Authors Books

At first glance this book is typical of the genre aimed at young twenty-somethings wanting to spend most of their first-job salaries on designer clothes (and it is replete with all of the requisite brand name mentions.) What makes it different and worth the read is that it features a first generation Muslim immigrant to Canada as its heroine, and gives a sympathetic portrait of her and her family and friends. The backdrops of Montreal and Cuba are a great change from New York City.

The discussion questions at the end of the book are ridiculous, though. Might as well ask, "do you prefer mojitos or Cuba libres?"

Fashionably Late is an exceptional book! I loved every second of it. It was very entertaining and inspirational.

It's hard to believe this is Nadine Dajani's first novel and I, for one, will be lined up for her next book. Aline is a lovable (and laughable) main character and any woman who has wondered "how did I get here? and is here where I want to be??" will laugh and cry with Aline as she struggles to find her own way. The prose is entertaining with an edge that makes it believable. I read it all the way through in one sitting and loved every word. Can't wait for the next one!

Nadine Dajani's debut novel takes the girl-finding-herself theme and makes it her own with Aline, a Lebanese-Canadian accountant with dreams of fashion and romance and love. At 22, she's young, but she already knows that the life her parents want her to lead?marrying Brian, her boyfriend of three years, who she pretends she's not sleeping with, slogging away at accounting?isn't really working for her. When she fails a vital exam, she freaks out and flees to Cuba with her best friends Jaz and Sophie. There, the very tight friendship amongst the three both cements and unravels. Free from the pressures of home, they can go wild, but Aline isn't sure what to do about her growing attraction to sexy Miguel.

At times, her self-pity and berating seems a bit over the top, especially before she's even done anything with Miguel, but Dajani makes it clear that Aline is in turmoil. She also turns Aline from the label-conscious materialistic fashion queen she appears at first into someone in touch with (and searching for) her roots, and her observations of the beauty and heartbreak of Cuba, and how it reminds her of the Beirut of her youth, are some of the best parts of the book. Aline feels alone even amidst the people she considers her best friends, withholding secrets from them for fear of judgment.

When she returns, she has to face Brian's wrath, a harsh office environment, and a work crisis that calls on her to push herself beyond her comfort level and take some risks. In the process, she starts to figure out what she might want, not free from her family, but not letting them dictate her life.

Dajani is best when contrasting cultures, showing the similarities and differences in class and culture amongst Aline and her Lebanese friends and their Canadian counterparts, as well as the Cubans they meet. She doesn't try to make Aline a poster child for anything, yet over the course of the book, Aline tries to see more closely where her restrictive parents are coming from. There's the stereotypical boss from hell, but Dajani paints even Aline's office with its own unique humor. There's plenty of fun and fashion and beach-side adventure here, not to mention sexual attraction, but there's a lot more as well. Fashion isn't painted as some wealthy insiders' club, but something Aline is drawn to and is willing to take risks for. I was riveted to this wonderful story and am looking forward to Dajani's next book.

Fashionably Late is such a fun, inspiring, vivid, and entertaining story. I loved it from beginning to end, and I feel like I *know* the characters. I can't wait to read Nadine Dajani's future novels.

I highly recommend this book whether you're sprawled out on a sunny beach or cozied up in your duvet while it's snowing outside (and dreaming about a sunny beach).

...I have been eating poetry.' The quote at the beginning of the book is now, since reading it, my poetry mantra.This book is a delight.Others share their favourite poems after their reason why/or the reason/s they love poetry.There is a real mix of selections, which make a pleasurable read for anyone with a taste for poetry.

An anthology that proves that the gift of heartbreak are the art forms that celebrate a testament to the lost love, such as poetry that allows the remembrance of that love to live forever.

Think about your childhood, or the time when, as a teenager, you idly turned the page onto a poem that forever changed your world. Then multiply that experience by 68 and you have the contents and flavor of FIRST LOVES. edited by Carmela Ciuraru. Some of the poets she asked to contribute are already no longer with us, so their comments here have a slightly valedictory quality which makes this book even sweeter now, than when it first appeared three years ago.

It is also a good book to share with your own children. What's nice to know is that, in the middle of today's crazy world, young people are still stumbling across their very first poem, and again are succumbing to the pleasures of the word. A noble book, filled with lasting memories.

Simply a series of short essays in which poets comment on the poems that first awakened them to poetry. Fortunately, the poets seem to have felt no need to be "poetic" in their essays, which are all fairly straightforward and insightful. The poems themselves are, of course, included as well. It's interesting to see the diversity of poems that others have found meaningful and to hear their explanations as to why: Two selected "Jabberwocky" to my mild surprise, while another selected "Suzane Takes You Down" and another selected a Rodgers & Hammerstein lyric. Others selected more obscure poems that I find it hard to believe anyone would regard as meaningful, but that's the charm of this book. The one who selected "For a Dead Kitten" ("How could this small body hold / So immense a thing as Death?") is my new Favorite Poet, even though I've never heard of her or read anything she's written.

Poetry can be inspiring, uplifting and daunting. This book, however, takes a tack which will inform even the most casual poetry reader. Editor Carmen Ciuraru asked writers to name the poem which inspired them to write -- so, in this handy volume, you get a short essay about a poem and then get a chance to read the poem itself. It includes a wide range of poets and poetic forms, from Yeats and Dickinson to Rilke and Williams. It's also fairly easy to read because you can select certain essays to read in one sitting. This is a perfect book for those who think they like poetry and don't exactly know where to start.

This book truly deserves full marks. It is a stellar example of sci-fi/fantasy writing. The writing is clear with great imagery and natural flow. The setting & it's characters are extremely well developed, the action is fast paced and engaging, and the plot is truly compelling. Really, I devoured this book quickly, and was left hungering for sequels (i even contacted the author to cheer him on... you can google his website & blog).

Kenneth McNary just wanted a hike on an Appalachian Trail. Nice, peaceful hike, maybe find some inspiration as he did so. "The Soulstealer War: The First Mother's Fire" tells of when he doesn't find either of those and instead is thrust into another world and told by some sentience that he must unite the world's denizens for an upcoming war where there are major consequences for every life lost. Forced to deal with this strange new world and the need to learn to adapt quickly, Kenneth must do all he can to survive- and heeding that call may be the only way he can pull that off. "The Soulstealer War: The First Mother's Fire" is highly recommended for community library fantasy collections and for fantasy lovers in general, who should hope for further installments of the series.

The author is a friend of mine from college, and I bought this book out of loyalty. I hadn't read any fantasy since high school, and I was quite sure my tastes had matured beyond swords and magic. Wrong. Reading this book was nothing like the chore I expected it to be. It was a lot of fun, and as I got towards the end I found myself staying up late because I couldn't stop reading.

To my friend Bill, congratulations and thanks.

I have been reading fantasy avidly for over 30 years and this book ranks among the best for its creativity and vivid imagery. Hoffman is a new writer in the genre but you wouldn't know it from reading the book. Its got a great twist in that the main character, Ken McNary, is a rugged survivalist with a legal background. His combination of physical strength and intellectual prowess were a welcome change from more typical fantasy protagonists. As for the alternate world that Ken travels into...it is awesome and the Boris Vallejo cover art does it justice. No fantasy would be complete without fierce battles and a sexy heroin and Hoffman didn't let the readers down on either of these fronts. I am eagerly awaiting Book Two of the Soulstealer War

"The First Mother's Fire", Book One of the new fantasy series "The Soulstealer War" by W.L. Hoffman, is a novel that was difficult to put down and is now proving impossible to shake. Certain books crawl inside you and take up residence for varying times and am guessing that this one is in for an extended stay.

The novel is essentially a philosophy book that uses the genre of fantasy/sci-fi to present its queries, questions, thoughts and ideas. The protagonist, Ken McNary, provides the reader with an equal amount of ideas and theories as well as questions and queries. Thrust into an alternate but connected world, McNary struggles to make sense of his new environment while struggling with ancient questions regarding one's purpose, relation to the earth and environment, religion, and the origin, use and cost of true power.

What is truly amazing about "The First Mother's Fire" is that Hoffman is able to present such weighty subject matter via an epic fantasy storyline with plenty of action and pacing. The philosophical subject matter is given its due deference but does not weigh down the story or the adventure into which the reader is transported. Rather, the questions and thoughts of McNary are natural parts of the strange experience in which he finds himself.

Hoffman is clearly well-versed in the genre. One notes his respectful nod to the master Tolkien early in the novel with Ken's introduction to Hala echoing Frodo's introduction to Lembas. But Hoffman's book is far from a recycling of well-worn fantasy characters and plots as he takes the reader down refreshingly original and untrodden paths.

The release of Book Two in the "The Soulstealer War" will be a welcomed date for this reader.

It's possible I'm biased because of my interest in Central Asia. I'm not sure how this book would be received by someone with no interest in the region, but I suspect it would still be a great read.

For me, this was the first book in a long time that brought out the 'just a few more pages' type of mentality that keeps you reading until the wee hours of the morning (it's a short book though, so start it early in the day so you don't stay up too late!).

One of the greatest parts of this is how each story seems to speak to a different part of me.

I really enjoyed it. And with the used prices below a dollar, I think you'd be missing out not to pick it up.

As I read, I was looking at the structural underpinnings of theses stories. I was interested in what happened to a story that was told in a foreign land. What role does place play in the exotic story? How does a writer balance the need to explain the exotic with the need tell a story? What stories can be told only in an exotic land and why?

And of course, there were no real answers. In some of the stories ("Aral," and to a lesser degree, "Death in Defier") place is integral to the telling of the story. The place is an import part of the plot and is treated as another character that acts within (or upon) the story. Place influences the lives of the characters and their decisions. The movement of the story depends on the place. It is difficult to imagine the story unfolding in any other location, just like it is difficult to imagine the same story with different characters. Change the place and you change the story.

Other stories ("The Ambassador's Son," "God Lives in St. Petersburg," "Expensive Trips Nowhere") are less dependent on place. The real action in the story involves the characters. Although the stories unfold in Central Asia, they could (perhaps) just as easily take place in Africa, Mexico, or rural Alabama. The stories are character driven.

It is also interesting to see how politics are woven into the stories. The characters in "Death in Defier" all hold different political views, and those views are drawn in contrast to the shared reality of life between Mazar and Kunduz.

I also noticed that although place can have some of the same characteristics in a story as character, they are not the same. And even if you have a character that is moving through and engaging with an exotic landscape, it is not the same dynamic as characters interacting with one another. A character interacting with an exotic place is not nearly as interesting, from the perspective of engaging fiction, as characters interacting with one another. Even in the stories that depend on place, it is still the character that carries the story forward.

There is also the issue of back-story. It can really slow the action, particularly in the short story. But back-story seems sometimes vital in developing character and motivation. Bissell does not shy away from back-story, nor does he seem to have a problem with switching POV. In "Expensive Trips Nowhere," the POV switches among the three characters. Back-story stretches across pages and between characters. The main event of the story, an attempted high-country mugging, is actually told as back-story. And I am not sure if it works. This sort of forward, back, in and out, motion certainly does not make for a clean narrative trajectory. And there is some information that is redundant (like the guide's twice told history of service in Afghanistan). But I can also say that I found the story engaging and did not get the sense that it ever stalled.

All in all this is a great collection. And it can be simply enjoyed by an adventure seeking reader, or mined by the beginning writer for craft.

This book touches on a subject of life in the former soviet republics in asia and Afghanistan. It is predictabely grim, yet author tries to make the stories unique and interesting to read. I liked the stories for their exposition of desperation in peoples lives. Having been born in the former soviet union myself I can attest to how alien that world is. There a note in the book that indeed much has happened since the stories were written and it should be noted that oil wealth has changed the situation for very few people but has transformed the main capitals.

From the first few pages of this book, we know we are reading a master who knows the facts in Afghanistan and the smaller new nations just north of it , and south of Russia. Every yarn is unique, some with tons of black humor, others placing you right inside the Afghan war. The first tells of a journalist trying his best to get some penicillin for his malaria sticken pal, including risking his life in a mad rush near the battlesgrounds, to a supposed plant/field that can kill the disease. The end is shocking, and horrific. In "The Ambassador's Son" we are inside the wild west flavor of a new "Istan" nation,including some of the zaniest writing imaginable. To compare this author with Hemingway, Kiplang, and Greene is indeed not a stretch. In fact, I even prefer this short collection to many of the past "Classics" of foreign intrigue and war.

Tom Bissell is fond of sprinkling aphorisms throughout the stories in this fine collection, so let's lay one on him: Only a young man with his entire life stretched out before him could afford to be so pessimistic about life's possibilities.

Granted, he's writing about places it's easy to be pessimistic about, god-forsaken Central Asian Republics spawned by the collapse of the Soviet Empire, places that are a "combo of Soviet paranoia and Muslim xenophobia" as one character puts it. Five of the collection's six stories follow this pattern: take a (young) American; drop him or her into a central Asian country; stir; chronicle the resulting disaster.

The first story, Death Defier, is probably the best. A free-lance American photographer gets caught in a difficult situation in Afghanistan while trying to help a British reporter felled by a virulent strain of malaria. The story poses an interesting question: can you dive so deeply into the mechanics and aesthetics of war that you become immune to death-terror? Bissell grapples honorably with the complex sensibility of war correspondents, people who are voyeuristic and deeply engaged, often at the same time. Aral is about Amanda, an American biologist sent by the United Nations to study the shrinking Aral Sea (a hall of fame ecological screw-up). Amanda consistently misreads the intent of the people around her. She displays that combustible American mix of idealism, aggressiveness and ignorance of the local culture that's served us so well in Vietnam and Iraq.

Expensive Trips Nowhere and The Ambassador's Son are ugly American stories. In an Author's Note, Bissell acknowledges his debt to Hemingway's The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber for Expensive Trips Nowhere, which is about courage or the lack thereof on the steppes of Kazakhstan. The Ambassador's Son is about what you'd get if you dropped the Jay McInerney of Bright Lights, Big City into the capital of Tashkent. It should be noted that Bissell writes well about sex, giving it neither more nor less significance than the situation he's describing merits. The final story, Animals in Our Lives, is the only one set in America. Franklin, a recently returned expat English teacher, and Elizabeth, a med student, spend an afternoon at the zoo and experience the moment when it comes clear they don't have a future with each other. It's a sensitive rendering of the kinds of pain your intellect can't protect you from.

The title story, which won a Pushcart Prize, is about Timothy, a missionary in Samarkand whose faith gets subverted by physical urges. Bissell gets the succumbing to temptation part just right, along with the heartbreaking juxtaposition of sex with hope that pervades the world's downtrodden places. What's missing is a visceral sense of the struggle to hold on to God. God may not live in St Petersburg, but Dostoievksi did, and the master understood that sin gains heft through the hubris of the sinner. Something enormous was at stake for Dostoievski's spiritual criminals; they pitched themselves willingly on to the pyre, inviting and accepting oblivion for their defiance. Timothy settles for the tiny oblivion of orgasm, then sits in a fug of post-coital remorse waiting for God to ring him up. He's simply not a big enough person to carry his part of the argument, so the story falls short of the tragic dimension it tries to achieve.

There's a lot to like about Bissell as a writer. He's willing to engage with far-off, difficult cultures, and willing to wrestle with big ideas like death and sin. He writes a prose that's both erudite and plainspoken, which is hard to do. He can be both trenchant and expansive in his observations, often in the same well-turned phrase. His efforts to describe the ways in which the personal and political infuse and alter one another takes him into territory mined so productively by Graham Greene. While each of the individual stories may not be perfectly realized, it feels like there's something at stake here, maybe something important.

He's an author work rooting for, and I'd definitely buy his next book.

Pearson's memoir drew me in from the first page, as she relates her initial encounter with her future husband. "Gerald shone. That's the best way I can describe him. He shone."
Can't we all relate to that Kismet moment, the first meeting with "the one." When our pheromones come alive and propel us to pursue the OBJECT, the prize, our destiny.
The author's Mormon religion has instilled in her, early on, a desire for an "eternal marriage" much like her parents own union, which only ended at her mother's death.
Gerald, also a Mormon, and Carol Lynn, joked about Brigham Young's statement that "any young man over the age of twenty-one who is not married is a menace to the community."
After Gerald proposes, he decides to share a deep truth with Carol Lynn. Which is that he has had homsexual experiences, but has repented of his sins. He then promises her that she will be enough for him sexually after they are married.
She accepts Gerald's promise, as she'd always been taught that when tempted, boy's were weaker than girls. Their ensuing marriage brings challenges beyond the norm, as Gerald loses his battle against his homosexual cravings. Yet Carol Lynn's love for her husband never dies.
As an author and a human being, she shines. Her personal integrity, compassion, and capacity for unconditional love, awed me as a reader. I devoured this book in two sittings, fascinated by the true love shared between this husband and wife. She supported Gerald, even when he contracted AIDS, and brought him home to die with she and their children by his side till the end.
They both rose to bear witness to their highest selves, in spite of their horrific circumstances. This memoir is full of rare insights into the complexities of a romantic relationship, and to the human condition. It educates, entertains, and inspires. Kudos to Pearson's courage in sharing this extremely personal story. An awesome book by an outstanding writer.

I had heard of Carol Lynn Pearson's story, and I expected the story to be interesting, but I had no idea how much I would feel, and how many things I would have to think about (a lot, not just the reality of homosexuality, not just the many types and forms of love, but many many things.) I was completely unprepared to laugh, but I did, and I must say, the Pearson's were amazing people. Such strength, such energy, such a desire to be like Christ and do what is right. This story is incredible and incredibly written.

This is the first book I came across that truly captured what it is like to be gay and married and it was written by the straight spouse. Of course, that was years ago and now I have come out of the closet and have found my voice and know what is in my heart. But back then I was deep in the closet and this book was a godsend. Thank you, Carol Lynn, from the bottom of my heart. It was wonderful to see in words what before I had only felt and not understood. However, I wished I had read your thoughts and feelings about being a straight spouse more carefully. It would have given me so much insight into what was going on with my wife. It took me years to gain that insight on my own. But back then it was all I could do to handle my own pain.

You might not think an account of a couple who divorces due to homosexuality could be a memorable love story, but this one really is. I read this book many years ago, and was so moved by it. Carol Lynn Pearson is a remarkable woman. She writes this book with such transparency of her emotions. The love she had for Gerald Pearson before, during, and after their marriage is so rare. They truly were soulmates, but couldn't be married and both be happy. I started out by reading other books by her, especially about women in traditional church. She is Mormon and I was, at the time, too. I grew up Catholic, and that church and the Mormon church both put limits on what women can do. In in the Catholic church women can't be priests, and in the Mormon church, they can't hold the priesthood. She writes about the bewilderment of that inequity, the same way she wrote about her bewilderment of her husband deciding to live as a gay man, and the struggles he had with that decision. I have felt similar struggles trying to find a place as a woman in traditional Christian churches. When I tried to talk with others about my feelings about feeling less as a woman in the church, I was told I shouldn't feel that way. The way she writes about people who feel disenfranchised by policies and religious tenets made me feel like FINALLY someone gets it. I actually called her on the phone many years ago to tell her to tell her how thankful I was that someone else understood about being a woman in a tradtionally male dominated church, and she was so generous and gracious on the phone to talk with me for a few minutes, so I could tell her thank you. The compassion she has for people who feel like outsiders, and how she treats those people, is what I think of as true Christ-like love. I highly recommmend this book for anyone who ever felt like they don't belong. She went through a very difficult time and showed unfailing love, just like Christ would do.

Carol Pearson is a wonderful writer. I felt like I was right there with her she relly pulls you into her life and feelings. I only hope that Carol has found love and happiness with a strong, straight loving man, which she deserves. She treated her husband Gerald with compassion and sympathy, something not a lot of other women would do. The only thing that bothered me was Gerald's insistance that his children call him "gerald" and not "Dad" since he was the children's biological father. I sincerely hope Carol and her children have found closure, peace happiness and love: they deserve it! A wonderful book!

I received the book even faster than I thought I would. It is in great shape as described.

Great Speeches by African Americans: Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, and Others (Thrift Edition)

It was wonderful to read these great speeches by great people. The book is something to be cherised by all. It was easy reading and the price is right. I will probably purchase more of this book to give to friends and family. Barack Obama is the man of the year, so everyone wants to read his speech.

I expected this book to be inspiring, since I have collected quotes from these speakers.... It lived up to the promise and then some. There is such a compelling glimpse into history and moments of greatness, probably seen best in hindsight.

I would love to see this book used in schools!

It was wonderful to find a compilation of full length speeches by African Americans. The speeches span from 1843 to 2005, and include lesser known speakers such as Henry Highland Garnet and Jermain Wesley Loguen, to the renowned Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois. As interesting and historically significant, if not coincidental, and timely, are speeches by Shirley Chisholm, and Barack Obama. Both were graduates of Columbia University. While Ms. Chisholm was the first African American female to hold office in the House of Representatives, Mr. Obama is the first African American male to hold an office in the Senate, since reconstruction. Additionally, one sought, while the other is seeking to hold the highest office in the United States - President. This compilation is a great addition to any household library.

The Great, Great, Great Chicken War This is a children's book that all ages can enjoy. The young author - David de la Garza - and his parents have created a book that has gorgeous art with a story that all ages can enjoy. Not only can they enjoy the story-poem for its rhythm and sounds, but also for the story it tells. I bought the book for a five-year-old and discovered that his two-year-old brother was fascinated by the creatures and colors - the art work. And after hearing it read aloud, the five-year-old started talking about the story - about war - and the oldest of the three children, a ten-year-old joined in the conversation and for perhaps the first time, didn't talk down to his younger brother. While the book is not religious, a friend of mine who teaches Sunday School plans to use the book for a class discussion on resolving arguments and disagreements. I think the book is a delight--wonderful art and thoughtful story without it being preachy or sounding "educational." The story-poem has some terrific lines that start with "In the Great great great Chicken War, the rooster rode the rhino out the door, Angry and eager to settle a score"....and the accompanying illustration is imaginary and creative while the rooster atop the rhino is recognizable. I expect this book to become a classic. The Great, Great, Great Chicken War

Great collaboration, great pictures, great poetry. My son has had many questions about war just from over hearing NPR talking about casualties for the day. Although abstract, the thoughts and images expressed in this book helped me explain some hard issues on a kid's level.

Written by parents struggling to explain the concept of war to their young son, The Great, Great, Great Chicken War is a children's picturebook that presents concepts such as war and fighting in the simplest possible terms. Tackling the idea that sometimes people can be too silly or chicken to talk out their problems and fight instead, The Great, Great, Great Chicken War combines rhyming verse with exaggerated color pictures in a gentle, whimsical style. "In the Great, Great, Great Chicken War, // Rockets filled the sky with a deafening roar, / Criss-crossing a land where peace was no more. // Velociraptors stormed across the isle, / Scorching the land for mile after mile. // And in the deep ocean, where sea creatures sing, / Silent octopus feared what the future would bring." The Great, Great, Great Chicken War is an effective way to open the topic of war with young children, with a subtle message against wars fought for seemingly pointless reasons. A portion of the profits of The Great, Great, Great Chicken War will be donated to charity for child victims of war or disaster.

So often adults are the teachers and know it all...it is refreshing and grounding to hear and see things from a child's perspective to allow us as adults to stand back, re-group and open are eyes and say, oh yes, that is what it is all about.
david reminds us all that things such as war so often absurd and lacking in reason and sense. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the grown up decision-makers could stand back and realize the shear magnitude in numbers of innocent victims in so many unthinkable ways and the little that is accomplished with so much tragedy.

I introduced this book to a group of fifth grade students, and the discussion that followed was incredible. The pictures and the stories led to a great discussion about trying to make sense of the world and the children's perspective on war and their desire to have peace in the world. Along with using the book as an introduction to a deeper discussion, the words and sentences that make up the story can be used to illustrate descriptive writing, and metaphors to enhance a literacy lesson. I would recommend that this book be placed in all school libraries. We have it here in our library now at an international school, and I have also recommended it to our guidance counseling department for use with students and parents trying to make sense of our world!

One of the most provocative first collections I've ever read. This book has it all--a father who slaughters a horse because his son is killed, a young Amish boy who becomes English, and jumps the fence to do so. These stories are about hope and salvation, about dysfunction and survival. Read it. It's good. I heard this author is coming out with a collection of essays, and I can't wait to read them. I believe it will be published by Warner Books, so keep your eyes open, because I know it's going to be good.

I took creative writing with this woman and can tell you she is not only a great teacher, she's also a very talented writer. Diana Joseph's stories are humorous and sad and tell it like it is. Take her classes and read this book!!!

"The septic system man likes Leslie. He found her needy and vulnerable and sweet.
"He would mistake this for love."

So writes Diana Joseph from her story "Windows and Words," one of the many resonant stories from her debut short story collection Happy or Otherwise. With a rhythmic voice, like some surreptitious siren, each story draws you in- anyone who reads a Diana Joseph story will not mistake the magic of her sentient spells.

Happy or Otherwise is a collection of short stories, the kind that know how to open certain locked doors of emotion inside you. And when one of those doors is opened, the well of truth flowing from these stories cannot be dammed. You find yourself chanting the voice of each narrator in your head, and question certain illusions about happiness and what it means to love.

As editor of The Pathfinder Magazine, I've had the pleasure of reading and editing many short stories. Never have I read an author as funny or truthful as Diana Joseph. She has the biting humor of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and the emotional truthfulness of Tim O'Brien.

In "Bloodlines," Tabbitha tells the story of her dead brother and of how her grief-stricken father reconciles his son's tragic death in an unthinkable way. The story sears into your mind with passages like this: "We found him sitting on a hickory stump under his deer stand, his elbows were resting on his thighs, his hands were covering his ears, he was looking at the space between his feet, and I have seen men sitting this way since-in airports and bus stops and train stations, at this very moment on the edge of my bed; men broken by bankruptcy and faithless wives and their children's hate . . ."

"Naming Stories" is about the narrator's sense of identity, something everyone questions in their lives. One day, in school, the narrator learns about genetics . . . her parents both have blue eyes, as do her brothers-she has brown eyes. "Two years pass before I mention this to my parents. It's Report Card Day, and I've failed math. I need a way to distract them. And it works."

Happy or Otherwise is a work of art. Creative writing at its finest, funniest, most gut-wrenching and truest. This collection of short stories fulfills the reader's imagination and heart. You will not be disappointed and you will find yourself re-reading these stories, Diana Joseph's unique and rhythmic voice chanting through your mind the whole time.

-John Steele
Managing Editor

Pathfinder Magazine

Diana Joseph writes with heart, wit and intelligence. Each story in this collection reads wonderfully on its own--"Schandorsky's Mother" is my favorite--and builds toward a unique collective vision of motherhood. This should be required reading for every parent. Diana finds a rare blend of metaphors to access those painful struggles and exhilarating joys that make child rearing such a punch drunk experience. This is so good in so many ways.

This is a beautiful book of stories, each of which made my heart ache. Diana Joseph writes as if she's in love with each of her characters, even the not-so-nice ones; her sentences are soft and true. There wasn't a story in this collection that I didn't like, but my favorite is "Sick Child," if only because it has no business being a story: it's about a single mom with a sick son, and nothing really happens, except the kid coughs and the mother thinks. But it's lovely, and completely authentic.

It begins, "She'll remember this as a friendlier time: he's coughing, but only because he can't not cough. His cough is a barking seal; it's a clogged drain. It's her name in the middle of the night. As tempting as it may be to ignore him, to put a pillow over her head, to pull the comforter over her face, to close her eyes and count to ten in every language she knows--English, Japanese, Pig Latin--he'll still cough; she'll still hear him."

As the story continues, she remembers other times when her son was sick or injured, and times when she was, as a girl. She remembers an incident when her son was outside and came in with a wound near his eye that required stitches. She remembers the reactions other people in her life--the doctor, her parents, her ex-husband (the boy's father), her lover--had to this injury, and in their reactions we perceive their characters and their influence on her. She remembers, and looks out the window, and smokes, and her son continues to cough and call out her name. She is a woman who is keeping it together, but not well, not neatly, and not to her own satisfaction. She both loves her son and is sick of hearing him cough.

At the end of the story, she remembers a trip to the bank, when her son was two; as they were waiting in line at the drive-through window, he abruptly vomited in the back seat; she couldn't decide whether to continue to make her deposit, or go home to take care of her son:
"He emitted another deep belch, then he turned his face from her. He hiccupped, he was frowning, he was trembling. She knew he wanted to cry, and if he did, it would be explosive, loud and insistent. It would fill the car.
Relax, baby, she said. You'll be okay, I promise.
He wouldn't look at her. Instead, he looked out the window. As she soothed him, he continued to stare sadly out the window, and in his profile--his forehead wrinkled, his brow furrowed, his bottom lip quivering--she could see what he'd become, how he'd be when he was a man with troubles beyond his control."

This passage illustrates what I love about Joseph's writing: the small details, the honesty, the eloquent and gentle sentences. She writes like a poet--with evocative imagery, efficacy of language, and as much attention to how words sound as to what they are conveying. I can't wait to read her next book.

There were many funny stories in this book, (Sourdough and Burd being among my favorites,) but also some good heartwarming life lessons. Like the story about the lottery winner Emil and his principles, and the overall theme of the everyday ups and downs of life and family relationships. I really liked how the complexity of feelings for family was conveyed. Great read!

I picked this up on a whim in a used bookstore because I needed something to read while waiting for my son to finish with an appointment. What a find! Mr. McLean has a terrific eye and ear for wry observations and dialog, especially concerning kids and teenagers. And then there is his wit, sharpened by the fact that he laughs most readily, ultimately, at himself. I haven't laughed this hard since James Thurber, Garrison Keillor, and David Sedaris.

I picked this book out of a list given to me by my 12th grade english teacher. After searching everywhere i ordered it off amazon and am very pleased i did. it is an amazingly light, funny story about a 'stock' family that is a great summer read. i recommend it to both guys and girls, great book!

I can see why Stuart McLean is one of Canada's beloved storytellers through the warmth, humanity and humor of his stories. My favorite stories came early in the book, one of them being "Turkey" which starts off both the book and the Winter section. The description of the turkey before it was roasted had me and my husband howling with laughter. Another favorite is the one about the birthday party, especially the scene where Dave tries to frost the cake while it is still warm. My husband recently made the same mistake when he was frosting my birthday cake. I think there is enough depth to this collection of stories that most any one can come away with a favorite story or at least a favorite scene.

... a very ordinary family. Now, I don't mean ordinary in the boring sense of the term, quite the contrary. This is a collection of short stories spanning a year in the lives of a middle-class family. Everyone will be able to recognize themselves or others in these people to whom funny things tend to happen.

A quick read that will have you smiling (and giggling) on the bus.

You won't regret picking it up, and will look for McLean's other collections of stories about this wonderful family upon completing it.

Every story even the happy stories captured the essence of utter doom. This collection was written in a way that turns the thought of the reader. In my case I felt deep sadness for the characters and their eventual destiny.
Yet, while reading I was also brought to a certain kind of ecstasy. This feeling was during the process of the performance before the point of eventual doom. After my experience with this book I learned what one understands is not only what is written on a page or what is seen in the mind. Understanding can be whispered to the heart. Truth can be felt in deep wires of the brain and the bones. Done in a way only a talented author such as Anthony Tognazzini can achieve. I liked and enjoyed.

Here's a guy who knows how to pack a punch in one page, or even less. Read the title piece, for example. Oh, yeah. Interestingly enough, he has a few longer pieces in this collection (maybe 3 or 4) and for me, while they're competent, they just don't have the same oomph the shorter pieces do.

You have to be really inventive to do flash fiction, and for sure, Mr. Tognazzini is in that category. Once you move into longer form fiction, narrative takes over (it has to; no choice in the matter) and that's a totally different type of writing--or usually is, anyway. Flash has its own unwritten 'rules', for lack of a better term, and they're chock full of the need for intense imagination.

Lots of really good stuff here. Two of the author's pieces in this collection were originally in a great flash fiction anthology called PP/FF, which I strongly recommend; another (the title piece) was in the anthology Mammoth Book of Sudden Stories, another superb flash fiction anthology.

Watch for more stuff from this guy; he knows how to do the flash thing, for sure.

Highly recommended.

I didn't just devour this book, I licked every word off every page and cried when it was all gone. I also loved the aftertaste.

If you like Aimee Bender, Barry Yourgrau, Lydia Davis, Donald Barthelme, you'll enjoy Tognazzini.

Buy it, read it, spread the word. His stuff is yummity-yum good!

I ordered the book after discovering it in "Poets and Writers" and was immediately captivated by the brevity, frankness, honesty of Tognazzini's brilliance on every page. A real treat, must-read, literary gem--underrated.

I often long for a simpler life, with fewer complications and distractions, in which my attention span can occasionally linger to enjoy a particular moment. The sun in my life reached its zenith a few years ago and is picking up speed as it drops toward the horizon and so I tend to resent that, as a society, we boast of our superior ability to multi-task even as we sheepishly admit to the negative effect of refusing to take time out to occasionally clear the mechanism. That said, I've resisted "flash fiction" as something that caters to our ever-shortening attention span.

For the uninitiated, flash fiction contains all of the classic story elements: protagonist, conflict, and resolution; but unlike the traditional short story, the limited word length often leaves some of these elements to only be implied in the written storyline, which is perhaps best exemplified by Ernest Hemingway's six-word flash, "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."

Although it can be traced back to Aesop's Fables, with the likes of Chekhov, O. Henry, Kafka, H.P. Lovecraft and Ray Bradbury contributing, flash fiction is enjoying a resurgence on the Internet. Although I sometimes cringe from the niche it fills in our fractured society, despite all of its professed connectivity through cell phones and email, flash is a viable art form that presents a challenge to the writer he or she doesn't normally face when writing a longer piece: strictly meat and bones writing without all of the side dishes.

Anthony Tognazzini seems to have mastered this literary art form with his collection of flash fiction, I Carry a Hammer In My Pocket for Occasions Such as These. Tognazzini understands the concept, in flash fiction, that what is left unsaid is as equally important as what is said. In flash, less is more.

Composed of fifty-seven pieces ranging in length from a single paragraph to several pages, none hit the reader over the head, yet most hit the nail on the head with their brevity, focus and message. From the opening piece, A Primer, in which a naked man paints himself into the landscape, to the title piece about a brief encounter between strangers on the street, to A Telephone Conversation with My Father (yeah, they really do love each other), to The Enigma of Possibility -- how can a man with the longest tongue in the world manage to find a way to pay the rent in the aftermath of having just lost his job? -- to Working Out with Kafka, where Kafka meets himself while riding a bike crossing a bridge, to Old House -- "I know how lonely the house is when there is no one to live there," to Baseball Is Dangerous but Love Is Everything, where love cures a young man's "not-right scramble and his thinking irregular slightly," the result of a childhood beaning on the head with a baseball bat, I Carry a Hammer is a fine collection of flash that ranges from the fantastical to the commonplace, that contains humor and portrays grief and loss, that turns the mundane into the fascinating, and is almost always thought-provoking.

Tognazzini's voice is fresh, his narrative sharp: My stomach jumped like an angry, barking dog and I spun, throwing up in every direction. When I finished, I regarded the abstract, brown-red splashes on the tile. I thought, Pollock, and it seems tailor-made for flash; yet for some reason, perhaps because their text lack a surgeon's precision with a scalpel, the longer pieces, particularly Gainesville, Oregon -- 1962 -- don't work as well. Tognazzini's talent seems to "flash" with brilliance more often in the flash element.

Still, the overall effect of reading I Carry a Hammer is addicting: you never know what you're going to get when you turn the next page, but you can't refrain from taking a peek.

Recommended.

-- From "The Smoking Poet," literary ezine, Summer 2007 Issue