Massachusetts Books

I just finished "Must've Done Something Good". Cheryl Cory's first novel really is a success - it is on top of my favourite-books list!

It is a lovely story about Sylvie O'Rourke, a modern Elizabeth Bennet, who stands up for her opinion and her friends, who is on her way to find a place in the world and who wants to do something good.

Right from the start you take Sylvie to your heart - with all her human and so personable manners. You follow Sylvie through her first year on St Matthew's high school and I'm sure a lot of young people know how cruel students can be and how difficult it is for a new teacher to become accepted.
Also a new man steps into Sylive's live, well actually there are two men...

"Must've Done Something Good" is a story for the heart. A novel with great dialogues and likable characters. I like the style of writing - it really is a pageturner!
Cheryl Cory's novel contains a lot of allusions to other great stories and films like Austen's Pride and Prejudice, The Sound of Music and even a little bit of Muppet Show you can find :)

Read it and you will know why I LOVE it!

As the synopsis says, the main character is obsessed with the movie The Sound of Music. I am also a big fan of the movie. I used to watch it all the time when I was little. Anyway, because of this, I thought the book would follow the movie's story in some fashion. Instead, it's a modern take on Pride and Prejudice (think a G-rated version of Bridget Jones--one of my favorite movies, by the way!).

I loved this book. It is a sweet and simple romantic story. It is also humoress with pop culture and literary references thrown in. I really liked this aspect because I am the dorky girl who loves musicals and things of that nature, so I got all the references to musicals and such. I also enjoyed the literary references being an English major myself (the main character has an English degree).

This is the perfect book for people who enjoy sweet romance novels, especially the ones with a P&P feel to them. I feel that Must've Done Something Good is a book I'll keep as one of my comfort books to read when I'm feeling sad and need a good pick me up. :)

This may be tagged "chick-lit", but as a guy who greatly enjoyed this book I think anyone would enjoy it. There's so many situations that anybody can relate to. Go Sylvie!

I am a mother to 5 kids and one step son so, needless to say, I usually don't have time to read however for this book it was easy to make time because I enjoyed it so much!

Like the other reviewers on this site, I too found myself laughing out loud on so many occassions throughout the book. Everywhere I went with it, people would ask me what I was reading and I couldn't help but go on and on as to how much I loved this book! It was absolutely outstanding! (I actually broke out in a chorus of "My favorite things" the other day in front of my 8 yr old and he had the oddest expression on his face...priceless!)

I hope Cheryl Cory decides to write many more novels! If so, I may just turn out to be her biggest fan!

This is a great book. I loved it. My wife read it too and she loved it. It's a must buy!!

Devout catholic lector (lay minister) Scott Pomfret weaves gay humor into his critique of the (mis)management of the Catholic church during the period from the first open discussions of the pedophile priests through the passage of the equal marriage rights law in Massachusetts. He exposes widespread homosexuality in the priesthood while clearly differentiating it from the pedophilia of a small minority. Scott is relentless in his criticism of the church hierarchy for their long-term cover-up of the actions of pedophile priests.
A central point in this book is hypocrisy. The Vatican very publicly issues rules. The bishops direct their priests to both publish and enforce them. Meanwhile, the parish priests decide whether these rules are appropriate for their congregations - and often simply ignore them. In some parishes, openly gay priests welcome their gay and lesbian congregants. In others, parish priests ignore constraints on marrying divorced parishioners. The vast majority of parishioners practice birth control, with no threat of pastoral approbation.
Much of the humor in this book revolves around Pomfret's ongoing battle with Cardinal O'Malley over God's and the state's acceptance of gays in the church and equal marriage rights. One would think that Pomfret's obvious, open violation of Church rules would lead to excommunication. It hasn't. He continues to lector, take communion, and participate in the Gay-Lesbian Spirituality Group in his church in South Boston.
Alongside the stories of his experiences, Pomfret provides short segments of his gay interpretations of various church rules. Since he means no threat to any of the lay people or specific priests in his church, he makes up special names for some of his characters. It is a fun book to read, while making strong points about the differences between the official church position on gay issues and the actions of their parishioners.
If you think the Church is infallible, you probably will not like this book. If you know the Church needs to get back to its roots - living and spreading Christ's teachings - you will enjoy it.

The Catholic Church has contributed some wonderful things to this world, but the hatred and discrimination it encourages against people who happen to be lesbian or gay will go down as one of its most vile iniquities. Not to mention one of it's most hypocritical. It's not surprising that many gay men are led to lives of service in the Church; what's shocking is that they stay there and the contempt they endure in the process.

In Since My Last Confession, Pomfret gives a clear analysis of what homophobia and homohatred costs the church and the people it wants to lead. Pomfret uses the same tools employed by gay writers from Oscar Wilde to Cole Porter: wit, humor and the lacerating effect of a well-turned phrase.

Pomfret opens himself up for examination here, too. He's not perfect, he shows, but at least he's striving to be better. Can we say the same for the Church?

If you like Since My Last Confession, you might also want to check out Seventy Times Seven, Salvatore Sapienza's fictionalized story of his time spent becoming a brother in the Catholic Church.

Pomfret has written romance, erotica and now insightful autobiography. I'm waiting for his next confession. I bet it will be another smart, insightful doozy.

Scott Sherman, author, First You Fall: A Kevin Connor Mystery

Okay, the topic sounds like a heavy one - a gay man struggling to find his place in an increasingly homophobic Catholic Church - but Pomfret's witty writing had me in stitches. For confidentiality, the author has changed many of the names of parish priests and church members, giving them hysterical names like Father McSlutty and Father Daddy-Bear, and he offers us funny, yet handy cut-out guides along the way with titles like "How to Come Out to Hardcore, Bead-counting Catholics" and "Brokeback Lent."

That said, this memoir also deeply touched my heart and reaffirmed my own faith. Like many, I was surprised to learn that Pomfret - author of gay erotica books like "Hot Sauce" - is a devout Catholic and active lector and lay minister at his Boston parish. Where one might expect this to be an angry, Catholic-bashing book, Pomfret's memoir is actually a very loving one, as he attempts to accept the Church he loves, broken as she may be. "So why do I cling to a broken, dying Church and its broken prelate?" he writes. "Brokeness is an opportunity for the Spirit to enter."

I, too, have struggled to support and defend the Church in which I grew up. Many of us have left, but Pomfret's memoir reaffirms that we are all a part of the Church, and that she is incomplete without us. One gay father of three tells Pomfret, "I feel a political responsibility not to leave and not to be budged by people who don't want me there. It's the Rosa Parks thing. It's my church, too, as much as theirs."

So, while I howled with laughter throughout my reading of this wickedly-funny book, I, more importantly, have come away even more deeply committed to my own faith and in my resolve to help heal the Church from within. I have Pomfret - a kindred spirit - and his touching memoir to thank for that.

-Salvatore Sapienza, author of Seventy Times Seven: A Novel

Since My Last Confession
A GAY CATHOLIC MEMOIR
A Must Read Book for ALL GLBT Christians especially Catholics
Written by Rev. Bob Johnnene OFD
Mission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus
www.missionstsergius
www.missionstsergius/Divine_Mercy_Franciscans

SINCE MY LAST CONFESSION, A GAY CATHOLIC MEMOIR by Scott Pomfret is a must read book for al GLBT persons who are or ever considered themselves Catholic and in fact, all GLBT Christian persons.
The book will have you laughing hysterically, getting angry and make you think.
" Since My Last Confession" makes it clear how a Gay person can even consider being a Catholic while it points out the hypocrisy of the Roman Church and it's contradictions.
Filled with great humor, a true love and respect for the basic principals of the church as well as poignancy and regret for the church trying to use the smoke screen of homosexuality to hide it's failures in the pedophile sex scandal.
Set in Boston where the author is an active member of a Franciscan Church as well as an open Gay man living in a committed relationship the book is full of humor and historical facts that opens your mind to the truth of Christ's message and the differences between the Truth and the churches current position.
I strongly recommend this book for it's openness and honesty as well as historical facts presented in an enjoyable and humorous way.

this book is aimed for, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it! I'm a straight Jewish woman and I found the book at the O'Hare airport bookstore recently. Hey, why not take a chance and learn about gay Catholic lawyers? I'm glad I took that chance as Pomfret is a wonderful writer.

The Water's Edge is a beautifully-written saga . . . reminiscent of the literary classics that have withstood the test of time-a novel as lyrical and mesmerizing as Derek Walcott's Omeros. Parker's words and descriptions, artistically wrought, have shaped a haunting story that lingers with the reader long after the last page is turned."
RAINELLE BURTON, AUTHOR OF THE ROOT WORKER

"The Water's Edge" was definitely one book I could not put down! I felt I knew these people and what they went through. Parker's descriptions of the ship, the crossing, the tending to different baking fires, were all incredibly interesting without getting bogged down with technical aspects. I especially enjoyed Mary Cooper, Abigail and Ruth (what wonderfully good, strong women), as well as watching young Ben's boyhood's dreams develop into reality. Her creative fiction set to the backdrop of historical facts, made for an exciting, interesting and informative tale. Like all great books, I hated to see it come to an end.

I have read the "The Water's Edge" written by Virginia Bailey Parker. It is an excellent story blending fiction with obvious historical information. Providing the family trees was a wonderful way to help keep and sort the cast of characters. Katherine, Mary, Abigail, and Ben were my favorite people. The book ended well, but too soon. I hope Virginia will write a sequel so I can find out where their lives took them.

I passed the book along for others to read. I am hearing that they also have become enthralled with the book.

Place everything you need for personal survival within your reach before you open this book - because you won't be leaving the sofa until you've read the very last page. Masterfully woven, The Water's Edge brings the early days of Salem to life. This is the way History SHOULD be taught in schools, through the passion and courage of "the people" rather than droning lists of dates and laws. I read the entire volume in two days, unable to pull myself away - even ordered pizza for Sunday dinner so I wouldn't have to put it down to cook. My 76 year old mother read it the next weekend and was equally enthralled. I hope we don't have to wait 20 years for Virginia's next book, but even if it takes that long to write another as wonderful as The Water's Edge, I'll be first in line at the checkout counter.

"The Water's Edge" is a historical novel set in the 1600's in England and the fledgling colonies of the New World. For those who enjoy a storyline that follows a family or group of families through their daily life this will be a great read. The book follows three families from England to the American colonies as they seek a better life. Using the vehicle of a historical novel Virginia Parker does a masterful job of showing the complex relationships between the Quakers, the Puritans, the Indians, profit seekers, and those whose primary purpose was religious conversion. The reader comes to understand the difficulties of life in the colonies and many of the problems and triumphs to be had there. Become a part of the families as you live their hopes, their dreams, and their realities. A well-done, recommended book for anyone who enjoys fiction based on historical events.

My name is Debra Marlin. I am the author of "Yellowdog",and "Yellowpup".
Over the years so many have told me of the warm hearted reviews appearing
here on Amazon. Thank you so much. I'm glad that the images and text have
touched the hearts of so many. I just entered the realm of the internet or I would have written this sooner. Keep an eye on Amazon soon. I am about to
publish an extraordinary fine-art horse book and a follow-up to Yellowdog and
Yellowpup. The horse book is every bit as poignant, and mystical as the dog
books and just as beautiful. I spent four years in Carmel Valley, and Paso Robles, CA. shooting it. There is also a beautiful book soon to be released which is of the paintings from Yellowdog. It will be a signed and numbered limited edition. So many thanks to Amazon, for over the years so generously
promoting my books. I'm sure there will be many more. Sincerly Debby Marlin

After losing my Golden, Cody, after twelve years I have been walking around in a daze. This book helped me sort out my deep feelings of grief and absolute despair. These dogs are spirits in our lives, true soulmates. They are there for us through thick and thin and go far beyond being man's best friend. I could easily associate with Marlin's deep love and deep sense of loss. I wish I could sit with her over a cup of tea and just talk Goldens. A deeply passionate book.

This is a pictorial history of the author's love affair with her Golden Retrievers. The "story" is about 30 pages and the pictures about 50 or so. The story will grab you in your gut and hit you right in the heart of how you feel about your current (or former) Golden Retriever. The story about the cover photo is especially moving. For a non "how-to" book, this one is THE BEST!

My daughter bought me this book for Christmas two years ago. I haven't been able to read more than a few pages before I have to put it away. It is too moving. I know I will return to it after my 13 year old Golden has gone.

if you or anyone you know has lost a golden, there is no excuse for not buying this book. i have never found anything that could help me so much through the most difficult time in my life.

thank you debra.

I was barely a teen in the Boston area when The Boston Strangler murders started. Recently DeSalvo's family asked to have the case reopened, no doubt due in part to this book. Their request prompted me to find more info, if any, about this case and I found this book in a library. Could not put it down. Expected the usual fact-packed but dry true crime book. Kelly has not only written a very readable and entertaining book, she has also made her case, namely, that there was more than one "Boston Strangler," and that DeSalvo was not one of them. Who some of the Stranglers might have been makes for a chilling surprise I won't give away here. Also, it provides a fascinating glimpse into the early career of F. Lee Bailey. Wish I could buy this book. It's a keeper.

I, for one, was one of those who thought Albert DeSalvo was guilty. I reached this conclusion after watching the movie many years ago and reading Gerold Frank's book. Over the years, I had heard that Albert may not have been guilty after all. After reading this book, I am convinced that Albert never was the actual Boston Strangler.

Kelly lays out the proof from court transcripts and interviews many of the detectives that originally investigated the case. The evidence she presents is quite convincing that others had firm motives for being the Boston Strangler.

The only bad part of the book, which almost caused me to give up reading it, was Kelly's over-reliance on court transcripts. In some chapters, she goes on and on with quoted court transcripts that become boring to read really quickly! The book would have been much better if she had summarized the proceedings instead on relying on court transcipts.

Susan Kelly is a Boston area author with a deep and extensive knowledge of local police matters. She uses this information to get to the heart of a strange and shocking miscarriage of justice. It's a great book--clearly and vividly written, closely argued, brilliantly researched: an unflinching look at a brutal series of crimes, and a shameful coverup that followed. Anyone interested in true crime or indeed American social history will love this book. Fast-moving and very exciting on all levels.

I read this book several years ago--and I am shocked to see it is no longer available. This is the definitive examination of the case: author Kelly looks at all the evidence, the sensationalism, and DeSalvo himself, with a scholar's objective eye. Her conclusions are disturbing and cannot be ignored. If you want to have a genuine sense of the terror in Boston from those days, this is the book. Some publisher ought to put this book out and give it the attention it so deserves.

I have just acquired a copy of this book from a second-hand bookseller, and am astonished to find that it's out of print and there has apparently never been a paperback edition. I followed the Strangler case as each new murder was reported in the UK press, and it remains the archetypal horror story for me because it proves conclusively that one isn't safe even (above all) at home. I also read Gerold Frank's account of the affair very soon after it was published in the UK and re-read it last year; I have the "confessions of the Boston Strangler" in French translation.I have never been even half-way convinced that DeSalvo was guilty, and I always doubted that only one killer was involved. (The "psychological explanation" cited by Frank as to why the killer suddenly switched from older to younger women struck me as perfectly ludicrous 30 years ago, and many recent books on profiling have merely strengthened this view).

It would be easy enough to write a book which simply challenged the official solution, but that is not what Susan Kelly does. She provides overwhelming evidence not only to demolish it, but also to explain how and why it came about in the first place. This is a book with an index, a bibliography, acknowledgments which help the reader by indicating the author's sources (most acknowledgments seem only to explain who made the coffee and watered the plants while a book was being written) and careful indications of when exact quotations from transcripts are being used. It assumes no previous knowledge of the case or the "cast", and its procedural details are much clearer than Frank's. Also, Susan Kelly is literate, and she has a dry, ironic sense of humour.

I checked the book's listing in Amazon because I wanted to know what other people thought of it. I had hoped that, unbeknown to me, the Boston Strangler affair had been rewritten and DeSalvo belatedly exonerated. Apparently this is not so. I would be interested to know if anyone (apart perhaps from F. Lee Bailey, Esq.) has challenged Kelly's arguments and, if so, on what basis - though I doubt whether that could be done. If it can't, I hope the book will soon be reissued and properly publicised. It would also be interesting to have someone re-open the only murder case in which DeSalvo was certainly involved - his own.

This book was required reading for my introductory class on architecture. I was debating whether I should be an architect or not and this influenced me to pursue it. It is one of those rare theory books that I had fond memories of reading. Rasmussen, unlike most writers, is very even handed in his presentation and doesn't steer the reader into any particular style. He provides the reader with a clearer understanding of architecture and the role of architects in shaping the built environment.

Experiencing Architecture, 2nd Edition
In spite of it's age the book is still like a bible for people interested in architecture and used a lot in education. The language is not too complicated, its not too technical and there are a lot of simple but good illustrations.

I like this book very much, while reading, you feel like being on the place that is described and feel the architectural sensation.

Yes, it's a must-have, yes u read it more than once and yes it is just the book for any architect or designer or anyone interested in the field..
This book introduces you to architecture...it's really enlightening especially to those who think that architecture is putting a couple of bricks together to come up with a building, `cause architecture is more than that, it's more or less like a way of living...
So that's why i highly recommend this book to 1st year students or those who are about to pursue a future in architecture..
but still this book is great for seniors and architects in general...
the only think n this book that needs adjustment is the display or the presentation...i know it shouldn't matter as long as the book is good...but just as a way to make the books more appealing especially for those who don't like reading all that much... but if you r the kind of person who doesn't mind that u'll enjoy the book all the same.. I really think this book should b taught in any architecture class

this is a classic book on how to deal with architecture.
it is not a graphic game, instead architecture is an experience.
to understand it means experiencing it with our senses.
thats i have learned from this book.

This collection is a wonderful antidote to the mundane and thoroughly unimaginative work that plagues modern fiction. Ms. Richmond rises above the rest with her unique blend of characterization and skillful narrative, making her the first new writer worth your time since Alice Walker came upon the scene. Thanks to the publishers for getting this work to us.

Ms. Richmond's attention to detail makes me feel I know these women personally. She shows such depth of understanding that I wonder if these characters are based on people she knows. I look forward to her next book and believe that she will have great success in her career.

Short stories woven with the common thread of relationships, this book boasts a new delivery. A neoteric realm which captures it's reader spellbound. Eccentric tales loop, twisting into an explainable reality. Thoughtful, humorous, morose, challenging, this read never lets go. The threads of it's beginning pattern complect a tapestry by end. I was mesmerized by each tale; completely given over to the surreal quality that melded into perfect rhyme. It is not an easy read, but is life an easy road? Isn't the trip the joy? It is in this transmigration of spirit and pulp.

A beautiful work of art; that books could be displayed in museums, this would hang in reverence.

This is a read. This is a masterpiece of prose. This should be your next choice.

It was a delight to dive into a work by such a master craftsman. This is dazzling talent combined with experience, training, sensitivity, humor, and insight. If you want to see how it is supposed to be done, relax into this haunting collection of stories and experience a pro at work.

In this collection of short stories, Richmond braids tales with emotional tactility. Drawing the reader into her collection of recurring characters with deft storylines, Richmond creates vivid images based upon life and living in the modern South.

We often hear in the media about the teen pregancy rate, about the welfare lists, and about abuse. Unfortunately, it seems as if the country is divided on what to do... Except that we are often united in our disgust and blame of the teen mother. Joanna Lipper's book gives compelling evidence that the problems of teen pregancy won't be fixed through classes on abstinence or birth control, but instead of looking at the root of the problems that cause teens to make risky decisions. In all of the cases in this book, the teen mother became a parent because of problems in her life. Several of the teens were sexually abused, or came from families with a history of abuse. Additionally, people need to closely examine the teen fathers. As with research that indicates that teen girls are more likely to engage in risky behaviors because of childhood abuse, they are also more likely to hook up with abusers to be the fathers of their children. The fathers are in and out of jail in this book, and few of them pay child support. The only way to reduce the amount of teen pregnancy, and through this, hopefully our welfare lists, special education classes and foster care homes (often centers for abuse as well) is to truly respond and help children at an early age with education, access to medical and psychological care, and support for their families.

Pittsfield, Mass. used to be a company town. General Electric provided work that in turn enabled a big percent of the population to live middle class lives. When the company closed down most of its divisions in Pittsfield, the economic and social climate plunged into the depths. Families that didn't leave suffered large drops in income, many people turned to drugs and alcohol, and education and health care---despite some government aid---plummetted too. The city was found to be highly polluted as well. In this atmosphere of despair and disappointment, child abuse and domestic violence grew. Teenage pregnancies have been around forever, but in an environment like Pittsfield's in the 1990s and early 2000s, the problem was intensified. Many girls associated sex with violence, felt that abusive men were the norm. Families could not cope; many teenage fathers could not or would not cooperate, and at last we learn that as many as two-thirds of the teenage girls who gave birth to babies had suffered heavy abuse of some kind as children. These girls, not even 20 years old, were left to cope with bringing up children, almost always without the support of the father.

Joanna Lipper not only wrote this sad, but interesting book, she made a film about the main participants---six teenage mothers, some of the fathers, some parents and siblings. The bulk of the book traces the stories of the six girls in very empathetic detail, combining interviews, observations, and records of participation in various programs. Drugs, violence, and general unawareness of life and its possibilities play strong roles in nearly all cases. Race is factored into the picture. Most of the girls are white, but race doesn't seem to be very important here. But what about class? While economic background and education are often discussed and described, Lipper makes no effort to draw any conclusions about class and people who "fall" from middle to lower, people who resent being at the bottom. Where does all this self-destructive behavior come from ? I would say such questions are not dealt with. A few black and white photos only make the stories more poignant. If----if only---there are so many of these ifs. What can be done ? The author outlines various programs that exist or existed in Pittsfield, but offers no general ideas on the problem. The strong point of the book is the well-written stories of the teenage mothers. I admit I had never given much thought to teenage mothers and their children until I read GROWING UP FAST. I think that for raising the consciousness of people about this problem, you would have to go a long way to beat Lipper's book.

Growing up Fast is a book that is made up of eight girls that shared their story on how they "grew up fast". Some of the girls got pregnant on accident and some got pregnant by their actions. This book overall shows how important it is to have a father in a girl's life. A daughter looks up to her father; he should be her main man in her life, a role model. Every single girl in this book had a father that left their family. So intern, these girls grew up without a dad. I recommend this book to any mother of a teen or preteen. I also recommend this book to any girl that feels that the only way to feel loved by any man is to have a boyfriend. They do not have to have a boyfriend. This was a really good book. Hope you enjoy it.

Our local newspaper featured Joanna Lipper's book in a front page story titled, "For Teenage Mothers in Pittsfield, It's a Bleak Story." Yes and no.

Growing Up Fast provides a window into the lives of those girls we see pushing baby strollers along a downtown sidewalk, laying out the challenging truths that led them to become mothers, and that they continue to confront as they raise their children. The "bleak story" is not just for the six teen mothers profiled in this book, but for American children, ill-prepared or uncaring young fathers, extended families, schools, taxpayers and all of us who care about America's next generations.

I have just finished reading Random Family, by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, which has to be the publishing world's equivalent of a first cousin for Growing Up Fast. I highly recommend both books, but I came to appreciate Lipper's approach in dividing her narrative into six stories. Although some stories are related, no chapter is so long and complex that one becomes overwhelmed with names and relationships and timelines. The diversity achieved by profiling six girls also allows Lipper to avoid the question, "Why Coco?" that LeBlanc notes was posed to her repeatedly about her decision to focus on one of the two principal subjects of Random Family. Lipper also provides beautiful photos that allow us to look right into the haunted eyes (as well as some moments of contentment) of these young families.

I am the Mayor of Pittsfield. Before publication of Growing Up Fast, I worried how Lipper's book would portray our City. Lipper is successful in telling the story through the words and experiences of Amy, Liz, Colleen, Shayla, Sheri and Jessica, and avoids injecting judgments of her own. I find her research is thorough and her engaging words are fair although none of our urban problems is left off the table. But mental illness, substance abuse, unemployment, domestic violence, poverty, homelessness and absentee parents are widespread problems. The Pittsfield community and all of America can learn from the stories of these young women, and from the successful programs here and in other communities that Lipper describes in her closing chapters. We owe it to these girls and to their children to do our best.

This portrait of six teen mothers in a decaying industrial town is a wonderfully thought-provoking book. The photos help with the impression of a window into their world. The interlocking influences of economic problems, environmental degradation, drug addiction, and domestic violence are all compelling in explaining their situation.
The behavior of the girls is often so idiotic as to stun the reader. Colleen's baby, for example, is fathered by Ryan. Ryan is a heroin addict who steals from Colleen and her family, and beats up Colleen many times, including an incident during her pregnancy that causes permanent injury to the baby. Society can only be thankful that Ryan spends a lot of time in jail. Yet Colleen remains faithful to Ryan for years.
One of the book's major themes is the economic decline of Pittsfield, Massachusetts after GE pulled out of the town. After GE's departure, it left behind a legacy of industrial pollution on a massive scale. While the book does not address economic questions as such, I think the Pittsfield story shows the need for the costs of pollution to be included in measures of economic growth. A large part of Pittsfield's prosperity when GE was there can only be described as an illusion. For more on this question, I would recommend the book "Beyond Growth" by Herman Daly.
Some of the policies recommended in the book strike me as naive. For example, the author concludes with a quote from Carol Gilligan (who helped with the book's preparation) that "The problem with these girls is that there is no safety net. The absence of resources really needs to be addressed." The book itself shows that this is simply not true. These girls and their babies received enormous public resources, including welfare payments, subsidized rent, subsidized day care, free medical care, social services, etc., etc. Giving a larger safety net to such girls would only encourage more teen births. This is easy to see from the book's stories on Amy and Shayla, who each went on to have a second baby out of wedlock. The others haven't had more babies yet, though given their talent for making poor choices I certainly wouldn't put it past any of them. In the long run, I think we will be better off putting more resources into birth control and pregnancy prevention, not more support for teen mothers. The book does have some good proposals on providing incentives to teen mothers not to have another child.
Some of the girls made it clear that their decision not to abort their babies was inspired by religion. The book does not follow up on this. I think the Catholic church and other churches opposed to abortion have a lot to answer for here. If they feel it is unethical to use birth control or have an abortion, that is fine with me; but I believe they must take responsibility for the results. "Abstinence-only" programs can be effective in reducing teen births, but it is harder to do than other approaches, and there is a price to be paid for that. I don't see churches willing to pay for research into establishing what programs really work, getting them implemented, and paying for the difference in cost. If a girl doesn't have an abortion because her church tells her abortion is a sin, it should be her church that supports her and her baby, not taxpayers.
Overall, the book is well written and the stories are fascinating. I had a hard time putting it down. Don't miss it!

Nona Caspers "Heavier than Air" short stories take you into the lives of people that are growing up in rural Minnesota. Each story drew me in. I found myself feeling for the characters as they were going through whatever angst that was happening in their lives. Ms. Caspers writes in such a way, that if she describes a feeling, you feel it; or if she describes a setting, you see it. It takes true talent to be able to do this. Her characters are truly believable because she takes you right into their minds and hearts. Life is not easy for any of them. They are dealing with some very real issues such as first love, and death.
Another reason that I found her stories seeming so realistic is that she incorporates some very unusual ideas into her plots. It takes someone that either has a vivid imagination or had seen a lot in their lives to be able to do this. I really enjoyed the quirks that were in some of the characters. Ms. Caspers did such an awesome job of sucking me into her stories that I would forget that they were actually short stories. I found myself feeling bereft when some of them ended, because I was not done with the characters yet. Because they are fictional, they really only get brief moments of fame, and then they have to wait inside the book for someone else to read their stories so that they can come alive again.
If you are looking for a light read, this is not the book for you. However, if you are looking for a collection of stories with depth, this is the one. I highly recommend this novel and think that you will really appreciate the stories.

What a pleasure it is to read an artist's prose after all the politicos and journalists and scientists I have been reading lately. Not to denigrate them, but Nona Caspers is an artist with words, a person of exacting craft who composes bittersweet tales of life and love filled with yearnings and disappointments and triumphs and little parcels of hope. Caspers writes about the people of Wisconsin and Minnesota, farm people, people who milk cows and harvest alfalfa: country girls and mangy dogs. And she writes about people who have escaped from the farm. She writes about an unspeakable desire burning in the heart and an angst like something unclear, like something lost or not yet found, and love like joy and something exquisitely indefinable that stays and stays. And then is lost.

She writes of girls and vulnerable men, taciturn fathers or ineloquent husbands; deeply introspective and emotionally fragile girls and strong farm women with sturdy bones and a susceptibility to society's inexorable ways. She loves the girls, and the girls typically love other girls they cannot quite reach or keep. And they marry young and wonder if they did the right thing.

Her prose is infused with the lay of the land and the smell of the soil and the cows and the dogs and the trees and the breath of someone close, so close your heart bleeds. She manages a natural tension that moves the stories to a climax and leaves the reader with a lingering aftermath.

In the first story, "Country Girls," 14-year-old Nora "was so forwardly in love, so passionately in love, so unabashedly in love, so presumptuously in love, so selfishly in love, so innocently in love" with Cynthia that the very weight of her love offended the rural community and in consequence killed her love. In the second story, "Wide Like an Eagle's Wings," Manny is the secretary of the JFK campaign at Saint Theresa" Elementary School. It's 1960. She lives and breathes everything John F. Kennedy; and through him she finds oneness and a sense of social responsibility even though a child. And then comes a tragedy that we know will change her forever. In the title story, it is the devil who weights us down and makes us "heavier than air" so that we can't float up to heaven, or so one of her characters in part believes.

One of my favorites is "The EE Cry" formerly called "Fat" which I think is a better title. It is about a man whose wife Jan leaves him, not because he is fat (although he is) but because she has found that she is who she is, and that she has fallen in love with another person, and that person is a woman. She returns to get a rug she left. She tells him, "...I'm short on money. I thought it can't hurt to ask." "Does," he says. And then adds, "Does hurt, Jan. Hurts all the damn time." And with this simplicity of expression we can feel his pain.

The triumph of Caspers' art comes from her mastery of craft in which every word is carefully selected and everything extraneous to the desired effect deleted. She has the kind of narrative control that allows her to shift from the present to the past and back again with ease. She has such a keen sense of the reader's needs that the hard detail that leads to atmosphere and character development is never neglected, but never overdone, so that the reader is always informed and immersed. She has developed narrative devices that are invisible to the reader but startlingly beautiful to the writer. For example in "The Fifth Season" lesbian Lorrie is visiting gay Marc who is dying of complications from AIDS. His sister enters the room. They are on "death duty." Caspers describes the sister and then writes:

"'I wish he would just let go.' Lines delivered to me two weeks earlier--and only now do I forgive her.
"I pictured Marc on a rope in midair. He had swung on a gymnastic rope through the gymnasium in the middle of a school lecture. About a month before his father was indicted. Mr. Ricklick pulled him down, dragged him up the aisles by his hair.
"He's a twenty-nine-year-old man, I thought. Why should he let go?"

Notice how Caspers is able to shift between three different times, now, two weeks ago, the distant past, and now again, with consummate ease. This is not easily done. It looks easy, but it is not easy.

She writes in the first person or the third with such naturalness that one does not recall which person she used in any particular story. Perhaps her greatest strength though is in how immediate she makes the experiences of her characters. Everything is as close as the scent of the beloved's skin, as sharp as thistle pricks or the smell of fresh poop, as intense as first love--or first betrayal. Caspers writes from a crafty heart and a mind sharp with the need for something close to mathematically precision. What she achieves is a kind of non-linearity that is the mark of great poetry and great fiction.

Don't miss this collection, winner of the Grace Paley Prize in short fiction. I only wish I could write half as well.

Nona Caspers
University of Massachusetts Press Amberst, 2006
ISBN: 978-1-55849-644-6
Nora Caspers has a unique style of writing. In several of her stories, she takes the mundane and demonstrates the significance of the act. Such as the mere act of breathing; it does not seem so important until you are drowning.
The connecting thread in this anthology is rural life. Having grown up in a rural area during the 60's, it is easy to relate to many of the stories. Caspers has a talent for breathing life into her characters. Not every author is capable of connecting characters to readers. The descriptions of rural life made me feel almost like I was once again lying on my back watching the clouds form designs that only I could see, running barefoot through the tobacco patch, or pulling grass to feed my pet rabbit. Each story is slightly dark and has a bit of humor. The young adults are struggling to discover who they are and what their place is in the scheme of life. They desire to soar to higher heights. In reality, few of us attain the heights we seek.
Heavier Than Air will leave the reader pondering the story long after finishing it. If you are looking for happy-ever-after, this book is not for you. If you enjoy books written in an unassuming style that will stir your emotions and make you think, you will enjoy Heavier Than Air.

This book reminds me of Dorothy Parker. She wrote of New York. Caspers writes of the Midwest. This is real classic writing. As a lover of all things classic like Sinclare Lewis and F. Scott Fitzgerald and their stories of the part of the country they knew, Nona Caspers is a writer of the Midwest and its unique culture and people. They are real and funny and warm. Caspers goes deep and looks at things as they really are.

Put this wonderful book on your night stand. Read it and enjoy it. You'll treasure it.

Highly recommended.

-Susanna K. Hutcheson

Reading Nona Caspers is more than simply exploring the world of one writer's view of the world from the vantage of raw countryside of Minnesota. Reading Nona Caspers is a discovery of a writer with particularly well-honed gifts of creating unforgettable characters who become etched on our minds in the same way the great American writers of the past (and present) have entered our perception of what this country is all about. Caspers writes with a fluid style that wastes no words but describes nature and those animals that fly, crawl and walk this strange territory of rural Minnesota - and the rest of this country - in both harmony and dissonance. She manages to enter realms of thought and situations other writers avoid, and from these peculiar places she creates characters both strange and sad, some who border on decisions edging on ostracism and some who have already entered a plane misunderstood by friends and family.

The lead story, 'Country Girls', is one of the more realistic examinations of a young girl's discovery of same sex love with all the peripheral highs and lows that confrontation presents. In 'Wide Like An Eagle's Wings' we meet a young girl obsessed with the JFK campaign for presidency while coping with the a deeply moving, succinct account of a personal tragedy of death. Characters such as the sad Mr. Hellerman who is hospitalized as one unable to cope with the dwindling losses of his family land inheritance and hopeless future of his farm mix with other children and stunted adults who face changes in their lives that seem to force them into precarious places.

Not a book of sad or dreary tales, this, but one that is unafraid to make us think about the weightier subjects of life while entertaining us with some equally finely tuned comedy. Nona Caspers is a brilliant writer who has found the fabric of American fiction that she drapes and sculpts and molds as well as any of her fine colleagues whose names are household words. Reading HEAVIER THAN AIR is a tasty prelude to what is most assuredly going to be a fine career for a gifted writer. Very Highly Recommended! Grady Harp, June 08

Genre: Non Fiction/Biography
Title: If This is Heaven, I Am Going to Be a Good Boy.
The Tommy Leonard Story
AUTHOR: Kathleen Cleary

Tommy Leonard was and still is an outstanding character, well know by many. He began life in a poor family. His parents finally had to send he and his sister to Shurtleff Mission, a home with the sole purpose helping children of destitute families while teaching the gospel. Tommy was determined to leave the mission, but each time he ran away, he was caught, returned and punished. He was finally freed of his mission experience and lived with several different families during his youth. As he grew into his teens and young adulthood, he became known for drinking and partying and having a way with the girls but Tommy was also a runner. He loved to run and after a stint in the Marine Corp, he continued running in marathons, becoming known for his promotion of health and fitness. He founded the Falmouth Road Race.
Kathleen Cleary has captured the personality and warmth of this man. He is truly loved by so many. Even those who have never had the pleasure of making his acquaintance, can sit back and chuckle at many of the events of Tommy's life, or share in the heartfelt love that Tommy has for his fellow man. The reader will also find a selection of pictures dating back to his life in the mission and forward to 2004 where he is seen with Edie Doyle in front of the Boston Red Sox World Series trophy. So many years with so much to tell, and Kathleen Cleary has been able to share these years, giving us a view of an extraordinary man.



Reviewer: Elaine Fuhr, Allbooks Reviews

I am not an avid runner. Nor have I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Leonard. Readers may not know the people or recognize the local names in this book, but the Kathleen Cleary's message is unmistakably universal: Tommy Leonard touched the lives of many and made his and our world a better place. Read this book and learn how and why he did it. The title alone is worth the price of admission into Leonard's remarkable life.
Mike Considine, Lenox, MA

This book is a true delight from start to finish. In this day and age where we hear so many stories of people doing bad things, it is so uplifting to read about a man who is such a good person through and through. Kathleen Cleary has captured the spirit of Tommy Leonard for everyone. I highly recommend this book and I promise it will bring tears to your eyes, a smile to your face and probably quite a few belly laughs. Enjoy!

This book is very interesting and well-written and is not just for running fans. The life of Tommy Leonard serves as an example of how enthusiasm and a positive attitude can prevail over almost any difficulty life may throw at you. If you want to read an uplifting book, this is the one!

Joe Concannon, Boston Globe sportswriter and chronicler of the Boston Marathon, tabbed Tommy "The Guru" as every runner of note made their way to the Eliot Lounge, from all corners of the planet so that they could counsel with the great one: Thomas Francis Leonard!

Read this book and find out why, or read this book and feel all warm & fuzzy like. The man has had quite a life.

The quotable Tommy:

". . . Tommy Leonard, the running guru at the Eliot Lounge talking in a TV interview about the particular appeal of the Boston Marathon: "It's better than sex."

Tommy got some strange looks from folk's after that one.

A great book to enjoy over the Holidays!