News and Reviews Books

I FIRST READ THIS BOOK IN THE EARLY 70'S AND WAS COMPLETELY MESMERIZED BY THIS CHARACTER, EMETT GROGAN. WHAT A RIDE HE HAD!
I ALWAYS WONDERED IF HE WAS FOR REAL OR NOT. PETER COYOTE, TELL ME PLEASE WAS THERE REALLY A PERSON NAMED EMETT GROGAN OR NOT?
LISTEN UP PRODUCERS,A FABULOUS MOVIE THIS BOOK WOULD MAKE.A GREAT READ FOR ANYONE WITH A SINCERE INTEREST IN THE 60'S.

Although Emmett wasn't actually "unknown" I entitled this review as such because most people never even heard of him. I believe he kept more to himself and his people than a jumper into the limelight like so many of that time. I met Emmett down the lower east side of NY in 67 along with the Diggers when they first arrived in NY. Some of the Diggers and myself included ended up on The Allen BurkeTV Show if you remember that. We all showed up but Emmett...instead his replacement was Emma Grogan who I believe was fictional and not his wife but of this I'm still not sure even though I was there. They too (The Diggers) were all Merry Pranksters as well if you ask me. I was a runaway at 16 at the time and this was all new to me but I do have to say he was one character that stuck in my mind for many years before I finally looked into whatever became of him. A heart attack on the NYC subway I believe.
When I looked him up I came across Ringolevio and instantly was captivated by the book. A fantastic read and completely believable, at least to me it was. Maybe not, had I never met him. There are few that enter into a life as jamb packed with adventure as Emmett did and what I love most about him was that he created his own world with wild and well tuned visions brought to life.
I highly recommend this book!

This is allegedly an autobiography of Emmett Grogan. Once an icon of the 60s, he is, like many heroes of the 60s, completely forgotten now.

Very strange autobiography. First, it's written in third person as if someone else, not Grogan himself, has written it. Well written and well read, however it's simply too wonderful to be true. Grogan - streetwise hood, then drug addict and burglar, he left USA being 15 years old. Next he visits different European countries, enjoys jet-set life, does some job for IRA and continues as a burglar(In the meantime he returns briefly to the USA to murder one snitch). After returning to America for good he becomes an important figure in San Francisco in counterculture as an activist an organizer, a leader of Diggers.

In everything he does he is so wonderful, so brilliant,so sophisticated. He was everywhere, knew everyone, seen everything, everything knows and everything understands. Author creates himself as a larger-than-life hero at least in hippie movement. Other famous icons from the 60s like Abbie Hoffmann for example aren't presented in favorable light. Author even claims that some of them wanted to kill him which is complete b*****it.

Maybe all of this is truth but I'm not buying this.

3 stars( or mabe 2 and half) because it's really well-written and one may read with pleasure(whether to believe it's another story).

While it is true, this is a wonderful, true-to-life autobiography of one of the central figures to the Haight-Ashbury scene, there is something fundamentally tragic about Grogan, especially if you read Peter Coyote's introduction and realize what happened to Grogan in the 1970s. Grogan was no bohemian intellectual, and so the reading is rough at times, but Grogan was a man who had an amazing amount of gaul, a joie-de-vivre, and a sense of daring that made his life fascinating... "a life played for keeps" as his subtitle tells us.

Unfortunately, at too early an age, that sense of daring led him to heroin. Perhaps because Grogan opens himself up so completely in "Ringolevio", one comes away from the book with a sense that somehow, despite Grogan's disappointment with the failure of the Haight-Ashbury adventure, he was going to be all right, he was going to find a new way to do his good work in this world. The book ends with a first-hand account of the Rolling Stones Altamont Speedway murder. Grogan was writing with hindsight, recognizing that the concert marked the end of the illusion: many residents of Haight Ashbury began to move away, or get into trouble, and it didn't take long before the whole gig was over. But Grogan seemed optimistic that he would find other gigs, equally as enriching as his years as a Digger in San Fransisco.

The first time I read this book it was a first edition copy, and I didn't have the benefit of knowing what happened to Grogan in the years following this book's publication. Reading Coyote's recollections of Grogan in the years after the book's publication - how financial success led Grogan back to the needle, and how the needle eventually claimed Grogan's life - makes the feigned optimism of Ringolevio's end all the more bittersweet.

I don't give it five stars because it reads at times like the work of a hack. Nonetheless, this is a fascinating document for anyone interested in the history of the Haight-AShbury community of the late 1960s, who the figures involved in the community were and what events shaped that community. And for the most part it seems honest, warts and all, not some nostalgia-tinged feel-good book about peace and love.

Grogan is a born storyteller, sorta like your old uncle who tells you in detail how he killed scores of Germans at the Battle of the Bulge. "But Uncle Bert-- you were 12 years old in 1944!" "Yeah, but I enlisted early..." Grogan is like that-- he tells a great story, and it's up to you to figure out which parts are true, and how much he's exaggerated: 20%, 50%, or 193%. Why this is worth reading: if you wish to know about the sixties and the counterculture in NY and LA and SF, and if you want a (mostly unreliable but entertaining) eyewitness, this will inform and intrigue. Someday, this will be made into a film-- if they can make a movie of Chuck Barris' "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," they can film this hodgepodge of fiction and fact as well.

Face it - you can't hang-out with guitar people if you have
no idea what nut width is! I decided to get one book
to comprehend the "acoustic guitar', and chose this one.
It is fantastic.

It's not necessary to read beginning to end. The author
organized it so well that a quick look up will fill you
in on the spot. I have become knowledgable enough about
guitar construction, woods, parts you name it, that I
can carry on an intelligent conversation with any guitar
head out there.

The author is a wonderful writer. He keeps it simple,
very informative, and he has a fun personality which
makes the reading fun. It sounds strange to say but
it's an exhiliarating read too because the information
is vast and very interesting.

Anyone planning to buy a guitar in any price range
should read this book first. Making a purchase will
be much easier for you. You'll know so much that
you won't get taken, and you'll know how to know
if you like a guitar or not.

If you want the skinny right now without any
blah-blah-blah or difficult to understand
technical terms, here's your book. It will
be something you'll look at for years to come.

Wow, I don't think I can beat the spotlight review but allow me to add the scores to this book because it deserves a 5-star. I have to first say, this ain't a book that teaches you HOW to play the guitar but definitely the best book yet on describing what the guitar is.

Believe me, I have been playing guitar for over a year now and have no clue what's the different between Brazilian Rosewood or cedar top, spruce top, etc. Larry Sandberg explains all that, including on the differences between string gauges and what the varieties of guitar physiology. So just because you're a good guitar player doesn't mean you know about guitars. You have to read this book, one way or another if you are planning to play the guitar. If not, you'll regret it, because this book gives you a general idea of what you need to know about the guitar from top to bottom.

A must have resource for anyone about to enter the guitar marketplace. Clear, concise and informative. Very highly recommended.

Has a lot of basic information. Well written in a informal style. Good foundation for someone interested in the variations and basics of guitar construction including materials, body shape etc. As I was bewildered by the vast amount of choice in the acoustic guitar market, I found it useful for determining the right guitar to purchase for myself. Photography is b&w and not particularly sexy if you're looking for lots of eye candy.

As an "older-boomer-beginner" returning to guitars after a thirty-year absence, I read about this book in the Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum ....

This is a very readable book for anyone thinking of purchasing a high quality acoustic guitar that wants to understand much more about what they are buying. This Second Edition contains just enough up-to-date technical and historical background to give you what you need to select a great new or used acoustic guitar. It clarified many things that I found confusing when I first started reading about model sizes, nomenclature, woods, strings, and everything else. I now feel like a very informed buyer, even though I'm not much of a player. I suppose there is a certain slant towards Martin guitars, but I think that is unavoidable given the history of the company.

Mr. Sandberg is correct in that no book full of adjectives will help you evaluate either sound or action. You need to go out and play as many guitars as you can. However, this book gives you a great start, and gives you a lot of good reasons to pass over a lot of what is on the lower end of the market today. Highly recommended.

Macnee is. "The Avengers and Me" gives the reader a true sense of just what type of man Patrick Macnee is, more so, I feel, than his autobiography, "Blind in One Ear."

And while he downplays his role and acting abilities, we all know better. During the past few years, I'd taken to listening to his audio tapes of the "Sean Dillion" (Jack Higgins) stories, and his ability to take other's works and add so much character to them is astonishing. This book will not disappoint.

For true lovers of the show, this is a "must have" book. For those who strive to learn what makes the best actors tick, this is a "must have" book. Finally, if you want to learn a little more about British culture, this is a "must have" book.

If you are a fan of "The Avengers" series and even have a recollection of "The New Avengers" series, you will love What this book also tells us is how the participants did not particularly have as much fun making the series as we did watching them. When Diana Rigg announced that coal miners were making more than they were--a remark that did not endear her to coal miners--or when the cast of "The New Avengers" found they were not going to be paid--or when Joanna Lumley stood up at a gathering and let the others know how hard the cast worked while everyone else partied, we begin to reconsider what came over the tube in a new light and admire the actors even more for not showing their displeasure before the cameras.

As is common today in "confess all" autobiographies, Macnee is quite honest about his weight and drinking problems; and more interestingly, about his feelings of inferiority before such "real" actors (as he puts it late in the book) as Diana Rigg and Ian McKellen (but not Orson Welles, for reasons that you will find in the last chapter).

This edition boasts lots of good stills, especially the color shots of Honor Blackman episodes which we know only in black and white. I feel it could have used more behind-the-camera anecdotes and I certainly miss an index. But what there is is quite good and fans will certainly love it all.

This is a good book. It is very good reading about that famous British import TV show. It is very insightful. I recommend this highly. Good reading!

"The Avengers & Me" is a very good book if you love that wonderful British import to American TV. Patrick MacNee is really at the core of this book as he is without a doubt the one and only John Steed. It's really from his perspective. It is very insightful and full of great stories about the workings of this great TV show. A must have if you grew up with it.

This is a "Must Have" if You are an Avengers Fan. The book focus mostly on Mr Mc.Nee history along the show from the begining to the end,included The New Avengers. It also includes a number of interviews to the different people involved in the show. Is like "The Biography of Mr Mc Nee". The photographs are great and it has plenty. Just a small complain:The book does not extend too much about the musical scores. But is a great book! Perhaps readers will be disapointed if they looking for an episode guide because that is not included. A detailed ep.guide can be founded in the other book of the Avengers "The Avenger Companion" But the two books does not repeat any information, so is great to have both and both complement each other.

I found this book to be very useful. I haven't taken Biology or Chemistry in a few years and plan on taking the CSET for Biology next month. Its a good resource!

This book was a great help in addition to my text book in Biology. It helps to compact information so I was able to pick out only the facts. This is a great tool for people who are trying to CLEP their Biology.

This book is definitely written in a reader friendly manner. It's nice and brief. It gets right to the point without having to read the same passage over and over again. I also recommend:
The Ultimate Study Guide for Biology: Key Review Questions and Answers with Explanations
(Volume 1: isbn 1933023007)
(Volume 2: isbn 1933023015)
(Volume 3: isbn 1933023023)
These three study guides helped me to get excellent grades. They had the kind of questions that I got on my college biology tests. The Biology Cliff Notes made biology learning a lot faster.

I used this book to help me prepare for the PRAXIS II content knowledge test in biology (it's one of those awful standardized tests). It was generally very good at covering all of the topics necessary in a concise and easy-to-understand manner. There were occasions when I was less impressed by the way in which a topic was explained or laid out, but it is definitely a good supplement or review for someone who has other sources for learning or re-learning the material. (My main gripe was with photosynthesis.) But for a 200 page book on the vast topic of biology, it certainly did its job, and helped me pass my test.

The book was what I needed but I later had to find more information to complete my work. Overall the book was fine. The service, well it took forever to get here, but okay.

Despite the trite title ("Secret files"...") this book is very well written and gives an astounding introduction to chenese politics on the top level! The new generation of leaders, under president Hu Jintao, are given one chapter each with biographical info on their career and political views. Reading this made me want to know more about the Mao and Deng periods, and it also gave a hint of how shifts of power are handled in China. Highly recommended!

This book is an excellent read for anyone who wants to know about China's rulers. Granted the "secret files" in the title made me a little skeptical, but after reading the book and reading other articles as well, this book feels "real." It will be interesting to see how the new leaders guide China and how they will react to the challenges that come up.

To go along with this book, I recommend James C.F. Wang's "Contemporary Chinese Politics," the latest edition.

With the State and the Party so tied up together in China, trying to figure out the roles of the NPC, the State Council, the Politburo, Standing Committees, etc is extremely difficult! The best feature of this book is its ability to explain and clarify the role of each part of the Chinese government. Then again, maybe the best feature is its descriptions of the inside workings of the CCP. And then again, maybe the best feature is that after reading this book, you can read a New York Times article about Hu's possible liberal leanings, and say "What the?..." You'll know more than the average bear! Warning: This book is not necessarily an easy read, and will be most useful to those who take more than a passing interest in China.

This book is great for anyone from a curious reader to an "expert sinologist" (who rarely know what they are talking about). While I would never advocate accepting any foreign policy text-especially one on China-without serious skepticism, I think this is an overall accurate look at the inside.
As many of the other reviewers have noted, this book became dated as soon as it went to print, but that is not as big of a fault as one might imagine. With a quick glance at the news source of your choice (or the reviewer a little further down the page) will bring you up to date quite easily.
My one disagreement worthy of mention is his definition of the world multipolarity- "many nations having a say in world affairs." While I agree that is what American pundits mean by the term, I would argue that Chinese politicians mean something slightly different. Praise for multipolarity is actually an effort to tie the US down to the UN (where China of course wields a veto) and other means of international oversight of US foreign policy decisions. There is a subtle difference between the meaning in the this word in the lexicons of the leaders of the two nations. America means it much as the authors describe it, but China means it as constrain America.

The value of this book is severalfold. It gives intriguing hints at the nature of top level Chinese decision-making processes. It contains excellent biographical sketches of top leadership in the Chinese Communist Party -- new and old. And it reveals relationships among the various players that is invaluable in attempting to fathom the workings of a secretive government that sees its relationship with the United States as the core of its foreign policy.

Even with insider information (the secret files), it is always risky business to predict the future, and authors Andrew Nathan and Bruce Gilley are surly aware of this. The fact that they got most of their predictions right isn't as important as examining the ones they got wrong, and trying to figure out what may have happened.

Jiang Zemin stepped down as general secretary and president -- as predicted -- but stayed on as chairman of the powerful Centeral Military Commission. This event was not foreseen. What happened?

Nathan and Gilley forecast that the Standing Committee of the Politburo would consist of seven members. That group today stands at nine. (The PRC constitution allows for seven to nine members on the PBSC.)

One of the seven predicted to attain Standing Committee status, Li Ruihuan, was not chosen. Li, a reform-minded member of the previous Standing Committee, didn't make the cut for this one, even though he would have been young enough to serve another term before "mandatory" retirement at age 70. Credit Jiang Zemin for his ouster.

Three unexpected members were chosen -- Huang Ju, Jia Qinglin, and Wu Guanzheng. Nathan and Gilley discuss these men (and many others) as well as the leaders they predicted would rise to power.

There are brighter red stars than Huang Ju. Jiang has mentored him since Shanghai days in the 1980s. A former mayor and party chief of Shanghai, his daughter is married to a pro-Taiwan newspaperman from San Francisco.

Jia Qingling, a former Beijing party chief, was the best man at Jiang's wedding, and saved by Jiang after a corruption scandal involving Jia's wife.

Wu Guanzheng is secretary of the important Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC. An ally of Jiang, he has close links with Hu Jintao as well.

The new members of the PBSC that were correctly predicted by Nathan and Gilley are:

Hu Jintao, Mr. "Zero Defects" is China's first "resume president." Hu used force in Tibet in 1989 two months before Tiananmin, creating the precedent for the June 4 massacre. Jiang labeled him the "core of the fourth generation."

Wen Jiabao is a protégé of Zhu Rongji and supported by anti-Jiang factions. As premier of the State Council, he will oversee economic reforms. A capable administrator, he has been called "most dazzling."

Wu Bangguo. A Jiang man from Shanghai days, Wu oversaw the Three Gorges dam project. He is said to have a "common touch" and is cautious about reform.

Zeng Qinghong has been mentored by and is the former personal secretary to Jiang Zemin. Zeng is perhaps the most influential member of the Standing Committee, and a possible challenger to Hu Jintao.

Li Changchun is supported by Jiang, but lost the premier's position because of purported missteps in Guangdong. Still, he was able to solve problems in the province and bring it in line with Beijing's policies in the 1990s, making it a favorite of Jiang and where he chose to announce his "Three Represents" campaign in 2000.

Luo Gan. Mr. "Go To" when there's trouble, Luo controls the security apparatus of PRC, including the People's Armed Police. He did Li Peng's bidding at Tiananmen.

At least seven of the nine are Jiang's men.

One of the interesting, if not amazing things that the authors show is that the succession to power of the "fourth generation" leadership in China is the most orderly transition of power in China's history. No small claim. Still, it remains to be seen how these men will govern and engage in foreign affairs.

None of the nine have any direct military experience. Only one has studied outside China (Luo Gan), and only one has had international travel (Hu Jintao). The preceeding leadership "traveled extensively, made diplomatic visits, attended summits, and entertained a ceaseless stream of visitors from abroad."

To varying degrees each man is well-grounded in domestic policy, and they are poised to work together as a consensus team under the watchful eye of Jiang. As Nathan and Gilley point out, and as many China-watchers agree, "stability" will be a key word in making policy at home and abroad.

Last year, some of my Chinese colleagues in Beijing attempted to forecast the future too. "There are others besides Hu Jintao," one high-ranking PLA officer told me. But he missed the mark more than "China's New Rulers" did.

If you're interested in the inner workings of the CCP, and the relationship between different levels and persons of power in Beijing, you'll appreciate the information this book conveys.

I was surprised to read several overenthusiastic reviews on this page - I think the book deserves 3.5 stars. I've read it in Russian and realize that it is hard to understand it completely without being very familiar with transitional pre-Stalin period of Soviet life and culture. Therefore, the difference in opinions is probably natural. However, I want to share a few thoughts driven mostly by the reviews rather than the book itself.

Olesha is not on par with Gogol and Dostoevsky (I am sure Olesha would be shocked if someone would suggest it to him). Such comparison proves one more time, that while Dostoevsky is broadly admired by Western readers, his genius is "too Russian" to be understood completely in translation. The same can be said about Gogol, although for other reasons, while it is probably much easier to comprehend translated Tolsoy or Lermontov without loosing much - they are much more "Western". I am sure that 20th century alone gave at least a dozen (or two) of Russian writers more gifted than Olesha, not to mention several giants of 19th century.

Even though the book was effectively banned for many years, the author was not a tragic victim of the Soviet regime as Bulgakov, Solzhenitsyn or Pasternak. His own political views were less unequivocal, and to the Soviet reader he was known as creator of "revolutionary fairytale" genre ("Three fat men"). "Envy" is not pro- or anti-Soviet, it is really 19th vs. 20th century - "feelings" against "machines". The main character of the book is not a rebel or a victim of the system - he is the product of the environment. His nature with all its shortcomings is probably partially based on author's inner world. With a great risk of overextending, my guess is - Olesha shared some of the feelings of his character, seeing how some of his close friends of the youth become "official" writers favored by the regime, while others, treated the same way as he nevertheless wrote the cult books of the period (Ilf, Petrov)

A contemporary and associate of Bulgakov. Isaac Babel, Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov, Yuri Olesha wrote "Envy" in 1927. The Russian authors of that era were attempting to come to terms with increasing government censorship and pressure to write within the confines of "socialist realism," initially moving, as here, in the direction of satire and literary adventure. Intially approved by the government, "Envy" soon made its way to the ever-expanding banned books list and Olesha's career as a serious writer was over. He died in 1960.

Given that historical background, "Envy" is most likely to be of interest to students of early 20th century Russian history and literature. The casual, non-Russian-speaking reader is likely to find it neither enjoyable nor, in many places intelligible.

That person, and I am one, would be better off reading Bulgakov's masterpiece The Master and Margarita.

Some mention should be made of the quality of the bookbinding and printing of "Envy," both of which are excellent. The book is a pleasure to hold in the hand and read.

Lately, I have found myself on a bit of a reading jag with the Russian literary novelists who were effectively repressed and, thus, went sadly unread during their lifetimes. There is a strange kind of bitter sweetness to the writing as well as power, wit, satire and illumination with a markedly Soviet flare. Because Soviet censorship and cultural repression were ultimately death knells to Russian writers, you have to admire their persistance amid the hopelessness of their culture for their publication. They wrote neither for money nor fame, like American commercial novelists: these Russians wrote because they were driven within their souls to write. These Russians are writers' writers: they never sold out to their cultures and, in fact, suffered immensely because of their opposition to it. The eponymous theme of this novel places at odds an inventor and a bevy of commonplace individuals -- the classic bourgeois versus the proletariat of the Russian class system: serfs versus masters. The inventor is what Nietzsche would call a "Higher Man" and the peasants suffer from "resentiment" as Nietzsche described the envy of the lower classes in "The Will to Power." If you were a higher man, this emotion was expected to be displayed against you by the less powerful who would seek to bring you down to their level. Marx, Lenin and Stalin were all classic Nietzschean higher men. I had a bit of a hard time becoming transported or immersed or even connecting with the characters of this tale and don't really understand the very high marks others seem to give Olesha, who doesn't really compare as well to Lermontov, Bulgakov, Pushkin, Platanov or Zamyatin, for example. Without giving away the ending, let me just say that I was indifferent to it. But in a way the denouement represents a kind of superior Russian realism of the sort Olesha may have wanted to project in Envy. The novel left me flat in the same way that Disgrace and Atonement did: maybe it's just the vapid theme that went wanting in this novel for me. By all means read the Russians but I would seek out the others first and perhaps circle back to Olesha.

Olesha is on par with Gogol, Dostoevsky, Voinovitch or Bulgakov, but he never gets treated that way. The first part of this is brilliant. Possibly meant to be a condemnation of Kavalerov, instead this wicked, jealous, indecent, and meek man is real and quite sympathetic.

The second part is not nearly as good, but still worth it. Some argue that this was pro-Soviet, some anti-Soviet, I think it's somewhere in the middle: an ingenious juxtaposition that forces one to reflect on life and the nature of consciousness, be it a burden or not.

I had difficulty reading the first few pages simply because I didn't catch on that the first person narrator--who is derisively observing his roommate's bathroom routine--is to some degree emotionally destabilized by his own hard life as well as misplaced perceptions. I usually prefer lyrically-written work with sentences that flow beautifully, however, while reading Olesha's Envy, I realize just how much the novels I prefer are the way they are because the writer lives in an environment that enables some hope. As harsh as the environment is, Olesha's novel is peppered throughout with charming phrases which disarm the critical reader: Valya was "lighter than a shadow. The lightest of shadows--the shadow of falling snow--might have envied her" (54).

The novel's Introduction, by Ken Kalfus, is informative. Envy was published in 1927 when some form of satirical protest against the Soviet government was still possible; Lenin had died in 1925 and Stalin had ousted Trotsky, and it wasn't much longer--in about 1934--that it was no longer possible for a writer or journalist to speak and write freely. Olesha's work was suppressed and not re-printed until after Stalin's death in 1956. At only 152 pages, this novel is ideal for high school students wanting something more than routine American literature; honors students can definitely handle comparing the fictional treatment of social conditions. Also college freshman in Comparative Literature or fiction writing can study how a writer's environment conditions the craft of fiction.

To go into more detail, if the world of Envy feels claustrophobic, there are good reasons: Yuri Olesha's narrator, or main character, is responding to a society in which the rich and poor are increasingly polarized. People in control seem to dominate the powerless, and those in control are absolutely stupid and boring people. The conditions Olesha wrote about also indicate that most people have diminishing expectations for the future, and to want change seems futile because change is impossible. (Sorry if this situation sounds familiar in 2006.) To create a novel out of this sort of human dilemma, conditions which were escalating in 1920's Russia, the author had to position himself somewhere between the two poles of rich and poor, of government official and social outcast. To do so, Olesha created the character Nikolai Kavalerov, a sort of slacker or lay-about whose vague or shapeless revolt against his conditions engages the reader's attention. The novelist's craft must give the characters energy so that the plot moves forward to some resolution; to do that, Olesha gives Kavalerov a kind of offensive honesty, a raw self-expression. One-third of the way through the novel, Kavalerov writes a cathartic letter to Comrade Babichev declaring, "Actually, I have just one feeling: hatred. . . . And like all officials, you're a petty tyrant." To understand this eruption as refreshing or humorous, one must read carefully. Read and find out if Kavalerov actually delivers the letter.

I had high hope for this collection; loving Gorey and his bizarre sense of humor I expected him to find an odd collection of great stories. Unfortunately, they are mostly mediocre (to my mind), and with very few exceptions not chilling or startling at all.

There was one fantastic story, though: "August Heat" by W.F. Harvey. I'm grateful for this entire collection, for that one story. It is short, tight and incredible. Not a "ghost story", so to speak, but a chilling one none the less. I highly recommend it and was thrilled to find that others liked it enough to type it up online. I found several places, so look it up and read it--you'll thank me later.

The best part of the book, of course, was the full page illustration, incorporating the title and a bit of the story, before each selection. For a Gorey fan, that made it almost worth slogging through the not-so-good stories.

How could Edward Gorey's favorite ghost stories *not* be fantastic? With his own illustrations, to boot. I'm thrilled I happened across it, because it's the best collection I've read. Every story is a little masterpiece (and every story required me to sleep with the lights on after I finished it). There isn't weak story in the collection, and if you like creepy stories, every one is a must-read.

C'mon. Handpicked by Edward Gorey. Served up on a silver spoon.
What are you waiting for?

This is one of the most interesting books I've read of late, I must say. It's a collection of short fiction from the turn of the last century, writer Edward Gorey's favorites, and they range from odd to downright spooky. It begins with explorers in a haunted house, and over 250 pages manages to cover much of the breadth of late Victorian English ghost stories.

Each tale is definitely unique. A couple involve haunted houses, some demons from hell, mysterious magic, ancient curses, strange events, and normal humans on the underbelly of society, afflicted with a dose of the supernatural. There are both long ones, nearly novellas, and more succinct pieces. None are truly gruesome or horrifying, with the exception of "The Body-Snatcher", but rare are the pages that will not send chills down your spine. These writers were the masters of their times, thrilling audiences from newspapers and bookstands. These are tales to be told in the cover of darkness, where the shadow takes firm grip upon the soul of the unwary, tales to be told aloud, for the chuckle and boom of a voice will bring their ghosts to life.

To those who would enjoy such tales, and I believe that includes a very wide range, this book is probably one of the best samplers of the genre, a solid footstep from which more can be found. Certainly several of the authors I've already sought out more from. At least some of the stories are bound to appeal to almost anyone, especially on a foggy night around a fireplace. Some are better than anything I've ever read from Stephen King and other modern dealers of this type. Not to mention that I simply enjoyed the archaic dialect of these, being a fan of the old styles. You will not regret picking this book up, as it so forcefully captures the imagination. Not all so captured me, but as I said, variety is the key here, and something is bound to appeal to everyone.

My personal favorites were probably Harvey's "August Heat" and James' "Casting the Runes", on opposite ends of the book, nicely pulling me in and leading me out. "Heat" is short, sweltering, and eerie, ending in such a way that is simply too powerful; "Runes" about a the thrilling unraveling of a mystery surrounding a warlock who hexed a man. "The Thirteenth Tree" is perhaps not the most exciting, but definitely is mysterious. The title of "A Visitor From Down Under" has a double meaning, and the story embodies the psychadelia and madness of the period. Rats both haunt and protect a university student in "The Judges House", but little can stop the real horror that lives there. In "The Monkey's Paw" one wish brings ruin on a family, and a second used in desperation seems to bode more... "The Empty House" casts its siren call over an old woman, who brings her nephew in only to witness an invisible murder. The namesake of "The Signalman" has some ability to see future accidents. And in the bloody "Body-Snatcher", medical college students must take criminal steps to ensure a supply of cadavers, until one turns on them.

Edward Gorey's Haunted Looking Glass may be my all time favorite collection of ghost stories. All twelve selections are well-crafted, frightening tales. With the exception of two classics, The Body-Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson and The Signalman by Charles Dickens, these stories are not unduly familiar. Each story is enhanced by a haunting illustration in the inimitable style of Edward Gorey himself.

The other ten stories include The Empty House (Algernon Blackwood), August Heat (W. F. Harvey), A Visitor from Down Under (L. P. Hartley), The Thirteenth Tree (R. H. Malden), Man-Size in Marble (E. Nesbit), The Judge's House (Bram Stoker), The Shadow of a Shade (Tom Hood), The Monkey's Paw (W. W. Jacobs), The Dream Woman (Wilkie Collins), and Casting the Runes (M. R. James).

These stories all qualify as truly frightening stories, ones that you will remember. Many anthologies of ghost stories suffer from one of three problems: the stories are not very frightening, the selections are uneven in quality, or the stories are good, but they are all familiar classics. Edward Gorey avoided all three pitfalls.

Edward Gorey's Haunted Looking Glass was first published in 1959, then reprinted in 1984 by Avenel Books (my copy), and is now available as a New York Review of Books Classic (2001). This book would make a great gift for Halloween, or for that matter any time of the year.

The great mystery of history is how the life and teachings of an obscure Jewish Rabbi inspired a world religion. Speaking as an historian, Michael Grant examines the life of Jesus, eschewing the spiritual, and puts forth the plausible opinion that Jesus's Ministry was based on the belief that the Kingdom of God --the end of the world as we know it -- was at hand. The Jews, or at least the elect of the Jews, would be liberated from oppression, the oppressive Gentiles would be punished, and God would rule. Jesus, he speculates, went knowingly to his death to further the imminent apocalypse.

Grant's views help explain Jesus's indifference toward worldly things. Why worry about possessions, religious laws, and rendering taxes unto Caesar when the end is near? This leads the author also to maintain that Jesus's Ministry was based on a mistake -- the end didn't come, and hasn't yet come -- and that he was "a total failure turned into enormous triumph" after his death. As a person, Jesus comes across as somewhat abrupt and intolerant, especially with his intellectually-challenged disciples.

These are pretty strong and controversial views but Grant maintains his historical detachment throughout. One can never be sure whether he is a believer or not. I thought the book would have been better had it included more background on the four gospels -- Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John -- which are almost the only sources Grant used to interpret the life of Jesus (he finally gets around to doing so briefly near the end of the book.) He perhaps presumes more familiarity with the Bible than some of us, including this reader, may have. But all in all this is a most interesting book and the interpretation of Jesus is very convincing.

Smallchief

Michael Grant's book is so vivid, provides so many cultural details, and engages so much practical data, that it was like boarding a time machine to actually travel back to first-century Galilee to follow Jesus around and observe the life around him.

Grant analyzes aspects of contemporary Galilean, Judean, Aramean and Roman culture in the gospels and other literature, to draw a powerful detailed -- yet easly readable -- character profile of Jesus and his teachings. He probes the gospels, supplemented by contemporarty sources, to draw out a detailed view of the psychology and self-concept of Jesus.

This skilled critical writer establishes strongly the authenticity of some events and teachings commonly dismissed in some circles of thought. Highlighting some ignored aspects of the gospels, Grant's comparative approach to the 4 gospels easily portrays the overarching goal and purpopse of all Jesus' actions and teachings -- the urgency of ushering in the Kingdom of God. This guiding focus explains many aspects otherwise considered anomalies in the gospel accounts.

Grant compares Jesus to the themes, goals and character of the Qumran teachers, Galilean sages and Old Testament prophets. He provides an extensive analysis of Jesus' relationship to John the Baptist. He establishes the unique aspects of Jesus' teachings, as well as the similarities with the developing rabbinic forms of the time. Notable differences are Jesus' unique self-confidence, assurance of his unique relationship to God and his novel personal authority.

Grant pointed out aspects of the political and geographical setting, as well as cultural dynamics I have never seen dealt with in other texts. These bring out a total presence and vibrance in the gospel texts rarely achieved by a New Testament scholar.

In spite of my extensive studies and avid interests in these topics, having read dozens of relevant books, I felt projected in a new way into the physical presence of Jesus in a vivid local Galilean setting, as though it was a movie set painstakingly created for authenticity.

This is an excellent work by the great classical scholar Michael Grant, a champion of Western Civilization. Writing with a deep knowledge of the ancient world in which Jesus of Nazareth lived, Grant offers a convincing naturalistic portrait of Jesus.

The greatest strength of Grant's book is its status as a serious and lengthy biography of Jesus written from the standpoint of an historian. Almost every other available biography of Jesus is written by a Christian theologian of some sort or another. Even liberal, skeptical, naturalistically-minded theologians or other Christian scholars harbor deep emotional bonds to Jesus, such that they occasionally describe him as "the Lord," or grant him at least an occasional miracle, or idealize him to perfection or near-perfection. Grant steers clear of this. Moreover, Grant, unlike many liberal Jesus scholars in more recent decades, does not dubiously resort to the newly discovered Gospel of Thomas, or to other Gnostic gospels, as sources for his portrait of Jesus. Nor does Grant, when examining the resurrection story, deny the probability of an empty tomb, as most liberal Jesus scholars do. Instead he accepts the strong tradition that the tomb of Jesus was found empty on the third day, concluding very reasonably that someone or other "had taken the body" (p. 176).

One of the best parts of Grant's book, in my view, is a chapter titled "What Were the Miracles?" Other readers, I notice, have also found that chapter compelling. In it, Grant systematically analyzes the miracle stories of the gospels. He gives many persuasive naturalistic explanations for the events in question, e.g., cases in which the suggestive power of Jesus, working in tandem with the superstitious beliefs of the common people, cured them of "hysterical and obsessive ailments, paralysis," etc. In other words, hypochondria and psychosomatic afflictions were the root causes of such problems. I might add that some or most such "healings" may well have been only partial or temporary; we have no follow-up medical reports. Likewise, Grant writes that "the 'lepers' were not necessarily lepers at all," but were probably people afflicted with "less serious diseases of the skin." As for the various "resurrections" of others that Jesus is supposed to have performed, Grant suggests they were coma-resuscitations if anything real at all. One simply must realize that premature announcements of death were quite common in antiquity, before modern hi-tech equipment permitted the monitoring of the vital signs of sick people. Grant also wisely concludes that these "miraculous" acts of Jesus were relatively few in number, later multiplied by rumor and hero-worship to the dozens related in the gospels. As for the several non-healing, "nature" miracles (Jesus walking on water, turning water into wine, etc.), Grant lays bare their symbolic and fictional character. (See also Randel Helms's Gospel Fictions on the borrowing of Old Testament passages here.) And finally he mentions the serious contradictions involved in the gospel accounts of the secrecy surrounding all the miracles. He writes: "This widespread disbelief [by many Jews at the time, that the acts of Jesus were really miracles] is probably the cause of Mark's continual insistence that Jesus required his healings to be kept secret. There is obviously something wrong about these accounts, since it is incredible that Jesus, after performing his cures (as we are told) in public, should then have ordained and expected that they should be kept secret...."

Grant does not analyze the 21 epistles or letters of the New Testament in his discussion of the miracle stories, but if he had, he would have found in them additional reasons to doubt the number and impressiveness of the actions of Jesus later described and exaggerated in the gospels as miracles. Not one of the 21 epistles mentions any miracle performed by Jesus in his lifetime. It seems probable that the strange and excitable author of the Gospel of Mark (the first gospel written, about A.D. 70), or his immediate source, was the one who added many of the miracle stories to the earlier and less sensational oral traditions about Jesus.

Grant's 1977 Jesus book seems to be rarely cited in the scholarly Jesus literature, perhaps because he was not a Christian or fellow New Testament scholar. This neglect, and the weak reasons for it, suggest that more people should rediscover his book. Please read a copy - or at least that fascinating "Miracles" chapter - soon.

Some statements by previous reviewers need to be corrected.

FIRST, Grant does NOT argue that all of the miracles were merely symbolic. He accepts the healing miracles as real, historical events. In addition, he thinks it's possible that some of the "nature" miracles might also have really occurred. On the other hand, he also argues that *some* of the "nature" miracles might be examples of hyperbole typical of the time and place, or might have started life as parables (such as the story of the fig tree, which is presented as a miracle in Matthew and Mark, while Luke seems to present a version of it as a parable).

What I think confused the previous reviewer was Grant's observation that, to Jesus, the miracles both *signaled* (i.e., symbolized) the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven and were *part of* the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven. In other words, by healing the sick (for example), Jesus gave a signal that the Kingdom was arriving and also helped the Kingdom to arrive (by helping to create a world without sickness).

SECOND, nothing in the book suggests that Grant is an atheist. (Or perhaps I should say "was an atheist," since this book was first published in 1977.) It's pretty clear, though not explicitly stated, that Grant did not believe that Jesus was God. But that has nothing to do with whether he was an atheist.

This is a fascinating effort to look at Jesus in the way that a modern historian would look at any figure from the ancient world. Even if you're a devout Christian, this book will provide some very interesting interpretations of Jesus' mission and message.

Excellent book. Michael Grant writes in a clear and concise way about how much we know about Jesus and how we can decide what parts of the Gospels are historical and what parts are mythical. If you believe in the Bible literally, you may have trouble with this book, but if you want to know what parts of the Jesus story are history and what parts are not, you will find this book fascinating

Very good book, for students who whant to success,special
for test preparation.
Fast deliver.thanks you. l`ll buy again.
Rolando A. New York.

The 2007 version is being sold in bookstores now. This version
is jam packed with pertinent information for the regents exam
on The Living Environment. The basic syllabus includes:
o natural phenomena and lab experiments
o similarity and diversity in life forms
o homeostatis
o cell function/structure + chemistry of living organisms
o genetic continuity and organic evolution
o reproduction, dynamic equilibrium
o interdependence of living things
o the human impact on ecosystems
o a comprehensive glossary
o several full regents exams (both Q/A)

The book is written in a very readable form.
There are many pertinent diagrams and charts which explain
the concepts well. i.e. egg--->adult frog development;
circulatory patterns, cleavage and differentiation, chloroplast

Last year, I was blessed with a biology teacher who's idea of a lesson was taking attendance for thirty minutes, talking about herself for ten minutes, and writing some definitions on the board for the last ten minutes of the lesson and then not going over them. So basically, I had to prepare for the living environment regents by myself. This book completely saved me because though I thought that it was too detailed at first, it turned out to be the most resourceful review book that I had. Got a 95 on the regents because of it :)

I am studying this regents biology book over the summer before I start school in a specialized HS and this is great! I came from one of those schools where they don't teach you anything, where the students teach each other. Most people at my school never knew their three times tables yet they graduated. I was on a normal school level, but they still thought i was very smart.

The point of saying all that is that if i had no teachers, i had to teach myself, and I learned absolutely nothing on science that year in [...]! So I got the [...] science test barrons book and passed.

Since I knew people from better schools are going to compete with me now, and that i wont be "smarty pants" anymore, i brought this biology book along with other barrons regents books and studied them.

Now I'm understanding everything, and I am absolutely glad I got this book.

I basically taught myself Bio (and took the SAT II and got a 800) with this book even before school began. It is pretty helpful but once again I found the older ones more helpful because the tests were harder.

These new little NYRB editions are just honeys--I have yet to read one that wasn't absolutely spectacular (the editors have superb taste), and the editions themselves are little gems--they FEEL so nice in your hands because they're made of gorgeous high quality paper and set in a lovely font.

Warner's novel is fantastic--its rhythms are slow but musical, and it takes quite a while to determine what awaits Laura in Great Mop. A very, very funny book that also comments movingly on the condition of "odd women" in the generation before Suffrage... I couldn't put this down!

Lolly Willowes is the spirited story of a woman searching for herself. The themes in this book are as applicable now as they were when it was written. Thank you to Academy Chicago for bringing us this beautiful edition with an insightful introduction (they also use the original cover art).

I also cannot believe that just because the heroine (spoiler warning..) abandons her relatives, runs off to the forest, dances with the devil, adopts a black cat, and becomes a witch they put this in horror. That's an outrage. This is one of the classic pieces of women's literature of all time and when I went to college it was required reading at the UW (Washington, not Wisconsen). The book, besides having obvious overtones of individuality and escape from oppression/societal norms, deals with a wider array of controversial (still, but especially then) topics than can be easily summarized. (For instance, book could be read as very existentialist because it's never quite certain that she didn't dream it all) Suffice it to say that the book is an extraordinary read. Also, it is a small book, sparsely written, episodic, plot-driven, but with just enough sparkling detail to keep the reader transfixed. And it is funny. My favorite part is when she meets the satan-cat and realizes the cat is the devil but she is, though mildly alarmed at first, too impressed by his "Satanic playfullness" to worry.

My book group chose this book by the interesting description here and review. The idea of a spinster leaving her family to become a witch intrigued us all, but we were disappointed in the book. We found the character not very interesting, and the lack of action calmed us all into slumber while trying to read it. It wasn't a terrible book, it had some interesting things to say, but we could not understand all the immensely positive reviews here.

This book might not be for everyone. The pace is very slow and leisurely. There isn't much action, in fact periods of 20 years go by without much action. However, the writing is elegant, flowing and rhythmical, a pleasure to read. There isn't a single sentece in the book that is jarring or out of place. The story is based on the lives of superfluous women after WWI and the Spanish influenza killed off a lot of males that would otherwise have been available for marriage. It is also a nod to the suspicion in which society in general has held unmarried women, and the fact that for a long time there was no place for them in society - they couldn't go out and work and live independent lives and so were often just used by their relatives as unpaid labor in exchange for a place to live and financial support. There really isn't any witchcraft in the book, at least not the Harry Potter kind of witchcraft. Lolly Willowes's pact with the devil is just how her sudden desire for independance would seem to her friends and relatives - the devil got into her.
Overall the book is a pleasure to read, but you have to be willing to slow down and enjoy the scenery.