if I learned that the publication had been discontinued.

I like this dictionary, and use it often, but I have one complaint worth raising: THE PRINTING. Some of the pages seem to have been printed with too much ink, so "o" and "e" both look like solid black circles, and bolded "i" looks like bolded "l". Not a helpful trait in a dictionary!

Granted, I purchased this book because of its carriability, it is not the worst dictionary in the world. It contains a hefty amount of words compared to other compact dictionaries. But, what I traded for succinct entries is what I like about dictionaries: learning the unique history and etymology of a word. Otherwise, this dictionary got me through college.

The _Oxford American Dictionary_ , edited by Dr. Eugene Ehrlich, et al., is the best paperback American English dictionary. Even though the reissue edition of this dictionary is almost twenty years old, I consider it to be the best because it has excellent usage notes sprinkled among the usual definitions of words. Here is an entry with a note on usage: "hope*ful*ly (hohp'-ful-lee) 'adv.' 1. in a hopeful way. 2. it is to be hoped, 'hopefully, we shall be there by one o'clock.' > Many people regard the second use as unacceptable."

According to the editors, this dictionary "contains words and phrases likely to be met in reading and everyday life, including a number of slang, informal, and technical words and phrases." Many proper nouns, common foreign words, and abbreviations are defined, too. I suggest its purchase to university students for classroom use because this dictionary is small enough to be carried in a backpack. Students of English as a foreign language find its pronunciation guides easy to use. Others find it quite handy to keep nearby, in offices and homes, as a quick reference when writing or reading.

Highly recommended!

Need a small, lucid dictionary for looking up words and checking pronunciations? The Oxford American Dictionary (OAD) may be precisely what you need. Then again, it may not; it depends on what you value in a dictionary.

It is important, first, to note that there are essentially two types of dictionaries. Hardcover dictionaries are often large, cumbersome, and not at all portable. Their seemingly excessive size is spent on comprehensive definitions and large numbers of listed words. Paperback dictionaries tend to be much smaller, and are also called 'pocket' dictionaries because they, unlike hardcover dictionaries, can go wherever you go. Because of their smallness, paperback dictionaries contain fewer definitions than hardcovers, and are often forced to go without etymologies, or word histories.

The OAD is a pocket-sized, paperback dictionary. As such, it has certain limitations as well as strengths. Below I provide what are, in my opinion, the positive and negative aspects of this dictionary, followed by some additional commentary.

Pros:
-Highly portable
Although you would need cavernous pockets indeed for the OAD to be a true 'pocket' dictionary, it is compact enough to carry in a suitcase or book bag. The OAD is printed, too, on paper difficult to rip but also lightweight.

-Succinct definitions
One advantage of diminutive dictionaries is that in order to help reduce their size, editors reduce the length of their definitions. Brief, pithy definitions of words are easier and quicker to read than the longer definitions found in larger dictionaries.

-Useful usage advice
Although a dictionary is no substitute for such guides as Strunk and White's _The Elements of Style_ and Bernstein's _The Careful Writer_, the OAD is not afraid to let its prescriptive voice be heard. For example, after defining the word 'inflammable' (meaning 'able to be set on fire'), it is stated that the word 'means the same as ''flammable''; its opposite is ''noninflammable''. Careful writers prefer ''inflammable''.'

-Simplified pronunciation scheme
Most dictionaries, in showing how a word is pronounced, use symbols called 'diacritical marks'. Understanding them requires a special chart, which, though included in the dictionary, is itself confusing enough for many users to skip reading pronunciations altogether. Although this lax act saves people from temporary mental strain, they're punished in the long run by, for example, being caught pronouncing the word 'nuclear' as if it were spelled 'nucular'.

But I digress. The OAD does not use diacritical marks, and instead employs a simplified scheme that is easier to use without an explanatory chart, though one is still provided.

-Eugene Ehrlich is awesome
I didn't say this review was unbiased! One of the OAD's editors, Eugene Ehrlich, is the distinguished author of several excellent nonfiction books, including _Amo, Amas, Amat, and More_ (a Latin phrasebook) and _The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate_ (a delightful sort of dignified rant about dictionary editors who perpetuate what Ehrlich deems poor usage, and much more).

Cons:
-Somewhat outdated
The OAD was published in 1980, and to some degree, it shows. Recently coined words, such as 'newbie', 'microsleep', and 'web' in the sense of the World Wide Web, are not present.

Don't be misled, however, into thinking that a dictionary absolutely must be up-to-date. If that were true, dictionary-makers would sell fewer dictionaries and software-makers, such as Microsoft, would be far less successful.

-Small, ergo not very comprehensive
This is to be expected in a pocket-sized dictionary. If you're going to own a small dictionary, own a large one, too. If possible, go to a real-life, physical bookstore and compare the hardcover dictionaries there. Consider factors such as print size (you'll want the text to be readable without a monocle), page size (you'll want large, but also thick, pages), definitions (do they make sense? are they detailed enough?), and illustrations (do you want quality? quantity? color?).

-Fairly flimsy cover
Books are unlike leather in that they don't improve with wear. Paperback books are not also called 'softcovers' for nothing, and the OAD is no exception. After just a year of regular use, my own copy's cover is bent, torn, and scuffed at every edge. The pages, too, are beginning to warp at one corner in the manner of ancient floorboards.

Not all paperback books have such ephemeral covers. My 'softcover' edition of Seamus Heaney's 'Beowulf' translation is thick, semirigid, and is not going to tear in half any time soon. If only the OAD were printed similarly!

-Paucity of etymologies
Large, hardcover dictionaries invariably feature a plenitude of etymologies, or word histories. They're informative, entertaining, and important if you want to better understand a word--and the English language in general.

Besides reducing the length of definitions and reducing the number of definitions themselves, editors must pluck out countless etymologies in order to make a compact dictionary. The OAD has undergone this treatment, but fortunately, the few word histories it contains are fascinating ones.

-No illustrations
Some dictionaries are ostentatious, overflowing with rich color illustrations; some are utilitarian, with monochrome drawings throughout; and some are irksome, with nothing but words.

Commentary:
Again, I recommend that you never use a paperback dictionary (such as the OAD) without a hardcover one in your possession as well. Hardcover dictionaries are satisfyingly comprehensive, but also unwieldy and expensive. That is probably why paperback dictionaries came into being.

As you can see from the five stars, I unabashedly recommend that you purchase the Oxford American Dictionary. But one last caveat: avoid the 'reprint', the 'mass market paperback'--the one with a red cover. Buy the one with a yellow cover, which is a bit more expensive, but also larger and printed on higher-quality paper, making it much easier to read. If you're considering buying this dictionary and using it with any frequency, you will not regret it.

Look, I am a obsessive reader. George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, Henry James, Jane Austen, Trollope, Dickens, Joyce, Proust... Anything before 1890 and fiction. I read to escape. I know Tyler and wanted to support him so I bought his book. I had never read a book of this sort. And didn't think I would even get past the first page. This book made my head spin. I have never had a book make me think more than this one did. About war. And warriors. About the warrior in each of us. Why is it there in the first place? We couldn't survive without it. Tyler's book blasted my mind wide open on a subject that was as foreign to me as any could possibly be. I recommend this book for everyone. It is not a war book. It is about human nature in its most challenging moments. Fabulous book.

Tyler E. Boudreau has written a very important book. Packing Inferno should be a mandatory read for any young man considering handing his life over to the United States Marine Corps. I think it would make some of them think twice.

This book is so informative about the "real" situation in Iraq. I felt like I was reading some top secret file or something. When I was done, my opposition to the "war" was quite stronger than before. It really helped me justify my feelings. Boudreau has the gift of being able to take you there with his words. its simple, to the point and highly emotional.

if you find yourself feeling confused about this war and wondering what the hell is going on over there, read Packing Inferno. It will shed some light on the situation.

I cant really say enough about this book. you should read it.

Packing Inferno: The Unmaking of a Marine (Feral House)

It is easy enough to find war books with 20/20 hindsight, but this is not history. "This is really happening!" to quote Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby. This is our war, and this is the war that has sent the American economy into a nightmarish spiral.

Boudreau, a truly talented writer, and a dedicated lifelong Marine, does not speak from an academic ivory tower. Boudreau documents his time in Iraq with brutal honesty.

Packing Inferno salutes our troops and their bravery, and their attempts to carry out missions with little or no instruction. He is incredibly articulate in describing how all missions in Iraq became missions to protect supply lines, and lives of American troops. And how, once in Iraq, the concept of winning hearts and minds became an impossible order, since no one was able to tell who the enemy was.

Packing Inferno is not only one of the greatest war books ever written, but also one of the best anti-war books.

Packing Inferno is a must have for any college, or public library, with so many returning veterens, with so little psychologic help for them, and so little understanding by an underinformed public.

Whereever you stand on the issue of the Iraq war, this is a MUST READ book.

This is one of the most sublime, real books that I have read on the soldier's experience in Iraq. The author has a talent of weaving on-the-ground anecdotes with deep questions and insights all in an attempt to come to grips with his ambivalent experience. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to see the mission through the eyes of a Marine.

In a word, this book is excellent. Captain Boudreau takes us on a journey, not only through the streets and countryside of Iraq during this "war", but also, honestly and movingly, through his own inner struggle as he searches within himself to reconcile his early years as a committed Marine infantryman with his existence in what we call "normal daily life."
You will learn much from this book: about War; about the "war" in Iraq; about contradictions (not only in "war", but in all of us); and especially about how one man/soldier has bravely attempted to deal with the internal turmoil which results from these contradictions. And, you will become engaged and stay engaged through the entire book.
Again: Excellent!

Playtime was a very good and very smart read about one woman who decides it's her "playtime" and doesn't let anyone--not even her husband!!!--stand in her way. I liked the concept and some of the theories behind what the character does as well.

Kim Corum's Playtime is one of the steamiest erotic novels ever written. The novel about a woman's quest to shatter all sexual inhibitions satisfied me from beginning to end - so to speak. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to act on every deviant and taboo sexual desire then this is the book for you. Corum does an excellent job chronicling the life of the proverbial bad girl. Even though it doesn't exceed Corum's Breaking the Girl, Playtime is insatiable erotica nevertheless. Highly recommended to all erotic fiction enthusiasts...

Playtimes is like nothing I've ever read before. It goes beyond the whole "sowing your wild oats" thing and really gets in there and tells what it feels like when feelings change and a person starts to look around. The situations/fantasies were sexy and humorous and I loved the character of Mona, who was just like a real person to me. This is definitely a different sort of book, but one well worth reading, esp. if a person was married at a young age.

Playtime is an erotic novel combined with a really good story about relationships. I thought Mona was a great character becuase she took chances and did her own thing. I loved it!!

I didn't expect Playtime to be so radical--non-traditional relationship story. But I found myself drawn into the character's motivation and loving what she was doing for herself--freeing herself sexually. It was such an interesting concept and not one I've ever seen in erotica before. I say good for the author for writing this book and staying away from the "typcial" storylines of "typical" erotica. I'd love to read another of her works.

Lynn Eisaguirre knows the real world of work. Her examples are startingly realistic! Most importantly, she gives clear strategies for viewing and handling conflict differently. In the end, after reading this book, you will probably become an advocate and tell others that "conflict is good!" Lynn makes you think! You may not agree with everything, but you will definitely think about your own approach and explore ways to manage conflict differently! Business managers who handle conflict in the workplace must read this book!

Lynne Eisaguirre's 5 personality styles describe everyone I've ever worked with! I have had conflicts and situations at work that would have been be better, more productive, and a LOT less stressful if I had read this book earlier. I learned how to approach someone better and how to be more confrontable myself! She really produces creativity out of every situation. Companies should buy this book for thier employees and leave in the office lounge for EVERYONE to read! It's a great way to improve the atmosphere and environment of every office!

Lynne's book arrived at the perfect time! As hospitals deal with nursing shortages as well as other shortages of healthcare workers in the U.S., managers need to make the most of the staff we have. We owe it to our patients and the physicians we serve to be the best we can be each day. The attempt to stretch ourselves to cover all the requirements of safe patient care with overwhelming budget cuts have led to short fuses and easy frustrations on a daily basis in acute healthcare.
The Power of a Good Fight brings hope and ease to managers in what often seems to be an unmanageable work world, by simply and powerfully taking us step by step through all the What-ifs we face. Ahhh...It feels like having a coach at my side. I liked the book and plan to pass it around!

Every woman in the work world should read the Power Of A Good Fight. I am not a huge fan of business books, but a close friend recommended I read this book. I am glad she did.

Lynne Eisaguirre explains why actually starting a fight can be the best way to improve your work environment. Eisaguirre's advice is right on target. I tried out her suggestions and have had a great response. From now on, I plan to address work place issues as they come up, just as I always have in my personal life.

If I had known years ago what Lynne Eisaguirre writes about the various conflict styles in her book, The Power Of A Good Fight, my career and life would have moved along a less rocky road. I now understand that one partner I worked for had a 'roadrunner' approach to conflict resolution; the other a 'pitbull' approach. Although I realize possessing this information would not have changed the way my bosses approached conflict resolution, I'm certain what would have changed, was my approach to them and their conflicts. The Power Of A Good Fight offers valuable knowledge and skills about effectively dealing with different approaches to conflict resolution. This would have improved my career and life had I known then what Lynne tells me now in The Power Of A Good Fight.

I should have been here years ago writing this review. If there was _one_ book that I could attribute to changing my life in a real and significant way, this would be it. IE Irodov's 'Problems in General Physics' is a Sistine-Chapel, an Illiad or a Mona Lisa - if you will - of Physics. I am disappointed by the fact that it's probably no longer available. More so, there are just under 10-12 reviews on a book that touched millions and millions of high-school/college students every single year (atleast in the Indian Subcontinent and ofcourse, Russia).

The book is a collection of problems. Period. Few of them are easy, most of them are tough and all of them are a joy to tackle. Sometimes it may take you even days to figure out a single problem. I remember going to bed with a problem and waking up in the middle of the night just because I dreamed of a solution that might work. This book (along with Ressnick and Halliday) inculcated in me a deep understanding of the nature of Physics, the beauty in problem solving through rigorous mathematical and analytical techniques. Many problems in Irodov involved not only a good understanding of physics, but also mental alertness. A question in the "Optics" section could just as easily involve an understanding of gravity, electricity and even mechanics.

I hope this book is not forgotten anytime soon. It's a work of art.

-

I used this book in my preparation for the Engineering Entrance examination. I loved and enjoyed the compilation of the difficult problems it presented. I was about 16 years old when I used this book. I had it till I finish the high school. I am sure there might be a solution book already out there by now. I would recommend this book for all the physics enthusiasts, young physics minds who want some challenges, I am sure I would use this book when my son grows old. Fundamentals would never change. Great book, and I still carry this in my collection.

I really feel proud to give a review on I. E. Irodov's renowned book tilted Problems in General Physics. I still remember those exciting days back in 95,96 when I used to remain engrossed with some of the mathematically challenging problems in the book while preparing for IIT-JEE .I enjoyed solving each one of the problems I've been able to solve.

But , as some one has rightly commented, it's targetted to a mathematically inclined audience,capable of appreciating the need to quantify physics.

So dear readers,a prerequisite for a successful venture into solving Irodov problems is a good grasp of Vector Analysis and Calculus.

Thanks
Santosh Banerjee
--I still miss those problems :-)

The problems in this book challenges even the best brains in the world. It mostly tests the fundamentals of your knowledge in basic Physics. Some problems may be very tricky and may require the use of principles across two or more topics in Physics (example: electromagnetism and heat). Don't be surprised if I told you that some problems may take a day or more to solve. In the end, this book will prepare you well to take any and toughest examination in the world, in basic Physics. A 'must have' for any Physics lover !!

The classic Irodov problems are daunting in the sense that they are informal and need a thorough understanding of not only a single chapter but a good understanding of all the fundamentals.Some of the problems may take several hours long but don't get bogged down.If you can solve at least 80% of the problems in a single exercise you can rest assure that you have clear fundamentals and also do have the ability to apply them.They are a must for every IIT(Indian Istitute of Technology) aspirant and also comes helps in the olympiads.There are a lot of solution manual in the market(atleast in India) but one should try to stay away from them and have confidence in himself or herself.All in all a class act!