Caribbean Books

the first time i recieved this book it took me about 2 weeks to read it all the way through and i would have to say this is a great book for people are seeking more knowledge about all aspects of what rastafarI is from its origan till its current standings it covers the tip of all subjects that flows on through rastafarian teachings and wisdom comming from someone who knew not much about rastafaI before reading this book i give it a 10 because it gives you info on lots of subjects discussed on rastafarI but leaves much for your mind to want to continue to search out more for yourself

This is the best book I've read on the subject. It is complete and gives the views of various scholars both Rasta and non-Rasta. I keep it as a resource and have read it 3 times.

A very large wealth of information on the rastafarian movement. A very scholarly anthology. Read it three times over and learn more each time! Will use for years.

Chanting Down Babylon is a welcomed addition to the growing literature on Rastafari. This reader sucessfully brings together most of the scholars studying Rastafari, as well as Rastafarians themselves, providing an important insight into Rastafari. The inclusion of articles addressing biblical hermeneutics as well as Rastafari theology begins to fill an important gap in Rastafari scholarship. A real treasure for those interested in learning about Rastafari for the first time, and for those who wish to expand their knowledge of this important religious movement.

I found this work to be one of the most complete on the study of the the Rastafarian movement.The information is well presented and is cohesive and highly informaive. This work is ideal for the new convert or anyone who wants a thorough examination of the faith. I highly recommend it.

As a Bajan gal, Cheryl Gittens-Jones took me back to my childhood, a childhood not to be forgotten. Old Henry, Cadbury Chocolate and Enid Blyton. The Cleansing showed a part of Barbados that you had to experience for yourself. Experiencing pain but still enjoying the pleasures of a small island. Unis came to Brooklyn still searching but the big city brought more pain. The characters came to life and I know that Nita is very proud of Unis because through it all, she made it to Brooklyn and back.

Cheryl Gittens-Jones captures the essence of colonialism and all of its insidious effects in her first novel. The Cleansing is an important read for anyone interested in a deeper understanding of the effects of international hegemony on the family; the metaphoric microcosm. Gittens-Jones reveals the truth that is rarely told, as seen through the eyes of a deeply perceptive Unis MonteClaire. I was fortunate enough to have attended a reading in which Gittens-Jones brought her chapter heading poems to life in the lyrical and emotional Bajan dialect. I highly recommend The Cleansing, or anything else written by this young, passionate writer who writes from the soul.

This book is a must read!!! The author gave first reading at Odyssey bookstore, South Hadley on May 03, 2003. The poems in THE CLEANSING
were performed by the author and I was blown away!!! Impressive and awe inspiring work. This new Caribbean Woman Writer is going places. I highly recommend this work. It is profound. THE CLEANSING will give major insight about the system of colonialism and how it can have a negative impact generation after generation if not acknowledged.

Cheryl Gittens-Jones first Novel "The Cleansing" is a dynamic and vital addition to the carribean woman's writing genre. Her examination of the legacies of racisms, sexism, and colonialism on the Barbadian family is a must read!

This book is a must read. It's takes you through several generations of women and their life experiences. It also gives you a glimpse of Bajan culture outside of the tourist venue. I loved this book and would recommend it to everyone. It was inspiring to see how someone can rise above their life's circumstances no matter where they begin.

...i firmly believe he has reperesented the caribbean in a way no- one has ever done before. Derek Walcott's diction and his superb metaphors are yet to be seen in any other caribbean poet. Yet, like the jamaican reggae superstar Bob Marley, Walcott has used his art in such a way that the whole world can identify with his work. His development of major themes such as alienation and cultural identity, Caribbean history , society and development and the pOst colonial era truly represents the region in a realistic way. His poems are truly inspirational and representative of the Caribbean. Walcott's poems are a reseviour for any historian who wishes to know about the history of the Caribbean. One shoud note that Walcott has not only used the english language in his poems but he has created the rhyme and rhythm in such a way to achieve a Caribbean creole(See "Parades Parades"), thus firmly establishing his identity as a caribbean poet and writer.IN CONCLUSION, Walcott is a true genius and we in the caribbean are proud of him.

One cannot recommend this book too highly. It is a certain classic for scores of generations to come. Derek Walcott IS the Carribean. His poems enrich the reader's sense of the Carribean without ever over-sentimentalizing. Walcott's keen observations heighten the familiar, while at times domesticating the exotic. His poem "The Spoiler's Return" is equally humorous and disturbing, as it adresses the social problems of the Carribean, and is best appreciated when read with a Carribean accent. His lines ebb and flow like a tide, but always draw you in and never disappoint. Must read poems of his: "Codicil", "The Spoiler's Return", "LI" (from the Midsummer collection), "The Schooner Flight", "The Fortunate Traveller". If you buy one collection of English poetry published after WWII, this should be the book you purchase. No one alive can make the English language work as powerfully and brilliantly for him/her as Derek Walcott can.

This cool dude uses language in a way no one else does. He redefines syntax, conventions, the way words are placed together, and forms a new interpretation of phrase-synthesis I can't even begin to describe. Actually, I will. There's lots of surrealism here, but not just for its own sake. There's deep philosophy here too. The sombering tones give the incredulous imagery and abstractionistic logic (this guy's a hard read, as it says in the preface) and language that makes him something like a Sylvia Plath in tuxedo, but with a much wider-spanning genius that gives his poetry a greater variety of elements and vocabulary, and with better breaks and sense of poetic rhythm.

It would be no exaggeration to say that Walcott is the greatest living poet writing in English, on account of the richness and originality of his language, the accuracy of his natural and social observations, and the diversity and ambition of his subject matter. Walcott works with traditional meter in rhyme in both a strict sense and a looser and more ground-breaking sense, and he also has a formidable command of free verse techniques.

Derek Walcott's "Collected Poems 1948-1984", is a work of literary genius. It is a classic that echoes the works of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, and other great poets of the past. Walcott not only echoes their styles, he has embraced them and made them his own; adding his own strong island flavour. So what you get is a very refreshing read full of images and sounds that bombard the senses; carrying you away to another world. This book is a road into the poet's heart which echoes the loves, passions and sorrows of all humanity

Mexican-born poet Gabriela Jauregui presents Controlled Decay, her debut poetry collection. The works range in setting from Jauregui's native Mexico City to a dance hall in East Los Angeles to a steam bath in Morocco to the quietude of the grave. Blending elements of narrative, thought processes, and open rhythm, Controlled Decay taps into the immense power of human consciousness and the eternal story that is the endless circle of life. "For Nietzsche": Between truth and fiction / a soap washes/clears ambiguity / dispels/destroys ambivalence / a vegetable soap / that leaves no trace / clean / like a button / ripped from an overcoat / on a winter morning.

I have to admit, I don't usually read a lot of poetry, but a couple of weeks ago I was at the LA Times Festival of Books and I saw Jauregui's book in the Akashic Books tent. The cover was breathtaking and it seemed to me everyone who walked by was buying a copy, so I grabbed one before they were all gone. I am so glad I did. Every poem in this book is its own wonderful story - some are pretty, some are grotesque, all are entertaining. You have to read them slowly, one at a time, and then savor the aftertaste the way you might enjoy an expensive chocolate or a great cut of beef. This poetry gets inside you. It infiltrates past the point where so many other writers find themselves unable to penetrate. It goes beyond your resistance - so to reject it's grotesqueness or its dance rhythms or its life experience would entail rejecting your own, and instead, because she makes it so clear in her telling that this is a celebration, we embrace rather than reject - and that's where the triumph comes--both for Jauregui and for her reader. It doesn't matter if you don't like poetry - if you want to experience life through the careful and passionate perspective of someone who might just have seen something you missed, if you have any sort of appreciation for language, if you want to read something meaningful - this book is for you.

There is something for everyone in this fierce first book of poetry by Gabriela Jauregui. Terrance Hayes states it nicely in the introduction, when he writes: "Mirroring the mouths with spit, kiss, eat, and swallow in these pages, Controlled Decay is fierce and sensual, consuming and consumed. These poems are full of vitality. This is vital poetry." I can't recommend this book enough, especially for those who are politically-minded, globally-oriented, into genre-bending, and have a strong affinity for the grotesque. I for one can't wait to see what this writer does next!

This is a dazzling debut by a writer whose imagery and command of language puts her easily in the company of some of the best poetry being written today. Jauregui is a writer who knows how to work with the blank space of the page--she knows when to rush words together, creating a crush of language that presses against you ("Get On Down to the Floor to the Heaven of Other Animals"), and she knows when to pull back, to allow the silence of the white space inform a single image or a whispered line (like the "Loku" poems, which read almost like haiku). Alongside this is Jauregui's willingness to question what it means to be human and to have a body--the sections are named "Dust," "Bone," "Fat," "Enamel," and "Nail." No "Heart" or "Brain" here; this is writing which goes for the substance of the body itself. In this her writing shares affinities with Jeanette Winterson, W. G. Sebald, Toni Morrison, and others who have rescued meaning from detritus, and given us new ways to think about how we move in the world around us. The perspective of animals inhabits the same space as that of humanity, in ways which allow Jauregui to examine where the line between us and other creatures exists (if it exists at all). All this without losing a light touch and an energetic style. I've been reading this book nonstop for the past week....

Black Goat Books sounds like a promising imprint for the always questing Akashic Press, and it is always good to see a small press make a determined attempt to create new audiences for poetry. During a recent visit to Los Angeles, I picked up a copy of Gabriela Jauregui's CONTROLLED DECAY and ever since that moment when the book fell into my hands, I have been exclaiming to everyone within the sound of my voice my delight in discovering this accomplished and talented young writer, whose work explodes in a bevy of disparate directions.

I wasn't crazy about Terrance Hayes' introduction, but introductions to books of poetry are always going to rub a certain kind of reader the wrong way, limiting our response to a certain set of already constrictions, square holes for round pegs. In this case, Hayes's thesis states that that Jauregui's poems "gaze upon us, our surfaces," instead of the way the surfaces of others' poems are gazed on by the reader. Some poems are brick walls, some are mirrors, and Juaregui's are in Hayes' third category--they are eyeballs observing the reader. I find this formulation exactly wrong; that is exactly what these poems are not. I can't even think what gazing would mean in this metaphor, but it would imply a sort of android life for poems, for how else would they actually be able to perform this "gazing" on the mere humans who created them. Oh well, in other ways Hayes' generous response to this work is soundly argued, and he has the gift for pulling precisely the right quotes from the work that will best make his point. I defy anyone to begin Jauregui's book and feel unmoved, the long ecstatic lines of the opening piece work like a pair of hands pulling you onto the dancefloor, into an irresistible beat. In this space "the dust that I am can be banished for some time, the power of voice of eyelashes and mirror smile will clean it off the dance floor if only for a moment." Why, this is like me under the influence of heavy doses of Kylie Minogue, only expressed more beautifully and persuasively than I can hope to do. Elsewhere the poetry manages to work on more minimal, nearly Objectivist levels of precise imagery, even when its ostensible subject is distortion, enshroudment, or the high crimes of history, such as in the agonistic "Bou Arfa," with its short and enervated line, its multiple languages, its nomadic and deracinated vocalizations like the blues of a lifetime.

Helpful notes explain that "Bou Arfa" (in Morocco) was the site of a Nazi-Fascist penal camp for captured resistance fighters during the days of the Spanish Civil War, so the misery was international, multi-vocal, and the wrong done never-ending.

Gabriela Juaregui divides her book into five sections, each specifying a particular organic entity, which the verse re-poses as different prisms through which life may be experienced: first comes the "Dust" of history and of biology (vide Philip Pullman); then the "Bone" of negation and of shape ("I'm freezing/ and without appetite")' in the middle a Beuysian "Fat" acts as a slave of recuperation and rescue. Two final sections, "Enamel" and "Nail" flip back and forth, as does the book in macrocosm, between twin poles of bodily delight (what Terrance Hayes calls "the carnal") and the excruciations of global conditioning. It is a daring arrangement which, for the most part, pays off the risks Jauregui allows herself.

Physically the size and the design of the book leave the work open in one's hands, as if during prayer, while the extraordinarily explosive cover (by AAVF) trades on the manuscript's heady, almost psychedelic energies. Maybe the book is too long in a certain way, fatiguing, but it's the trend now to have 120 page books of poetry, where once a collection would have a modest 64, 72 pages, and maybe the generosity of having so much work here all at once would best be met by each reader finding his own, or her own, top 80 pages and just going with them, so that we would each have our own ideal "Selected Gabriela Juaregui." There isn't any particular strain in her poetry that I would willingly let go of. Good thing I don't have to. My hope is that CONTROLLED DECAY will be widely circulated, and in reaction, a convulsion of pleasure will sweep our hemisphere from its scalp to its sandals . . . We'll see . . .

Bill Belleville's Deep Cuba book is part Cousteau adventure tale, part natural history, part cultural history, with a smattering of Hollywood documentary drama. It is enjoyable and engrossing to read- a must for those interested in protecting our fragile environments. Belleville's sensitivities and attention to detail give us greater understanding of the pristine waters and lands of Cuba, a place that seems so far away, yet is in reality right next door. Like many readers, I have grown up during a time when Cuba has been "off-limits." Ironically, this embargo has in many ways protected the environment by keeping masses of American tourists away. How lucky we are to be able to visit this magical place through Belleville's enlightening account.

When the author climbed aboard the research boat hired by a Discovery Channel film crew bound for Cuba, he gained entry to two engrossing stories. One covers the exploration of Cuba's coral reefs, sunken ships, and sharks, whose mysteries are elucidated live-on-location by Discovery's consultant scientists and cultural experts. This story is by turns exotic science, pure travelog, and just plain spooky - expedition members in a submersible find two complete sets of diving gear hundreds of feet below the safe diving range, in an area where divers were known to have disappeared. Belleville's deep dive in the little sub hangs in mid-book like a luminous bubble of science, poetry, and spookiness.

The second story is a weird tale of the making of a documentary film. It's unnerving to see the innards of the "documentary" process exposed. For instance, Belleville watches as the camera bypasses scientists who lack sex appeal or sound-bite savvy. Or, although Fidel Castro's visit to the expedition's ship makes great reading, it evidently makes bad vibes in Filmland, and is cut. And Belleville's account of the debate over whether the word "forbidden" should be used in the film title is hilarious.

These two narrative lines intertwine to weave a fascinating path around, and even into the throbbing and troubled heart of - gasp! - the forbidden island of Cuba.

The title of this book seems straightforward and explanatory enough. Yet, the content is far more complex, and thankfully, the author is more than up to the task of explaining broad concepts of oceanography, of documentary film making, and the oddball politics that have embargoed Cuba over the last 40 or so years. But more than anything, this is just a really well-told story that takes the reader along on an expedition to a place that few Americans have ever seen. Belleville seems to have a lot of experience as a scuba diver before this trip, and his acumen as an 'underwater naturalist' is much appreciated by this reader. So too is his exacting descriptions of daily expeditionary life---which at time is hilarious, enlightening, dangerous, and at times downright ironic.

The chapter describing Castro's visit when the expedition is in Havana is refreshingly candid---and quite a hoot, as well. Belleville knows how to craft a good story, and has the stylistic tools to do it.

Thematically, the author tries very hard to make a solid case for the need for more funding for ocean research---as well as for diplomatic relations that will finally let the leaders of the U.S. and Cuba manage their regional waters under one umbrella. As an educator specializing in marine sciences, I think the ecological connection between our country and Cuba is one of the great under-reported stories of our time. My deepest gratitude to Belleville for having the fortitude to tell it---and to tell it with great style.

Bill Belleville, author of "River of Lakes: A Journey on the St. Johns River," again takes us down to the water to quench our thirst for adventure. In "Deep Cuba," we set sail with him aboard an expedition vessel for a journey that plies the waters of both politics and discovery.

Through his poetic telling, the island's previously unexplored waters come to life, populated by everything from mysterious bioluminescent creatures and toothy sharks to the simple souls whose livelihoods come with the tides. We meet a variety of Cubans, among them a harbor master who boards the ship and skillfully guides it to port, two scientists who join the expedition in a rare show of cooperation between Cuba and the U.S., and a group of boys who frolic among the watery mangroves of a distant island during a break from their studies of becoming boat captains. And late in the book, there is Castro himself, who boards the ship with his inquisitive intellect.

We witness, too, the dynamics of an expedition driven by filmmaking -- in this case, a documentary for the Discovery Channel, which funded the voyage. Belleville lets his keen observations of the personalities of the expedition ebb and flow through the narrative, and it soon becomes apparent that relations between the filmmakers and scientists are at times as chilly as those between the U.S. and Cuba. We learn first-hand how science can take a back seat to the wants of filmmakers, even on such a rare expedition as this.

Throughout the book, there is much high adventure. Belleville descends 2,000 feet under the surface in a mini-sub, and he dives reefs and plunging ledges that teem with fish. In one harrowing chapter, he even loses his way during a night dive in open water.

The book is a page-turner, to be sure. But along the way there is much to be learned as Belleville weaves scientific findings and cultural observations seamlessly into the telling.

At the very least, this scientific expedition has found a happy marriage in word, if not on film.

Bill Belleville, environmental journalist, diver and storyteller pulls us out of our easy chairs and transports us to the forbidden waters of Cuba on board the marine discovery ship Seward Johnson.
Leading American marine biologists were invited by The Discovery Channel to accompany their documentary film-makers for a rare look at the undisturbed bio-diversity of the Cuban coast and adjoining waters. Belleville, who had participated in a similar voyage to the Galapagos was invited along to transmit the adventure to The Discovery Channel's web site.
Tension between the scientists and film-makers was pervasive throughout the month-long voyage. Good film-making (i.e. sunken treasure and toothy barracudas)and good scientific study (i.e. the discovery of new life forms)are not necessarily consistent.
Competition for use of the deep-diving minisub, Johnson Sea-Link was intense. Sadly, more often than not the film-makers favored by The Discovery Channel won out over the scientists.
Belleville rides the sub twice, and takes us along in that chilly, cramped, dangerous machine into the mezmerizing depths of tropical reefs and underwater mountain ranges.
We also visit the benighted island, the haunts of Hemingway and San Juan Hill. We steam past the Bay of Pigs. We meet the people: the woman who escapes poverty by offering herself to the visitors; the proud fishermen whose love of Cuba is palpable; and El Jefe, himself who boards the boat and shares his profound knowledge of his beloved Cuba with the scientists. A good tale--well written.

This is a very imformative work, although it could do with being updated. Probably the best reference book of BVI dive sites for professional and recreational divers alike.

If you want a realy good book for diving at the BVI then take this one. I got all of my informations out of this book and all dives where fine. The only thing i missed was a map with stations for tank refill.

Jim and Odile Scheiner have been photographing and diving the BVI since long before any Bush's were in the white house. Their diving expertise and professionaly crafted photgraphs will guide you to some of the best diving in this area. Don't travel to the BVI without this book if you're planning any diving! It's that good.

If you're planning a bareboat charter in the British Virgin Islands and would like to head off to dive sites on your own then this is the book you need. The book contains dive site locations, mooring locations, skill requirements, weather considerations, site layouts, suggested underwater routes, and dive descriptions. We arrived in the Virgin Islands with a bag of dive books and this is the one that we used over and over again!

We're divers who have visited BVI several times, and we think Jim Scheiner's bok is the best guide available for diving the islands. - Jim and his wife Odile are accomplished videographers and photographers with a shop at Baskin in the Sun's location in the Prospect Reef resort in Tortola, and they have extensive knowledge of the area- they're passing some of this knowledge on to visiting divers. - My only wish is they'd expand the book in its next edition, as there are so many interesting BVI dives sites!

I was born in Dominica and lived there until I was about 22 years old. Recently I went back to Dominica and wanted to rediscover the island; find some old haunts and discover new ones. Because I was planning to photograph Dominica in a way that represents what living and visiting there feels like, I wanted to find a guidebook. I had not lived there for some time, so I felt that I needed one.

This is the only guidebook about Dominica that I've ever read that gives any kind of representation of Dominica that rings true. There were descriptions of all the places that I was used to and additionally, to my surprise, there were all these places that I had never heard of. I went to see a few of them that I would never have found without the book. The descriptions of the places and how to get there were dead on.

I've enthusiastically recommended this book to expatriates who are planning on visiting Dominica with the idea of rediscovering our home and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone who is planning to visit Dominica. For the low cost of this book, the value and enjoyment of your trip will be immensely increased.

We managed to get this new travel guide just before our latest trip to Dominica. I devoured the book! It not only made me more excited about returning to Dominica, it confirmed what I knew and gave me a lot of information for further exploration.

We have travelled extensively and have a substantial library of travel guides. This is among the best. Hard to believe this is Mr. Crask's first effort. It is dead-on accurate and well laid out for finding information quickly. Having visited Dominica previously I understood what a challenge it would be to portray this unique location accurately. Well done!

Unfortuntately I purchased my copy of "Dominica" after my trip. We were fortunate, however, to meet the author, Paul Crask, for some guided hiking. In reading the guidebook after the fact, I can say with certainty that the information presented is very detailed and accurate, and chock-full of useful information.

The book is well-organized, with the first few chapters devoted to general, background and practical information for travelers. The second part is organized geographically, which helps with trip planning.

We look forward to returning to Dominica, and this time we'll read the guidebook first!

This guide is a great introduction to Dominica.

Both the narrative and photography are rich and authoritative and provide a deeply attractive presentation of Dominica's heritage. This book also has a relaxed feel to it which drew me into the whole idea of visiting what is clearly a naturally beautiful island. I particularly want to experience the National Parks, rainforest, the many incredible water falls and the Boiling Lake.

The guide also gives a sense for the culture, music and food of Dominica. There doesn't seem to be a Starbucks but it's not that kind of place, if you want to enjoy a Bellos Cocoa Tea and like the sound of a Hurricane Rum cocktail then this place should get high on your list of destinations.

I've read several guides before my travels in the past but none have hit the spot like this, well done to the author. Read this guide and visit the island! I'm looking forward to it.

Actually the only real current guide I was able to find to Dominica. But it was great for our recent visit to this wonderful island. It was very accurate and useful describing hikes we took to Middleham Falls, Syndicate, Boiling Lake, Cabrits, Scotts Head and covering the towns of Portsmouth and Rosseau. It would improve with an index to the businesses, hotels and restaurants. Paul has done a good job---Rik

Purchased for our grandson, who is absolutely jumping for joy in learning so much history.

This is the first book that I have read with so many African-Americans described in it. I showed it to my son and he was amazed that so many African-American contributions were listed. He had not heard of most of the people in the book and was confused. My godfather leafed through the book and asked where I had gotten it from. I ordered him one for himself so he could read it at his leisure. He was so happy to receive the book that he started reading it immediately. This is an excellent book for everyone.

This 2nd edition is a good African-American history/cultural reference for anyone, regardless of ethnic/racial heritage. The book met almost all of my expectations. Only a few subjects/persons I sought information on were omitted.

This tome is fine for any home, school, or public library. A useful compendium and summary of black USA history. Not perfect, but highly recommended.

I wish I had this book when I was in grammar school. It was just a huge relief to open the package. I'm reading this thing like it's the best novel in the world and I've never been a history fan. If it wasn't English, it wasn't me but I'm reading about a new person once a day everyday trying to learn all the things that I didn't get to learn in grammar school, high school,and the first college I went to.

Geared to the young and people wanting to know more about the black heritage. A fascinating survey of the contributions of blacks to American society.Excellent book for the kids and adults alike.

Glenville Lovell's remarkable and interesting way of plotting the story line in each chapter seemed to open up a new thought process as I read. This book captured my attention in numerous ways. Having the experience myself of growing up in a small village, I enjoyed and seemed familiar with the description of some of the places mentioned in the book. Mr. Lovell's skillful and poetic use of language is very refreshing, and I was even more captivated with the use and mix of the dialect, that at times seemed to have taken me back in time to my childhood days. The use of magic and myth, combined with love/love-making, fear, history, insight and triumph indeed revealed a skillfully written story of two young lovers and an entire community whose journey leads to precious insights, awakenings and new beginnings! To fully appreciate and experience this insightful journey - READ FIRE IN THE CANES! Extra-ordinary and brilliant!

Glenville Lovell's remarkable and interesting way of plotting the story line in each chapter seemed to open up a new thought process as I read. This book captured my attention in numerous ways. Having the experience myself of growing up in a small village, I enjoyed and seemed familiar with the description of some of the places mentioned in the book. Mr. Lovell's skillful and poetic use of language is very refreshing, and I was even more captivated with the use and mix of the dialect, that at times seemed to have taken me back in time to my childhood days. The use of magic and myth, combined with love/love-making, fear, history, insight and triumph indeed revealed a skillfully written story of two young lovers and an entire community whose journey leads to precious insights, awakenings and new beginnings! To fully appreciate and experience this insightful journey - READ FIRE IN THE CANES! Extra-ordinary and brilliant!

Glenville Lovell's remarkable and interesting way of plotting the story line in each chapter seemed to open up a new thought process as I read. This book captured my attention in numerous ways. Having the experience myself of growing up in a small village, I enjoyed and seemed familiar with the description of some of the places mentioned in the book. Mr. Lovell's skillful and poetic use of language is very refreshing, and I was even more captivated with the use and mix of the dialect, that at times seemed to have taken me back in time to my childhood days. The use of magic and myth, combined with love/love-making, fear, history, insight and triumph indeed revealed a skillfully written story of two young lovers and an entire community whose journey leads to precious insights that connected them to their displaced ancestors to achieved new awakenings and complacency. To fully appreciate and experience this insightful journey - READ FIRE IN THE CANES! Extra-ordinary and brilliant!

Mr. Lovell is an excellent writer and very creative. I love books that takes me to another level, books that make you get into the characters. He took me back to my childhood days sitting on the stoop of my grandmother's house in Sturges watching the monkeys eating the bananas. I also went into Harrison's Cave before it was discovered. I saw the beauty of Monkey Road tenantry.

With this supernatural tale of island magic,love, and history, novelist Glenville Lovell makes a stunning debut in FIRE IN THE CANES. I read this book recently and could not put it down! The author's quiet humor, sharp wit, and ear for language made this story of a young woman's quest for love and identity a memorable experience. Set in an undisclosed Carribean island in the not so distant past, Lovell skillfully weaves the story of a community and how it re-claimed its cultural roots after a young man is mysteriously murdered - leaving magical seeds behind him. Lovell shows the marks of a true craftsman, quietly leading his readers through the heart's rugged terrain, leaving them invigorated, by the novel's end, with a renewed sense of passion and hope. If you enjoy a little history in your fiction, a bit of the supernatural with your "realism," and humor when examining human relationships, then you will enjoy Glenville Lovell's FIRE IN THE CANES.

I have savored so many recipes from this book. I absolutely amaze my dinner guests with the recipes!

I find myself reaching for this book quite a bit. I've made quite a few recipes from here with great success; the flavors are fresh, bright and bold, and many of the recipes are inherently healthy. There's great stuff here for weeknight meals, but some of them are still nice enough for casual company dinners. This is not an entirely authentic cookbook, but it's still all very tasty. If you don't have an Asian market locally (or large Asian section at your local mega-mart) you might find some of the ingredients hard to source, although that's not a problem for me being in the Seattle metropolitan area. Make sure you try their recipe for Saigon cinnamon ice cream - it's foolproof and to die for.

Have you ever purchased a colorful asian cook book from the discount bin at the local bookstore, to find it's all pretty photos, but otherwise filled with aimless, unremarkable yet needlessly complicated or unclear recipes? I have.. to the point that most of my cooking involves going online, to find at least 3 recipes for whatever I have in mind that evening, and to use the best parts of each found recipe to come up with my own.. Well, I need to do so no more so far as Southeast Asia is concerned, thanks to the Laursens wonderful, concise, yet roomy-enough-to-allow-me-to-experiment recipes. As my wife knows, i HATE following recipes, as most 'exotic' recipes usually call for at least ONE vital mystery ingredient I will never stock, so I usually end up chucking the recipe and instead blaze thru my own rebellious trail. Well, the Laursens allow me the breathing room to make substitutions, letting me know which ingredients are key, and why, and how to make do when you don't have them all, and it's all very reassuring, aiming primarily at providing a basic, straightforward foundation for south east Asian cooking. Food the locals eat, yet with just the right amount of westernization, this book was written for me.. No wild look-at-me recipes that you will either make once and never again or not dare to make at all.... I was such a geek I took the book to my local asian supermarket and was found in the sauces/spices aisle thumbing thru pages to make sure I knew which soy sauces/fish sauces/chilli pastes to weed thru... Enough of my quirks.. the recipes? I've had this book but two days, and have made 2 meals, that will make my local thai/vietnamese restaurants sadly miss a good chunk of my business, as they came out flawless; amazingly so, given the simplicity and conciseness of the recipes...Again, best $15 spent.

This book is fantastic. It is practicle and easy to use. It convinced me to make my first attempt at homemade Thai and it was contagious. Our friends loved the recipes (they usually eat Mexican) and now love thai dishes. I need MORE receipes, please do another cookbook, and thanks!

From Bangkok To Bali In 30 Minutes: 175 Fast And Easy Recipes With The Lush, Tropical Flavors Of Southeast Asia is the collaborative effort of Theresa Volpe Laursen and Byron Laursen. This exciting compilation of exotic dishes ranges from Vietnamese-Style Iced Coffee; Balinese Star Fruit, Papaya, and Pink Grapefruit Salad with Avocado Dressing; and Fried Spring Rolls Filipino Style; to Bangkok-to-Bali Burgers with Grilled Onions; Laotian-Style Stir-Fried Shrimp with Crispy Lemon Grass; and Filipino-Style Potatoes Adobo. Exceptionally "kitchen cook friendly", From Bangkok To Bali In 30 Minutes is especially recommended for both its culinary diversity and ethnic meal-time authenticity.