New York Books

I enjoyed this book very much. As other readers have commented, it really captures the WWII era, has beautifully written characters, and has a romanticism that is very reminiscent of F. Scott Fitzgerald. George Virdon is the sort that everyone would like to have as a friend.

My only real criticism of this book is the author's treatment of Chris and Nancy. Frankly, I became a bit nauseated by George's constant gushings about Chris's beauty, charm, etc. I realize that it adds to the books overall romanticism, but it got to be a bit much at times. This is only somewhat relieved at the end where she tells them all to stop putting her on a pedestal and treating her like the group's mascot. I also think the author's treatment of Nancy was a bit harsh. It seems like she does absolutely nothing right and while she and George aren't really right for each other, he could've been a little more even handed in his treatment of both characters. Nancy deserved kinder treatment and Chris needed a few flaws. It would not have robbed the books of its romantic flavor one bit. All of the other characters have a better balance of good and bad.

I also had to chuckle to myself when the younger generation tears into the older ones during the Harvard reunion. Boo-hoo for finding out the world is an imperfect place, kids. That generation, the Baby Boomers, is now running the show and is making a lot of the same mistakes that they used to rip on their elders about.

This is a great read, however, and it captures a generation that is quickly dying out.

I looked up this book because my dearly loved and tattered copy of the book I have read and reread over the years has finally gone missing, and I can treat myself to a crisp new copy to dive into again, read again, live again, love again.

I read "The Last Convertible" for the first time probably 20 years ago and I can still recite quotes, or passages, at any time. This book stuck with me.

Many other reviewers have stated very well what this book is about - 4 friends, Harvard, the War, the times they lived through. What I wanted to add is that this book truly stands out as a novel that you don't just read, you enter. The story shines a light on some remarkable people, but you feel that you know them, you are there. To some extent, like all remarkable works, you rethink your own life in context of the story, and it becomes part of you.

This story is a deep glowing ruby in my memory that still gives light and life to characters I know well. And I believe it always will.

I bought this book in hardcover form when I was 18 or 19. It sat on a bookshelf for a decade or more having never been read by me or anyone. Then it disappeared somehow through movings and such. Recently, some 25 years later, I found a used paperback copy at my local library and purchased it. This time I read it and kicked myself for days for having not read it so many years ago. I must agree with many of the other reviews. This is a wonderful book. Full of nostalgia and humor and so many other things. The characters become part of you and you don't want the book to end. I purposely did not read it quickly because I knew right away I was going to enjoy it. And I did. I love stories about nostalgia. I am nostalgic so I guess I identify with George. But all the characters are wonderfully illuminated by Mr Myrer and you feel like you know them personally. The use of the music of the 40's and 50's is great. A nice touch. Particularly if you love this kind of music. Which I do. A must read. Try it.

This book really encapsulates the experience of the World War II generation, and brings it alive for Boomers and Gen X readers. I would put this in the top twenty of the best novels I have ever read.

I first read this book probably 15 years ago, and I still pick it up and re-read it once in a while. It's so well-written, it makes me nostalgic for a time I didn't even live through! While it's about a group of college friends starting out in the 1940s, I think the story and its emotions are timeless enough to appeal to anyone. I saw parallels to my own experiences in college during the late 1970s, minus the war. The characters are so real, and they stay with you long after you've finished the book.

One of the most engaging aspects of M.J. Rose's writing is that she gives the reader an "insider's look" into a possibly unfamiliar venue. "Flesh tones" is set in the art world, and both the process of painting and the business end were depicted in an interesting and convincing way. The characters were attractive and made you care about them.

What is the dividing line between deep love and obsession? Who should be allowed to judge when a relationship crosses from one to the other?

Genny Haviland met artist Slade Gabriel in her father's gallery when she was 17. They became lovers, an affair that lasted for only weeks in reality but survived for the rest of Genny's life in her heart and soul. They meet again twenty years later, only to have Gabriel learn he has fallen victim to rapidly advancing Alzheimer's. Knowing he could not bear to live without his art, Genny agrees to help him commit suicide.

But a missing letter results in her arrest for murder, and a grief-stricken Genny has no inclination to fight the charge. Instead, as the trial proceeds, she reviews the past, the present and the relationship that has defined her emotional life, looking for an answer that may defy explanation.

In her latest novel, M.J. Rose explores yet another aspect of the relationships between men and women and how those relationships can define us even more than we define them. Child of a distant mother and a father whose love carries strange, twisted undertones, the young Genny is ripe for the kind of intense, all-encompassing passion she finds with Slade Gabriel. She is at once sympathetic and irritating, stubbornly clinging to the loss of her lover as if it will somehow compensate her for the greater loss of the emotional connections she never had -- or allowed herself to have.

FLESH TONES, however, is more than simply a study of one woman's overwhelming need for enduring love. It is also about creativity, and how the truly great artist will always have one small part of his or her soul they cannot share no matter how deeply they love another. Written with powerful emotional intensity and a clear, discerning eye for both the glories and the agonies of both love and passion, Flesh Tones will resonate with anyone who has ever loved what they can never completely have, but it will also provoke tough questions in those who have not.

M.J. Rose knows writing! I finished Flesh Tones last night and have to say how much I admire her work. Her characters and the situation are finestkind, but I am most impressed with the way she tells the tale. What superb timing, and how nicely she spins a chapter strand into transition. With a tease here and a glimpse there, M.J. Rose gives us just enough to move the story along, like oars move a shell over the water: allowing us to glide between strokes, never losing momentum, accelerating smoothly to a stunning finish.

MJ Rose paints a portrait of an amazing bond between a man and woman. Genny and Slade, both products of the art world, meet when she is far too young to fall in love with him, or to share his passion. She misrepresents her age and background to be with him, and Rose skips forward, after laying the foundation, to Genny's immeasureable sacrifice for the man she loves. Rose is equally at home writing about art, death, the courtroom and the bedroom. She's one author I'll not soon forget!

Enjoy!

I have learned that if a book doesn't grab you within the first 50 pages or so to foget about it and move onto something else. This book had me hooked within the first 20 pages. This book does a wonderful job at exploring that very fine line between love and obsession at times I felt like I was reading Genny's personal diary, but this book is much more than a smutty beach read. Did Genny Haviland kill her lover or did she save him from a terrible disease that would rob him of everything he knows and holds dear? M.J. Rose's writing style is efortless and smooth. Half the story is told in the present tense during the murder trial and half the story is told through the use of flashbacks, which normally can be hard for the reader to follow, but in this instance they are used to define very important elements in the story. Ms. Rose's writing style is masterful, the reader becomes totally absorbed in the tapestry of the story, there are passages that read like poetry that force the reader to go back and read them again. It was impossible for me not to turn the pages, I was transfixed and I will definetly be on the lookout for more by M.J. Rose!!

A beautiful story about how friendship can endure despite time, distance, and life's circumstances. I could see pieces of myself in each of the main characters. I bought this four years ago, and , sadly, let it sit on the shelf all these years. Although I haven't been able to find the time to read a book all the way through in the past 4 years, I read this one from cover to cover in 2 days! I highly recommend it! I'm now sending it to my best friend who lives several states away.

Between Friends centers around friends Jillian Lawton and Lesley Adamski. The two girls are born in the same town, Jillian to wealthy older parents who have long-awaited their first child, and Lesley as a result of an unplanned teenage pregnancy; despite the differences in their backgrounds, the girls become fast friends. Rather than tell their story through traditional narrative means, author Debbie Macomber draws from alternate sources, namely letters that Jillian and Lesley write to each other but also their journals, news clippings, and other correspondence. I enjoyed this unique format, which lends itself particularly well to quick and easy reading.

Jillian and Lesley were both born in 1948, and so they were teenagers in the 1960s, when they struggled to make sense of issues going in their world going on at that time, namely Vietnam. Throughout the book, Macomber does a nice job of working in historical events. Vietnam figures heavily into the plot, but other events, such as the American Legion convention and the advent of the computer age, affect the characters as well. Sometimes these inclusions were a bit predictable or even contrived (eg, one letter contained the postscript "my land, what is the world coming to that people are tainting headache pills with cyanide?"), but even so, they added interest to the story.

This was the first book I read by Debbie Macomber, but it won't be the last. Although this book is likely to appeal mainly to women, Macomber injects a genuineness and warmth into her story that goes beyond "chick lit," and I look forward to discovering what else she has to offer.

I absolutely loved this book. This author is so very talented and this particular book truly showcases her talents for capturing life and friendship.

There isn't any thing about this book that I didn't like. It grabbed my interest from the very beginning and had me reading it until the wee hours of the night, I just could not put it down. I fell in love with the characters and felt as though I were a part of their friendship. I especially loved the format of this book: journal entries, letters, etc.
I highly recommend this book!

Between Friends is the story of 2 girls that became friends at the age of 5 and remained best friends all their lives. The entire book was written in the format of letters, journal entries, and newspaper clippings. It was a strange format, and yet it seemed to give us a deeper glimpse into the lives of these 2 very different women.

Lesley grew up the oldest of 6 kids in a working class family. Her dad spent more time out of work than he did employeed, and her mom had to learn to live with him and all his faults. Jillian, the only child of Judge and his wife, grew up in the lap of luxary. And yet, through time and completely different circumstances, they stayed friends. This book encompasses decades in the lives of the 2 friends, through marriage, children, divorce, death and war. At times a little sappy and at times very touching, I found this book very enjoyable.

Six degrees of separation: You've probably heard of that concept . . . that you can connect with anyone else through six contacts. The authors deconstruct that observation to point out that fewer than half the people (somewhere around 29 percent) can do that well, hence the title.

But do you really care if it takes three contacts or thirteen . . . as long as your message gets through? Probably not.

More important than getting through to others through mutual contacts is the ability to get help when you need it: That's the real value of being well networked.

So you can skip over the premise discussion. It just seems like a gimmick to help attract attention to the book.

Start with page 7 and the diagnostic questions to test how well you perform in creating, building, and sustaining a network. From there, perform one of the 52 assignments per week for a year. If you keep up on the prior lessons, you should become much better connected after a year.

This book is primarily designed for those who aren't very good at networking and haven't been introduced to the basics. So if you are new to the idea of getting acquainted with more people, this book is a good choice.

But if you have read at least two reasonably good networking books, you probably won't add that much value here . . . unless you find that a weekly lesson helps you maintain the discipline.

If you ignore the sketchy premise, this is a five-star book.

How many new connections did you make today that you will keep alive in ten years?

Horrible! Horrible! Horrible! Look, I am a very small business owner trying to build a better business and gain clients. I've read so many business books. Common sense will tell you that you need to take time to network regularly for your business. I thought this book might be different. It is not. There are not any new ideas, just old ones broken into 52 weeks. Honestly you'd be better off buying Guerrilla Marketing for Free or Guerilla Marketing Weapons. If you must read this book, check it out from the library. Please don't waste your money. I took mine back to the store.

I have long been a believer of the power of effective networking. And, in the tough times we are encountering as a nation, I believe that effective networking will be even more important.

Ivan Miser, one of the county's leading authorities on networking, has collaborated with Michelle Donovan to write what I believe to be one of the best books in networking that has ever been written.(My other favorite is "Click" by George Fraser.)

I liked everything about the book...a lot...except for the title which is a case of copyrighting seemingly gone amuck. And to think that the subtitle doesn't even explain the mystery of the title. YUK!

But, get past the title and get on with the substance of the book and this book is an absolute gem. Jam packed with solid information, wonderful tips, and even helpful exercises.

Like some of the best things in life, there is no magic pill to effective networking. This point is reinforced by the central organization of the book into a year-long program to build networking effectiveness.

In turbulent times, being a silo, or a lone wolf, just is not going to cut it. I highly recommend that all professionals buy this book, follow the program and become one of the 29% who are separated from the rest of the world by just six degrees. (Ah yes, there is at least some rationale to the title.) Even more importantly than being part of that dubious group, by following this program you will increase the likelihood that you will have the relationships to help you prosper in tough times.

The week by week strategies with easy to follow actionable items helps to make you a more effective networker. Well done.

The authors start out with the premise that although networking is proven to be valuable in business, it is still rarely taught in business schools.

The book begins with a self-analysis test to help determine one's networking skills. Topics and assignments are broken down into 52 weeks, with spaces in some of the chapters for you to write in the book as you do that week's assignment. (Not every week has a writing area, so you may want to keep a separate notebook or keep notes and action steps on a Blackberry/PDA.)

It could almost be called Networking for Dummies or for Introverts or even for Clueless. I say that because the book addresses so many topics that brought some former co-workers and bosses to mind. MANY people who are in business at various levels could be helped by networking, but are not born schmoozers or networkers, and don't know where to begin.

This book charts out one of the simplest game plans for success that I've seen in quite awhile. It is not all new knowledge, but it is all in one place, so you can check off your progress and see what the next step is for growing your skills and your business. The plan is simple, but not always easy. As the authors say, it's netWORKing, not netEATing or netSITTing.

Topics included may require major changes or just minor tweaks to a person's life. Examples are: being accountable to a group, writing thank you notes, being engaging, writing a press release, getting and giving referrals, following up, being a change agent, becoming an expert, and more.

Recommended for complete wallflowers and introverts who may even know but don't ever DO. It's also good for extroverts and "self-made" individuals who think they are the best networkers in the world but who need refinement and more focus on others than just their own abilities and personality.

Terrific reference book to use and refer back to again and again.

A picture book for ages 4-7, and perfect for adults of any age, the story of family visiting brims with positive energy, and is vividly descriptive of the sights and sounds the visitors brought. "The Relatives Came" provides material for discussion of family roles and expectations. I sent the book to my sister after our family had come through some intense time together.

I'm giving this book to lots of grandmothers!! All 7 arrived quickly and it was a great transaction.

This is one of my favorite books and also of my daughters. The illustrations are beautiful, and the heart warming story of family visits, appreciation and love just makes you feel good. I like this book so much that I will add more Cynthia Rylant books to our home library.

We're from a large family and the images and descriptions of the family reunion really touched home. I've given it to two different sets of nieces and nephews, and hope they'll have the same great stories to tell about our family that Cynthia Rylant relates.

I bought this book to use for a discussion about how authors can paint pictures with their words. My first graders loved this book and we were able to talk about our favorite parts in the book and all the children can relate because they have either gone to visit relatives or relatives have come to visit them. They loved the pictures and the story!

I sent it to my son when he was in Afghanistan. It's a classic story

This book is one of the best books about the fire service I have ever read. I hung onto each and every word. It was though I was there sometimes.

During the tumultuous period of the 60s when author Dennis Smith wrote Report From Engine Company 82, the book was a cry for help from exhausted, frustrated men. Men who cleaned up in the aftermath of other exhausted and frustrated inhabitants of a society stretched to the breaking point.

As I type this, a younger firefighter in a comfortable, air-conditioned fire station among a population that by-and-large respects my profession, it's easy to forget the sacrifice of our past brothers who unceasingly fought fires, city hall and the population they served, until they had forged the modern fire service.

It's an important book for new firefighters to learn how the iron men of old did the job. And for the general reader it's a testament to both a volatile period in our nation's history, and to the timeless strength and courage by which good men have always worked to keep back the chaos of barbarism and destruction.

I spent 10 years in the fire service in both engine and truck companys. While I have many memories and stories to tell, the author, Dennis Smith, sums up the life of a fire fighter in an urban environment about as well as can be possibly told. Trying to balance the unpleasantries and sadness against the satisfaction of saving a life or helping a family overcome one of life's most agonizing moments is very well portrayed in this book. This is what a fire fighter's life is about folks. There is no other book that I can remember that tells it any better than this. If you're thinking of a career in a big city fire department or for that matter, if you're even thinking of becoming a volunteer fire fighter this book is a must!

I first read this book 20+ years ago, when I was under 20 years of age myself but streetwise from being the "wheels" (with a driver's license and a car) for various escapades all over Chicago in my raucous, hard-partying and utterly politically incorrect youth. Many aspects of "Report From Engine Co. 82" stuck with me through the years, and I've re-read it several times. Now I'm 40 and an ER RN in a Chicago hospital where we see more than our share of the extraordinarily dysfunctional lives of the people who live in poverty in the neighborhoods that surround our hospital -- the type of job and environment Smith portrays so well in "Report From Engine Co. 82."

"Report From Engine Co. 82." tells truths about the nearly inescapable poverty and illiteracy of people scraping by in lives that are marginalized in every possible way because they don't -- can't -- really care for themselves appropriately because they don't even know how. Poverty isn't what it used to be -- but it's still as screwed up as it was in Smith's first book. Most of our ER visits aren't really emergencies, just as most of the calls Company 82 responded to weren't emergencies, either. Nowadays, people call 911; when "Report" was written, that 911 system didn't exist yet. But not much has changed since then, in terms of what the firefighters/paramedics respond to and bring to the ER.

Most of the "emergencies" he sees are not emergencies. The non-emergencies, combined with the real emergencies, portray the dangerous and unthinking way poor people live through a combination of lack of resources, lack of experience with the "straight" world, lack of common sense, and minute-by-minute survival thinking. Most of these emergencies and non-emergencies are easily prevented -- if people had common sense, proper parenting, and a normal instinct for self-preservation.

These qualities, however, are surprisingly hard to come by in poverty, and this is what Smith dramatizes. The heroin overdoses. The stupid kids doing stupid things because they are constantly left unattended and to their own devices. Kids who shoot themselves in the thigh or foot -- or worse -- "playing" with guns. Fires that kill children because space heaters provide the heat slumlords refuse to provide in their code-violating buildings. The incipient hatred and distrust poor minority neighborhoods have of the white emergency personnel and firefighters who respond to their calls. The huge cultural gaps that make true communication and understanding so difficult -- even when you're both the same race and both speaking English.

What Smith accurately portrays is the way poverty-stricken people "live in the now" -- people whose entire lives are spent with no real financial or material stability or security. These are people for whom the concept of saving money for the future is impossible, either as a concept or a reality. People for whom making an appointment days or weeks in the future, and actually remembering to get to the appointment, is nearly impossible. Their main mode of thought is: what do I need to do now, what do I want to do now, what do I need or want to do in the next five minutes. This inability to think about and plan for the future is endemic, as is the inability to prioritize that which really matters -- one suspects because most of these people realize on some level they have no future that truly matters to the rest of society, and they're incapable of living as the rest of the "straight" world lives because they never have, didn't grow up with it, and don't know the language of living that life, let alone the mindset.

These are the people and children who have no insurance, no health care, no glasses when their vision is bad, no braces or dental care when their teeth are bad; who never use birth control (to prevent pregnancy OR to prevent disease transmission). People who don't understand why it's inappropriate to come to the ER with an upper respiratory infection and get pissed off when they wait hours for care while higher priority, higher-acuity patients (in respiratory distress, cardiac arrest, heart attacks, asthma attacks, and overdose, etc.) are taken before they are.

Conversely, these are also the people who shun health care until they are so sick they can no longer avoid it, and discover they have cancer... Cancer that could have been prevented or at least treated, often saving their lives, had they ever had regular health care -- but who are now consigned to an inevitable death they will blame on the healthcare providers who couldn't save them because they were at a stage beyond saving or treating in any way other than palliative.

Smith's New York is NOT the New York of Sex And The City. This is the New York of the infants whose welfare mothers don't immunize them, but have the latest, most expensive coats and boots because conspicuous consumption is how they live: you show how much money you have by wearing all that your money has bought you (rather than doing the far less glamorous but sensible things more responsible people, whose children were WANTED rather than accidental, do). The New York of the kids having kids who have kids, all of whom have never known proper parenting, nutrition, or health care. The overdoses. The children who come in with accidental poisonings or burns from household chemicals because no one was watching them. The attempted suicides with anything and everything -- cold medicine, knives, guns, illegal drugs. The kids raised by siblings because the parent is completely incapable, if they're even around, with or without the additional problems of substance use/abuse, addiction, or domestic abuse. The families which are largely single-parent families -- and where the parental figure may be an elder sibling, aunt or cousin who cares more for the children than their biological parent(s) does or is capable of doing.

This is also the world of the terrified illegal immigrants who wait so long to call for help because they're afraid of INS (now ICE) and deportation; by the time they do, they're often too sick to save. The penniless old people whose pensions don't cover their living expenses and who don't call for help because they're terrified of being discharged from the hospital to a nursing home and losing what little autonomy and material security they have left. The fractured families (with utterly dysfunctional dynamics) who interfere with the paramedics' jobs -- as well as the tight-knit families who are rich only in love for one another. The people who refuse help they desperately need because they fear and distrust the paramedics and firemen trying to help them, and because their healthcare illiteracy is such that they have no idea what is necessary to save their lives, and so refuse or avoid medical treatment that could stop problems in stages when they're still treatable. The mothers who speak no English, who superstitiously fear that emergency treatment will kill their children, yet who are so desperate to save their babies, they don't know what else to do, because all home remedies have now failed. The endless numbers of people who let their prescriptions run out or try to save money by taking less than the prescribed doses and then have severe health problems that wouldn't happen if they bought and took their meds as prescribed -- but who, for multiple reasons, can't and/or don't. The people who beg not to be brought to the hospital because "people DIE in the hospital" -- people who don't understand that their neighbors and family members who died in the hospital, died because they waited far too long to call for help, and were therefore were beyond saving when they finally got to a hospital.

Anyone who works in public service as a fireman, cop, nurse, social worker, or psych intake worker in a big city -- and in poverty-stricken, crime- and drug-infested suburbs and rural communities -- can relate to Smith's book. For everyone who majored in something else, this book opens a door and exposes the lives of people you don't even know exist, people you don't acknowledge when you're forced to share a bus or train with them during rush hour (or who you intentionally avoid by driving in your own car, despite the expense of gas, insurance, and time spent on the commute): the people who don't work, or the people who work wage-slave jobs like janitor, maid, fast-food worker, security guard, who can barely pay their bills or care for their children with what little they make -- or who blow it all on liquor and/or drugs and/or gambling (or all three) to escape the miserable hopelessness of their lives. The kids who have the latest "stuff" -- whether it's the shiny ten speed bicycles Smith writes about, or today's video games and cell phone/mp3 player/cameras -- but whose parents can't or won't give them what they really need: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a stable environment from which to emerge every day to deal with the life-endangering risks of walking to and attending public schools that do little more than babysit and warehouse kids whose futures include teen pregnancy (and the late-term, life-threatening miscarriages that go with total lack of prenatal care, with or without drug use), repeated incarceration, and shorter-than-average lifespans due to the daily likelihood of violence in their communities and their lives.

Smith's portrayal of this kind of poverty is not pretty but it is not unsympathetic -- there are glimpses of beauty and hope, mostly in the young women and children who haven't yet been ruined by their surroundings. Smith tempers it all with a matter-of-fact acceptance that although it is his job to care for these people, he may never really understand them because he's now too removed from that life, and he takes on faith that they possess human qualities they often fail to demonstrate. But some do show their humanity, and those are the people he does it for.

Smith does an excellent job of portraying the paradox that the job of these firefighters and paramedics is to help and save these people, which by its nature includes finding them WORTH helping and saving, at the same time as they move and live as far away from these neighborhoods and the associated poverty, crime and drug problems as they possibly can. This is not merely a racial difference. There are plenty of black and Latino paramedics, cops, firefighters, nurses and doctors who straddle the gulf (some might say 'minefield') between their class and the class of the people they help, in circumstances that are at best trying and at worst nearly impossible to help them transcend for any sustained length of time.

Smith portrays the sympathetic detachment required to know that this is what you do, all day, every day you work, with only the hope that one or two out of ten people will actually genuinely and sincerely thank you for what you do or have done for them -- which is that elusive reward you get, one that can make it all seem worth it when it happens -- and to hope that when you show up and give this of yourself on every shift, there might be one kid or teen who sees what you're doing, who still has enough time ahead of them to see this glimpse into another world... A world it is just *barely* possible for them to enter given enough determination, education, mentoring and drive, and sadly also given enough instinct to discard much of what they learn in their families about how they THINK the world works, versus how the world REALLY works for the more educated and better-off people who run it.

The fact that Smith can show all this without denigrating an entire class of people -- does, in fact, portray them with humanity and the grace one occasionally sees in these circumstances -- is because he also recognizes that he is not that far removed from the kind of poverty he sees on the job (he grew up poor, too). He recognizes and accepts that he is that kid who admired firemen as a boy and saw a different world -- he is that kid who made the leap to the next class up, to the working class and blue collar as opposed to poverty-stricken. He understands the dysfunction -- the drinking, the drugs, the abuse -- that occurs in the neighborhoods Co. 82 responds to because it occurred in his neighborhood, his family, his poverty, while he was growing up.

This understanding that few "get out" -- and that he was one of the lucky few -- underscores with sympathy his otherwise stark portrayal of the job of a NYC fireman in the 70s when NYC was not a desirable place to live and people did their best to escape "the city" as soon as their financial circumstances permitted it.

The uncensored version of this book (which is the one I've read multiple times) also shows the bizarre split someone who works as a fireman/paramedic, nurse, or doctor must negotiate within themselves -- the intimate knowledge you have of the bodies of the people you must save, which is merely part of your job but which you can't really talk about to any family member or lover who isn't in one of these fields. I don't mean merely intimacy with people's genitals -- though there is that, such as the way the Smith describes heroin overdoses getting icebags put under their testicles (negative stimulus, designed to bring unresponsive, unconscious people back to responsiveness and consciousness). I mean the intimacy of seeing people stripped of their modesty and dignity, voluntarily (prostitutes) or involuntarily (the terribly sick), whose personal space and body integrity you must necessarily invade, often in less-than-respectful or diplomatic ways because there is no time for those niceties when someone is dying and you're trying to save them. People who don't work in these fields can never really understand how you can be unaffected by the nudity, exposure and/or intimate knowledge you have of these total strangers, and the disinterest or casual attitude with which you greet what would shock most everyone else.

And, of course, you're not unaffected by this knowledge. Sometimes you're disturbed, or someone or something sticks in your mind -- the things you've seen or had to do -- and is recalled in inappropriate moments with your loved ones. You're not unaffected, you're just emotionally calloused or you compartmentalize it, in order to repeatedly perpetrate and endure this violation of the boundaries between strangers and its inherent power imbalance: you, as the emergency personnel, never have to reveal any of these intimacies to your patients... but they must necessarily, willingly or not, reveal them to you. This includes the mentally ill and the hopelessly drug-addled or dopesick (or both, combined) -- sometimes the most disturbing intimacy of all: the insides of their heads and their distorted, sometimes frighteningly unhinged, perceptions of the world around them.

We bought this and "New York Yankees: an Illustrared History,"for a Yankee fan. He keeps them on a table next to his favorite chair and each time we visit, there are more little bookmarks and notes. He had told us how much he was enjoying them, but the sight of that well used books showed us that we chose a perfect gift.

The Olympian

A Yankee Century" ($16, Berkley). Baseball's spring training does not truly reside in the deserts of Arizona or near the sands and swamps of Florida. It resides in the hearts and minds of children-turned-adults, who carry with them years of baseball lore and feelings (rational or not) of intense rivalry.

So the paperback version of "A Yankee Century" is just the ticket for warming up to the first crack of the bat. As one raised on the Baltimore Orioles, I can do nothing else but hate (rationally or not) the Yankees.

That said, 100 years of Yankee baseball is a walk through much of baseball history. Harvey Frommer's book covers so many of the details that fans love to savor that it's irresistible.

Frommer stays out of the statistic pit (although there are plenty of numbers), instead making a winning delivery out of stories and quotes that will help baseball fans stay sane on a rainy late-January afternoon.

The Olympian, Olympia Washington

In the northeast, the winter of 2003-2004 will be remembered as one of the snowiest, iciest, coldest and dreariest in recent memory. A YANKEE CENTURY was the perfect cure for those miserable days. Filled with the baseball history that took place on the sun-drenched field of Yankee Stadium, Harvey Frommer has provided us Yankee [and most baseball] fans with a warm nostalgia and a good feeling for the springs and summers to come.

With equal parts statistics and anecdote, the book is a well-balanced exploration into the most successful sports franchise in history. Peppered with wonderful photos (some that I had never seen before), this 400+ page book moves swiftly. The writing is respectful without becoming sentimental. And Paul O'Neill, who I will always remember as our favorite water-cooler kicking hothead, proves to be a sensitive and articulate commentator. Congratulations to both writers.

A YANKEE CENTURY is a great exploration into the Bronx Bombers, and by extension, to the history of 20th century baseball itself.

This N' That with Tony Mack:
BLACK ATHLETE SPORTS NETWORK

BOOK REVIEW: A YANKEE CENTURY\\
***************************************************************

BRISTOL, CONN---Earlier this year, you may have read a book review I wrote on the historic relationship between Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson. That book was penned by noted baseball writer and historian Harvey Frommer.

Prof. Frommer has since come out with another historic baseball book, this time about the sport's most celebrated franchise.

Frommer, who authored "The New York Yankee Encloypedia", has now penned "A Yankee Century: A Celebration of the First 100 Years of Baseball's Greatest Team".

Not only does Frommer give an oral history of the Pinstripes, but there are several rare photos of Yankee greats past and present.

From Babe Ruth to Derek Jeter, Lou Gehrig to Reggie Jackson, and all those in between, "A Yankee Century" is keepsake dream for fans of the Bronx Bombers and a nightmare for Yankee haters all over.

Even though this review is being written by a lifelong Met fan, I found this to be a very entertaining read.

One of the things that was enjoyable about the book is how Frommer has separate "Yankee Stories" on the well-known and lesser known ex-Yankees.

A humble Chris Chambliss talks about coming over from the lowly Cleveland Indians in a 1975 and then winning the pennant with a dramatic homer in the 1976 ALCS against the Royals.

Frommer also writes about the plight of Elston Howard, the first Black to play for the Yankees. His struggles on and off the field are chronicled along with a review of his very understated career as a player and coach.

The breathtaking and sometimes tumulous career of Reggie Jackson in pinstripes is also well chronicled. "Mr. October" had one of the greatest moments in Yankee history when he hit three homers in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series.

At the time, it gave the Yanks their first World Series title in 13 seasons and he would help them go back to the next season.

Among some of the other African American players that are featured in Prof. Frommer's book are Jeter, current third base coach and ex-captain Willie Randolph, Bernie Williams, and Hall of Famer Dave Winfield.

The book also includes a comprehensive trivia quiz, quotes, anecdotes, and other entertaining features for all baseball fans, Yankee or otherwise.

If you know a true Yankee fan, it's a great addition to their library.

If you know a true Yankee hater, this will be a best way to start an arguement.

BOOK REVIEW: A YANKEE CENTURY
By Tony McClean
BLACK ATHLETE SPORTS NETWORK

BRISTOL, CONN---Earlier this year, you may have read a book review I wrote on the historic relationship between Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson. That book was penned by noted baseball writer and historian Harvey Frommer.

Prof. Frommer has since come out with another historic baseball book, this time about the sport's most celebrated franchise.

Frommer, who authored "The New York Yankee Encloypedia", has now penned "A Yankee Century: A Celebration of the First 100 Years of Baseball's Greatest Team".

Not only does Frommer give an oral history of the Pinstripes, but there are several rare photos of Yankee greats past and present.

From Babe Ruth to Derek Jeter, Lou Gehrig to Reggie Jackson, and all those in between, "A Yankee Century" is keepsake dream for fans of the Bronx Bombers and a nightmare for Yankee haters all over.

Even though this review is being written by a lifelong Met fan, I found this to be a very entertaining read.

One of the things that was enjoyable about the book is how Frommer has separate "Yankee Stories" on the well-known and lesser known ex-Yankees.

A humble Chris Chambliss talks about coming over from the lowly Cleveland Indians in a 1975 and then winning the pennant with a dramatic homer in the 1976 ALCS against the Royals.

Frommer also writes about the plight of Elston Howard, the first Black to play for the Yankees. His struggles on and off the field are chronicled along with a review of his very understated career as a player and coach.

The breathtaking and sometimes tumulous career of Reggie Jackson in pinstripes is also well chronicled. "Mr. October" had one of the greatest moments in Yankee history when he hit three homers in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series.

At the time, it gave the Yanks their first World Series title in 13 seasons and he would help them go back to the next season.

Among some of the other African American players that are featured in Prof. Frommer's book are Jeter, current third base coach and ex-captain Willie Randolph, Bernie Williams, and Hall of Famer Dave Winfield.

The book also includes a comprehensive trivia quiz, quotes, anecdotes, and other entertaining features for all baseball fans, Yankee or otherwise.

If you know a true Yankee fan, it's a great addition to their library.

If you know a true Yankee hater, this will be a best way to start an arguement.

As the wife of a homebrewer, I often pretended to listen to my husband's dreams of one day starting his own brewery. After five years of pretending, I realized he was serious when he handed me Beer School and said, "If you're ever going to get on board, you've got to read this book." As a medical professional, the idea of reading a "business" book made me yawn. To my surprise, I couldn't put it down. I felt as if Tom and Steve were sitting across the table, telling me their story over dinner. Their honesty was both eye-opening and inspiring. I learned so much from Beer School and enjoyed every second of it. Reading this book gives you a good idea of how difficult it is to be successful in starting and running your own business, all the while making you feel like you can do it.
BTW-after reading Beer School, I finally got on board with my husband....founder of Tallgrass Brewing Company!

I've no great interest in the brewery business, but I do enjoy well-written, instructive tales of entrepreneurship. 'Beer School' definitely falls into that category. One-time journalist and co-founder Steve Hindry can really write. No surprise there. The pleasant surprise is that ex-banker and fellow co-founder Tom Potter's chapters are just as enjoyable. Like their beer, the chapters go down smooth. The arrangement of the book makes it clear who's written what parts - the chapters are given names that start with either "Steve Tells..." or "Tom Tells...". Where Steve has written a chapter, we get Tom's viewpoint with "Tom Weighs In," and vice-versa. Sounds sort of clunky, but it's well executed by the co-authors. They clearly worked very closely in shaping a final, cohesive product. As a result, the format works well.

What drew me to the book originally was the forward by Mike Bloomberg. His endorsement is good enough for me.

Great, inspirational reading. If you're thinking about starting a microbrewery or brewpub read this first. Their no-holds barred approach puts a candid entrepreneurial perspective on their endeavour.

By nature, I am not a "reader"... I have a large stack of books that I've picked up over the years to pacify me while traveling. Most still have their respective airline ticket stubs safely marking the spot where I left off reading. So yes, it's a tad ironic that I'm now leaving a book review here... However, I read this cover-to-cover in two (long) evenings (that alone will tell anyone that knows me that this was a really good book!) so I'm at least qualified to comment on THIS one.

I've homebrewed for a couple of years and am in the early stages of investigating the feasibility of trying to make a living out of brewing. The story in the book really struck close to home for me... My potential partner and I work in fields that really couldn't be further from the brewing industry, much like the authors. While I know that the odds are against us, it was refreshing to read a story of someone that took a swing at it and hit a home run.

The book is by no means a step-by-step business plan for starting a brewery. It is much more a story of the trials and tribulations that faced them as they progressed from a crazy dream to a crazy success. It's a story about partnership. It's a story about taking a leap of faith. So don't purchase it expecting a step-by-step recipe for you to go out and quit your day job, but do purchase it and expect a general high-level look at starting a brewery, some good general business ideas that you may not have thought of, and a good story to tie it all together.

I found it to be a very honest, open story... The authors take turns writing chapters, and there were at least a couple of times that they were so honest that I caught myself thinking "Jeez, I'm pretty sure that the other guy's going to read this... Are you sure you wanted to say that?!" As you progress through the book though, you learn that this is just the relationship that they've built over the years... Very honest and open with one another whether it is good news or bad. I think that reading about the partnership was really one of the biggest take-aways that I got out of the book, but it certainly has more to offer than that.

In summary, I really enjoyed this book and would have no issues whatsoever giving it a very high recommendation for anyone that is considering starting ANY new business, brewery or not.

I just finished Beer School and thoroughly enjoyed it. As a beer lover, and a fan of Brooklyn Brewery's products, I enjoyed learning about how the beer came to life, as well as the birth (rebirth?) of craft brewing in the United States. Mayor Bloomberg was right in the introduction, the book will make you thirsty.

As for the business aspect, I teach high school economics and intend to use some examples cited in Beer School to illustrate my lessons. If I taught on the college level, this book would be one of the required readings. It is a great example of entrepreneurship, economies of scale, marketing, start-ups, and business plans.

This is quite possibly the best book I have ever read. Thought provoking, emotional, and exciting, the author draws the reader into a world that could easily be the real future. Cat's unique point of view illustrates the universe in such amazing clarity that his pain and wonder is completely tangible. He's moved from street rat to university student forced to do the dirty work for a huge conglomerate and each word of his experience resonates.

This second installment of the Cat books was the first I'd ever read from this author, all because I took a chance on a book in a library give away box. It's one of the most amazing treasures I've ever found.

"Catspaw" is a MUCH better book than its prequel, "Psion." As with "Psion," I don't care much for its theme that humans, especially wealthy powerful ones, are evil. But, for "Catspaw," that's pretty much overridden by how well Vinge writes and by the tightness of the plot. About the only thing I didn't like in the book was the occasional lapse into unnecessary sexual details in about five different places. Other than that, this is a very well-written book that I highly recommend. If it weren't for the sense of loss a reader would suffer without having read "Psion," I'd suggest skipping that book entirely. Most of the necessary information comes out in this book. But, it's not complete until almost halfway through the book.

Whoah! I've read this book three or four times already! I love it so much. and Cat is just a great character you can just fall in love with him. I really hope others read this book too. i still haven't read the 1st or 3rd books to this series but i feel like i understand them perfectly. but i still really wish to read them. I've never liked a book quite this much.

I loved this book. I've read the entire series of the main character, Cat, but Catspaw I believe is best in the series. What's more, the book can stand alone. The unique writing kept me interested the entire journey, with the 1st person view of the main character, but his abilities to read minds lets you have the perspective of other characters in the book as well. I liked Cat's personality. He's real, with flaws, and fears, and yet does the right thing without being a do-gooder. Even the villians in the book seem real, and you can almost- but not quite- understand why they are the way they are.
This story encompasses Cat being pressed into service to be a body guard for a political member of the very government he hates. You get political intrigue, a hint of romance, and a splendid view of a futuristic world with a well thought out plot. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

This was the first book I'd read in this series, many years ago. At the time, I was more impressed with it than I probably would be now, because I didn't recognize that the world she was building was somewhat standard cyberpunk (never even heard of cyberpunk at that time). Therefore the world seemed more original to me than it actually is (also illustrating one of my standard ideas about genre fiction--if someone who has never experienced a genre before suddenly comes to it, the most hoary and ancient cliches of that genre will seem dazzlingly fresh and familiar).

However, though the world fascinated me, in the end, the real heart of the series are Vinge's characters. Cat, Lady Elnear, Argentyne, Jiro, are all wonderfully drawn, and Vinge portrays them with a great deal of heart and honesty; she plays fair with the reader. Good social commentary too, with a message that is both uplifting and sobering; she explores a theme I've seen other authors do as well but one that I think is quite profound, that human connections are necessary to allow human beings to succeed in the face of evil (Cat's bond with Argentyne and his link to Mikah are what enable him to ultimately succeed in his goal). I recently bought a copy of PSION and I'm working my way through it, eager to meet Jewel and some of Cat's earlier friends.

I found this book to be so very different from Dan Gregory's more recent publications. This is the first book he published, I believe. The drawings are marvelous and motivating. Once I read the story that accompanied his drawings, I enjoyed the book even more. It was a true journal and not just random drawings. The sketchbook may become a person's outlet in writing and drawing and well presented at the same time.

I was not expecting anything when I started this book...frankly, I'm not sure I remember ordering it. In any event, the parallels between this graphic memoir and my own life make this book read more like an answered prayer than merely another memoir.

I take that last part back. It's not just that the author's experiences mirror my own life that makes this book notable. Rather, it's that Gregory manages to capture his own HUMANITY...without resorting to irony or the manufactured self-deprecation that seems to plague the modern memoir that makes this book so notable. I mean, finally!, someone has managed to write an HONEST memoir, one that does not require an attorney's Release of the Facts as a prologue.

"Everyday Matters" reads like a private journal, without the pretention that comes when the author knows other folks'll be reading it. Gregory's sketches are likewise uninhibited and imperfect; together, the text and illustrations create a personal, intimate environment for the reader that is inviting and judgment-free; none of the "You shouldn't have looked (though I knew you would, so I gave you my best side)" business that is the meta-text of so many memoirs, but instead offers a reassuring, "Well, that's me, hair and all...what do you think?"

A thoughtful, generous gift from Gregory to his readers.

A very enjoyable read and inspirational. I went out purchased a sketch pad and started drawing after finishing the book!

This is a great book! I read it in an hour and a half. I enjoy knowing the process people take in order to deal with life's occasional hiccups that knock the world out from under you. It helps to know that you're not the only one sometimes. It's always a relief when the person works it out positively and thinks enough to want to share it with others. Thank you, Danny!

love it, love it, love it !!!!
a wonderful inspiring little book.
perfect smaller size (6"x8") to carry along with your sketchbook to keep you encouraged in your drawing.