Washington Books

Dino's book told of numerous of his life experiences.

He knows how to work with anyone, regardless of party and does so WITHOUT giving up any of his principles. He has always been able to find something in anyone, even Democrats. He can find something he shares in common with them, like DWI concern and work toward legislation to make Washington a better place.

He is a positive, glass-half-full person. He should be our governor to this day, but we can only hope this classy, honest and humble man will run again in 2008 because he'll win yet again then!

Thanks you, Dino, for this very meaningful book. GO DINO!!

This book consists of a helpful concept where the author provides personal antidotes and lessons learned from past experiences followed by application of these experiences to practical advice. While many of this advice falls into generalities and does not presume to be offered with empirical evidence of scientific study, the conclusions are indeed good and useful. Overall, readers will benefit from the advice and will see examples of how the advice has been implemented in successful manners.

Dino Rossi calls for leaders who have consistent principles and values yet are flexible enough to adapt to changes while remaining strong enough to lead others. Not all followers will agree with their leader, but a good leader commands their respect and enables other to work together agreed upon goals. As the author noted, he explained the situation in a campaign speech by stating "we aren't going to agree with 100% of the time. But, hey, I bet you don't agree with your own spouse 100% of the time, and I'm not asking you to marry me."

As a State Senator, the author worked on issues such as alleviate traffic congestion, a growing problem in Washington and passing the nation's first mandatory ignition interlocking law for drivers convicted of DUIs. In preparing to tackle such issues, he advises that the fear of not finding a solution should never stop one from taking action and seeking answers. Paralysis can lead to failure. Fearing that advocacy on an issue will lead to defeat should not be the reason to give up, as success only comes if one tries and works towards one's goals.

The author's daughter learned not to give up when faced with seemingly impossible obstacles. Dino Rossi thought he could stop his daughter's desire to get a dog by telling her the only way he would get a dog would be if President Bush told him to get her a dog. His daughter wrote President Bush, who then took time from his search for Bin Laden to write Senator Rossi to tell him his daughter should have a dog.

Politics means making opponents and often enemies. Still, the author advises to avoid disliking an opponent. It is better to forget about past conflicts and concentrate on moving forward on new, existing issues. Often, past enemies can become allies or adversaries with whom one may negotiate and find workable compromises. He tells of a sign on the wall in a Washington Caucus room that reads "We don't attack people, we attack ideas. We attack ideas with better ideas."

Dino Rossi chose to be an effective legislator upon his election to the State Senate by going to the committee chairs of the three committees to which he was appointed. He asked ask chair: "I want to help you be the best chairman you can possibly be. How can I help you accomplish that?" That turned out to be the correct way for a freshman Senator to win the admiration of the more senior Senators. Among Senator Rossi's subsequent legislative victories included passing a "two strikes, you're out" bill that provided for life imprisonment for twice convicted child molesters and rapists.

Dino Rossi rose to be Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman. As others helped him before, Senator Rossi saw to it that he assisted newer Senators in their careers. As a leader, the author recommends setting the parameters and goals of your service and following and sticking to your intentions.

Much of the book contains partisan arguments for positions and actions taken by the author as a Republican politician in a state with Democratic Governors. Your prior view of these issues will determine if you like what he has to say on partisan issues. Still, as a general guide on leadership advice, this is a decent book with application to life, business, and politics.

In addition to counting on family, friends, and mentors, everyone has a set of books to which they refer over the course of their life at moments of reflection and decision. In a highly entertaining format--akin to Chris Mathews' Hardball and Tip O'Neill's All Politics is Local--Dino Rossi shares with readers an instructive set of anecdotes and analysis. This book is a great buy for anybody, and a must-have for those interested in political and business management.

From his humble beginings to him being certified (twice) to the governorship of Washington State, this was a riveting tome.

I encourage everyone interested in furthering the quality of their life to read this book.

Considering the recent news from Washington, DC, with scandal, failed trust and broken promises, it is a relief to read of a true optimist from Washington State who focuses on making his home state a better place for his children.
Following Dino Rossi's narrow loss in the 2004 governor's race, and after three highly questionable recounts, he took some time to write a book about his life and his vision. After the closest loss in American gubernatorial history, it would be easy to imagine a person becoming embittered and focusing on the "why me" aspect of such a loss.
Not this guy. His life story is inspirational, his work ethic and belief in the American system unshakable, and his vision for the future is compelling.
I was pleased to read this book, and recommend it highly. For Dino Rossi and his family, the sun shines brightly, even on a cloudy Seattle day.

i loved this book. i felt as though i was right there with him and his family through every phase of their lives. this book had everything going for it, sadness, chaos, happiness, tragedy. it was so personal and you just felt as though the author let you in to share with him.

This book will be enjoyed by all who read it for it is a story of survival from the ashes of the Holocaust. This book is also an excellent book club selection that will spark much thought and conversation.

Joseph Berger has written a story that needed to be told, but he has included too much extraneous material about his own life. Much of what he tells reveals what it was like growing up as the child of a refugee, but who cares whether or not he dated in high school?

The best parts of this book were those about his mother's life and about how she managed in the United States as a refugee. Berger's writing is more journalism than story telling. He's got all the facts, but none of his descriptions flare above the mundane. His mother's reminisences are far more artistic, and reveal more than the words on the page.

New York Times journalist Joseph Berger has created a masterful, evocative and moving account of the ever-present duality of his life: his identity as an acculturated American child of Holocaust survivors. This duality gives his account of his mother's life and his own evolution from a bewildered refugee child into an accomplished American a poignancy and power. "Displaced Persons" will stand as an important contribution, not only to our understanding of the long-term implications of being a survivor of the Holocaust, but of the unique burdens, pressures and responsibilities children of survivors inherit from their parents.

Berger is acutely aware of "the unmentioned sorrow that was the subtext to everything [his] parents said or did." Haunted by memories, devastated by enormous loss, handicapped by their arrival in America in their twenties and driven to provide security for their families, Holocaust survivors often perceive their children as replacements of beloved family members who perished and as repositories of hopes and dreams denied them. Worried about their children's safety, happiness and future, Berger muses about his parents' perspective, "What could I say about the dread and suspicion with which they encountered a world that had proven maliciously fickle?"

As the author emerges from childhood, he begins to chafe from his mother's protective, controlling instincts and desires to assert himself as his own man. Berger's wrenching analysis of his status becomes the overarching theme of his memoir. "I saw myself now an an American...I would no more be the timid refugee boy with one leg planted in the fearful shtetls of Poland, with a mother ever vigilant that no more perils come to the remnants of her kin." It is this unspoken loving tension between Joseph and his mother, Rachel, that gives "Persons" its dynamism.

Alternating between two narratives, one his own and the other the gripping account of his mother's survival, Berger deftly intermingles past and present. Aware of his distinct heritage, the young Berger recognizes others in his impoverished Manhattan neighborhood who share his background. "We knew one another, knew in our young bellies that our parents were the same dazed and damaged lot, had the same refugee awkwardness, the same whiff about them of marrow bones and carp." Now attempting to wrest coherence in America, Holocaust survivors tend to frustrate Berger with their problem solving techniques. Berger prefers the American way of standing up directly; survivors "were always scraping by on a willingness to do what was necessary to survive, even if that meant surrendering pride or principle."

Raw emotion floods "Displaced Persons." Rachel's symbolic mourning of a dead child in Warsaw at the onset of World War II serves to remind us that she has no "mental picture" of the actual murder of her family. Unspoken grief undulates throughout the memoir. Berger's stoic father Marcus scarcely articulates his unfathomable sense of loss; nearly half a century passes before he can utter the names of his sisters. Guilt ebbs and flows in Rachel's description of her survival. Anguished over refusing to bring non-kosher food to her hungry brother during World War II, she has never forgiven heself, calling it "the worst thing I ever did in my life."

Yet life surges and humor emerges in Berger's descriptions of growing up in New York City in the 1950s and 60s. With both parents working at dreary, tiring jobs, the author experiences a freedom of movement he admits he would never conceive of allowing his own daughter today. His descriptions of his initial exploration of Manhattan reveal the sheer joy of discovery, the incredible exuberance of youthful hopes and the awesome sense of possibilities Berger recognizes in his new home. Berger's frantic disposal of an illicit girlie magazine carries universal appeal; he becomes an American everyboy. His struggles with self-confidence, academic competition and sexual frustrations are those of not only his generation, but of those before and after.

Written with conviction and compassion, "Displaced Persons" is that kind of memoir that not only describes, but instructs. Through the author's descriptions of his resolute, stubborn and proud mother, survivors attain an identity beyond that of suffering and loss. His own life's story shapes our understanding of the purpose of our national experience and the sacredness of an American identity. Treating both the Holocuast in its past brutality and its implications for the second-generation children of survivors, the memoir blends sorrow and joy, heartache and hope, pain and redemption.

My father's story parallels Joseph Berger's in eerie ways...they were both at the Schlactensee DP Camp and the Landsberg-Am-Lech DP camp...Berger's mother's story of her youth could be my grandmother's, from an unpleasant step-mother to the flight East to Russia. My father was born during my grandparents' refuge in the USSR, and crossed illegally with his family into Poland after the war ended. I have always been close to my grandparents, but this book brought clarity and insight into topics they don't generally discuss...the duality that immigrant survivors (the displaced persons) felt between their new lives in America and the tragedy and loss left in Europe. When I look at my grandparents' happy faces at family occasions---graduations, weddings, bar mitzvahs, birthday parties---I wonder if the events make them remember times similar back in Lithuania. Berger's story, beautifully written and researched, is a must-read.

Young readers will be stimulated by Jean Fritz's story of a young lad who wants to know all there is to know about George Washington! There's a lot that he knows, but he just doesn't know what Washington ate for breakfast.

Following from one step to the next, he researches until the mystery is solved, demonstrating that persistence brings a reward. Kids will want to read this book over and over again. (And the hoecakes aren't bad, either!)

I think this book is very awesome especially if you want to know what
George Washington ate. It talks about a boy who is named after George Washington and has the same birth date. If you want to find out more read it yourself.

This book is wonderful and engaging. It is about a little boy, George W. Allen who shares his name and his birthday with George Washington. He knows many facts about George W. but he wants to know more. One day he decides he wants to know what George W. had for breakfast and the learning adventure begins!! I read it to my boys 6 and 4 and they loved it. My sons enjoyed the facts about George W. like: he had two horses named Nelson and Blueskin. There were many "fun facts" such as this in the book. I loved it because in addition to learning about George W., it shows children different ways to search for information. George Allen first goes to the library from there to the card catalog, and then the biographies. Then his family took a trip to Washington D.C., and to George Washington's home in Virginia. It's a great addition to any family library.

You have the wrong illustrator listed. The illustration on the cover is by Tomie dePaola and you have Paul Galdone listed.

I am a second grade teacher, and have a 8 and 4 year old at home. I loved this book, both at school and home. We read it every President's Day, and bake up a serving of hoecakes. It is a really fun way to teach children about the history of George Washington.

My son recently moved to Washington State and I wanted a book that would help him get acquainted with his new home state. I enjoyed reading it, and he has found it to be an excellent resource.

I turn to Moon Handbooks first for nearly every trip, and I haven't been disappointed yet. This is the first time I've bought a Moon Handbook that covers an entire state; the coverage is less in-depth for specific sites of interest like Olympic National Park, yet there is plenty of information for the many places a visitor to Washington State might want to see. Reading this book made me look forward to my trip even more.

You'll find no fancy illustrations in this book - simply good information.



The author makes some snarky comments toward a local Christian ministry - which seems pointless - and includes a great deal of information specifically geared toward homosexual travelers. I didn't realize that was a niche market, but evidently it is.



Regardless, the book is quite thorough, if opinionated. I prefer the "Hidden Washington" books for pointers on places off the tourist track.



Recommended.

The first Moon book that I purchased several years ago was the book on Oregon. We made significant travel arrangements based on the information in that book and we were never disappointed.

An upcoming trip to Seattle/San Juans is based on the information in the Washington book. The real beauty is that the book leads you to the most likely area to visit, gives references to hotels, etc., then you can complete your research by reviewing up-to-date information about that spot/hotel online. We chose Orcas island for 2 days before heading to Seattle and I do not expect to be disappointed.

The authors are even-handed and complete --- they are not elitists, reviewing only the high-end accomodations. They have a good sample of a broad range of places. They point out lesser known restaurants and scenic spots as well.

I have found their advice in the Oregon, Washington, Coastal California and New England books to be quite excellent.

I have purchased quite a few different travel books in the past, but Moon Handbooks are my travel book of choice.

Even though published in 2003, this is by far the best advailable WA guide book. I would not think of visiting a state without the appropriate Moon supplemented by the WPA guidebook for that state[published in the thirties]

Hazel Wolf really understood how to organize and shares her knowledge with the reader. But don't be fooled by the practical nature of that remark: Hazel Wolf was also a great character and funny. This is a thoroughly enjoyable read about a woman with an amazing (and very long)life who knew how to get things done, how to grow and move with the times, and never lacked the self confidence to go for what she wanted.

Hazel Wolf was a friend of mine and fellow board member on the Seattle Audubon Society for nearly 25 years. Susan Starbuck's book about Hazel is both highly entertaining and a very personal view of this unique woman. Susan has done a masterful job of weaving together a myriad of stories from and about Hazel into a coherent guide to Hazel's life as a dedicated organizer of social movements from her early life through her death at 101. Hazel never saw a wrong that she felt could not be righted. She dedicated her life to achieving justice, whether it was for working men and women, for jail inmates, for racial justice, for the environment or against war, often at the expense of her own personal and family life. Hazel led the way for women's independence and liberation through hard work and example without ever thinking about the meaning of those terms. At a recent celebration of Hazel's 105th birthday, Congressman Jim McDermitt and Governor Mike Lowry both said that in these times of Bush's war, we need Hazel's example of leadership more than ever.

A powerful woman! If you think you have energy, read what this woman did right up to the end of her 101 years.

Hazel Wolf could have been your grandmother. A real tomboy, she grew up with her toes in the sand of Pacific Northwest beaches and her fingers around a basketball. The working class kids of Victoria B.C. were her "gang," and the comradeship and fun they cooked up animated her whole life.

Later, working as a secretary in Depression-era Seattle, Wolf organized fledgling unions wherever the bosses assigned her. They'd fire her for organizing, re-assign her to a new job, and she would begin organizing again. Like she always did, Hazel was just making friends and having fun.

In one of the "Hazel Stories" that fill the book, sheriff's deputies tried to evict a down-and-out family from their home by carrying the furniture out onto the sidewalk. Hazel and her friends, who sometimes cared to call themselves socialists or communists, simply carried the chairs and tables back into the house through the back door. The sheriff eventually gave up.

The U.S. government tried to deport Hazel Wolf during the McCarthy period because she was a) a communist, and b)Canadian. Just like the sheriff, the feds failed, too. Hazel had thousands of friends, and she wasn't afraid of political pressure. As she said, "I was just there, powerless and strong, someone who wouldn't chicken out. Somebody always stops the nonsense all through history."

Author Susan Starbuck says Hazel Wolf knew her life would make an important story; that it might evoke the next generation of social and environmental activists. At bookstore readings, Starbuck tells prospective readers, "Hey folks, here's an owner's manual about what to do when your government runs amok." The message of "Hazel Wolf: Fighting the Establishment" is theat we, too could have fun being activists...and also change the world.

I have just completed reading Hazel Wolf's biography by Susan Starbuck, which was published by the University of Washington Press. Ms. Starbuck has skillfully knit together the words of Ms. Wolf, based on years of interviews with her, with her own author's narrative. Because Ms. Wolf's life was so dramatic and has been so vividly presented by the author, the book is interesting and preserves an important part of Northwest political history.

I have to say that even though I love food and finding awesome recipes, I rarely use the awesome cookbooks and recipes that I already have. EXCEPT THIS ONE! I can honestly say that I have made and tasted several of Kathy Casey's recipes. I really like that the ingredients are all easy to find in your local, normal grocery store. (B/c I want quality AND a one-stop shop.) I also love the flavors that come from the finished product. Try the crab cakes or endive salad!

This beautiful coffee table cookbook has it all; from creative uses of apples and hazelnuts to raspberries and rhubarb (w/honey mousse!). Crab, salmon, muscles, oysters, and halibut all here as well as pork loin, lamb, chicken and duck. And the cocktails and desserts are spot on for our region. As a northwest native and editor of The Good Home Cookbook: More Than 1,000 Classic American Recipes, I can say that these recipes well represent our region in a classy, tasteful and accurate manner. I highly recommend it!

Last night we finally got rid of the left over turkey from Thanksgiving and I get to think about fixing something else. I think I'm in a shrimp mood, and this book just fell open to page 66 with Sesame Roasted Shrimp Sticks with Zippy Apricot Dipping Sauce. Spicy, quick, easy and they look absolutely delicious.

As you would expect, this book from the Northwest has a lot of seafood. More ways to cook salmon that you can count (well, really you could count them) including some ways that are quite different from the others I've seen.

Another food area that has a lot of production in the Northwest is fruit, and some of her combinations of fresh fruit with farly shart ingredients like blue cheese look like the evenings side dishes are well taken care of.

Complaints, well there's one - Martini's are sacred things, you don't go messing them up with things like cucumber and sake (see page 38) - you don't even make them out of vodka - yuch! And Seattle Expresso Martini isn't really a Martini at all. Then again, the Slow-Roasted Martini Short Ribs (page 134) maybe I won't do shrimp tonight after all.

There are a lot of things here that you don't see in other cookbooks.

I just picked up Kathy Casey's new book and I love it. I must admit that I am one of those cooks that needs pictures to entice me to make something and Kathy's cookbooks always have them. Her salad recipes are to die for. So many salads are just so bland, but the Endive salad with Roasted pears is amazing. I'm also a big fan of her French Seasoning salt. I put it on everything!

Everything we have tried from "Kathy Casey's Northwest Table" has been incredible!! I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to impress their Family and Friends with delicious (and fairly easy---a must for me!) Northwest favorites. You can't go wrong!

King Lear`s fatality cannot be invocated as a divine curse. When Lear renounces to be at charge of his kingdom wrought with the ferocity of his soldiers and irrigated with the blood of his troops, begins his own fall, because you cannot be king without a kingdom.

The nature denied Lear the possibility of a male inheritor, so under the perspective of his imminent death, decides to bet in the unpredictable roulette of the emotions a test of love to find out which one of his daughters loves him more.

Betrayal and deception because his favourite daughter replies him with flippancy and without any signal of sincere gratitude. This fact will untie his repressed anger, proceeding to disinherit her. This is the decisive spark that will ignite the stage in the primary plot.

In the secondary but no least important dramatic tie, Gloucester will believe in Edmund's eloquence and juridical device supported by a false letter in which Edgar claims unsaid ambitions. Gloucester will lose himself at the moment he has preferred to believe his illegitimate son instead his legitimate Edgar.

Betrayal and distrust; jealous and rivalries; perversion and immorality will convey to all these personages into a fatidic whirlwind of predictable consequences.

All tragedy traduces and reaffirms the aspiration of the human being to enhance himself through an act of unexpected valour, to acquire a new level of his grandness in front of the obstacles, the unknown that finds in the world as well as the society of his time. Andre Bonnard

One of the most important works of this colossus of the dramaturgy. A must - read.

Lear starts his tragedy with a lie. He has divided his kingdom into one larger and two smaller equal parts and promises to give the larger part to that of his daughters who vows the strongest love for him. Yet after Goneril speaks he immediately awards her one of the smaller parts, instead of listening to her sisters and then deciding the fate of the largest bounty. He thus negates his word and turns the auction into a formality for his pre-arranged plan of giving Cordelia the largest part and her sisters the two smaller parts. The whole scene is crass and the king is doubly crass (once for the auction, once more for the lie). He gives his word on the auction on line 52, breaks it on line 69 and forgets about his lie on line 193 where he rages at Kent for urging him to renege on his allegedly never broken word.

Lear starts his tragedy a crazy man. Cordelia's attempt at expressing that she "obeys, loves and most honors" the king only earns her being disowned half a page later. This precipitous fall from being the favorite daughter slated to receive the largest part of the kingdom to the one who "better ... hadst not been born" is incredible.

Most of all, this is a tragedy of detachment. Lear and Cornwall obviously do not have a relationship with their children and know nothing about their children's true feelings for them. Lear does not hear Cordelia and Gloucester does not try to hear Edgar out. Both have to face devastating atrocities before they see their children for who they are. "To willful men the injuries that they themselves procure must be their schoolmasters". They both suffer when they feel unloved by their offspring, they both die before they can enjoy their children's love. The suffering of the two old men is unrelenting, and in this sense "Lear" is as heartbreaking as "Macbeth" is macabre and "Othello" is insidious.

The balance of power, 4:4 (Cordelia, Fool, Kent and Edgar against Gonereil, Reagan, Edgar and Cornwall, with Lear and Glocester in the middle and Albany largely on the fence), is tilted towards the higher ranked evil four. In a game of chess, the former four would have been pawns, knights and bishops and the latter queens and rooks. In the end, Kent and Edgar, a knight and a pawn, save the day.

And yet, the end of the play offers no redemption. The two old men are dead. All those devoted to them are either dead or despondent. The Fool, his spirit giving out as he urged Lear to go back to the two evil daughters and ask their blessing, disappears from the play without a grace. Kent is preparing to follow Lear into the world of shadows. Cordelia is murdered and Edgar predicts an uninspiring future for himself and the young that remain. There is no consolation for dead or living.

Betrayals, romance, and death: the book King Lear has it all. This book is written by William Shakespeare, who is a famous author of his day and still is well-known throughout the world. William Shakespeare writes during the Renaissance period which he fully lived up to. He could be said to be philosopher by saying his thoughts of life, love, justice, and other morals of man through his works of literature. My opinion is he expressed his opinions of love and justice in the book, King Lear.
In this book, there is a king named, King Lear, who was old and ready to retire his wealth to his three daughters: Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. Before King Lear gives everything to his daughters, he wants to see how much each daughter truly loves him. Goneril and Regan have been waiting for their inheritance from their father for a long time. They love him very much, but they do not care about their father. They just want his land and gold. On the contrary, when asked to express her love for her father, cordelia says she has no words to describe her love for her father because she truly means it. Surprisingly, King Lear gets furious with her, and she runs off to marry the King of France without her father's blessing. After King Lear discovers the plot of his eldest daughters, Goneril and Regan, he goes crazy and runs out to the fields to deal with his grievances. Ironically, it was during a storm which symbolizes the thoughts going through his head at the time.

Meanwhile, an elderly noble named Gloucester, also has family problems. His [...] son, Edmund, is jealous over the fact that Gloucester's legitimate son, Edgar, will inherited most of their father's wealth. This will mean that Edmund may get a small amount of gold and a few acres of land. Therefore, Edmund, consumed by greed, tricks Gloucester into believing Edgar is planning to kill him. So, Gloucester creates a manhunt for Edgar who disguises himself as a crazy beggar named, Poor Tom. While Poor Tom hides in the fields, he meets King Lear. The two men form an alliance to set things straight. Here is where the plot twists and turns from plots of murder, to wives who are cheating, and to rescue attempts.
After reading this, many thoughts run through my head. How should a child express their love for a parent? What is the normal reaction of a parent when a child expresses their love? I will probably never know the answer to the questions until I have experienced what it is to be a parent. Another question stems around if my friends or family ever abandons me for a simple action like robbing bank, should they forgive me or should they hold a grudge to the grave. The way Shakespeare puts his thoughts is a whole other story in itself. It could take years probably to really understand the concepts of man throughout this book. Can man truly be this evil and corrupt in the world with few who do good? I guess these are questions that lead us to the meaning of life.

This was one of my favorite Shakespeare tragedies because despite Lear bringing the misfortune on himself, the reader truly does feel for sorry for him. When Cordelia could not declare her love to Lear like her sisters did, he takes this as a lack of love for him. Of course it wasn't, but Lear's desperate neccesity for admiration from those around eventually becomes his downfall.

While all of that action is going on, Gloucester's illegitimate son, Edmund is on the rise to power, hoping to overtake his brother. King Lear is obviously a tragedy, but there is one aspect of it at the end that is truly rewarding to the reader. Though none of Shakespeare's plays are, read this one and you definetly won't be dissapointed.

I recently re-read KING LEAR prior to attending The Denver Theatre Company's performance of this play. Shakespeare (1564-1616) wrote this emotionally-moving tragedy between 1603 and 1606, and it was performed for the first time in 1606. With its insights into the nature of human suffering and kinship, and its theme of human blindness, it is regarded as one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies.

KING LEAR is based on the legend of King Leir, a king of pre-Roman Britain. It tells the story of King Lear's decision to abdicate the throne and divide his kingdom among his three daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. In a moment of vanity, Lear decides to divide his lands according to how much each daughter demonstrates her love for him. Because Cordelia refuses to engage such a contest of flattery with her elder sisters, Lear divides his kingdom between Goneril and Regan, banishing Cordelia. Despite her disinheritance, the King of France marries her. Soonafter abdicating his throne, Lear discovers that Goneril and Regan's feelings for him have grown cold. Meanwhile, Goneril and Regan also have a falling out with one another while defending Cordelia's army from France, sent to restore Lear to his throne. Goneril poisons Regan, then stabs herself.

In a subplot, involving the Earl of Gloucester two sons, Edmund concocts false stories about his legitimate half-brother, Edgar, who is forced into exile. Edmund then aligns himself with Goneril and Regan, and his father is blinded by Regan's husband. Edgar, disguised as a lunatic, finds his blinded father out wandering in a storm, trying to find his the way to Dover.

In Dover, Lear, who has gone raving mad, is reunited with Gloucester, Edgar, and Cordelia before the battle between Britain and France. When the French lose, Edmund orders the execution of Lear and Cordelia. Edgar, still in disguise, reveals himself to Edmund before killing his evil half brother. Although Edmund stays the execution of Lear and Cordelia, unfortunately, the reprieve comes too late as Lear enters the scene carrying Cordelia's dead body in his arms. Then he dies.

As a tragedy, KING LEAR is appealing for its nihilistic conclusion that human existence is essentially meaningless, and that life is devoid of a true morality.

G. Merritt

I don't think anyone ever knew more about love than Leo Buscaglia. I saw him speak several times on televsion, and found myself captivated by his gentle spirit and wisdom. I've heard some people say that Buscaglia goes TOO far with the hugging and the loving and the shaing. But sometimes it's good to go TOO far.

This book is also very accessable; easy to digest. I read it all in one day...much less intellectual than "The Art of Loving" by Erich Fromm.

this is a great book about relationships.it can help you with all the aspects of life and how a good relationship can work.i would recomend this book to anyone wanting to improve the relationship.

More books need to be written about love. It can be very inspirational to read this book, especially during particularly stressful times in my life. Thank you Leo.

Jeffrey McAndrew
author of "Our Brown-Eyed Boy"

I guess love looks different from the perspective of a successful 47-year marriage -- you feel like you know a little (although not a lot) about what it is to form a relationship and to keep it growing in love. That's what this book is all about, and it's full of really superb advice.

"If you love, you're considered naive," Buscaglia writes. "If happy, you're considered frivolous (or, in this reviewer's experience, no one believes you) and simple. If trusting, you're considered a fool. If you try to be all those things, people think you're a phony." Boy, that's calling it as it is!

Emphasizing the importance of good communications in relationships, Buscaglia stresses the need for honesty and truth. "Only truth," he writes, " can bring us the necessary trust needed for long-lasting relationships. Only truth, painful though it may sometimes be, can create a safe environment of unity and growth."

Understanding the dynamics of forgiveness is crucial to those who care about lasting relationships. He discusses loving each other in joy, in intimacy and the challenge of developing trusting relationships. Friendship is an expression of deep regard for another.

In a friendship, each affirms the other and reinforces his or her dignity with respect and affection. "As the friendship becomes deeper," he writes, "it becomes a sharing of vulnerabilities in a safe environment. We let each other know that our becoming is of the utmost interest and concern. We show in action that we respect and admire one another, that we enjoy the opportunity to be together and share experiences."

There's little in life that is as comfortable, rewarding and fulfilling as a long-term, totally trusting relationship based on respect and love. Following the concepts presented in this book makes developing that kind of relationship a little easier than trying to "reinvent the wheel" by doing it on your own.

After reading this book I have decided that I am going to give this book away as a gift to nearly everyone I possibly can. I started learning about Leo in my psychology class when we started studying love. Leo is one of the greatest people ever to learn about love from. You can tell through his writing that if you were to ever meet him, he'd love you. What an incredible gift. Leo is no longer alive and the world should shed a tear for loosing such a great man. Thankfully, he left us everything he knew about love.

Loving Each Other is one of those simple yet life changing books. A lot of the things he said it was as if I should have known but I didn't until he said it. Incredibly encouraging this book gives a person in any loving relationship something to think about. If you love someone, anyone, you should read this book and learn how to love better and love more.

I couldn't say enough about this book. I do encourage you to buy and read it, then pass it on. This book could change the world.

anyone wanting to understand what makes great art great should study this book. this collection includes tasteful and insightful comments about numerous paintings. this book is invaluable to me as an aspiring artist

This is a large book full of pictures of beautiful artworks. While there are some photos of sculpture and some of drawings, the bulk of what is reproduced here is painting. While many pages have multiple artworks, there are also quite a few where the painting is given a full page for more close observation and study.

The quality of the reproductions is quite good, if not quite superb. The captions and text describing the art and artists are very good and most helpful for the general reader. The book opens with several articles on the National Gallery and its history and policies.

The plates are organized chronologically and by the national schools of their times. The earliest artworks are circa the 13th century and concludes with works of the 20th century.

You could spend many days enjoying this glorious selection of art and still find many more days of study before you exhaust all that is offered in this fine book about a great national treasure.

This big, beautiful book should be on any art lover's shelf! A treasury of reproductions of the world's best art is contained here. The reproductions are excellent; colors are preserved in all their glory. Walker's text is informative & interesting. The next best thing to actually visiting the National Gallery is owning this book.

This is a beautiful book! The color plates are very nice and are good representations of the actual paintings. Brief histories are also presented. I bought it after my first visit to the National Gallery of Art and before my second visit. I enjoyed the second visit much more because I felt that I really knew what was going on with the artists and paintings. Get the book and then go to the National Gallery of Art!

This book is one of my favorites, and has been for many years. Its beautiful color illustrations are grouped by the period and country in which they were created. The book presents works (mostly paintings) from many countries (mostly Western) beginning in the Byzantine era, extending up until the early twentieth century. Many of the works are accompanied by art historical abstracts which offer insight for both the inexperienced and learned art enthusiast. This is a great book to have around as an extensive survey of Western painting.

I loved the book. I bought this book becuase I am a fan of Ms. Washington and I love the historical african american romance that Beverly Jenkins has made so popular. I was not disappointed. I read this book in one day; I could not put the book down. It was so well written and the book flowed like a sheet of music. This book has chemistry, history and great secondary characters. I laughed (a lot), held my breath and cried. The love between Jacinta and Solomon is one I will not forget for a very long time. This book will certainly make my list of all-time favorites.

This book was an incredible read from beginning to end. I enjoyed the fact that i was able to learn a few things and be intrigued at the same time with a great love story. Keep em' coming altonya!!

As African-Americans, we have a rich history of which the half has never been told. PASSION'S FURIES by AlTonya Washington, a work of fiction on the manipulations of blacks, the class system, slavery, romance, and mulatto's vs. "real" blacks touched my soul and brought tears to my eyes.

Spoiled, rich and the only child of a free black man, Jacinta McIver, has a wonderful life in Charleston, South Carolina the core of slavery in the 1800's. Defying her father at every turn, nineteen-year-old Jacinta, wants to change the way blacks are treated, not to mention her distrust of men, especially mulatto men. Solomon Dikembe, a handsome mulatto who embraces his black heritage, only want what's best for both sides of his heritage. Hated by all, Solomon has an astute business sense, owning land from Michigan to South Carolina.

PASSION'S FURIES embodied, in 304 pages, the achievements, conflicts, love, happiness and passion we as African-Americans continually disseminate toward one another some 200 years later. Fear, romance, and history will keep you turning the pages. If this is your first read by AlTonya, please, check out her website and read her other works. You will not be disappointed.

Reviewed by Toni Bonita
For RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

I love how well this book was written!! A wonderfully romantic historical novel, that makes you want to laugh, cry and sigh all at once. The main characters are opposites that finally figure it all out, that love sometimes does conquer all. Interwoven in this wonderful love story is a remarkable historical novel of African Americans in Charleston in the 1820's and the sad events of the Denmark Vesey Rebellion. Considering how well this book was written on the historical side, I certainly hope Ms. Washington will produce more novels of this scope.

I was just funnin' w/ the title of this review! Let me start out by saying that I love BJ...she is the queen of the AA historical romance in my book....but AlTonya is the princess! This book is well written and flows soooo smooth...it was a joy to read!
The book also has a great storyline with romance, adventure...it runs the whole gamut! (check out the other review to get the story summary....I ain't got time to write all that! LOL!)
Buy it! You won't regret it!