Illinois Books

In addition to being an expertly written whodunnit, I especially enjoyed the geographical description of the small Bishop Hill community and environ. Any native such as myself will easily recognize the dump, steeple building, colony school, the B&B, the Filling Station along with many other sites. The acknowledgements of helpers Lloyd and Donna Anderson, Sheriff Gib Cady and Sharon Wexell were of particular interest to me and shows the local flavor provided as the title aptly tells.

I believe I have read all of Sara Frommer's books and they have never failed to delight me. Witness in Bishop Hill is every bit as good as all the other ones and it gets into some different, and not normally mined material, than might be expected in "cozy mysteries."
I am a writer too (author of Safe Sex in the Garden) and a few years ago I was talking to another writer I know, Vicki Leon, author of all the terrific "Uppity Women" books. Vicki was working on a mystery of her own (I think it will be called Nero's Mother, and ought to be out next spring). At any rate we were talking about books and writing and she told me that she had just read as close to perfect a murder mystery as she had ever encountered. Coming from Vicki, that's pretty high praise. It turned out that she was referring to Murder in C Major by Sara Frommer. Vicki was surprised (and impressed!) that I had already read Murder in C Major myself.
If you enjoy books that are finely crafted, where there are no excess words, no filler materials, nothing but the best stuff.....and if you've never had the pleasure to read one of Sara Frommer's novels, do yourself a favor and buy one. Her books are sold as cozy mysteries and I suppose they are, but I feel that they are much more than that. I have recommended these books to everyone I know who reads and appreciates good mysteries and they all thought they were great. Frommer's characters are real, you care about them, fear for them, empathize with them. By all means, do read Witness in Bishop Hill. You'll see what I mean.

Three months after their marriage, Joan Spenser and police lieutenant Fred Lundquist are finally going to visit Fred's parents in Bishop Hill, Illinois. Not a traditional honeymoon perhaps, but after Fred's mother (an Alzheimer's sufferer) witnesses a murder, it goes completely upside down. Though it is obviously a local, Fred's mother cannot remember who the murderer was. What's worse is that the murderer does not like the idea of a living witness, so it is up to Joan and Fred to protect Helga, preferably by finding the murderer.

I must say that I absolutely loved this book! The author does an excellent job of capturing Bishop Hill and its Swedish traditions. The characters are wonderfully three-dimensional, and I think that she did a wonderful job of sympathetically portraying a family working with an Alzheimer's sufferer. Plus, the story is gripping and believable, with detectives who are human and quite believable.

Am I gushing about this book? You bet! This is a great book, and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Married for three months, Oliver, Indiana Detective Lieutenant Fred Lundquist and his second wife Joan, mother of two grown children and director of a senior center, head to his hometown of Bishop Hill so she can meet his parents for the first time. As they travel to Northern Illinois, Fred's mother Helga, suffering from Alzheimer's, strays away from her home right into the homicide of a neighbor's son.

Fred, Joan, and her college-age son Andrew are shocked by how poor Helga's short term memory is which includes not knowing where she lives or how ends up in various locales. The culprit begins harassing Helga to starting with threats over the phone. As the hamlet gets ready for Christmas, fearing for her mother-in-law more from a killer who drifts in and out of Helga's memory than Alzheimer's, Joan struggles to identify the culprit before he harms her or anyone else.

WITNESS IN BISHOP HILL is a strong Joan entry though her identification of the killer seems somewhat miraculous. The story line contains an engaging blend of elements of an amateur sleuth and to a lesser degree police procedural with Swedish Yuletide trimming to brighten up the fare. However, Sara Hoskinson Frommer's latest cozy belongs to Helga, who is handled with compassion so that Alzheimer's victims and their families (including this reviewer's beloved late mother-in-law know how much Ms. Frommer cares).

Harriet Klausner

I think this book was good and interersting and to me It was a good book.This author is my only uncle and I think he is a great poet/author!!!!!!

Neal Bowers made an interesting discovery one day - one of his poems was published under someone else's name.

With this minor irritation (one never gets rich from poetry, one's own or others), Bowers began the trek down a bizarre path to try to find out who was plagiarising his work, and why. Bowers discovered a man going by the name of David Sumner, aka David Jones, who had a habit of copying the poetry from others (not only Bowers), changing the title and a first line or two, and submitting these to poetry journals, magazines and other media outlets as his own. Exactly why was unclear - any pieces of note would undoubtedly be discovered, and few publishing successes came with any kind of monetary compensation attached.

Bowers never intended to become a detective, but the trail just kept on going. Bowers actually made contact with the person, threatened legal action, abandoned because, after all, there was no money in it beyond Sumner/Jones sent to Bowers (some $600 or so that he managed to make from the poems), copies of journals from which he'd lifted poems, a marked book that showed his submission patterns - each step of the way, Sumner/Jones claimed to be operating in good faith, but there was inevitably more to be found.

What was going on?

The more Bowers dug, the more surreal the situation became. Sumner/Jones had been a teacher in Illinois and Oregon, dismissed under terrible circumstances (molestation of children from his second-grade classrooms), jailed for the actions, and strangely, focussed his plagiarism on poetry that dealt with family issues and loss. Bowers was not the only poet plagiarised - as it turned out, Sumner/Jones was successful enough to have many publishing successes, and even had poetry readings arranged.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this is near the end, the attitudes of various persons towards Bowers and his quest for some sort of justice. Journalists by and large were sympathetic, not liking the idea of someone stealing the words (the stock-in-trade of their profession) and getting away with it. But there were those in the media, including poetry journal editors, who seemed to think that Bowers was the 'bad guy' for making such a fuss. Because of the attentions of journalists, others who felt they'd been wronged (not only in plagiarism, but in other realms, too) assumed Bowers would be a kindred spirit and naturally willing to help them - Bowers' mail quadrupled, with all manner of bizarre requests.

Bowers even discovered plagiarism from his friends - one friend, a calligrapher, set some of Bowers' poems in her art, and even produced her own hand-drawn book of his poems (offered at a very high price) without permission, and perhaps more surprisingly, without any recognition that what she was doing was in any way wrong - words were hers for the taking.

In the end, the story ends the way it began - Jones/Sumner still sending out plagiarised work, now having 'graduated' to short stories. But one assumes that Bowers will let others continue the pursuit. Sumner/Jones, in finding Bowers to be a reasonable, even nice, person generally, may have focussed upon him more directly because of this. No good deed goes unpunished!

A fascinating and unexpected tale.

This is a fascinating and scary book.

WORDS FOR THE TAKING is by the poet Neal Bowers, who stumbled on one of his poems that appeared under another writer's name. After some detective work, he found out that the plagiarist, David Sumner/David Jones, had ripped off several other of his poems, and had also stolen from poets as well known as Mark Strand and Sharon Olds. Further investigation located the man, and it turned out he was also guilty of child molestation -- a second-grade teacher who was convicted of molesting 7-year-old girls left in his care.

I wonder if you have to be a writer yourself, to understand how violated the author felt. (And how terrifying it must have been to find out how completely bereft of morals the violator turned out to be).

The first instance Bowers found was "Tenth -Year Elegy," a very personal remembrance of his father. Most of the other poems stolen were about family relations, which in context is sinister.

(One must quote, for fun, the response that he got from the editor of _Poetry Forum_, with an unlikely name, Gunvor Skogsholm, the burden of which seems to have driven him to reinvent the history of poetry in his own eloquent terms: "It's my strongly felt opinion that a good poet by nature ought to possess humbleness and that he or she ought not to think to [sic] highly of him- or herself. Throughout history, those have always been the personal traits associated with a POET. If you have read any of the literary histories associated with the great names in the art of poetry, you will know this is so.")

It's a very well written book on a fascinating subject. Bowers understands that merely ordinary people might see his concern and the steps he was driven to as being excessive, and I think in that light, both he and the publisher, W.W. Norton, are to be commended for keeping a proper perspective.

I was fascinated by this book, especially since I worked with Bowers in his quest to catch up with his plagiarist, a quest detailed by this book. Although the editor before me published the poem, I was the editor of a small poetry magazine which had printed a plagiarized version of one of Bowers' poems. Both in our brief correspondence and in this book, Bowers' impressed me as a brave soul. Plagiarists, on the other hand, are not the pranksters they imagine themselves to be; they are the cowards of the literary world. "Words for the Taking" is a tale of courage, both in the story it tells of the tracking of a criminal, and in the example it sets of one man believing in his writing. There are many lazy, slack-off writers out there. "Words for the Taking" shows us more than any writing course could that putting effort into and believing in your writing is one of the bravest acts possible.

Rarely does a scholoraly book come to market that appeals greatly to me. Especially so in the vast collection of Lincoln books that are so readily available. Many are either dedicated to the proposition that he was a racist fool or a great Emancipator. But this book is outstanding and unique. Carefully argued, Dr. Fornieri illustrates superbly Lincoln's biblical faith and how he mastered using it without sounding like a zealot. Lincoln's masterery of the English language is unparallled and this book shows with solid research this fact. In addition, the book provides a fascinating critique of the southern politic and clergy who argued that slavery was biblically ordained. How Lincoln deftly argued on the contrary is an American miracle and Dr. Fornieri has illuminated this fact expertly. Read this book slowly, because it is worth digesting. Lincoln always wrote for the ear, not the eye so he urged those who read his letters to read them slowly out loud. Try doing this with this book and it will hit home. Outstanding book on our best president - the 16th one. There are never too many good books on any topic and Lincoln remains a great source for the able scholar and history lover.

This well-researched and carefully written book is judicious in its approach to Lincoln's thought and insightful in its analysis. Indeed, its author is remarkably--and reliably--conversant with a variety of related disciplines, including theology, political theory, philosophy, and history. The result is one of the best books--of an unusually good crop--that have appeared on Lincoln in the past ten years. I hope that Fornieri's excellent work gains a wide audience, because its sound arguments and clear presentation richly deserve consideration alongside the deservedly well-recognized treatments of Allen Guelzo, William Lee Miller, Ronald White, Mark Noll, Richard Carwardine, and others who have written on Lincoln's faith and politics.

We will never grow tired of exploring Lincoln's thought. Why? Because it was so profound for his own time and remains so illuminating for our own.

Dr. Fornieri's book is a thoroughly-researched, highly-interesting work, discussing how Abraham Lincoln's actions during his Presidency during the Civil War resulted from his combining a sincere Bible-based religious faith with (his interpretation of) the vision of the American Founders, particularly Jefferson.

Critics of Lincoln's policies (both those of his time and modern ones) have attributed his strengthening of the federal government, his use of Biblical references in speeches and letters, and his Emancipation Proclamation, to cynical reasons (including messianic ambitions on Lincoln's part). Fornieri addresses and convincingly refutes these arguments, using voluminous quotes from throughout Lincoln's life. The author effectively counters the argument that Lincoln's use of Scripture in speeches and letters was merely an affectation for political convenience or just the common mode of speech at the time. Fornieri shows, through the use of Lincoln's letters and speeches (pre-Presidential and later), that Lincoln's religious faith -although non-sectarian- was sincere and heartfelt. The author also defends Lincoln's actions during the war, including the Emancipation Proclamation, as wholly consistent with his long-standing personal and political beliefs, as well as with the intent of men like Jefferson.

One of the most interesting sections in the book, in my opinion, is the analysis of the theological/Scriptural arguments used by proslavery clergy to not only defend slavery, but to attack antislavery efforts as heretical and "against God's will". Fornieri takes this topic, which is seldom-discussed (particularly by modern-day Confederacy apologists) and shows how Lincoln elegantly and effectively countered the alleged Scriptural defenses for slavery.

The book, being a work of academic research, is not an easy or casual read by any means, but it is well-written and well-researched, and is accessible and compelling enough to hold the interest of those interested in learning more about Lincoln's personal and political philosophies as well as the use and misuse of Scripture during Lincoln's time.

Outstanding Book! Well written! Very insightful history of an amazing person and a fine institution.

God, Country, Notre Dame is a book that once again proves what an amazing man Father Hesburgh is. This book is inspiring. If you've never read or heard about Father Hesburgh, this is a must. He has got to be one of the top 10 most influntial people of the 21st century.

I "read" this book for the first time on audio cassette and quickly ran out and bought it" Years later, I still think of it and am still amazed at what a tremendous person Father Hesburgh is. If I did not know its true, I would not believe that a person could accomplish so much in a lifetime. Knowing that this country and faith produces such great men, makes me proud to be Catholic and an American. This book would make a great, great gift!

Misconceptions clearly didn't read the whole book. Or else he simply didn't understand it. Mauss masterfully discusses the LDS church's decision to extend the priesthood to black men in 1978. Thorough and expertly researched, this is THE definitve treatment of race in the LDS church.

Mauss' book is a treasure for thinking LDS and any others who seek knowledge and understanding. while the LDS hierarchy might never disown the racism of leaders (BY, others), books like this are not an attempt to soften LDS racism. A.M. is 'a thinking persons' Lund.

And he's not talking about how Mormon conceptions go down in Africa, but in America, the land of our religion's birth. This is an excellent book, thought-provoking yet fair. If you want to get a better grasp of the history of race and lineage within Mormonism from it's beginnings up to the present, this book is the one to order.

If you want to know about how opera developed in the United States - this is the book.
If you want to know about American operas and their composers (even the early obscure ones)- this is the book.
Very thorough, well-researched, and not a bad read either.
Kirk has really given us a treasure.

I found this book to be a fascinating history not only of the various operatic forms, but also of the way Americans have combined words and music, or, more precisely, drama and music. The author illustrates this theme by taking us through early comic opera, melodrama, grand opera, Wagnerian influences, cinema scores and verismo styles giving the reader a fine overview of American creativity within the world of opera. I especially enjoyed the way the author illustrates her points further by discussing scenes from individual operas in an informative, yet reader-friendly, way.

As a teacher, I found the book a valuable cultural-social study, as well. It is a work of many dimensions and I highly recommend it.

Elise K. Kirk takes on a monumental job in her (University of Illinois Press). Starting in the Colonial times and ending just about at the publication date, this book traces the checkered career of its subject with a richness of detail that makes the 434 pages (plus appendices and index) very interesting reading indeed.

It would have been even more interesting if the author had been a little more forthcoming about her own thoughts concerning the more contemporary works that call themselves "operas" by virtue of their being through-composed; but she certainly seems to have all the facts laid out objectively and in good order.

The 18 chapters that lie between the Introduction and Epilogue are divided into three sections: (1) "The Voyage, 1730 to 1915"; (2) "The Signposts, 1880 to 1960"; and (3) "The Discoveries, 1945 to the Turn of the Century." Each section in turn is divided into 6 topics with such titles as "The Earliest American Operas," "The Impact of Mass Media," and "Dreamers of Decadence," to give one from each part.

Ms. Kirk is very good in pointing out the novel aspects of works like "Einstein on the Beach" and "Miss Julie." However, since very few of the works she seems to praise (albeit implicitly rather than explicitly) enjoy frequent (if any) revivals, I strongly feel that she should have examined the reasons why most of them never gained any popularity with the general public.

For example, the first night audiences seemed most enthusiastic about Previn's "Streetcar Named Desire," but in view of what the music critics had to say, one suspects they were applauding the production and the cast rather than the work. But our author remains silent on this aspect of American Opera.

Still in all, I will be using this book as a valuable research tool for my seminars, especially the earlier sections when she does mention negative audience reactions to the Italian school of singing and other features of the granddaddies of "The Ballad of Baby Doe" and "Susannah."

The story of these four people, struggling to survive in the face of tremendous danger reminds us of the evil that humankind is capable of inflicting, but also of the sweetness of triumph and defiance. An excellent first work by the author.

Jean Peck has beautifully written the story of how four individuals (two men and two women) who live in Hungary and Poland face and ultimately survive the Holocaust. As their homelands become embroiled in Nazi Germany, they are caught up in the Holocaust. Their survival stories, each very different, are revealed in this book. The book does not stop with the end of the war but lets us watch as they gather the strength to continue their lives after suffering devastating losses. They marry and all four become distinguished doctors. Jean Peck gives a remarkable portrait of four remarkable people. It is an inspiring book, one I highly recommend.

The incredibly written account of two couples that survived the trecherous Holocaust to marry and then move to America. The story starts out with all four young adults facing many normal issues until they are faced with prejudices and then changing of the system. When the Nazis take over they are all over whelmed and their lives are forever changed. The novel takes you through everyone's lives as their live through the Holocaust and survive to tell their story. I think that this is the best book that has ever been written about the Holocaust and it so beautifully done that you have to stop and catch your breath at the end. In the end, you feel love and you feel sympathy to the two couples who had to endure such pain. I loved this book and I will read it over and over because it is such a classic.

Absolutely unparalleled -- I completely agree that this book is the best I have seen of its kind. I only wish there were such exquisitely detailed birding information available for other cities I frequent, such as Philly, D.C., and Boston.

Both Lynne Carpenter and Joel Greenberg are well known in the Chicago area as great birders. And I've been lucky to have had the pleasure of birding with both of them. I am so grateful that they've committed their knowledge to this book. If you bird in the Chicago area then this book is a "must have" for your birding library.

Kudos for Joel Greenberg and Lynne Carpenter's recently published book. I have sampled many, many bird finding guides, as most dedicated birders have, but I rank their new `Birders Guide to the Chicago Region', as the best of its type. Its comprehensiveness, indexing, maps, species accounts and locations, accuracy and ease of use are unparalleled. Lynne and Joel: You have my highest compliments for an absolutely first rate job!

This was my first Raleigh book, which I bought as a remainder. Some of his other books were already past their first printing by then. I was so fascinated with the style and flavor that I bought and read all of them. He really nails down the food chain with his chomping dectective, besides describing the neighborhoods in Chi-Town.
I don't understand how he did not get involved with Mystery Guild, as they have a full line of authors, great to mediocre. While I was reading his, I noted that S. J. Rozan had some of her mysteries published through MG.
I really wish Raleigh would go back to writing Wheelan novels. he does it well.

I lived in CHicago for many years and love the city, so I was pleased to discover this mystery series written with a love for Chicago and a sense of place. Raleigh described the city so perfectly I felt I was back there. In fact, you could make an argument that the central character in the film is not the private investigator, Paul Whelan, but the city, particularly the lakefront area (Lincoln Park, Belmont Harbor, and Uptown).

The story begins on a dark Chicago night with a man -- a small time drug dealer -- being murdered at Belmont Harbor. Then the author cuts to Paul Whelan, private investigator/former Chicago cop living and working in Uptown, being asked by a north suburban woman of means to investigate her husband's apparent suicide 2 years previously. The woman says she thinks her husband's partner killed him or had him killed. Paul thinks that the body found in Belmont Harbor may have something to do with her husband and his business partner, so he starts poking around. There's an active investigation going on into the murder of the drug dealer, so the police aren't too happy. But Paul has a sort-of friendship with the police detective, so they share information in various Chicago restaurants.

This mystery is written in "noir" style: Paul Whelan is tough but kind (buys doughnuts for people who are broke, gets involved when someone is being hassled). I couldn't put it down, even though I was not the least surprised by the turn of events in the book (but I read a lot of mysteries and that's an advantage). I intend to read more in the series.

This being his follow up book to "Death in Uptown." Raleigh doesn't fail to disappoint his fans. The story moves along very well. As your read the book you can picture everything in your mind perfectly as he describes the worlds and characters in the book very well.
I would definitely recommend this book if you've read "Death in Uptown"

Atherton's book helped me begin to understand Joyce's "copy/paste" style. His preface provides an excellent philosphical framework within which the Wake can be understood. His chapters that follow explain in great detail how Joyce used the works of Vico, Swift, and the world's sacred books to construct his masterpiece. Atherton goes on to cite and explain hundreds of Joyce's literary references in Finnegans Wake. This is a good book for any James Joyce fan.

I have been checking the first edition of this book out of my library for months, and am delighted to see a paperback edition in print. It's one of the indispensible guides to the Wake, and I'm glad to see it readily available.

Atherton's book is "absotively" wonderful. Appreciating the Wake certainly requires this book. Numerous linguistic influences on Joyce from various authors are catalogued. Particularly interesting is the lengthy analysis of Lewis Carroll's literary influence on Joyce:

1. Carroll is presumably the undisputed inventor of the portmanteau word - a word packed with multiple meanings. Carroll was content to have dual meaning but Joyce packed as many meanings as possible into his words.

2. Carroll (like Joyce) worked with successive alterations of one letter in a word - meat, meet, mate, maze, etc. Sections of the Wake which obliquely referenced Carroll would routinely incorporate this technique.

3. Alice served as an alterego for Joyce's heroine ALP, where "Wonderlawn" is code for the Garden of Eden.

In short, Joyce found much in Carroll's work that (in the case of the portmanteau word, to his surprise) neatly "dovetallied" with his own "work in progress". The Books at the Wake is a fascinating and well-written collection of many more such analyses (Shakespeare, Blake, Vico, etc.).