New York Books

Read this book while its still available! Its language is so simple yet it touches you with a ferocity thats unthinkable!
I could relate to every charecter and that was the most freaky part!

The charecters in this book are rich and full of life. The plot is very engaging and what more can one say about a book thats so beautiful it makes you weep with joy!

Bravo Leavitt and the rest of you read it!

While not as good as his short stories, and awkward and somewhat amateurish in a few places, this is a good, strong first novel. Ideally I would give this one a 3.5, but since that's not an option, I'll err on the side of generosity. This novel explores coming out, family dynamics, and the selfish yuppie attitudes of the 80s.

This book was given to me by a co-worker who believed the subject matter and story would interest me. She was right. There are so many different issues dealt with in this book ranging from the struggle for sexual identity to the struggle of sharing it with you family.....to the ups and downs of living a life that is full of oppression and worry. There are many characters here with many different backgrounds. There is Phillip, the young gay man struggling to win acceptance from his mother. Elliott who fears commitment and leaves Phillip. Owen, Phillip's father who has to come to terms with his own sexual identity after years of marriage and living his life without being true to himself. Then there is Jerene who is basically disowned because of her homosexuality which is so common in this day and age and extremely sad. NO parent should ever do this to their child!!!!! UNCONDITIONAL LOVE is key! Jerene's new girlfriend Laura.....it is just a well written story on all levels.......my only complaint was the ending. There was no real closure. Other than that, I loved it!

Author David Leavit writes a brillant novel that I had a hard time putting down. While Phillip is confronting his changing relationship with his lover, Elliot, his father Owen is finally, confronting his homosexuality. Highly recommended. Each character is richly developed and textured, they feel like real people that you know. While the film is good, it uses London as a backdrop rather than the book's all-to-real-modern-urban life set in New York and in the transistion looses something.

I read this book for a class, and enjoyed it much more than I ever expected, especially in retrospect. I think it takes a little time to really get into, especially because Leavitt jumps back and forth between the three main characters and storylines, but once you get into the rhythm of the story, you are drawn in. Leavitt does a great character study of Owen, Rose, and Philip, and by the end of the novel, I felt like I knew them. Leavitt has an accessible wrting style, but the book itself is very literary and complex. For a first novel, especially, I think it's exceptional.

I first learned of Mistress Masham's Repose during a game of charades. (Can you imagine trying to act out this title, especially since it's a book so few people have heard of?) I had already read and loved The Once and Future King, and set out to find a copy. I have read this book three times over the past 20 years. Each time it strikes me anew as such a wonderfully funny, sweet and substantial novel. It could be that the title itself is what kept it from becoming a classic alongside Wind in the Willows and A Wrinkle in Time. Read this book! Buy this book for all the book-loving children in your life!

Although one of White's lesser-known works, to my mind it's easily one of his best (Anne Fine regards it as her favourite children's book). The concept of Lilliputians living in an English landscape garden is superb, and White develops his theme in wonderfully enticing ways - and always with his typical 'feel' for character and setting. There's so much to enjoy in this tale - still a classic after 60 years.

As an American child of about 10, I acquired a battered copy of this book along with a bunch of children's books from a family friend whose children had outgrown them. As other reviewers suggest, I was mystified by much of the book (the poet Pope?) but I still found it a great adventure story and loved the illustrations. It didn't hurt that I resembled Maria myself (a bookish tomboy with glasses--thank God for LASIK). I have re-read the book with pleasure on a number of occasions and now understand the references, but I wouldn't hesitate to give this book to an intelligent American child today. Perhaps it would prompt him or her to learn more about British history and literature. I'm glad to see it has been reprinted.

As kids, both my brother and I considered this one of our favorite books - and we did a LOT of reading. I can't tell you how many times I read it. Our copy was lost at some point, so I am thrilled that it is back in print so I can now read it to my own children. My kids are 3 and 6, so still a bit young for this book, but I'll probably buy a copy now for my own pleasure, and another for my brother.
I have always loved books that lead you to another book, and I just had to read "Gulliver's Travels" after reading this one. As a kid, much of it went over my head, but I still enjoyed it. Now that I think about it, I should re-read that one too...

After finishing university T. H. White worked as a teacher in the Stowe School which occupies a gigantic former Baroque stately home: here he conceived of the idea of Malplaquet, modeled after the greatest of all British country homes, Blenheim Palace, where the Dukes of Marlborough have lived and where Winston Churchill was born and raised. Malplaquet, an imaginary dilapidated repository of all its nation's history (we find out the Princes in the Tower were executed in its medieval dungeon, which also contains the ax which beheaded Charles I), would make a wonderful setting for any book, but rather than use it for a Gothic (the obvious choice), here White had the inspiration to make it the setting for a children's fantasy. White's mansion is not only the home of the little girl Maria who has inherited the estate (and not much else) and her warders--some cruel, some kind--but also a group of Lilliputians brought over from their island home during the time of Swift, whom Maria encounters one day. Maria's encounter with the Lilliputians becomes for her a means for learning about the nature of tyranny--both that exercised over herself by her guardian the Vicar Mr. Hater and her governess Miss Brown, but also that she herself can hardly keep herself from exercising over the Lilliputian community hidden on her estate.

This is a children's book that, to be honest, will best be appreciated by adults. White imagined his readers not only familiar with GULLIVER'S TRAVELS but also with some of the history of seventeenth and eighteenth-century England: American children particularly today would be confused as to who Mistresses Masham and Morley were, or what Malplaquet is named after, or even who Gulliver was. And their patience might well be tried by White's love of Wodehousean "types": the bluff Lord Lieutenant with an obsession with horses and hounds, and Maria's mentor the absent-minded and esoteric antiquarian the Professor . But adults (and even older children) should love this book, and its well-structured narrative is a real pleasure.

Monty is an insecure rat, insecure because he and his family live in a sewer and create works of art, which is frowned on by the higher class society of wharf rats. Additionally he shares his name with his Uncle Moony, a drunken creator of decorated rings, which shames him because of the derision of the other rats. An interest in the pretty Isabel and a crisis helps him to overcome his insecurity and his shame. I bought this book because I'd just acquired 2 pet rats, and ended up hooked on Tor Seidler. He truly cares about his characters, and while the stories are for children, they aren't childish. Adults with a little imagination will enjoy his animal stories as much as the kids do.

I just adore this book. I am a massive rat lover and have 8 rats...and this book is a pleasant and innocent page turner...

You will love it!

I read this when I was at a friend's house with nothing else to read (it took me an hour or two; I suspect it would take a child a bit more time). It is a cute, amusing book- definitely a nice present for children above the age of, say, 7 or 8. I had no problems suspending disbelief in the talking rats; however, I have to admit I did have trouble suspending disbelief in the rat/human interrelationships (e.g. humans being smart enough to realize the rats were bribing them when they saw large amounts of money intermingled with the remains of poisoned rats).

? Montague Mad-Rat is a young rodent with a strange family: his mother dyes bird feathers with berry juices and creates fanciful hats; his father is working on his hundred-and-seventh mud castle; and his aunt travels the world on cruise ships. His namesake uncle crafts tiny gold rings that he sells to humans. Montague has his own craft: painting exquisite miniatures on tiny shells his aunt brings him. His real adventures begin when he meets and falls in love with the rich and beautiful Isabel Moberly-Rat, whose friends and family are wharf rats who look down upon rats like Montague who make things with their paws. Montague gets involved with a campaign to save the wharf rats from extermination by a new property owner, and comes to appreciate his family and himself for who they are.

This book is absolutely charming. The setting-Central Park, Columbus Circle, and the New York docks-is just right. Seidler has managed to make his rat story romantic, funny, suspenseful, and insightful in its observations of class snobbery.

One element that serves to make this book so successful is Seidler's playful use of language to maintain the fantasy element and to help draw character. The world of the novel is always seen from the rats' point of view. For instance, when the lovely Isabel Moberly-Rat is caught in a rainstorm, she mutters "Oh, people" under her breath, rather than "Oh, rats." The rats don't go for a walk; they go for a "creep." They attend a gathering called the "Great Rat Chat," which is the "backbone of a democratsy," attended by cabinet ministers who are great helpers of "ratkind." When the haughty young Randal Reese-Rat gets a spot of poison on his tail, his parents call in a "general ratitioner." These are just a few of the numerous examples throughout the text. They serve to maintain the illusion that the rat world has its own society, yet one that is eerily reminiscent of our human world. Mrs. Moberly-Rat is a terrible snob, as are most of her fellow wharf rats living in fancy high-rise crates. She is struggling with her weight, and does "petal arrangements" to keep her mind off cheese. However, every time we see her she is eating or serving a different variety, from blue to Swiss to Gruyere. She looks down upon the Mad-Rats because they make things with their paws, marry their cousins, do business with people, and worst of all, live in "S-E-W-E-R-S." Her husband, Hugh Moberly-Rat, has a fancy office with a gilt-edged dictionary for a desk and silver foil gum wrapper wallpaper. Seidler does a clever thing with the speeches that Hugh makes: he repeats every thought in different words, making him even more long-winded than most human politicians. Thus, "How so, you ask," is followed immediately by, "Why, you want to know?" Sometimes he does it in single sentences: " For more deaths, I fear, lurk in the near future-await us in the coming days." It's really quite a comical effect, and is typical of the artificial language that many politicians use in public-and is not the way Hugh speaks in private, either.

All in all, A Rat's Tale is a lovely book that works on several levels, from the story of an unlikely hero to commentary on class prejudice. The black-and-white illustrations are a charming complement to the text. One can't help agreeing with Newsday's comment: "A Rat's Tale may well do for rats what Charlotte's Web has done for spiders."

A Rat's Tale is about a young rat named Montague Mad-Rat, or Monty. He lives a boring, solitary existence in the sewers of New York City. His family is almost considered a bunch of criminals, as they've broken almost every major rule of society, like making things with their own paws. Rats should scavenge for things they need, not make them. But nevertheless, his mother makes hats out of feathers, and his father makes sand castles. Neither of them have much time for him. He is very lonely and bored. The only things he has to do is gather feathers and berries for his mother's hats, and paint the seashells his aunt brings him. Then, one day, he meets the girl of his dreams! Her name is Isabella. She is the daughter of the governor of the rats, and she lives in old abandoned Wharf 62, where only the rats of the highest-class live. He can't stop thinking about her! Then he realizes that a rich, sophisticated girl like her could never love a sewer rat like him.
Meanwhile, the humans want to poison the wharves. The rats had stopped them every year by finding loose change and anonomysly offering it to the owner of the wharves. Every year they had collected $10,000. And every year, it had been enough. but this year it wasn't. So their leader (Isabella's Father) decides that they need to double the Rat-Rent (as they call it). But there's no way they can gather $20,000 worth of pennies, dimes and nickels! Then, Monty figures out a way to impress Isabella. He thought the shells his aunt had brought him might be of some value. After all, everyone said they were great. So he brings the shells to Isabella's father. He says they are great, but they need money, not shells. Dismayed, Monty tells Isabella's father to keep the shells. Isabella gets a90=hold of them, and at first she just hangs the shells on her bedroom wall. But then she has a great idea. her mother told her that Montague Mad-Rat (Monty's uncle whom he was named after) was infamous for doing the unthinkable--dealing with humans (it's like making things with your own paws). He, like Monty is also an artist. He decorates rings and sells them to an art dealer. Isabella decides to team up with him to sell the shells. She knows that dealing with humans is a huge disgrace, but she'll do anything to save her beloved wharves. Together, they are able to get $20,000!
Monty is hailed a hero! His little shells saved the wharves! Monty finally got everything he wanted. He saved the wharves, he's a hero, and Isabella finally likes him. Then the worst happens. What is that? You'll just have to read the book for yourself.
Monty significantly changes. He becomes much braver and he learns to do his best and try his hardest, even when things look hopeless.
This is a great book, and I recommend it to anyone age 9 and up.

The purpose of a book, in my opinion, is to take the reader away and allow him to experience what the author writes about. McGough has done an excellent job of doing this in his debut.

As a kid, I was obsessed with baseball. It was a rite of passage in our country for young boys to collect baseball cards and idolize the players on their faces. McGough was able to gain access to this world, which is a privilege most of us would have died for. He preserves that childlike wonder throughout this book. Rather than becoming annoying, this tone allows the reader to empathize with McGough's struggles and cheer at his triumphs.

The book also gives a fresh new look at the inner workings of a baseball team. Most sports books are written by players or journalists. Both groups have a certain detachment from society as a whole. McGough is an average kid from New York city with an average kid's problems. He writes about how his grades suffer, struggling to talk to girls, and other situations an adolescent male would find himself in. The difference is that most kids don't have millionaire pals who will lend a helping hand in impressing a young lady. McGough's description of his interactions with the players is very humanizing. In a way, McGough takes these players off the pedestal society has placed them on and shows the reader they are average guys.

This book is my favorite baseball book by far, even surpassing Jim Bouton's Ball Four. If you have a baseball fan in the family, get this book for them. You won't be sorry.

You don't need to be a Yankee fan or a baseball fan to enjoy this book. As a diehard Red Sox fan, I feel guilty that I've taken a liking to a Yankee's team written about in this book. Mr. Mcgough does an incredible job of making you feel that you're part of the locker room, in the dugout, and on the field with the team.

If you are a Yankee fan who remembers the team of the mid-80's era, this book is a nice walk down memory lane. It's a quick, easy read written in an enjoyable narrative style, and it provides the reader with an inside glimpse that most of us Yankee fans would have given our left foot to experience.

This was an amazing book and probably one of the best autobiographys I've ever read. Growing up in California I've been a hard core Oakland a's and San Fransico Giants fan. Reading this book makes you love the Yankees. Mr.Mcough's writing gives you the feeling that you're actually at the baseball game. Matt gives you a full on description of everything he does and if he does something bad or gets in trouble it makes you relate when something like that happened to you. It's great description and humor this definitely a must read for anyone.

I can't recommend this book enough for any Yankee fan who suffered through the '80's and early '90's. Perfect read for a day at the beach or a plane ride.

Let me tell you, I finished reading the book in 8 hours (in total over 3 days).

I could not put it down! From the moment I started reading, my excitement and curiosity drew me
deeper and deeper into it.

I felt as if I was Holly, and I was right there standing next to her.
I felt like I was watching a movie in my mind, I could vividly see every thing she did, every place she went and every kiss she felt on her face.

This book not only bring Audrey Hepburn to life, it defines the pleasure revolution that each of us are trying to live everyday. I can not express how much I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

I can't describe how much I enjoyed reading Holly Would Dream! So unique, charismatic, funny, clever, elegant and empowering -- truly a tribute to the memory of Audrey Hepburn, and to Karen Quinn as an author.

Charming moments from Hepburn's classic films are interwoven with very contemporary language and issues, and each character is multi-dimensional with a distinct personality and voice. Quinn's highly sensory and sensuous descriptions lead you through unexpected situations -- my heart was racing with twists and turns, and I was laughing and weeping continuously throughout the novel.

In addition to the delightfully witty literary style and plot, this is a must read for anyone who is interested in fashion and its history. I really enjoyed learning about costume conservation and behind-the-scenes aspect of a fashion institute and, with all of Quinn's ideas for exhibitions projected through her protagonist Holly, Quinn should be a fashion curator herself. There haven't been displays that creative and exciting since Diana Vreeland's monumental exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I wished throughout the book that I could see these concepts mounted in real life. Well...maybe when they (hopefully) do a movie of this book!

My only disappointment was that the story had to end, but happily I can order other work by Quinn and look forward to whatever she writes in the future.

BRAVA!!! I've been recommending it to everyone...

As someone who has worked for a number of different cruise lines and written about the cruise business, I found the characters and over-the-top situations aboard "Tiffany Line" to be spot on. Holly and her Dad are great characters, it's not often you'd run across a loveable homeless man in a novel. Makes a great vacation read!
Betsey Shapiro - Author of "Queen's Hostess"

I absolutely adored "Holly Would Dream"! It is a delightful, funny, and captivating tale about a young woman obsessed with Audrey Hepburn and who desires to live the style, romance and the absolute perfection of a Hepburn movie. (Don't we all?)

I love all of Karen Quinn's work: each book is more enjoyable than the last. (btw, I absolutely cannot wait for her stories to hit the big screen. I heard that "The Ivy Chronicles" might star Sarah Jessica Parker, fun, fun, fun!!). "Holly Would Dream" is my favorite book by Karen Quinn so far, though. Holly is completely lovable, genuine and funny and her exciting and glamorous adventures in the world of fashion and high society are so much fun.

An added bonus to reading "Holly Would Dream" is that it may inspire you on a treasure hunt to discover all 125 of Karen Quinn's clever winks and nods to the romantic movies of Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. A good excuse to watch these wonderful, dreamy movies again!
Holly Would Dream

This is such a fun book - I ate it up like a delicious piece of candy. Karen Quinn creates characters that you root for (or against) from the very beginning and can't wait to find out what happens in the end. Once I started this book, I couldn't put it down and was riveted from start to finish!

I love love love this book and can't put it down. Not only the entertainers but the food, the place, the agents, the managers = the stories. A great picture (small but still great) of David Brenner whom I love to bits! You will be laughing and laughing. The hair, the clothes !

The Frommers are terrific interviewees and their book is a history and an entertainment resource about the Catskills - what else would we expect from oral historians of their rank.

GREAT INSIGHT INTO WHAT THE CATSKILLS WERE ALL ABOUT

wonderful oral history - - -covers a lot of territory

While working at the Nevele Country Club, one of the many legendary Catskill resorts covered in this magnificent document, I briefly met Myrna and Harvey Frommer while doing their research. They probably don't remember me, I was too young at the time to offer the kind of history they were looking for, but the pair's enthusiasm and obvious love for the area's resorts and their unique (now long gone) familial atmosphere was readily apparent. When I finally got to read this book, it provided me with a sense of pride for being a part of its history. There's even an ancient picture of my father playing sax in the old Art Kahn Orchestra! But aside from personal connections, this book stands as a definitive oral history of an era. The people interviewed are true insiders, some of them legends in their own right among Catskill lore. And while the book provides some deep sociological perspective concerning its ethnic background, the authors know how to balance this with charming, amazing and often sidesplitting anecdotes. If you ever spent a weekend at Grossinger's, The Concord, The Nevele or one of the dozens of small bungalow colonies, this book will wash you in warm memories. And if you didn't have the chance, it will make you wish you did.

Though some of its conclusions have been questioned or corrected by later scholars like Moshe Idel, this is still the best overall guide for the general reader. It began as a series of lectures, so the presentation is on the dry side, but the contents more than compensate.

It's ironic that Gershom Scholem became famous as a scholar of mysticism, because he embodied old-fashioned Jewish suspicion of anything mystical, Romantic or high-flown. This points to the puzzle we face here: that Judaism, a religion of the practical and actual, emphasising the distance and disparity between God and man, should even have produced mysticism. Jews extracted their mysticism from the Torah and the Prophets as arduously as Marie Curie extracted radium from pitchblende.

This helps to explain the diversity and near-surrealist strangeness of Jewish mystical spirituality. Shiur Komah mystics visualised the Physical body of God: His arms so many billion miles long, and so on. Hekhaloth visionaries ascended to graduated Celestial Palaces (a practice St. Paul must have been familiar with.) Merkavah mystics concentrated on the vision of the Divine Throne/Chariot in Ezekiel Chapter 1, with its inconceivable Living Creatures and Wheels within Wheels.

The proto-Kabbalah of the Book "Bahir" with its clumsy dream-like myth-making. The full-blown Kabbalah of the vast, untellably strange "Zohar" or "Book of Splendour", a whole universe reverently explored by generations of pious Jews. Then the new Kabbalah of Isaac Luria, with its (astonishingly) far from omnipotent God who bungles crucial stages of the process of Creation, and (still more astonishingly) needs Jews to help repair His gaffes.

Mystics were always a minority. Most literate Jews were preoccupied with Talmud, ever-more refined discussions of the Sacred Law governing practical conduct. But just as someone's dreams may tell you more about them than they are prepared to admit out loud, this book is a window on the hidden life of Jews during their centuries of dispersal, expulsions and persecution.

You may be familiar with "magical" pseudo-Kabbalah, the Sephiroth and the Tree of Life torn up from their roots in Torah; or with New Age Kabbalah. Forget all that, read this book, step through the gateway into reality.

Do you want to study and understand kabbalah in details? Are you trapped or met blinds in your studies into mysticism? Are you intrested to know who and who are the true author/authors of the great and renowned book in kabbalah The Zohar? You have met blinds in your kabbalah studies? Here is the one amongst other books that would shead light on your path to the true wisdom of the Ages. You would definately get more than your moneys worth.

When reading Scholem I often feel like I am reading an old testament prophet; his writing and words seem to convey a great dignity and authority and power beyond their age.

Major Trends is basically a set of lectures Scholem gave on Jewish mysticism. Scholem was one of the first scholars to apply scientific methods of criticism to Jewish mystical texts and traditions and their sources, which had been neglected to a large extent in favour of the rational Jews like Moses Maimonides. The age of Reason had little time for religion, myth and mysticism and it was really only in the latter part of the 20th century people began to return to their mystical traditions.

Scholem made many important discoveries, including showing the author of the Zohar (which supposedly came from the 2nd century) was written by Moses de Leon, a 11th century Spanish Jew. Also in this collection are some valuable studies of the relationship between Kabbalah and Christian Gnosticism, and on Isaac Luria's bizarre theosophic ideas, and of chariot mysticism which influenced early Christianity and many apocryphal biblical books such as the Books of Enoch.

Scholem's study remains the most important 20th century study of Jewish mysticism.

Gershom Scholem was a pioneer in the academic study of Jewish mysticism. Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism is an excellent introduction to the kabbalah. The book covers the main historical movements and personalities. It explains the basic doctrines, rituals, and texts. The footnotes and referenced authors and texts become an excellent source of further study for both the academician and the spiritual seeker.

What I love best about Scholem is that he wrote eloquently about spiritual enlightenment without presenting himself as being a mystical master or guru. He will guide you through the history of Jewish esoteric thought, after which you can sample some source texts (many of which now are available in English translation). No preaching here - just good scholarly thought and clear, eloquent writing. It's also amazing how a 60-year old volume remains the standard introduction while still being regarded as controversial in fundamentalist quarters. An awesome achievement!

I sped through "Murder on Bank Street" in 2 days because I have been wondering who killed Dr. Tom Brandt for 9 books now. I can't say too much because I don't want to spoil the ending, but this book is very satisfying. The last few chapters are fast paced, & there are even some hints that Sarah & Malloy may get together soon. These are truly some of the best historical mysteries out there.

Anything that Victoria Thompson writes with these same characters is a delight. Can't wait for the newest book due out in 2009. I started mid-way on this series and then went back and read them all so I wouldn't miss any details. They are an easy read, sometimes the reader figures out the mystery ahead, but it still doesn't diminish the telling of the tale and the vibrant descriptions of the era.

REALLY, REALLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK. ALSO, AS ALWAYS, AMAZON IS SO PROMPT WITH SHIPPING MY ORDERS!!!

MURDER ON BANK STREET: A GASLIGHT MYSTERY tells of Malloy, who is charged with solving the murder of Dr. Tom Brandt - four years after the fact. Malloy's probe of the doctor's successes and notable treatment failures provides a theory, suspects and discoveries - including one that could threaten his relationship. A fast-paced mystery, MURDER ON BANK STREET is a solid recommendation for any mystery collection.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

After four years, the latest in the Gaslight Mystery series has a follow-up to the murder of Dr. Tom Brandt. Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy of the NYPD undertakes an investigation of the cold case, with the help of the dead man's father-in-law, who funds his effort, even to the extent of providing the additional assistance of Pinkerton detectives. The New York police originally did little to look into the case, and after the lengthy interval it isn't an easy task.

Originally, the widow's rich father thought it best not to pursue the matter, since he believed any facts uncovered would upset his daughter Sarah. As the investigation progressed, revelations uncovered seemed to justify the original assumption, and Malloy, who provides a love interest for Sarah, believed that might prove to be the case. Certainly, what is discovered is shocking, to say the least.

The descriptions of Little Old New York toward the turn of the 1890's are delightful and incisive. The book is sharply written and proceeds at a brisk pace, and the interaction of the characters graphic and moving. The class distinctions between rich and poor are vivid, and the dialog is written in keeping with the times in which the story takes place. Bank Street is the 10th entry in the series, and it is recommended.

Great book. A bit pricey, but what the heck, you only live once. And thank God I'm a Yankees fan. I read some of the other reviews and have to say, I agree with most, this book is a great gift idea. My wife also just bought me New York Yankees: An Interactive Guide to the World of Sports (Sports by the Numbers) If you want to make a Yankees fan happy, buy both books as a Christmas or B-Day gift.

I gave this book to my dad, who used to take me to games in the Bronx when I was a kid. Anyone who ever saw a game at the old Yankee Stadium should buy this book -- it will bring back a lot of great memories. I also recently bought another NYY book through Amazon and read it the last couple of days. If you want the history of the team and care about all the numbers that make the Bronx Bombers such an important part of baseball history, then I'd also recommend this title: New York Yankees: An Interactive Guide to the World of Sports (Sports by the Numbers)

Do not be deceived by its appearance. This is in no sense a "coffee table book" except that you will want to have it near at hand on prominent display. Credit Mark Vancil and Alfred Santasiere III with selecting and editing a wealth of information and photographs (most in vivid full-color) that create quite literally both a comprehensive biography and multi-dimensional portrait of Yankee Stadium. Various contributors provide individual retrospective analyses of these segments:

In "A Walk Through Time" (Pages 16-35), Santasiere allows the reader "to take a gander at the ballpark itself" " during an extensive tour (e.g. ushers, the press box, George Steinbrenner's office and its various collection of memorabilia, the stadium's "frieze," the playing field, the clubhouse, the manager's office, the dugout, and Monument Park. The quality of the photographs in this section comes about as close as photographs can to making the viewer feel as if she or he were actually roaming throughout the stadium in person. In this section and in all others, the crisp copy that accompanies the photos creates a context for each.

In "The Birth of a Ballpark" (Pages 36-75), Bob Klapich reviews the team's history since 1912 when its name was the Hilltoppers (the team's home field was Hilltop Park) and finished in last place. Renamed the Yankees, they later played their home games at the Polo Grounds (also home of the Giants), were also-rans from 1916-1920, acquired George Herman ("Babe") Ruth from the Boston Red Sox, and finally the franchise had a permanent home when Yankee Stadium was built. The opening day was April 18, 1923. Construction requirement included removal of 45,000 cubic yards of dirt, 800 tons of rebar, 2,300 tons of mechanical steel, 116,000 square feet of sod, 13,000 yards of topsoil, 950,000 three million board feet of lumber for the bleachers, and 284 days to complete. There are dozens of archival photos of various stages of construction. Also included in this section are "First Person" reminiscences such as those provided by Ray Robinson, Phil Rizzuto Mario Cuomo, and Ernie Acorsi, Regis Philbin, Michael Bloomberg, and Dan Quale.

In "Iconic Moments at the Stadium" (Pages 76-137), Klapich provides a retrospective commentary on Lou Gehrig's memorable farewell and then Babe Ruth's farewell eight years later, the 1928 game when Knute Rockne's Notre Dame team defeated favored Army 12-8 and won it "for the Gipper," Frank Gipp, Joe DiMaggio's record of getting a hit in 56 consecutive games (a record that still stands 67 years later), Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers (with a mini-commentary provided by Dick Young), arguably the greatest NFL game ever when the Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giants in overtime for the league championship in 1958 (23-17), Joe Louis' defeat of Max Schmeling (1938) and Muhammad Ali's defeat of Ken Norton (1976), Roger Maris' 61st homerun in 1961 to break Babe Ruth's record of 60 in 1927 (with a mini-commentary provided by Phil Pepe), Pope Paul VI's visit in 1965, the Army-Notre Dame football game in 1946 (with a mini-commentary provided by Johnny Lujack), and Pope Paul II's visit in 1979 (with a mini-commentary provided by Edward Cardinal Egan). Once again, as elsewhere throughout the book, the photographs are stunning.

In "Yankee Stadium Baseball History" (Pages 138-185), Bill Madden reviews some of the greatest highlights of a history that is probably unsurpassed among Major League Baseball in terms of great players, great games, and memorable moments. The reader is briefed on "Home Run Factoids" accompanied by "First Person" observations by Hank Aaron, Al Kaline, Jerry Coleman, Lou Piniella, Chris Chambliss, Reggie Jackson, David Cone, George H. W. Bush (whose son threw out the first pitch - a strike - during the third game of the 2001 World Series following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon), Derek Jeter, Paul O'Neil, Tino Martinez, Scott Brosius, Brian Cashman, Joe Torre, Dave Winfield, Paul McCartney, Whitey Ford, and Jose Pasada. I identify these contributors because almost all of them were directly involved in some of the memorable moments while playing or managing some of the greatest Yankee teams. Again, the photographs are superb.

In Section Four, "America's Amphitheater" (Pages 186-230), Ira Berkow takes a somewhat different approach as he reviews impressions of first visits to Yankee Stadium and favorite memories of it that are shared in "First Person" reminiscences by Bobby Murcer, Rich Gossage, the Rev. Billy Graham, Don Mattingly, Bill Clinton, Joseph P. Kennedy III, Lance Armstrong, Steve Richardson, Charlie Weis, Frank Gifford, Jim Brown, Don Shula, Sam Huff, Roger Clemens, Bob Sheppard, Alex Ridriguez, Bert Randolph Sugar (who also lists what he considers to be the ten most memorable fights), Angelo Dundee, and Ron Guidry.

No commentary such as this could possibly do full justice to the scope and depth of the text, nor to the quality and diversity of the photographs that are seamlessly integrated with the narrative. Perhaps the best way to express my appreciation of this book is to say that if it were only a text without photographs, I would rate it Five Stars and wish there were a higher rating available. And if it were only a collection of photographs with brief captions, I would have the same opinion when rating it. Thank you, Mark Vancil, Alfred Santasiere III, and your associates.

I gave this to my son for his birthday present and he loved it. Lots of pictures and historical data.

All true NYY fans will love this book. This "coffee table" book has great insight into the history of Yankee Stadium. The photography alone is worth the price of the book - it makes you realize what a tremendous part of baseball, and history, this stadium has been. The interviews and memories of many great Hall Of Famers and future Hall Of Famers are a joy to read. I highly recommend this retrospective on an American treasure. What a loss!!!

Sargeant W's efforts are helpful to Sanskrit lovers/learners. Sargeant Krishna & Sage Vyasa's message is made more transparent to sanskrit learners.

This book is meant for scholars or students looking to translate Bhagavad Gita and have a reference point for those difficult verses. There is nothing more to the book than an intro., and the Gita translated word for word. Even the verses themselves cannot be found whole. That is not to say that this isn't an excellent book. I have another similar book but he has some different opinions on the names: winthrop's Gudakesha- "thick haired one" but the other guy says: Gudakesha- "conquerer of sleep" This also happens with Hrishikesha: (don't quote me on this one) "spiny haired one" and the other guy writes Hrishikesha: "conquerer of the senses" I'm leaning toward the other guy (forgive me for not having the name) because the rest of the "nicknames" refer to past achievements and such. So, if you want to learn sanskrit and you're ready for the Gita this will be excellent, or if you're memorizing verses and want to know the exact meaning behind them, this is for you.

I have read over a dozen translations of Bhagavad Gita over the past 25 years. IMHO, this is the best English translation. The "inter-liner" translation is really a neat idea and I wish someone does inter-liner translations for other ancient works such as Thiru-Kural.

The book is a translation from Sanskrit to English. Excellent if that is what you are looking. However, if you are looking for interpretation or an understanding of what it means then better buy some other book like the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is by A. C. Bhaktivedanta. Some may call it biased, but I think it is better for a new reader.

This is an excellent interlinear translation. For each word, Sargeant gives grammatical information, like gender, case and number. Then each verse has an idiomatic translation to English which is very faithful to the original. Some verses also have a commentary - very useful. There is also an introduction describing the contents of the Mahabharata, of which the Bhagavad Gita is a part. One thing missing is an index, therefore I would recommend buying also Schweig's or Easwaran's translation.