Indiana Books

This is one of the best romance novels I've ever read if not the THE best. I loved both Matt and Meredith and all the supporting characters are special. I couldn't even hate her father even though it's more than warranted.

This my go to book when I'm feeling down. I recommend that everyone that loved contemporary romance read this book

Although this book was first published in 1991, I only recently purchased it and read it. I stayed all night and a good part of the early hours of the morning reading Paradise and it was a paradise reading..I did not feel the time as I kept turing page after page. This is a keeper.

I absolutely loved this book. This was the first Judith McNaught book I have read but it certainly won't be the last. You just fall in love with Matt and Meredith from the beginning. This book made me laugh out loud and as another review mentioned...have your kleenex box handy as well. I couldn't put it down and my family barely saw me for the two days it took me to read it. I would recommend this romance novel to anyone with no hesitation!

Fabulicious! Romantic and funny and a little sad in between. Still don't quite buy Meredith's mother, but we'll let that slide because the rest of the book was such a treat.

You will love this book. It is such an enjoyable read - as are all of McNaughts other reads.

I am looking forward to my re-read already!

There can be no doubt that this is one of the finest, well-made, and produced movies that Hollywood has ever released. The casting is perfect and the direction flawless.

"Hoosiers" is set in a town in Indiana which is famous for its love of basketball. Gene Hackman plays coach Norman Dale who comes to Hickory, Indiana to get a struggling high school team back on its feet. He is met with anger and suspicion on the part of the townspeople and apathy and suspicion on that part of the players.

What ensues is a lesson in character and fortitude that extends its reach far beyond the game of basketball. Dennis Hopper plays the father of one of the team members who has seen far better days. As a bitter, unrepentent alcoholic, he proceeds to make things harder for his son and the team. Barbara Hershey plays a sarcastic high school principal who resents not only the new coach, but the sport and the town. But as the movie progresses, we see a metamorphosis on the part of all as lives begin changing around the game of basketball.

You can look at this movie as being about basketball. And it obviously is. However, it transcends that and, to me, is a story of redemption, and triumph. In fact, it might take two viewings to really get the subtle nuances this movie delivers.

Set against the backdrop of Indiana scenery, and filmed beautifully, you will find yourself getting caught up in the magic of this story. The soundtrack is beautiful as well. This is one of those movies that delivers a special gift. I wish I could give it ten stars.

I had not seen this movie, but I was so glad that I bought it. It was wonderful!!!!!

I found this movie utterly predictable and Dennis Hopper's performance as the town drunk only tolerable. Gene Hackman is the new high school basketball coach in basketball crazy Hickory, Indiana in 1951. He is a man with a past, although it is not as dark as it initially appears. Hopper plays Shooter, the town drunk whose son is on the seven man team. Despite his sodden brain, Shooter has a superb understanding of the game and Hackman selects him to be his assistant coach. You know immediately that Shooter is going to sober up and become a real coach. The scenes where Hackman is thrown out of the game and Shooter must take over are forced and unrealistic; Hopper is unconvincing as a person stressed out over the combination of alcohol withdrawal and having to take charge.
Even the scene when Hackman is attending a town meeting where the purpose is to decide whether he should be fired lacks a great deal of tension. It is not out of the apparent politeness of the townspeople, there is a lack of passion among all participants. This is supposed to be a town passionate about basketball and a coach passionate about the game.
I was bored throughout the entire movie and struggled to watch it through to the end.

Love this movie! I love the flavor of Indiana more than anything. Visited that state and the area they speak of many times in my youth. Great inspirational story. Just a quick note...a joke is lost in the subtitles mid-way through the semi-national game. After being fouled out of the game, Coach glares at his player, for which the subtitles read "It was for the team". The line is actually "it was Dentyne", throwing back a joke Coach said in an earlier huddle. Being deaf helps with these things! Amazing movie still.

GREAT SPORTS MOVIE! INSTEAD OF REVIEWING MOVIE, WHICH WE ALL KNOW IS A GREAT SPORTS MOVIE, JUST WANTED TO SAY THE BLU-RAY PICTURE IS A HUGE IMPROVEMENT OVER MY OLD DVD. I'M ONLY REPLACING MY OLD MOVIES THAT I LOVE BUT LOOK BAD ON MY NEW HDTV. WAS VERY PLEASED WITH THE PICTURE QUALITY ON THIS. THE ONLY DRAWBACK TO THIS BLU-RAY IS THERE AREN'T ANY EXTRAS EXCEPT FOR A TRAILER. BUT IF YOUR LOOKING FOR BETTER PICTURE QUALITY, YOU WON'T BE DISSAPOINTED.

There can be no doubt that this is one of the finest, well-made, and produced movies that Hollywood has ever released. The casting is perfect and the direction flawless.

"Hoosiers" is set in a town in Indiana which is famous for its love of basketball. Gene Hackman plays coach Norman Dale who comes to Hickory, Indiana to get a struggling high school team back on its feet. He is met with anger and suspicion on the part of the townspeople and apathy and suspicion on that part of the players.

What ensues is a lesson in character and fortitude that extends its reach far beyond the game of basketball. Dennis Hopper plays the father of one of the team members who has seen far better days. As a bitter, unrepentent alcoholic, he proceeds to make things harder for his son and the team. Barbara Hershey plays a sarcastic high school principal who resents not only the new coach, but the sport and the town. But as the movie progresses, we see a metamorphosis on the part of all as lives begin changing around the game of basketball.

You can look at this movie as being about basketball. And it obviously is. However, it transcends that and, to me, is a story of redemption, and triumph. In fact, it might take two viewings to really get the subtle nuances this movie delivers.

Set against the backdrop of Indiana scenery, and filmed beautifully, you will find yourself getting caught up in the magic of this story. The soundtrack is beautiful as well. This is one of those movies that delivers a special gift. I wish I could give it ten stars.

I had not seen this movie, but I was so glad that I bought it. It was wonderful!!!!!

I found this movie utterly predictable and Dennis Hopper's performance as the town drunk only tolerable. Gene Hackman is the new high school basketball coach in basketball crazy Hickory, Indiana in 1951. He is a man with a past, although it is not as dark as it initially appears. Hopper plays Shooter, the town drunk whose son is on the seven man team. Despite his sodden brain, Shooter has a superb understanding of the game and Hackman selects him to be his assistant coach. You know immediately that Shooter is going to sober up and become a real coach. The scenes where Hackman is thrown out of the game and Shooter must take over are forced and unrealistic; Hopper is unconvincing as a person stressed out over the combination of alcohol withdrawal and having to take charge.
Even the scene when Hackman is attending a town meeting where the purpose is to decide whether he should be fired lacks a great deal of tension. It is not out of the apparent politeness of the townspeople, there is a lack of passion among all participants. This is supposed to be a town passionate about basketball and a coach passionate about the game.
I was bored throughout the entire movie and struggled to watch it through to the end.

Love this movie! I love the flavor of Indiana more than anything. Visited that state and the area they speak of many times in my youth. Great inspirational story. Just a quick note...a joke is lost in the subtitles mid-way through the semi-national game. After being fouled out of the game, Coach glares at his player, for which the subtitles read "It was for the team". The line is actually "it was Dentyne", throwing back a joke Coach said in an earlier huddle. Being deaf helps with these things! Amazing movie still.

GREAT SPORTS MOVIE! INSTEAD OF REVIEWING MOVIE, WHICH WE ALL KNOW IS A GREAT SPORTS MOVIE, JUST WANTED TO SAY THE BLU-RAY PICTURE IS A HUGE IMPROVEMENT OVER MY OLD DVD. I'M ONLY REPLACING MY OLD MOVIES THAT I LOVE BUT LOOK BAD ON MY NEW HDTV. WAS VERY PLEASED WITH THE PICTURE QUALITY ON THIS. THE ONLY DRAWBACK TO THIS BLU-RAY IS THERE AREN'T ANY EXTRAS EXCEPT FOR A TRAILER. BUT IF YOUR LOOKING FOR BETTER PICTURE QUALITY, YOU WON'T BE DISSAPOINTED.

i really loved this book if i was born around his time i would have been his friend i love how he stood up for his beliefs and went back to school in stuff even though he didn't get to gradulate, but he still lived a great in fun life it was short but he did things with it i'm young but my aunt past away with AIDS and after reading this book it really touch me i was crying because i felt so bad what ryan went though but he didn't let it get to him. He was so strong he got people believing again.

In fifth grade we were introduced to an illness called AIDS. We also learned about a boy named Ryan White. I took an interest to this story because I have an illness called diabetes and have to deal with how different people react and treat me because of it. Just like Ryan and AIDS diabetes is not contagious and there are no know ways to prevent or cure it. I have heard many different reactions when they find out that I have Diabetes. The most commom being "Did you eat too much sugar or something?" Most of the time I just laugh at this and explain that you have no control over getting Diabetes. I took an interest in school that year and by doing so I found myself a role model...Ryan White.

When I was young I remeber a copy of People magazine that my mom had lying around with Ryan White on the cover. For some reason I always took an interest to him, and his life, and all the article that I could find on him. In high school I remeber reading part of it to do an exta credit project. Finally 2 year out of high school I decided to reread the story of his life. It is amazing how people really are. It really hit home, not living too far from Kokomo, Indiana where he was from, that people in my community would treat people this way. It is also amazing how much determination he had to be who he was and not let anyone or anything get in the way. This book is great!!!! Everyone should read it and put themselves in this families shoes!!

Today is World AIDS Day and each year I remember my childhood friend, Ryan White. His sister and I were both Rollerskaters and skated in the same skating rinks. Knowing Ryan personally and having his book for years now, it is still a story that resonates with me. It is true, thoughtful, and in his own words.

I'll never forget the hatred the spewed from the city of Kokomo against him. It was such a devastating blow to his well being. Not only did he have this death sentence, but the entire town was treating him worse than what you would treat a pig going to slaughter. I am not joking. I remember seeing him at the skating rink one day, it was a time when he wasn't as sick so he was able to be a kid. I went up to him to give him a hug because I hadn't seen him in so long and he said, "You want to hug ME?" He was shocked that someone would want to touch him. That's how bad it was.

Read his book. He is the reason people with AIDS are accepted now. This friend of mine had more courage than anyone I have ever met.

I read this book upon entering seventh grade. Ryan's story was so empowering and so honest that I often feel the need just to sit down and read a chapter by random. Everytime I read it I cry. This auto- biography has inspired me to help in the relief and research for AIDS. I have done reports on the disease and Ryan and teachers often comment about how passionate I am about the subject. This book changed the way I veiw life; a treasure that should'nt be wasted. Thank you Ryan.

A "must read" for any boy who craves adventure stories. No elves or dragons or monsters - just a real picture of life of a small boy on the Indiana frontier. If you enjoyed the Little House on the Prairie books you'll love this.

This is such a good book to share with modern Hoosier children. It gives them a taste of what life was like for some of the early pioneer children living in Indiana. I have read this book to my fouth grade classes for years, and they always love it.

The Bears of Blue River is a book I can heartily recommend parents to buy and read to their children. This book, about the many pioneer outdoors experiences of young Balser in the 1820's, is a great way to introduce youngsters to life in a simpler, yet challenging time. My children are captivated as they hang on every word of Balser's bear hunting exploits in the forests of the then-young State of Indiana. My Mother, who is 91 years of age, purchased the book for my young son, and wrote in the forward "Your Grandpa Wayne liked these stories when he was a boy". Eighty-five years later, his 12 year old and 4 year old grandsons are equally enthusiastic. Don't miss this one for your sons!

What a great book! My husband enjoyed the book when he was a boy. We shared it with our children. They loved it,too! Great adventures.

In 1953 I started first-grade in southern Indiana. My teacher, Pearl Monroe, read Charles Major's 1900 Bears of Blue River to us. She, also, read it to my father in a one-room school house. It was my favorite book. There was one sad part in the book where Mrs. Monroe always cried. She would have an older student finish the chapter. In about 1980, I read it to my kindergarten age son. I also cried when the Polly died in an explosion that killed the dreaded Fire Bear. About five years ago, in a used book store in Colorado. I read it to my father who was in his 80's. Together we enjoyed the memories it brought back. This year I started teaching fourth-grade at the Odessa Christian School here in Odessa, TX - having just retired after 21 years with the pubilc schools. I just finished reading this marvelous adventure story to my class. They all acclaimed that it was the best book they ever heard read. I highly recommend this book and the sequel, Uncle Tom Andy Bill. Donald Potter

What can I say I'm perpetually busy with three small boys and cooking always seems to allude me culminating in constant eating out.

I have several cookbooks, either the kids won't eat the recipes I make, they taste awful, or it's to expensive with all the ingredients.

This book is an absolute jem for the mother who needs to be able to fix a simple meal, quickly, and without all the ingredient fuss. Most of the recipes in here call for flour, butter, oil, lard, sugar. You know your basic staples.

My kids love these recipes. The apples I made in brown sugar, fantastic. Tastes just like Cracker Barrels. I also like the fact that when your cooking this way the preservatives are at a absolute minimum, which is great.

For those of you who commented on how healthy this book is please look into your history books or pictures of your grandparents. You can't find the fat person. I've been to several countries and America is by far the fattest. The other countries all lacked skim milk, low fat this, fat free this, and corn syrup in everything.

I am by the way overweight and haven't gained a pound from this book. Moderation my dear. I've actually lost weight. Great book, I highly recommend.

The recipes are hearty and filling, taste and look great too. My husband raves each time something new comes from this book!

book received in great shape and took less then four days to receive

Cooking From Quilt Country is by far the best cookbook (and I have many) that I have ever seen. Whether you want to lose weight or gain weight , recipies can be adapted for your own use and taste . Best of all, recipies can be done "by the book itself". I would honestly say this could be the only cookbook one woulld ever need and definitely would make a lovely gift!

COOKING FROM QUILT COUNTRY is a pleasure to read. The title comes from the fact that Amish and Mennonite people are famous for their quilt making skills.

This book gives a little background of the Mennonite and Amish sects and how they came into existence. The roots of the two groups originated with the Protestant Reformation and the Swiss Anabaptist movement. The leader was a Dutch priest by the name of Menno Simons.

This very informative book is filled with wonderful recipes and many photographs. Because the Mennonites and Amish have traditionally been farmers, they're also known for their wonderful foods. There are recipes for everyone here, but I was especially interested in the different vegetable dishes that are presented.

A friend recommended this to me when I expressed the desire to read a little more about elephants (after reading Philosophy Made Simple and Water for Elephants). It makes sense... elephants and the circus go together, yes?

In this collection, Cathy Day plays with the structures of stories. Each is constructed a little differently than the last, but all interweave to paint a portrait of a small town with a unique past and a distinctly midwestern present. Experimental structures can fall flat as easily as they work. I don't require a linear narrative, but I do require that a story be told. This book tells one.

True to the title, the circus performers are mostly shown during the downtime, weathering winter and waiting to get back on the train. The way that their lives butt up to the lives of ordinary folks is interesting to read about. Several stories deal with the ways in which men do not comprehend the longings of women, and Day handles this theme beautifully and without accusation, especially in The King and His Court and the very tragic The Lone Star Cowboy.

It's a beautiful book. But...

(spoilers)

...the elephants are only shown dying. I can't stand it. Their deep eyes, their hairy hides, their questing trunks, and then they die.

Since the stories are called "exhibits," the question of human oddity ("born" and "made") is called into question. Well, this was part of the circus. One of the stories deals with a young man who has dwarfism, and how he happily accepts the role of town mascot, and what happens when that role is inexplicably (to him) withdrawn. I've read too many stories in which a little person comes in to serve as a metaphor, a symbol, as if somehow a person who has dwarfism is not a person, just the condition that makes him short. Day does a nice job of portraying a person. He is an innocent boy, then a clueless young man, and then an angry young man. He is more than the sum of his bones.

Very highly recommended.

I've never liked the circus. But this book made me want to learn more about people who live a life tied to it. Day paints beautiful and poignant images of her characters and she weaves a mighty beautiful web in the process.

The first stories in this collection are small masterpieces. Cathy Day can take us deep into the secret, hidden hearts of her characters. There were passages that I read, over and over, just to enjoy the beauty of her writing.

It was close to perfect.

I was worried that a 'circus story' would be all about the freaks and geeks. Instead, it was about real people struggling against the loneliness of midwestern winters, coping with broken dreams, the constraints of small town lives, and the endless allure of life on the road.

Sadly, the seams started to show towards the end of the collection. There was nothing bad, so much as a sense of that, in a few of the later stories, she was repeating her best stories (or giving us an early, less polished version of them). One story could have been dropped with no loss ("Jungle Boolah Boy" didn't feel very integrated with the rest of the stories), and another ("Boss Man") felt a bit strained although it did help to tie some of the themes and characters together.

This is a wonderful,short book that I really enjoyed.
The author brings you into the world of circus folks. Sometimes funny,sometimes sad but always interesting. She gives us the story many different ways,which at times can be trying.

Her characters are well fleshed out making you want to know more. She carries thru with this by bringing you from the past to the future and back. A good fun read!

This book of interconnected short stories related to residents of the old circus town of Lima, Indiana (it's real life counterpart is Peru, Indiana) is just excellent. Great writing, great characterizations and great stories that seem like they could have really happened. Do yourself a favor and read THE CIRCUS IN WINTER instead of WATER FOR ELEPHANTS which is more romance novel than literature but for some unknown reason is reaping a lot of positive buzz.

This series is the first literature by Karen Kingsbury I have read. I highly recommend this book, Return, as well as the whole Redemption series. It is true to life and captures the reality of the highs and lows of what we all encounter on a daily basis. It is a series that is an encouragement to living a life of faith not based on our own power.

This is my 4th Karen Kingsbury book and I cannot get enough. This book was so good I was done reading it in 2 days and I probably would have finished it sooner if not for my kids. Super read, can't wait to get the next one!!!

Loved it....lives up to what I have come to expect of Karen Kingsbury.

Return is the 3rd book in Karen Kingsbury's Redemtion series. This book is mainly focused on Luke, the Baxter's only son, straying from God after some traumatic events, including 9/11. He rejected his Faith, his family, and the girl he loved. Instead he turned to a life leading to destruction, and he messed with a false religion--freethinking. "Freethinking meant he could avoid his family if he wanted to. According to freethinking, whatever thought he went with was the right one." "Luke's life was strange and dark and empty and alone." This book is a heart-wrenching story of a family's love and devotion to one another through thick and thin. It makes you feel like you are living life right alongside the Baxter family. Karen Kingsbury does an amazing job of getting the reader involved in the book--you won't be able to set it down!

Return is the 3rd in the Redemption Series, following Redemption and Remember. Return focuses on the Baxters' son Luke. He becomes "disenchanted" with God and turns 180 degrees from the values of his family. As always, the interactions between the Baxter family members not only make an engaging story, but also teach the reader the importance of trusing God. This is my favorite series of all time, and I do read constantly! It evokes strong emotions in the reader, because there is bound to be someone's behavior or some life situation that really hits home. It is a book you'll never forget! Buy the entire Redemtion Series at once so that you won't have to pause between books. Here they are in order: Redemption, Remember, Return, Rejoice, and Reunion. And even after that there is a spinoff series that promises to be just as rewarding: the Firstborn Series, also involving the Baxter family but with some new characters and situations--outstanding!

Maybe to that limited set of writers who thinak they are the Homers of today.

But a great american novel would be read by many people with differing levels of appreciation and determined to refelct the CURRENT and essence of America (oh what about south america) not just the mythical past.

THe words may flow as a poem, and cover or expound cleary or lyrically the points of life in this country but that alone does not make it a great story. Or a timeless one.

In preface to my review, I have to say that my favorite writers are Thomas Wolfe, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry Miller, Hermann Hesse, Heinrich Boll, Arthur Rimbaud, etc.
Many of the reviews here have bandied about the name of Thomas Wolfe (whose "Look Homeward, Angel" was brilliant); and the comparison is richly deserved; but the most insightful comparison came from the person who said it reminded him of an American version of Tolstoy's "War and Peace".
I've actually read "War and Peace". Lockridge's "Raintree County" rises to that level--and, in my estimation--surpasses it. I love the Russians--Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Turgenev. And I love Walt Whitman and Ross Lockridge for the same reason. They all have what the Spanish call "duende," what the American blacks clamor to express by the word "soul". These aren't weak, spineless, effete Victorians afraid of beauty, passion, shame and awkward emotions.
They cast light into the dark corners of the human soul and throw open man's collective experience for all to see--something rarely achieved in typically dryer Anglo-Saxon literature.
Ross Lockridge's "Raintree County" astounded me. It left me wondering how this great American genius has been ignored, neglected. The only thing I can think of is that Lockridge makes the fatal mistake of being honest, of writing too accurately about the time-period, of not lying and indulging in historical revisionism. As a result, spineless readers wince when the "N" word is used, or terms like "pickannies," "darkies" or various other period vulgarities are employed by despised side-characters.
For this reason geniuses like Booth Tarkington are banned and suppressed.
It's sad. They want to revise the past and make it "acceptable" for modern audiences. But if you sanitize, you gut, you neuter, you destroy the hard edges which give the time-period texture, verisimilitude. (I mean, if slaves were well-treated why did we fight the Civil War?) But modern hacks would have writers keep all profanities out of it, re-write it so that nothing crude or insensitive made its way in.
If you want lies, watch a Hollywood movie, read a trash novel; if you want genius, poetry, brilliant insights and literary talent, give "Raintree County" a try. Maybe, with enough of us protesting, the prude schoolmarms with tenure at universities will be nudged from their slumber and realize that they have neglected one of the titanic achievements of modern American literature.

Raintree County is the anatomy of a fall from Paradise-with all the Edenic metaphors placed in a fictional county in Indiana-and the process by which it is regained. The structure and scope of the book are extraordinary, a system of telling and suspension that turns one day into a hundred years, all hinged upon the American Civil War (and the allegorical death of the principal character). Like another great contemporary American novel, All The King's Men, Raintree County was built upon the wreckage of a failed epic prose poem. Also, like Robert Penn Warren's glittering classic, Ross Lockridge's best-selling masterpiece deals with a gifted primary character caught up in the vortex of human history (though Penn Warren was more interested in the problem of power than he was in the cataloging of the life of Huey Long).

Raintree County should be a standard of 20th Century American literature. It is perhaps the greatest novel ever written. I'm mystified as to why it doesn't make Random House's Top 100 Novels List. I think in all honesty that Raintree County is too straightforward, too compassionate, too wise, too loving, too optimistic, too gently humorous, and too accessible to please the moldy and myopic listmakers. Really "great" books, as everyone knows, are dry game puzzles, smug literary fogs, brutal crayon travelogues, or ancient misanthropic sphinxes that museum directors and tenured professors of the academies alike can dust off occasionally without fear of ever having to update their pamphlets.

The texture style and meter of this work is astoundingly lyrical yet clear. To wit: "The world is still full of divinity and strangeness, Mr. Shawnessy said. The scientist stops, where all men do, at the doors of birth and death. He knows no more than you and I why a seed remembers the oak of twenty million years ago, why dust acquires the form of a woman, why we behold the earth in space and time. He hasn't yet solved the secret of a single name upon the earth. We may pluck the nymph from the river, but we won't pluck the river from ourselves: this coiled divinity is still all murmurous and strange. There are sacred places everywhere. The world is still man's druid grove, where he wanders hunting for the Tree of Life."

As long as I have a mind, I won't forget this profound and wonderful book or the characters who inhabit it: Perfessor Stiles with his pince-nez and Malacca cane, the cigar-chewing bighearted phony senator from Indiana, Garwood Jones, sweet Nell Gaither, the dark lost and deranged Susannah Drake. Carefully researched (it took seven years to write), it is also an excellent freshener on historical events of the nineteenth century, especially the Civil War. Contained within, for all you philosophiles, is the added bonus of cogent and detailed arguments for free will over predetermination, the triumph of spirit over matter, a solution to the riddle of the Many and the One, an explanation of the Word, and many more.

Born four years before J.D. Salinger, who still breathes at this writing, Ross Lockridge Jr. ended his life by carbon monoxide poisoning March 6th, 1948, two months after the publication of his one and only novel. He was thirty-three. He left behind a wife and four children. His second son, Larry, five years old at the time of his father's death, has written a book (Shade of the Raintree) attempting to explain what he calls "the greatest single mystery in American letters." He largely blames success in combination with a "biological (possibly genetic) predisposition to depression" along with "suicide-personality disorder (narcissistic)." It's easy to see why a John Kennedy O'Toole battering his manuscript (Confederacy of Dunces) against the unbreachable ramparts of Harcourt Brace and Get Lost, might do himself in (and then of course win a Pulitzer). But to receive a Harvard scholarship, publish an immediately successfully and lavishly acclaimed book which wins several major prizes including an MGM contract, and then to take your life as a proclaimed lover of life and a protector of four children, is a riddle beyond the ken of my meager imagination.

You may have once wandered through an art gallery and
while walking between images both beautiful and banal
happened upon a painting unlike few you have ever seen before.
It was found placed in a more remote part of the exhibit
and poorly lit thus causing you to give it a brief glimpse.
At first glance, the quaint simplicity caused you to smile yet upon
a second look you noticed the unmistakable quality, the rich
shadings, the subtleties, the emotion upon the faces of the characters,
and within a short time you realized that the artist had captured the
very essence of humanity. Shades of life both light and dark and all
the hues in between, this is what Ross Lockridge has placed upon his canvass for
posterity. This is Raintree County.

Raintree County; a mythical place, a gentle and beautiful tale of an
age and culture that has long since been harrowed under and paved over.
A verdant and pastoral county whose heart is found at the crossroads of
two dirt roads, whose inhabitants are poised at the intersection between a young
and thriving republic and greatest wrong every allowed to fester within
its expanding frontiers. The sunny days of community existence intertwined
with the political complexities surrounding the greatest rift ever to divide a
nation. A portrait of the land and its people in the midst of life and the
trials and tribulations of life's inescapable vicissitudes.

Within the covers of this book are found the joys of love upon the banks of
a river, the excitement and pride of a community during the celebration of
Independence day, the pungent smells and prolific yet depraved lifestyle during
the last days of antebellum New Orleans, and the songs of the slaves in their
agony, joy, and uncertainty. An epic, a day in the life of a ordinary man and
how he came full circle-if that is indeed possible. A reminder of the nation and
her people who were deeply shattered by the violence of a Civil War.

Within the prose are whispers of Plato, Poe, and Shakespeare. Characters
of well developed intellect and humor coexist amid the turgid and the
unlearned. At its core is love, insanity, birth, death, family, war,
and a river that courses through the county to both nourish the smiles and
drain the bitterness. Indeed perhaps the "Great American Classic," and a
sadly overlooked book. Lockridge is of the same ilk as Wolfe, Faulkner,
and Emerson. It has been said that each of us contains a book. To have this
as your only book is a majestic feat. Raintree County can be analyzed at many
philosophical levels and I am sure subsequent readings will reveal a multitude
of lessons. To me, my first time just staying at the surface brought me
the great joy that a masterfully written novel must impart.

I have positioned this book as "The" Great American novel - in reccomending it to a dozen friends. Only one has disagreed. Nuff said.

If you have ever wondered what it was like growing up in the basketball-crazy Hoosier state during the heydays of the 50s and 60s, Dr. Norman Jones provides that opportunity in Growing Up in Indiana: The Culture & Hoosier Hysteria Revisited. Jones was one of those players, and he had the inevitable task of guarding the likes of Bobby Plump (Milan Miracle) as well as the incomparable Big O. In an era when basketball players were equals only on the court, Jones goes on to describe the inequities imposed on the black players off the court.

I thank Norm Jones for giving us the meticulous chronicling of his youth as a Hoosier. Through his descriptive writing and stellar story-telling ability, Jones allows us to vicariously experience his adventures on the court. Anyone who has ever aspired to make his high school basketball team will enjoy this realistic look back to the glory days of Hoosier basketball.
Chic Hess, Author of Prof Blood and the Wonder Teams: The true Story of Basketball's First Great Coach

While I found this book to be an interesting read and perhaps captures what it was like for a typical young man to grow up in Indiana (like I did) and be a basketball player (like I wasn't), it wasn't what I was expecting when I bought it. The title led me to believe I would read more about the Big Picture -- what Hoosier Hysteria was (is) and how it has affected the Indiana population as a whole over the years. Instead it was mainly about the author and his personal journey playing high school and college basketball. I enjoy memoirs, but I think the word "memoir" in the title or subtitle would have helped me understand what I was ordering. I do praise the author for his insight into racism in the state -- and in Hoosier basketball in particular; I learned a lot from this book about that sorry history. Those who like this book might also enjoy reading "Getting Open" by Tom Graham.

The way Dr. Jones integrated his basketball chapters showed the cultural and racial history that many kids may had lived in those days but really didn't understand what was happening behind the scenes and off the court, in regards to treating each other fairly with equality in life.The good and the bad of Growing Up a Hoosier could be a reality book in school classrooms to discuss how far Hoosiers and basketball together have changed through the years.

I am not an avid reader and when I picked up this book I could not wait to get back to it. This author's accounts of his childhood basketball experiences had me turning the pages as quickly as I could read them. Throwing in his memories of his adolescent relationships as he balanced his romances with his athletics brought me back to my own youthful experiences where, as a boy, the "love of the game" often won over the "love of the girl".

Norm Jones colorfully details this time and place in Indiana where basketball was "King", where every young boy in Indiana had dreams of playing on "the starting five" in front of the large crowds, getting a college scholarship and making it to the pros. The author's life takes you through a journey of childhood memories, where friends don't make the cuts, new relationships are made on the court, and discrimination against African-Americans challenged this new generation of young men growing up in Indiana.

"There is no greater impact on what Indiana basketball means to a kid 'GROWING UP IN INDIANA' than this book by Dr. Jones. Although I played, coached,and refereed basketball at all levels, this book gives a perspective that can only be (italics) imagined - unless you lived it like Norm did. A fun and easy read.

Jim Tunney. Ed.D
Former NFL Referee, educator and author of "It's the Will, Not the Skill"

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Good memories are refreshed if you grew up in Indiana through the book by Norm. Jones. "Growing Up In Indiana" is entertaining even for those who hail from different states. Norm"s memory is unusual and sharp and he has been on the cutting edge of some spectacular events in Indiana basketball history. I share his memory of several of these events and sports fans will enjoy the many stories he tells. I enjoyed the opportunity to work closely with Norm and have always appreciated his work ethic and his devotion to high principles. Enjoy this book---it will provide great entertainment.

Jack L. Davidson
Tyler Texas