Illinois Books

After spending a few month's in Tom Laird's high school english class, I can clearly see that his writing and teaching styles are remarkably, almost frighteningly similar. Seriously, "Season" is a well written, bluntly honset, and satisfingly page turning. If you are looking for an entertaining, slightly graphic, pulpy detective story, look no further.

This book is exceptional in all respects. Parisi is a wonderful character. The dialogue is hard with nothing wasted.

The characters are the kind you respect. Parisi is worth bringing back again and again. Very well written.

Another outstanding ms by this new author. The author holds your interest from beginning to end. The cross-over between the father and son is well done. Sometimes when you go from one timeframe to another,you get lost and have to re-read to keep up. NOt in this case. The father-son relationship is, even after the father's death, is very emotional. A recommended read. Looking forward to more.

As the title says you might not want to read this book at night. Not because it is scary though, but because you'll lose great amounts of sleep doing so. The characters in this book are very well written and you can relate to them so well that while in the process of reading the book, it is hard to put the book down because you want to know how certain characters will deal with certain situations or if they will be alright. The storyline is amazing. I don't usually like to read books twice in a row but this book was so good that I have already started reading it again. I didn't read Cutter but as soon as I can find a copy of it, I'll read that one too. This book is simply amazing and it's one of the best books I've read in a long time.

As one always interested in the feminist movement, I rank "Margaret Sanger: Her Life in Her Words" as one of my favorite books. After reading this book, I truly understand who Margaret Sanger was, and why her work was so important to all women everywhere in the past and today more than ever. Sanger pioneered the availability of birth control for all women, giving women control over their lives, which is so counter to today's trends to eliminate birth control and abortion. Reed has written with great knowledge and perception of her subject and of the field of women's rights. Reed's writing draws the reading into a book that is difficult to put down. Highly recommended.

Some of the praise for Margaret Sanger being posted here is inappropriate. I've spent hundreds of hours exploring the marvelously complete Margaret Sanger Papers (microfilm) on which this book is based. I have two file cabinet drawers filled with material from those papers. I edited for publication her 1922 bestseller and added 31 chapters of period documents so readers can understand the coded language she's using to offer different messages to two different audiences, one a 'progressive' elite that thinks inferior 'unfit' women should be kept from having children and the other ordinary people honestly concerned about the plight of poor women. That's The Pivot of Civilization in Historical Perspective.

I also edited an edition of G. K. Chesterton's Eugenics and Other Evils, one of the few books critical of eugenics to be published in the 1920s. In nine appendices I placed articles by his English eugenic opponents, including Marie Stopes, Margaret Sanger's English counterpart. Even the most casual reading of her Birth Control News makes it clear Stopes was not a champion of reproductive freedom. The full name of her organization was the Society for Constructive Birth Control and Racial Progress.

As a feminist, Margaret Sanger did not even pioneer the idea that the solution to our social ills lies in curtailing the birthrates of the "unfit" women. Victoria Woodhull did that with a series of speeches across the U.S. in the 1870s, speeches I'm republishing in the soon-out Lady Eugenist: Feminist Eugenics in the Speeches and Writings of Victoria Woodhull. Merely listing the titles of two of her short books: The Rapid Multiplication of the Unfit (1891) and The Scientific Propagation of the Human Race (1893), makes her point of view clear. That's why a good case can be made that Woodhull--and not Francis Galton--pioneered eugenics as a movement both in the U.S. and the U.K, where she moved in in 1876. In what were perhaps her last public remarks, the New York Times described an interview in which she praised the 1927 Supreme Court decision legalizing forced sterilization, Buck v. Bell, and said she had "advocated that fifty years ago in my book Marriage of the Unfit."

This history of bigotry, mostly focused on poor immigrants, does not mean that Sanger was the personification of evil. In her private correspondence she comes across as a loyal friend, even to people such as H. G. Wells, who snubbed her in one of his novels, and Havelock Ellis, who scarcely mentioned her in his autobiography. She was also, within her personal limitations, quite supportative of her much older second husband, including in the late 1930s, when he was considering evading prosecution for tax evasion by paying off someone in government. It'll be interesting to see if that correspondence finds its way into a later book in this series.

Even Sanger's negative eugenics does not appear to have come naturally to her. The daughter of a Catholic mother and an immigrant father, her early efforts on behalf of the poor appear to be as genuine as any such activity by an affluent 'parlor pink' can be. It was only on a visit to Glasgow's public housing projects that the Fabians taught her that a progressive welfare state had, of necessity, to reduce the birthrates of the poor to below the replacment level to avoid being swamped by a prolific poor. Glasgow did that by offering marvelous public housing to the poor with small families while cruelly consigning larger families to the horrors of the city's slum lords. Sanger first protested the policy, then agreed, and then returned to the U.S. to start a birth control movement with a similar agenda.

With all that in mind, I would recommend that readers, if they can't afford this rather pricey book, at least get their local library to purchase a copy. Like many of the more radical feminists, Sanger's variety of self-asserting individualism, which I call "heroic selfishness," was the first wave of what is now our much larger "culture war" between red states and blue states. (It's why the 25 states most generous in their personal charitable giving all went for Bush, a very revealing statistic.) To understand the real Sanger, turn to the biblical book of Esther and contemplate the fact that Sanger considered Vashti the real hero of the story and Esther, risking her life to save the Jewish people, a mere "washboard." I only hope the editors have the good sense to include those early remarks in some part of this book series. As Sanger herself hinted, it's a near perfect illustration of what motivated her and it's an attitude that comes through more clearly in the shrill pages of her The Woman Rebel than in her later writings.

And if you want to grasp just how interesting a study of Sanger can be, contemplate the fact that, almost alone on the radical left, in The Woman Rebel (July 1914) she praised some terrorists who intended to blow up the Manhattan home of John Rockefeller and yet a little over a decade later was exchanging polite little notes with members of the Rockefeller family. Politics does make for strange bedfellows. The politics in that case was eugenics, the once-favorite cause of both the radical left and very wealthy. It's why today both are great fans of legalized abortion, particularly for the poor and minorities.

This long-awaited collection of letters, diaries, articles and speeches, most of them never before published, were selected with an eye to telling the story of a remarkable life--a life consumed with the quest for women's sexual liberation. The Selected Papers of Margaret Sanger (Volume 1) gives us, with dramatic immediacy, the first 28 years of Margaret Sanger's quest.

FROM THE JACKET
The Selected Papers of Margaret Sanger
Vol. 1: The Woman Rebel, 1900-1928
Edited by Esther Katz
Cathy Moran Hajo and Peter C. Engelman, Assistant Editors

The birth control crusader, feminist, and reformer Margaret Sanger was one of the most controversial and compelling figures in the twentieth century. This first volume of The Selected Papers of Margaret Sanger documents the critical phases and influences of an American feminist icon and offers rare glimpses into her working-class childhood, burgeoning feminism, spiritual and scientific interests, sexual explorations, and diverse roles as wife, mother, nurse, journalist, radical socialist, and activist.

These letters and other writings, including diaries, journals, articles, and speeches, most of which have never before been published, have been selected and assembled with an eye to telling the story of a remarkable life, punctuated by arrests and imprisonments, exile, love affairs, and a momentous personal loss--a life consumed with the quest for women's sexual liberation. Because its narrative line is so absorbing, volume 1 may be read as a powerful biography.

Volume 1 covers a twenty-eight-year period from her nurse's training and early socialist involvement in pre- World War I bohemian Greenwich Village to her adoption of birth control (a term she helped coin in 1914) as a fundamental tenet of women's rights. It traces the intersection of her life and work with other reformers, activists and leaders of modernity on both sides of the Atlantic, including Havelock Ellis, H. G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, Emma Goldman, Max Eastman, and Eugene Debs, as well as many leading radical artists and writers of the day. It highlights her legislative and organizational efforts, her support of the eugenics movement, and the alliances she secured with medical professionals in her crusade to make birth control legal, respectable, and accessible. This volume also includes letters from women desperately in need of fertility control who saw Sanger as their last hope. Supplemented by an introduction, brief essays providing narrative and chronological links, and substantial notes, the volume is an invaluable tool for understanding Sanger's actions and accomplishments.

The documents assembled here, more than 80 percent of them letters, were culled from the Margaret Sanger Papers Microfilm Edition, edited by Esther Katz, Cathy Moran Hajo, and Peter C. Engelman. Two subsequent volumes will address later periods in her life, and an additional volume will cover her international work in the birth control struggle.

"Mesmerizing letters from the days when birth control was legally obscene and jail sentences were regularly given out for talking about it in public. Nearly a century ago, Margaret Sanger was defending woman's 'ownership of her own body' and linking access to contraception to civil liberties and personal freedom. Rights we take for granted have a long and sometimes surprising history that comes clear on these pages. Required reading for our own time, whichever side of Roe v. Wade you are on."
-- Linda K. Kerber, author of No Constitutional Right to Be Ladies: Women and the Obligations of Citizenship

"These wonderful letters, diary excerpts, and essays dramatize women's long struggle for respect, self-awareness, independence, influence, and control over our bodies and our lives. To contemplate Margaret Sanger's harsh reality and the enduring vision of this courageous pioneer--while the war against women escalates on every front--is a heartening and galvanizing act of rebellion. Esther Katz and her splendid team have given us all a very great gift."
-- Blanche Wiesen Cook, University Distinguished Professor, John Jay College and the Graduate Center, CUNY, and the author of Eleanor Roosevelt, volumes 1 and 2

"This engrossing volume, meticulously edited and selected, captures Margaret Sanger in all her complexity during a formative period in her long career. Open to practically any page, and something will grab your historical attention."
-- Susan Ware, editor of Notable American Women, volume 5

This long-awaited collection of letters, diaries, articles and speeches, most of them never before published, were selected with an eye to telling the story of a remarkable life--a life consumed with the quest for women's sexual liberation. The Selected Papers of Margaret Sanger (Volume 1) gives us, with dramatic immediacy, the first 28 years of Margaret Sanger's quest.

The birth control crusader, feminist, and reformer Margaret Sanger was one of the most controversial and compelling figures in the twentieth century. This first volume of The Selected Papers of Margaret Sanger documents the critical phases and influences of an American feminist icon and offers rare glimpses into her working-class childhood, burgeoning feminism, spiritual and scientific interests, sexual explorations, and diverse roles as wife, mother, nurse, journalist, radical socialist, and activist.

These letters and other writings, including diaries, journals, articles, and speeches, most of which have never before been published, have been selected and assembled with an eye to telling the story of a remarkable life, punctuated by arrests and imprisonments, exile, love affairs, and a momentous personal loss--a life consumed with the quest for women's sexual liberation. Because its narrative line is so absorbing, volume 1 may be read as a powerful biography.

Volume 1 covers a twenty-eight-year period from nurse's training and early socialist involvement in pre- World War I bohemian Greenwich Village to Sanger's adoption of birth control (a term she helped coin in 1914) as a fundamental tenet of women's rights. It traces the intersection of her life and work with other reformers, activists and leaders of modernity on both sides of the Atlantic, including Havelock Ellis, H. G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, Emma Goldman, Max Eastman, and Eugene Debs, as well as many leading radical artists and writers of the day. It highlights her legislative and organizational efforts, her support of the eugenics movement, and the alliances she secured with medical professionals in her crusade to make birth control legal, respectable, and accessible. This volume also includes letters from women desperately in need of fertility control who saw Sanger as their last hope. Supplemented by an introduction, brief essays providing narrative and chronological links, and substantial notes, the volume is an invaluable tool for understanding Sanger's actions and accomplishments.

The documents assembled here, more than 80 percent of them letters, were culled from the Margaret Sanger Papers Microfilm Edition, edited by Esther Katz, Cathy Moran Hajo, and Peter C. Engelman. Two subsequent volumes will address later periods in her life, and an additional volume will cover her international work in the birth control struggle.

As the member of a large, Catholic family, I saw elements of my own experiences in every chapter/essay of "17 Little Miricals." The book covers the gamut of family experiences -- from the hysterical to the scatalogical to the combative -- and while the large-family experience is depicted (accurately) as anything but idyllic, author Mirical manages to find the humor and warmth in each situation.

I gave a copy to my grandmother, herself the mother of 10 kids, and she loved it so much that she shared it with friends. And because her copy of "17 Little Miricals" is still making the rounds among the congregation of Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Galesburg, Illinois, you'd best buy your own copy.

Almost to funny! It's hard to believe that these stories are true! A very clean (but not at all dry) humor that caused everyone in the family to wet there pants! I am not the reading type, but I loved sharing this book with my family so much that we are beggining to read it for our third time! We are so into the story and real characters that we are just praying for a sequel/update to be published.

Baby boomers will enjoy this book immensely! The childhood stories are adorable and hilarious. Fabulously inspirational! One can only imagine the indepdendence achieved by 17 children, born in a span of 19 years, of only two parents, which so far has led 15 of the 17 to finish college! I read it to my 8-year old, an only child, as a chapter book. It illustrates the value of hard work, creativity, and youthful independence. Applause, applause!!

This book is funny, insightful, and touching. I read it five times and each time I found something different

Stephen Cramer's Shiva's Drum is histories, street scenes, memories, shadows, and religions. Bodies, grunts, beats, and scars are the feelings I get from his poems.

What makes Shiva's Drum a collection that is more than angst or writhings about within memories is Cramer's able writing, which works all of these former things into quick, living poems that go beyond his own experience.

Scenes in Penn Station and India have a common rhythm. The poet takes up memories and scenes and then, smashing them into bits in the process, orders them along a greater beat. Cramer offers the reader a clue in the book's epigraph: the eponymous drum of the book's title "beats the rhythms not only of music and sex but also of time which ultimately extinguishes us" through these poems.

Shiva's Drum is a collection of poems by Stephen Cramer that flow into each other as much as they stand out in their own unique rhythm and meaning. The pieces mostly deal with humanity, music, and culture. Cramer integrates lyrics, a epigraph from the bible, and current affairs (both public and personal.) These fingerprints of Cramer's writing style seem to engage the reader, and make them feel inside the stories. He deals with darker themes as well. In the second section of the book, "Three Little Birds, 130th Street" juxtaposes the lyrics of Bob Marley's song playing in the background, to a woman being attacked by someone she knew and saved by the narrator. The next poem, "Two Tattoos," deals with addiction and abuse, and the symbol of scars being not what they where from, but meaning what the bearer assigns them. Regardless of subject, each poem is clearly presented as Cramer felt them; each sense is attended too and satisfied, with the pace of the city and the poets' life.

A gorgeous and nuanced heartbeat infuses the poems in Stephen Cramer's Shiva's Drum--pulsing the reader through deftly-executed narratives that explore the rhythmic cycles (both large and small) of life, hammering out marvelously-crafted images, and drumming up rhythmically taut lines that ebb and flow with grace and style. Cramer's poems possess both razor-sharp clarity and immense compassion, and Shiva's Drum is a wonderful debut.

Let me put it simply: most poetry written over the last 50 years leaves me cold. Therefore, you can imagine how refreashing--no, far more than that--you might say astounding--I found Shiva's Drum: poetry that connects to what I have seen, and heard, and felt, in a way that reminds me of the best theatre, engendering the feeling that we are not alone and that others around us have shared our common experiences, of beauty, and sadness, and of hope. This is a remarkable work.

When I heard Charlotte Abrams wrote the silents, I had to get it immediately. I doubt she would remember me, but we went to Tuley High School at the same time. Reading the book for me was like a travel trough the past. The memories of the school. the park, the neighborhood, and the simpler times were wonderful. But I recommend the book for the story of love and affection it tells. A beautiful tale of the struggles of deaf parents attempting to raise their children in what was for them a silent world. And while they felt like outsiders their children lovingly guided them through the speaking world. As you read this well written book be prepared to be spellbound and also to shed a few tears.

This book tells me that deaf and mute people live lives that are very similar to hearing and speaking parents. The children of parents with handicaps have more responsibility. This book tells about the love and care the parents give to their children and the love and care the children return to their mother and father.

The author, Charlotte, takes us through her childhood in depression era Chicago to living in Los Angeles with children of her own. What makes her story unique is that her parents were deaf. And we are graciously allowed into a world which is foreign to most. A world where there are no dogs barking, no music and no voices. It's a touching, inspiring, story full of rich memorable characters that stay with you long after you've turned the last page. After finishing "The Silents," I thought to myself, what a lucky woman Ms. Abrams must be to have had parents that were so utterly and indisputably in love. I look forward to reading more from this author and I hope "The Silents" receives the recognition it so greatly deserves.

Althoug I am a little biased about this book (the author is my mother) I felt it was a heart warming story of growing up the hearing child of deaf parents. The warmth and humanity of the family described is one that will touch the hearts of all people. If you are deaf or in any other way disabled, or you know someone who is, you should read this book. It is amazing to read about a family in the 20's and 30's of this century facing the hardships of deafness, raising two children and still being able to have a "normal" life. My grandparents, the topic of this book, were two of the most wonderful people you could ever meet and I would like to invite everyone out there to meet them in this book. Thanks.

This is the first book ever written that actually told the true life story of country music singer Hank Williams. Roger Williams interviewed country music performers who either worked for Hank or shared the stage with him. There are inside looks at Hank's problems and his relationships with his family and fellow performers. Hank's career was short. He died two months after his 29th birthday. However, in his short life he became a legend and fifty years after his death his music is still going strong. I recommend that every country music fan buy this book.

Good book, factual, full of trivial facts which was interesting, but way too much time spent on things like the history of the Opry, Louisiana Hayride, radio stations, other performers and events, etc. Why no photos? Most biographys have at least a couple of photos to go along with the story. The only photo you get is what's on the front cover. Other than that, I guess I learned a little more about Hank and how he wrote songs so in that light it was a decent book.

I've read HANK WILLIAMS:THE BIOGRAPHY and SING A SAD SONG numerous times and I like this one the best. It's sentimental and loving in tone. The former is more sensationalized and antiseptic. Having visited Georgiana, Alabama, a town frozen in time, this book starts right there on the little railroad platform where Hank shined his shoes as a youngster. THE BIOGRAPHY aspires to more detail, but you can only get so many facts within a given number of pages, and so THE BIOGRAPHY isn't really more detailed.

Both books omit my favorite anecdote, which is related by Hank's steel guitar player, Don Helms: Playing at any outdoor venue, Hank and band had to retreat to a covered area when it came a downpour. Looking out at his drenched fans, who refused to leave, Hank had compassion on them. Hank returned to the outdoor stage and informed them that "If you can stand in the rain and listen to me, then I can stand in the rain and sing for you!"

There you go--someone with a god-like talent, a great deal of humility, and who loved his followers more than he loved himself. Is it any wonder that only Jesus Christ and fellow Southerner Robert E. Lee have had more influence on the Southern psyce than Hank Williams?

Roger Williams, who of course is not related to the subject that he wrote about, has given us a rare, insightful look into the life,career, and death of a country music legend. Hank Williams was an ordinary man with extroardinary talent who made the most out of the gifts that he was blessed with. However, as he grew up, Hank came across two powerful forces that would eventually destroy his career, and ultimately, his life. Women and booze did not mix, and as the book says,Hank found this one out the hard way. The author goes into detail about how Hank's career took off with his induction into the Grand Ole Opry in June of 1949. From there it gives us a look into how the opry operated in the early 1950's.The alcoholism which Hank undoubtedly had went far back to the early days of his youth when he was just eleven years old. By the time he released Lovesick Blues in 1948, Hank was already having problems staying sober. Alcohol is mentioned many times throughout the book because, as most fans know, alcohol wrecked Hank's overall physical condition. The book reveals some rare photos of Hank when he was at the prime of his recording career, but some of these photos shows his body slowly wasting away.After all is said and done, Hank Williams died in the backseat of his Cadillac at the age of 29, in the early morning hours of January 1, 1953. The cause of death could problably have been attributed to a broken heart. The life that Hank lead spelled out his fate way before the reaper came to take him away forever, but the legend lives on in the hearts of country music fans everywhere. Hank Williams will never be forgotten, and this book gives all the reasons why. But there's only one thing left to say. Hank was a man like all the rest, but his memory is enshrined because of his care and compassion for others who were less fortunate than he was.

This book is more than I expected. Excellent biographical information and literary context for the six authors. Relates the work of six great Spanish poets of different epochs. The translations are very helpful for someone who knows some Spanish. I would have preferred more literal and less poetic translatons. Even a fine poet like Barnstone must take liberties with the original when he turns a Spanish sonnet into an English sonnet. This book is invaluable to the amateur and, I would assume, to the professional as well.

For those who already know the various authors of this book individually, words will be in excess to describe the treasures contained therein. The five Spanish already classical authors and Jorge Luis Borges closing the group with honors are a guarantee of high quality and deep touching entertainment. Tasting the fluent and sincere social verb of Quevedo, or absorbing in silence the sweet and perfect mysticism of Juana Inés would be sufficient to recommend this book. But we find much more, Machado, García Lorca and Miguel Hernández, marked by the horrors of the Spanish Civil War, found in their sensibility, the way to transform hate and blood into the purest and most powerful poetry. About Borges, well, what can one say about a man of his talents, his well known depth is something you will find easily linked to his enormous sensibility and human solidarity. Definitively, this multiple anthology is a treasure to keep forever.

The translation is marvelous: I read them all before in Spanish. And the Selection? Amazingly good ! Congratulations to the translator! It`s not an easy feat to translate Garcìa Lorca or Sor Juana Inès de la Cruz...eoither The Master: Quevedo...or Machado ( the name is ANTONIO, NOT ANTONIA ) The person who selected the poems is really knowing... If you want to read and enjoy the very best of Spanish written sonets...This Book is a Poetic "Bible " Don`t miss it !

The sonnet form was introduced to Spain from Sicily in the fifteenth century through the writing of El Marqués de Santillana (1398-1458), a poet who wrote Petrarchan sonnets in Spanish. During the Renaissance, the Italian sonnet made its way to most of the countries of Western Europe. In England, Edmund Spenser changed the Petrarchan rhyming form of 'abba abba cdecde' to 'abab bcbc cdcd ee,' and William Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets with the form 'abab cdcd efef gg.' As Willis Barnstone says in the introduction to his book, 'Six Masters of the Spanish Sonnet,' 'the Spanish sonnet, a literary vagabond in courtly dress, began in the court of the Sicilian Frederic II, went up to England, and finally, seven centuries after its Italian birth, with its picaresque wits and form intact, dropped down just above the Antarctic Circle to appear in the poems of the Argentine Anglophile [his maternal grandmother was English] Borges.' Professor Barnstone goes on to present a thorough history of the evolution of the Spanish sonnet and a colorful biography of six Spanish language poets who used the form. His writing is informed by his long friendship with Jorge Luis Borges. Barnstone offers here a sampling of 112 Spanish sonnets by these six masters, placed side by side along with his own magnificent translations.

Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645) is described as a 'monstruo de la naturaleza' [monster of nature] because of his prodigious outpouring of writing. 'Like Swift, Dostoyevski, and Kafka, he is one of the most tormented spirits and visionaries of world literature ['El Buscón' (The Swindler), 1626, is his masterpiece] and also one of the funniest writers ever to pick up a sharp, merciless pen.' Though Quevedo's sonnets are at times scatological and darkly satirical, they are also humorous and hopeful.

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648/51-1695) was a Mexican discalced Carmelite nun who is considered by some religious scholars to be the first female theologian of the Americas. Although I was familiar with her love poems and her articulate defense of a woman's right to write in 'Response to Sor Filotea,' I had not read her sonnets in translation before. As he does with all six sonneteers, Barnstone faithfully maintains Sor Juana's rhyming, meter, and cadence in his translations of her sonnets. His analysis encompasses her writing and her life, including some critique of Octavio Paz's definitive biography, 'Sor Juana, or The Traps of Faith.'

Antonio Machada (1875-1939) recalls the landscape of his native Sevilla in his sonnets. In, 'El amor y la sierra' (Love and the Sierra), he writes, 'Calabaga por agria serranía / una tarde, entre roca cenicienta. (He was galloping over harsh sierra ground, / one afternoon, amid the ashen rock).' Barnstone calls Machado 'the Wang Wei of Spain' because 'he uses the condition of external nature to express his passion.' As Petrarch had his Laura, Machado had his Guiomar (Pilar de Valderrama). In 'Dream Below the Sun,' he writes, 'Your poet / thinks of you. Distance / is of lemon and violet, / the fields still green. / Come with me, Guiomar. / The sierra will absorb us. / The day is wearing out / from oak to oak.'

Federico García Lorca (1898-1936) was a Spanish poet and playwright who was affected by Luis de Góngorra and gongorismo. His 'Gypsy Ballads' was 'the most popular book of poetry in the Spanish language in his time.' Barnstone states that 'his closest attachment, his passion, was the painter Salvador Dalí,' with whom he carried on a six year love affair. Luis Buñuel castigated him for his Andalusianism; indeed, Lorca felt that Buñuel's satiric and surrealist film 'Un chien andalu' mocked him. After traveling to New York and Havana, Lorca became 'the playwright of Spain' with his brilliant 'Bodas de Sangre' (Blood Wedding). His 'Sonnets of Dark Love,' unpublished during his lifetime, were probably written to Rafael Rodríguez Rapún, an engineering student. Barnstone believes that 'dark love' is an allusion to San Juan de la Cruz's 'dark night of the soul.'

Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) of Argentina considered himself a poet, though he was a master at prose. According to Barnstone, because of the blindness that afflicted Borges in midlife, 'he could compose and polish a sonnet while waiting for a bus or walking down the street' and then later dictate it from memory. 'Borges's speech authenticated his writing, his writing authenticated his speech. To have heard him was to read him. To have read him was to have heard him.' In 'Un ciego' (A Blindman), he says, 'No sé cuál es la cara que me mira / Cuando miro la cara del espejo; / No sé qué anciano acecha en su reflejo / Con silenciosa y ya cansada ira. (I do not know what face looks back at me / When I look at the mirrored face, nor know / What aged man conspires in the glow / Of the glass, silent and with tired fury.)'

Miguel Hernández (1910-1942), a poor goatherd and pastor from the province of Alicante in Spain, wrote his best poetry while imprisoned during the Spanish Civil War. 'In the prisons, Hernández became,' in Barnstone's opinion, 'the consummate poet of light, darkness, soul, time, and death.' One of his poems, 'Llegó con tres heridas' (He came with three wounds), is a popular song, recorded by Joan Baez on her 'Gracias a La Vida' album.

'Six Masters of the Spanish Sonnet' is recommended to all who love this poetic form and want to know more about the lives of these remarkable poets. A good index and list of references are included for further study.

This wonderful book is comprised of all the letters home that George wrote to his mother. Thankfully he was a college student, doing what he felt was his duty, and his mother wanted to know all of the details of life in camp. Consequently we are fortunate to have information that covers all aspects of camp life. George gives his views on cleanliness, proper nutririon, drinking, & the ability to serve the country better as men of good character, He sometimes felt what was the use, but all in all he wanted to see the job finished. Upon returning home he & his uncle started a map company which is still in existence today.

Ms. Bohrnstedt's thoughtful and informative context for George Cram's letters is invaluable. The letters themselves are a treasure-- first-hand accounts from the trenches of the Civil War. Reading the book by the fireplace is like sitting with a Civil War maven, paging through scrapbooks with yellowed pages that come alive as she describes what is behind the scenes. What makes this book a 5-star gem? The quality of research and the uniqueness of the contribution to our understanding of our only violent, internal national conflict.

Soldiering With Sherman: The Civil War Letters Of George F. Cram is a compilation of the letters of Union Sergeant George F. Cram's letters that reveal an educated young man's experiences as part of Sherman's army during the American Civil War. Advancing through the Confederacy with the 105th Illinois Infantry Regiment, Cram engaged in a number of key conflicts, including Sherman's famous "march to the sea". Cram wrote candid, literate letters conveying insights into the social dimensions of the Civil War. His writings are characterized by piercing objectivity, optimism, and a dry sense of humor. His vivid depictions of the campaigns in Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas are a superb and substantial contribution to Civil War studies. Soldiering With Sherman is an informative, engaging, and core title for any personal, academic, or community library Civil War studies collection.

Soldiering with Sherman makes reading about history interesting. This is a firsthand account of the civil war. You can tell that the editor did some painstaking research. I would suggest this book for any history buff.

It's obvious Stu Fliege loves Illinois history and in this collection he manages to come up with 52 fasinating, often humerous, accounts from the state's past. "Tales and Trails of Illinois" is what all history should be, informative and entertaining. Well done and highly recommended.

What a fabulous book on Illinois history especially for small town trivia.

As a transplanted Kansan, I wanted to learn more about my new home state. I found Tales and Trails of Illinois to be packed with fascinating stories that definitely helped me to get a greater knowledge about not just Illinois but also the role Illinois has played in American history.

The book is divided into 52 brief chapters that hit the highlights of a topic in Illinois history. Many of the chapters were originally published as a series of newspaper articles and left me wanting more detail, especially the one on "Illinois's Most Heinous Murderer: Herman Webster Mudgett". Someone needs to do a movie on that guy - he could be the prototype for Hannibal Lecter!

In short, this is an interesting, quick read but definitely not for someone looking for in-depth research or analysis. (Kind of reminding me of some eighth grade reports I used to grade...)

Originally published as weekly columns in newspapers, Stu Fliege's Tales & Trails Of Illinois brings together fifty-two fascinating vignettes of Illinois history. Black-and-white photographs enhance these brief yet exciting glimpses into events such as the Chicago Iroquois Theatre fire, to the wonder of natural features such as Lusk Creek Canyon. Engaging, sometimes humorous, and always entertaining, Tales & Trails Of Illinois is also available in a hardcover edition (0252027760...) and a wonderful addition to Illinois History reading lists and library reference collections.

It's December 1968, eight months after the Democratic Convention and the riots that accompanied it, the setting of SMOKE-FILLED ROOMS. Smokey Dalton and his adopted son Jimmy are still hiding out after fleeing Memphis (and the FBI). Smokey is now working unofficially as a private detective, the same sort of job he had in Memphis and is only now beginning to feel comfortable in the new city.

Smokey is hired by a woman to investigate the murder of her husband after she was dissatisfied with the job the police did. She felt that because he was a black man the police made poor assumptions and gave the case a low priority without bothering to look too hard. In fact they attributed the death as a gang murder, even though the man was a respected dentist. The case is the catalyst to an investigation that leads him to uncover crimes on an unimagined magnitude. But because the crimes have been perpetrated on blacks, the solution is not as simple as just identifying the murderer.

Smokey has to juggle his time working on the case with getting Jimmy to and from school. A local gang, the Blackstone Rangers are attempting to recruit Jimmy, which would most likely lead to an inevitable life of crime. Smokey is determined to come up with a solution to put them off for good.

A further responsibility is heaped on Smokey's shoulders when Laura Hathaway asks him to act as her security for some hostile business negotiations in which she is involved. It is this sub-plot that highlights a second form of prejudice, that of sexual discrimination.

The story flows smoothly from crisis to crisis as Smokey handles each situation with his usual common sense and decency. Although he is challenged more regularly with the need to quell the impotent rage and frustration that he is filled with as he deals with bigotry and racism on a daily basis.

There is so much more to the Smokey Dalton books than just a mystery to be solved, although the mystery in this case is very interesting, cleverly constructed and relevant. Each of the books are also surrounded by turmoil often with a simmering feeling of unrest, echoed by the increasingly vocal Civil Rights movement and the backlash that it caused.

The mood of the book as seen through Smokey himself ranges from resignation to barely controlled fury. The portrayal of the racism that was prevalent at the time created some poignant moments and some tension-charged moments as the humiliation felt by Smokey emanated from the pages.

Two examples of this kind of racism stayed with me long after I finished the book. The first took place in a supermarket in a white neighbourhood that Smokey was passing through. He had decided to pick up some groceries and was pleasantly surprised to find the prices were much cheaper and the fruit and vegetables were much fresher than those found in his own neighbourhood. When he came to the checkout, the cashier simply refused to serve him, closing her checkout. The manager then confronted Smokey in front of everyone in the shop and advised him to leave the groceries and go.

Later that night while he was still seething, Smokey was to make the following observation about the incident.

"I hadn't encountered that kind of overt racism since I'd come to Chicago. Usually in Chicago, people smiled at you and then denied your rental application...

...I'd once said to Franklin that I'd preferred overt racism. At least then you knew where you stood.

I now regretted those words. Either kind of discrimination felt bad. Even now I felt nauseous, a sense of helplessness filling me."

The second example was much more shocking in it's brutality. A white man and his black girlfriend were bashed and raped by a couple of white men, outraged by the white man kissing "that monkey" in a park. The assault itself was shocking to start with, but then the assumptions made by the police when they arrived were even worse.

I found the issues that were raised very sobering and found myself being outraged by the unfairness of the treatment, knowing that scenes like these happened every day in real life.

This is another superb story that continues a terrific series set right in the middle of a time of great turmoil, occasionally touched by events that followed the Civil Rights Movement. In this book, Smokey crosses paths with the fledgling Black Panthers; serving as a reminder of the difficult times he was living in.

Once again, Kris Nelscott has produced an outstanding thriller and set it in a difficult place and time in history. I found it compelling reading, both for the tense thriller and for the thought it promoted by raising such strong issues.

When Alice Foster asks Smokey Dalton to find who killed her husband, Smokey knows that the police will be little help. In Chicago in 1968, racial lines are drawn tight, and no one in power is especially concerned over a few black deaths. But Smokey recognizes the pattern--it's one that has happened before. Somewhere, a serial killer is systematically murdering blacks. And Smokey intends to find out who--and put a stop to it.

Through THIN WALLS, Smokey deals with racism, black gangs who offer 'protection' at a horrible price, and cops who either don't care, or who believe that they can lose everything they believe in if they buck the way things are done. A subplot with Smokey's white love interest adds a level of personal depth to the character--and provides continuity from earlier novels in the series.

Author Kris Nelscott delivers a riveting historical mystery. Nelscott makes America's racism come alive, yet offers a hint of promise that it can be overcome. The conflict between African-American cop Johnson and white cop Sinkovich adds both depth and authenticity to the novel. Smokey himself, with his concern for his 'son' Jimmy, drives the plot forward.

THIN WALLS grabbed me early and kept me turning the pages. Nelscott's writing is authentic and compelling, with just enough name-dropping of real characters to spice the story.

Highly Recommended.

A respectable dentist is found dead in a Chicago park, his body posed in a manner that connects to crimes that were introduced in Smoke Filled Rooms, a series of murders of African-Americans. Young Jimmy Bailey is facing a new danger as he becomes susceptible to the romance of black power and prey to youthful street gangs who talk the talk, but don't walk the walk. Not to worry, the Black Panthers are nearby. Smokey Dalton confronts the gang issue in the only way he knows how, head on, while dealing with the ever escalating complications of the case on which he is working. How complicated is it? The trail to the killer of Dr. Foster leads into blue collar Chicago and the inner cogs of the Daley machine. White Chicago is in flight and Dr. Foster wanted to buy a house.

By Christmas 1968, private eye Smokey Dalton and his ten year old son Jimmy continue to hide in Chicago knowing that various law enforcement agencies at all levels of government and some nasty private citizens want to find them. Jimmy eye-witnessed the killing of MLK and it is not the guy confessing from a prison cell. Unable to tell who is friend from foe because a police uniform means nothing, Smokey and Jimmy have changed identities in order to remain incognito.

To support the two of them, Smokey cannot obtain a formal but traceable sleuth license even under his alias of Bill Grimshaw. Instead he does whatever comes his way to include some under the table inquiries. While dealing with Jimmy and the gangs, and his lover/employer relationship with a wealthy white woman, "Bill" agrees to investigate the death of a Black dentist. Rather quickly, "Bill" finds himself in the middle of the very thing he needs to avoid: the FBI and other police officials investigating a potential serial killer.

The third Dalton historical mystery, THIN WALLS, is a fabulous tale that brings to life the turbulent sixties through the frustrations of various groups. This technique could have proven fatally stereotyped, but instead Kris Nelscott makes each group distinct in their rage at their inability to truly matter. The mystery is first class and Smokey's efforts to keep Jimmy clean feel genuine and makes him humanly like most caring parents. The series is as big a winner as the Detroit Tiger's World Series (Jets Superbowl was still a few weeks a way) victory.

Harriet Klausner