Maine Books

I wish that more books on architecture could be this good! First of all, the title is a bit misleading. Many of Savage's works shown here are not, and never were intended to be, cottages. So in addition to private dwellings, there's an inn, schools, firehouses, garages, etc. Second, for the private dwellings, what we think of as cottages nowadays and what was thought of as cottages back in 1900 or so are very different. I remember reading many years back about a 1900's cottage in Aiken, S.C., which had something like 40 bedrooms, plus about 15 servants' bedrooms. The book shows High Seas, built 1911-12: 23 rooms plus a servants' wing with 5 servant's bedrooms--this was, at the time, a cottage.

You get a coffee-table book with stunning photography of both buildings and landscapes (many of the landscape photographs have no houses visible in them). There is an old map of Mount Desert Island, and period drawings and paintings. There are old photographs of the buildings and of Savage, etc. What is a delight are original architectural sketches and floor plans for many of the buildings. The chapters mostly cover individual buildings, and there's accompanying narrative. Consequently, what you get here is a tribute to a man who was able to blend architectural beauty with the great natural beauty of Mount Desert Island: Savage was able to work superbly with the settings and the land. Sadly nowadays, too much architectural work is done by drastically modifying the setting, chopping down most of the trees: for too many people, and too many architects, the goal is that your expensive house should be conspicuous--a highly-visible tribute to your wealth. Savage took the opposite approach--the buildings were there for the people to enjoy them, and to relish the beauty of the land. Quite a book!

Fred L. Savage was my great-grandfather. As a descendent of Fred's only son, Francis Chase Savage, I couldn't be more proud of this beautiful book honoring the history of Mt. Desert Island, and my great-grandfather's place in it. I would only suggest one improvement: I wish that more photographs of Fred and his family would have been included, rather than the multi-page spread of photos of the family of one of his clients. Otherwise, Fred's work speaks for itself. It's breathtaking!

The coast of main around Bar Harbour, and the houses on that coast are some of the most beautiful areas on any coast, anywhere. The problem is that the waterfront there is almost entirely privately owned with access restricted and with so much vegitation (trees) so that these views cannot be seen by the casual visitor.

A surprising amount of these houses are the work of or were influenced by one architect, Frederick L. Savage. This magnificant book takes us not only back in time through historic photographs, but also through the trees and down the private access roads to see these houses and their settings.

The style of these houses, most dating around 1900 have become almost a traditional United States style, although sometimes looking somewhat out of place when placed in a different kind of climate. These houses were designed to keep out the severe Maine winters, with small windows, strongly build roofs and the like.

I must confess I knew very little about the coast of Maine before picking up this spectacular book. The images are just so crisp and well executed. Mr. Savage designs fit the coast of Maine perfectly, they are so well sited and they really complement their breath taking settings. The text is quite informative and the images really make the houses and surrounding landscape come alive. One warning, after reading this book you will want to hop a plane to Maine.

This book shows that many people can live from after having cancer, espically lung prison.

MAN OF STRAW is a politically committed satire against the upper middle-classes in the time of the empire of William II (Kaiser Wilhelm, 1859 - 1941, the German emperor and king of Prussia from 1888 to 1918 who asserted Germany's claim to world leadership and was made to abdicate at the end of World War I, at the time when this novel was written). As such, Man of Straw describes the kind of conditions in European society which led to World War I.

The novel's antihero Dr Diederich Hessling is the son of a small factory owner in the small town of Netzig. He is described as the archetype of the mediocre but "serviceable" loyal subject, and the negative journey that traces his development towards maturity and social recognition constitutes an indictment of the kind of citizen created by authoritarian Power in a time of increased commercialist and military values.

The action takes place in the 1890s, and even though the question of the origins of the Great War is still debated nowadays, it does much to expose the perilousness of the ideas that were taking root at the time. Diederich's morally reprehensible acts since childhood are his best asset to grow and prosper in society. His final oration on the occasion of the erection of a monument to the Emperor in town is a celebration of Germany's right to mastery of the sea. From the historical point of view, the novel is therefore an accurate reflection of the relevance of the threatening transformation of the relations between the states and the (arms) industry that had been taking place since the Industrial Revolution. Governments needed not so much the actual output of weapons, but the capacity to produce them on a wartime scale, if the occasion arose. This new and complicated state of affairs went hand in hand with the development of socialist ideology (with Ferdinand Lassalle in Germany), which was experienced as a source of terror on the part of part of society. The combination of these two novel results of the Industrial Revolution (the industrialisation of war and the arms race on the one hand, and the rise of the socialist and workers movements on the other) combined to produce a terrified moral state in sections of society who sought refuge within the ideological framework of a strong movement, Nationalism.

The role of the press as the link between Authority and the Citizen is originally presented in the novel. The newspapers, even those with a Liberal outlook, such as Netzig's, are fond of including royal anecdotes in their reports, that do much to encourage the belief of a direct, personal relationship between the subjects and the monarch. This over-simplification of affairs results in the citizens' readiness to wage war against England on the basis of trivial anecdotes in gossip columns: "We needed a strong fleet against England, which must be absolutely smashed; it was the deadliest enemy of the Emperor. And why? In Netzig they knew all about it. Simply because His Majesty had once, in a lively mood, given the Prince of Wales a friendly kick in a tempting portion of his anatomy." These flippant explanations, and the inevitable suspicious of England's commercial power, are the means that lead to a re-interpretation of history and national hatred. "I hate England as only Frederick the Great hated that nation of thieves and tradesmen," says Diederich. But the fact is that he had not particularly cared about these sentiments until the time of the introduction of the Army Bill that seeked to augment Germany's naval power. The sentiments of the loyal subject are therefore both constant and voluble: they seek to satisfy the whims of Authority, even if Authority changes its mind, and in order to know Authority's mental state - which is so necessary in order to know one's own opinions - the role of the press is priceless. As a matter of fact, in his zeal for impersonating the mind of the monarch, Diederich goes so far as to seek to anticipate the Emperor's ideas, which results in a comic series of events during the middle part of the novel.

The originality of the novel is also present in the depiction of the working classes and the Social Democrats in general "the men without a country", who are by no means seen as an unempowered group. The majority of the workers in Diederich's factory are politically committed and mature enough to see their chances to take part in parliamentary and power politics. The most serious thematic thread in the novel actually deals with the secret pact between the socialist workers and the nationalist patriots to outdo the middle-class Liberals in Parliament. This way, the German educated Liberals are seen as the true victims of the state of affairs in the town, previously a stronghold of Liberalism. The novel ends as a bitter criticism of the passivity and lack of adequate mental and practical resolution of this sector of society, that allowed itself to withdraw and be teased off all its power in the face of the progress made by radicals on both the right and the left. It is for this cause that the death of old Buck, the Liberal patriarch of the town, is presented at the very end of the novel and constitutes its conclusion. In his deathbed, his soul seems to suffer remorse for his failure to save educated, middle-class Liberalism from the trial that it suffered in Netzig and in this way Heinrich Mann conveys to us his belief that men's souls are not saved on ideas alone, but on ideas as combined with successful action, both in the family and social spheres.

Eric Hobsbawm describes the kind of historical background of the novel with clarity: "In practical terms, the danger was not that Germany concretely proposed to take Britain's place as a global power, though the rhetoric of German nationalist agitation readily struck the anti-British note. It was rather that a global power required a global navy, and Germany therefore set out (1897) to construct a great battle-fleet, which had the incidental advantage of representing not the old German states but exclusively the new united Germany, with an officer corps which represented not Prussian "junkers" or other aristocratic warrior traditions, but the new middle classes, that is to say the new nation:" That is to say the Hesslings and the whole bourgeois society which seemed unable to disentangle itself from the aspect of war that has been a feature of world history since that time.

A memorable section of the novel, in chapter V, involves the representation of a play "written" by the wife of the town's governor, during which a parody of the creative process is presented by putting it at the level of this woman's diminished abilities: "Afterwards one does't know how it happens. It is worked out so mysteriously in one's mind!" So-called bourgeois art is this way criticized, since the creative gift is in the opinion of the characters mysteriously bequeathed by military success: "If my great ancestor had not won the battle of Kröchenwerda, who knows if I should have written "The Secret Countess"?"

A more auspicious view of art is presented by old Buck, who in this section presents the conformist character of his aspirations, when he compares himself with the artistic pictures in the theatre building - a description of a particular style and time, aiming at permanence but not at reproduction: "I suceeded in having our modern street plan altered in order to save this house and this paintings. They may only have the value of descriptive records. But a picture which lends permanence to its own times and manners may hope for permanence itself." From this moment of acknowledged defeat towards the end, the novel loses some of its momentum, but overall does not fail to represent something more than just a representation of a certain time and place, since its alluring suggestiveness manages to encompass issues that are present to us in our times.

This book can be read together with:
J. P. Taylor, The Struggle for Mastery in Europe (1954)
Paul Kennedy, The Rise of the Anglo-German Antagonism 1860 - 1914 (1980)
Robert Wohl, The Generation of 1914 (1979)

... how Hitler, World War II and the Holocaust could happen. At least that's how I felt after reading it (and I'm German). The book describes the life of a man named Diederich Häßling, who grows up in pre-WWI Germany. He learns to respect, to love authority unquestioningly, even when it hurts him or is obviously unjust. And when he comes into a position of authority himself, he employs it just as brutally and unjustly. The reader looks on in horrified fascination and thinks: "if people really thought like that, then no atrocity is impossible..."

Heinrich Mann's novel paints a portrait of the Second Reich through the eyes of Diedrich Hessling, an unconsequential little man who bullied his way into society using superpatriotism (he even curls his mustache so that it resembles the emperor's) and nationalism as a crutch, finally gaining status as a prominent conservative businessman, in the process being metamorphosed into a mini-Kaiser. His struggle was a reflection of the Second Reich's attempt at world domination through nationalism and Social Darwinism.

His use of patriotism to the emperor was used when he manipulates someone into stating that the Hohenzollerns were Jews, accusing him of lese-majeste. At that man's trial, Diedrich is accurately portrayed as "an average man, with a commonplace mind,... without courage so long as things are going badly for him and tremendously self-important as soon as they had turned in his favour"

Diedrich doesn't hesitate to make alliances when expedient and to boost his star higher, such as his association with his nemesis, Napoleon Fischer, a Social Democrat machinist at his factory. On one occasion, to cover up his own mistake in miscalculating the dimensions of the New Patent Cylinder Machine, he bribed Fischer to sabotage the machine so that he had a case to return it. Later, the two agreed to help each other in their political ambitions.

Thus Diedrich used his patriotism and anti-Social Democratic stance as ways to boost himself onward and upward, yet willing to make alliances with his alleged enemies, similar to the way Bismarck used nationalism as a tool to rally the Liberals against his wars against Austria and the south German states against France, all for his own personal power.

The importance of Wilhelm II's attempted surpassing of Bismarck must be reiterated. Diedrich's colleague warns people of the danger of any man emulating Bismarck: "Weak and pacifistic by nature, he becomes noisy and dangerous. Without a doubt the victories of his vanity will serve commercial ends. First his travesty of opinion brings a man to prison for lese-majeste. Afterwards he reaps his profit" So by virtue of the chain rule, Diedrich was in fact emulating Bismarck, making him not only a mini-Kaiser, but also a mini-Iron Chancellor. And this illustrates Mann's criticism of Bismarck's self-motivating political profit, perpetuated in the person of Diedrich.

Mann's novel is a portrait of pre-war Wilhelmine Germany (1888-1914). He thus saw as reasons for Germany's defeat in World War I the blind nationalism of the people and their obedience to the autocratic rule of the Kaiser. It's a warning to be heeded by any nation making rumblings toward war.

In this book, Rose Bird Waterman sheds light not just on her father's life, but the life and times of southeastern Maine, from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century. The incredible richness of historical detail makes the reader feel transported in time. Maynard Bird's desire to carry on the family name and make something of himself through his innate gifts and self-motivation is indeed admirable. Rose has sprinkled the story with a charming use of language and touches of wit, that make it a very enjoyable, informative and inspiring read. I hope the people of southeastern Maine are aware of this fine addition to their recorded history.

Rose Bird Waterman has written a biography that is far more than an inspiring saga of "a Maine son". This book may inspire many family genealogists to start working on their own family biographies. Just as the author's father, Maynard S. Bird, felt that each new business venture was an "adventure", the lives of many men and women are filled with adventures - as long as a biographer is fascinated with the subject and is determined to devote time and effort in research. And Rose Bird Waterman has done just that. Her father, in the last years of his life, had his business and personal papers destroyed. He wanted to be remembered as a plain man who built up his fortune and his standing in society by his own hard work and self-taught business and financial acumen. Thus, his daughter had to turn to public records, personal accounts, interviews and other "outside" sources to get full details for this exciting, poignant and, at times, heartbreaking biography. She describes historic events - from the Civil War through World War 2 - as background for her father's adventures, which ranged from founding a Maine telephone company at the age of 24 to being established as a respected New York venture capitalist, making deals with famous Wall St. financiers. But the biography is far deeper than just that of a shrewd Downeast business genius. It's the story of a family, a family like many others, with strengths and weaknesses, joys and sorrows, warmth and coldness. Besides being a book that every lover of Maine history and Maine folk will enjoy, it's a book many could learn from when writing a history of their own families and ancestors.
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(Robert Skole is a reporter, foreign correspondent and author of "Jumpin' Jimminy -- A World War II Baseball Saga: American Flyboys and Japanese Submariners Battle It Out in a Swedish World Series.")

Rose Bird Waterman has done more than create a loving picture of her remarkable father. She has contained in his story some of the amazing sweep of a 91 year life - from only 4 years after the American Civil War to the dawn of the 1960s - but more importantly helped to rescue, for the reader, a golden age in the history of the State of Maine. If social and political change forms the backdrop to Maynard S. Bird's story, the ways and manners of generations past are brought to colorful life. For those who long for simpler times, Ms. Waterman's narrative is filled with the details of home life, small town ways, tragedy, and good humor straight out of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Whether one is drawn to tales from Maine, stories of small town or 19th century life, or simply would like to spend time in good and honorable company, readers will find Ms. Waterman's fine narrative entertaining and uplifting.
Van Reid
Author of the Moosepath Saga

Rose Bird Waterman has written a poignant and gently humorous biography of her father, Maynard S. Bird, a man who dreamed of possibilities beyond the small Maine town of his childhood. His journey took him from a solid Baptist home to wealth and to poverty in his old age. Along the way he married and was widowed three times, tragically losing his heart and his most beloved bride after less than two years of marriage. This is a story that embodies the American spirit and a book that evokes the mood of optimism that characterized the early 20th century. Highly recommended!

I picked this book up at a local bookstore. It was on the bum rack, so I assumed I'd purchase it because it was cheap, and hoped that it would turn out to be a good book.
After finishing this book, I am glad to say that i bought it. The writing style is fresh, and the overall content of the book was excellent. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

Let me warn you first, I'm going to tell you what happens in this book. And, I'm going to tell you why, so that you have plenty of time to skip this review, and go read the book and be surprised by the story. But don't worry, I'm not going to tell you how the book ends because, as it turns out, it ends in a kind of special and unusual way that depends on you having read the whole book to begin with.

Okay is that enough to warn you? And still enable you to skip this review without "ruining" the book? Meritocracy carries the root idea that the person who should have been president of the United States today was killed in Vietnam, and more generally the reason our leadership is so mediocre is because so many of our potential leaders were killed there too. It is so well written and with the life breathed into it, with such a voice and a such a view, that it cannot possibly be ruined by your knowing what happens; If this were true about any book, then no book would be worth reading more than once, and Meritocracy is eminently re-readable. I'd read it again tomorrow if I had time, just to enjoy the way it is written, but there has to be balance in life.

Harry Nolan's story is told by his friend and college roommate. It is also the story of the friend, what he saw and thought and felt and heard and smelled and remembered too. Most of Meritocracy's characters were at yale together, at the same time as George W Bush, and so the question of whether George knew Harry or had heard of him at yale comes up naturally in the course of the story. The author handles this juxtaposition of time effortlessly, and limns a Bush who might have been an okay guy. He captures Bush in just a few sentences, and saying he never knew the man, lets him off easy. In a way. After all, he has Harry Nolan enlist in the army, report for duty, and never return from Vietnam and the central moral debate in Harry's life as it emerges during the story is this: did he enlist because it was the right thing to do, or did he enlist for the reason that in order to run for office he would have to have served? It's a doubt, a self-doubt. A lack of certainty. He's the son of a U.S. senator, so the question is a real one. The question is real, and for Harry the answer has to be true.

Lewis has them all do everything, the six friends. These kids in the sixties, just after college, they do everything right; they do it the way I did it, or heard it, or saw it being done. Their back and forth, their banter, the coarse and happy language talking and messing around. Their fears. The time when boys were sent away to school and in college girls were forbidden to stay the night at a men's college and how they got around it. How they reacted to Timothy Leary and his mad ideas before anyone knew who he was or what he was doing. The importance of authenticity, how you would experience someone or something before anyone knew who they were or what it was. Lewis captures an age, a time of life, the way kids think the way they act the way they are adults and the way they are with each other. How they love, how they see incredible beauty, treasure it and how they act when it is destroyed. How they handle grief. And how they see what does NOT happen. The many scenes that did not take place, the things that were not said, what no one ever said, on the way to not living happily ever after.

They all go to the Maine woods, to a family's camp, for a farewell weekend to Harry who is reporting for duty at Ft Ord in California. He, his roommates, his beautiful wife Sascha, a unique and beautiful intellect who inhabits her world in the secure and natural way only a goddess can do; without effort. They take a skiff to a rocky island, they get lost in the fog on the way back, they run aground, they find their way, they cavort on the massive harbor bell itself a beacon in the fog. All true, so true it must have truly happened just that way. They go, they drink, they stay out late, they argue about enlisting in the army, Harry talks about not going. On the drive back, the sober one among them drives them off the road and Sascha's injured in the head, a head injury. A better future First Lady you could not possibly have imagined. Could you imagine loving her? You could. You would.

Harry doesn't talk anymore about not going into the army. He writes letters back from Ft Ord, saying what he, and we, somehow know all along. Don't go into the army, and she loved you, too, I'm promoted to sergeant, photos of some of his 60 men, well written letters, the thoughts of a moral self-doubting man, a man who could recover from a numbing personal tragedy and lead, if not survive.

What's lasting about a story is sometimes not just the story itself, but also the way it is told. This story is well told, moving, and true. To find out how it ends, though, you'll have to read the whole book.

This book is well-written, tells an interesting story and ultimately reads very quickly. It seems that Lewis set out to write the great American novel, and he comes close to succeeding. Lewis falters only slightly when it comes to the character development. He attempts to paint vividly 6 characters in a mere 163 pages, and I couldn't help but feel that each was just a little incomplete. The back of the book indicates that this is the first volume of a quartet. Perhaps those novels can fill in the missing pieces.

In the tradition of Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise, and The Great Gatsby, this beautifully crafted novel stays in the imagination long after you've turned the last page. The novel has the quality and vitality of memoir -- you feel what it was like to be young back in the 60's, with the Vietnam war just beginning to stir in the country's collective conscience (a subject even more topical now, what with John Kerry and the Swift Boat controversy in all the headlines.) The characters are so vivid you feel you know them.

But there is also something more important at work here. Lewis is not the first writer to contrast the idealism and best hopes of youth with the nightmare of the years to come, although he may be one of the most skillful. But he is the first to do so so effectively with our generation, which has produced Bush and Kerry (and so many of us now pushing middle age).

Every generation produces its own Fitzgerald. Mr. Lewis is ours.

MOON HANDBOOKS COASTAL MAINE is yet another great book about the Maine Coast, with plenty of information about great shopping, dining, and recreational activities to help you look great for your significant other and/or your favorite celebrity. However, there is a flaw- the failure in the section on the Portland area to mention either any independent music stores (Bull Moose Music) or the Maine Mall. Overall, however, this is a wonderful book that anyone with geographical interests will love.

Don't even think about planning a trip to Maine without first reading the Moon's Handbook Coastal Maine. It is the best travel guide. The author offers lots of great information.

The Monn Handbook Coastal Maine was invaluable in planning and during our Sept. trip to ME. We used the info to make reservations at motels and restaurants and we were never dissapointed. It also included excellent craft shop recommendations and places to see that were really off the beaten path. I would recommend this guide book for anyone planning a trip to ME.

After spending last summer in southern Maine, I was delighted to see this book. It provides information such as travel strategies and touring itineraries. The author lives on the mid-coast, but grew up around Portland.
You know the format for these handbooks means you get solid information on an area. I'm looking forward to another summer in Maine where I'll see so much more with this handbook to guide me.

The book is very informative and great for anyone who wants to mountain bike or is already into mountain biking. It also has great pictures, especially page 202.

This is the finest mountain biking guide I've ever read. It gives great information about trails of all abilities, plus tips on local attractions. This type of information is good to all types of mountain bikers, from rabid racers to families on day trips. Along with some of the premier trails in Maine and New Hampshire, such as in Acadia National Park, it gives descriptions of trails off the beaten path, such as that through Jefferson Notch in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Mr. Fitzhenry also provides local histories of the areas visited (which could be a book in itself) as well as great directions and trail descriptions. This book is good for local New Englanders and those from "away", because Bob did such a good job of finding trails throughout the two states. I highly recommend it.

Excellent! Great selection of trails with a variety of terrain. This guide book provides more pertinent trail information than any other I've read. Particularly helpful is the trail contour plots as well as overlaying trail lines onto accurate topo-maps. The authors writing style is unique causing me to actually read the book cover to cover.

This book has a lot of great info for both seasoned riders and the beginner. The maps, trail directions and descriptions of the rides are just the start. I have rolled over the MT. Agamenticus (Mount A) Pg. 236 trails for years and the author really hits the mark. I can't wait to hit the rest of the trails.

I had lunch with Van Reid in August of 2001. He was as fun to talk to as his books are to read! I love the humor, the insight, the intrigue and the adventures of the Moosepath League! I agree that this installment is not as "heavy" as Daniel Plainway (at least to all but Ephram, Eagleton,and Thump!) but all the other elements are present. I laughed out loud several times while flying, which caused my fellow passengers to wonder about me, I am sure. Moxie!

How could I have missed this series? I enjoy stories set in this period because my own father was born in 1890; in Kentucky. He was a small-town boy, following the work to Ohio where he and several of his brothers settled.

I can picture him being a member of such a club as the Moosepath League and having small adventures such as author Reid depicts in this series of books. My father was not bumbling like most of these characters, but he was witty and funny and would no doubt have led them on even more exciting adventures.

Reid paints a vivid picture of a small town of the late 80s ... filled with characters who would make entertaining neighbors. They'd certainly liven up any neighborhood with their quaint, old-fashioned, yet quirky fun.

It's obvious this is a satire, and I love satire myself. (I discovered these books because on Amazon.com they were placed beside one of the books I wrote: THE TOONIES INVADE SILICON VALLEY. While the TOONIES does not disparage our lovely Valley in anyway, I certainly delighted in poking a bit of fun at our techie culture ... tongue-in-cheek humor, of course ... as Mr. Reid does in these books.)

Fun reads! Enjoy all four.

For excellent quality, humor, detailed plots, and kind, likeable characters, you can't beat Van Reid's "Moosepath League" novels. The latest, "Mrs. Roberto", seems to me to be a little lighter in tone than "Molly Peer" or "Daniel Plainway", but is still immensely involving and entertaining. This kind of writing just cannot be found anywhere else today. If you are fond of the classics or nineteenth century American literature, you will love Van Reid.

The willing adventurers of the Moosepath League of Victorian Portland, Maine, have lost none of their good-natured innocence in this fourth adventure, despite entanglements with tavern keepers, loose women, pickpockets, hoboes and worse. Indeed, Van Reid's droll storytelling depends upon it.

Misdirection and misunderstanding form the strong foundation of the meandering and digressive missions of the League's six members, who gather at the Shipswood Restaurant in the spring of 1897 for one of their regular dinners. They raise their water glasses (prohibition has been in effect in Maine for 46 years) to their only female member, Miss Phileda McCannon, who's making a journey to settle her deceased aunt's affairs. Mr. Tobias Walton, their chairman and the oldest at 48, is a bit subdued on this occasion as Phileda has not given an answer to his proposal of marriage.

Joseph Thump, Christopher Eagleton and Matthew Ephram are still in a small state of excitement after nearly running down a tavern keeper named Sparks who could have been Thump's double, but for his workingman's clothing and his high-pitched voice. The youngest member, Walton's faithful assistant Sundry Moss, 23, is the only one who dares to hazard that the crowd of ruffians backing away from the near-accident were pursuing Sparks rather than attempting his rescue.

The trio of Thump, Eagleton and Ephram have not seen the last of Sparks. Walking home through an unfamiliar and doubtful part of town, Thump happens to save a policeman from certain death-by-falling-piano, thereby incurring Mrs. Sparks' heartfelt gratitude for preserving her cousin, the perpetrator, from a murder charge.

This might again have been the end of it, but the trio, inspired by an incident in a play, determine that the lovely balloon ascensionist, Mrs. Roberto, must be in need of rescuing. Their mission leads them to a house of ill-repute (not that they ever realize where they are) and a run-in with the gang that's after Sparks, from which they escape thanks to Sparks' youngest son and his urchin friend who lead them over Portland's slippery rooftops. Sparks' network of less-than-respectable relatives continues to aid the trio as they seek Mrs. Roberto from Bangor to Dresden Mills, taking up with a large party of hoboes along the way.

Meanwhile, Moss, attempting to distract his employer, has taken Walton to visit his uncle in Norridgewock, though they never make it quite that far. The train is delayed in Bowdoinham where Walton is pressed to come to the aid of a glum prize pig. Perplexed by the locals' assumption of his expertise in porcine matters (the reader has been let-in on the misunderstanding), but as willing and easy-going as ever, Walton embarks on a visit to the Ferns, unhappy owners of the depressed pig, where Moss, a farmer's son and a bit more worldly than his fellow Moosepathians, soon susses the problem.

With digressions for the furtherance of romance and good acquaintance, Reid piles misunderstandings upon misunderstandings, constructing a hilarious journey through the towns and by-ways of Maine and the social strata of its best inhabitants. It all culminates in a spectacular and chaotic natural disaster, reuniting the League and necessitating numerous rescues and confusion and some wonderfully vivid writing.

Lots of local color and history round out the adventure. Reid's prose is playful, witty and dry, as well as eloquent and visual. The contrast between the transparent innocence of the steadfastly clueless trio and the sharp wits of Sundry Moss (think young George Burns and Gracie Allen) is a pleasure, further enhanced by the ready-for-anything calm of Toby Walton. Reid (whose Maine roots go back more than two centuries) leaves us with a tantalizing hint of the next to come in the League's adventures. These books are for anyone who enjoys wit and good-natured storytelling in the Dickensian tradition.

I've read it twice now and loved it each time. Agree with the opinions above. People who enjoy this may be interested in "We Took to the Woods" by Louise Dickinson Rich, also entertaining humerous look at life in Maine.

I often don't get a chance for much pleasure reading so many books that I start never get finished. This book, however, grabbed me in from the start and like the other reviewer said, I could not put it down. It truly transported me to Maine, a state that I love to visit. However, even if you aren't a Maine fanatic, I think you will enjoy the book and it's ability to take you away from your everyday life. In addition, the strong, independent women who play the lead roles in the book are truly inspirational, especially considering the time period in which they were asserting this independent spirit. Seeing their willingness to jump in to a business that they knew little about and to set it up successfully in a short period of time has really awakened in me the belief that anything is possible -- you just have to be bold enough to go after it. This book is a wonderful read and one that I will surely pick up time after time. I highly recommend it.

In my youth, I often vacationed in Maine and happened to find this book in the local library during one trip. It was truly inspiring for me as a young girl, both to appreciate the great state of Maine and to go on to write memoirs of my own. I would recommend this classic to any would-be memoirist, as a great example of how a well-written life story can transcend time.

This book written about the trials and tribulations of two young girls who quit their jobs in New York and took up running a grocery store in Goose Rocks. Scotty does a fantasitc job at taking the reader to Maine. She captivated me and I truely could not put this book down. I want read it again right away!

Helen Hamlin's shared experiences in the Maine woods brought me back to my childhood. I spent most of my youth in and around the Allagash and St. John Rivers and many summers in the Chamberlin waters; Churchill, Eagle Lake,etc.
Helen's writing is authentic, amusing, and filled with typical Maine philosphy. Loved it!!

I almost hate to share one of the best kept secrets regarding a piece of heaven here on Earth, that being the North Maine Woods. Luckily I have found this place! Many of my friends know that I have enjoyed this amazing spot so for Christmas this past year I received a first edition copy of Nine Mile Bridge. In it, Helen Hamlim writes such a wonderful narrative of her three years living in these woods.

As a reader it was so good to be able to visualize what she wrote about as I have experienced, albeit in a VERY small way, some of it too. Her writing is folksy, campy, but most importantly genuine. What a gutsy woman she must have been!

I know that my next trip into the "woods" will be even more profound having read this novel.

READ IT TOO-- and don't be afraid to visit the "woods". I know you'll feel the same way I do about them-- a piece of heaven here on Earth.

Living in the 'wilderness' early in this century was a daily adventure. Much different from 'backpacking' as we know it. Folks like Helen Hamlin set up camp and lived and worked miles from any sizable town, with only a small number of neighbors, if any. Life was difficult and hard, but never dangerous, if you prepared properly. Ms. Hamlin is a first time author and, as such, is not to be compared with modern, well practiced authors of our time. Still, her story is fascinating reading of a life and times that is part of the wonderful fabric of our country. Highly recommended for those with a bent for real-life perspectives of a different America.

This is a time capsule of life in the Northern Maine woods through the 1920's-30's and into the early 1940's. My grandparents (briefly mentioned in the book) were French Canadian lumber workers who lived and worked the woods in the operations based around Jackman, Maine. (The Jeans and the Veillieuxs, respectively, my grandfather and grandmothers family).

A great read for people curious about the lives of those who worked in the lumber camps of Northern Maine in the early 20th Century. I've heard countless stories my late grandmother told of those days, and this book adds immensely to that rich experience.

This is a part of American History that will never occur again, the way of life in such remote locations, the teamwork, effort and work ethic and fun ethic of these folks was astounding. A true Gem worth buying.

Sometimes a novel has such a dramatic, suspenseful plot that you want to race through it to the end. But reading Preacher's Lake, I found myself taking my time, savoring the delicious descriptions of place and character, losing myself to the vivid fictional world Ms. Vice has so lovingly crafted. I didn't want to race to the end because I didn't want this book to end! I felt as if I had become a part of the lives of these characters - Slim, Janesta, Crystal, Rita - witnessing their quirks, their fears, their struggle to find love, forgiveness, and meaning. Indeed, the characters are so finely drawn that they may very well become as much a part of the fabric of your memory as the real people in your life.

When I began reading Preacher's Lake, I realized I was going to have to stop everything else in my life so that I would have time to sit and read this wonderful book. Within the first few pages, I was totally caught up in the lives of the beautifully drawn characters. I quickly became involved in the stories of the gawky, childlike Slim who runs the town dump and Carol, the artist from New York who is grieving over the senseless death of her lover Annie. I watched as the seemingly disparate lives of these and other people became interwoven, falling into place like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Preacher's Lake is my vote for the best read of 1998.

I knew I was in the hands of a gifted writer when I read Lisa Vice's first novel, Reckless Driver, but with Preacher's Lake she has really outdone herself. The cast of characters ranges from Slim, a truly innocent man who keeps the landfill in a coastal town in rural Maine and learns to love what others leave behind, to Vivian, one of the funniest yet most sympathetic lesbians ever to appear in a novel. The fifteen or so major characters in the story are true to life and utterly engaging. The plot is compelling and one of the delights of the book, as in Maupin's Tales of the City, is when the paths of the characters cross and intertwine. And Lisa Vice is a powerful stylist, too. On every page there are sentences that will take your breath away. Preacher's Lake is a book you should not miss!

In her second novel, Lisa Vice takes us to Preacher's Lake, a small town in Maine. What I like the best about Ms. Vice's writing is her ability to make each scene resemble a photo album. She gently weaves the stories of individuals around the connections between the characters, while taking us back and forth between their lives quickly and easily. About the time I am hooked into one person or family, she jumps to another concurrent story. This works well for Ms. Vice because she never leaves us anywhere long enough to forget about the other characters. I took my time reading this book because the characters became so alive to me, I didn't want the story to end. According to her bio, Ms. Vice lived in Maine working with disadvantaged people at one time. The quirky characters make it obvious that Ms. Vice has personal knowledge about that part of the country. I enjoyed getting to know each person, and laughed and cried with them as their fortunes changed for the better, and sometimes for the worse. Ms. Vice is an up and coming writer with a great deal of talent, and I will be waiting eagerly for her next novel.