Literature Books

I've read many books from self-help to Christian instruction. This book most definitely ranks at the top of my list for spiritual growth and also healing, both emotionally and spiritually. Leslie's devotion to serving the Lord is very apparent. That combined with her own personal experience has made this an invaluable tool for those seeking to really know the Lord better. It's a "best-seller" on my list! God Bless!

every since i started my aunt leslie's book, the truth principle, i have noticed changes in my life. this book also tells me a little more about my dad and his siblings' lives at home. (my dad is leslie's sister). i love this book and would recomend it to anyone.

Rarely will you find a book that helps you analyze the way you respond to struggles such as this. Leslie's process helps you rationally identify the way you respond to struggles and personal weaknesses and then use the truth of God's Word to change. This book is a helpful, hope-giver.

Rarely will you find a book that helps you analyze the way you respond to struggles such as this. Leslie's process helps you rationally identify the way you respond to struggles and personal weaknesses and then use the truth of God's Word to change. This book is a helpful, hope-giver.

This is a must-read book for peer counselors and for anyone in therapy or those who "should" be in therapy! Everyone has troubles and trials in life. But our response to them ... that's what gets us in trouble. Leslie Vernick has a wonderful writing style that shows how to look for the root of the problem and how to learn responses that are more affirming instead of destructive. Her gentle TRUTH principle approach is easy to remember and apply. I love this God-centered method of counseling/therapy/self-help and highly recommend it. I believe you'll find it to be a powerful gift in your life.

If there is a horse crazy youngster in your life, this book will enthrall them for hours. It is the true story of Vivi Malloy, who was shadowed by photographer Jill Krementz, and her show pony Penny. Vivi cares for her own pony at home, so readers get to see what goes into caring for a pony and learning to ride at a show level. When Vivi goes to a show, the reader is there, from the schooling ring to the awarding of ribbons. Vivi also outgrows Penny during this book, and has to move on to a larger pony and say goodbye to Penny. Many people in the horse show world read this book over and over when they were growing up (I was one of them!) and have now passed it on to their own children.

I read this book as a child so often that my copy fell apart. It was out of print for a while, but now it's back and it's wonderful! There is an update on the family and the horses. If you have a child or were a child that loves horses, you must have this book!

As a little girl growing up, I lived my life through the pages of this book and wished that I was as lucky as young Vivi Malloy. I would check this book out of the library as much as I could because it was the closest that I got to owning a horse (until my dream came true when I was 13). Despite being out of print, I was so happy when I found a copy of this book on eBay. For those who are still searching for this book, have no worry because it is finally back in print with an update on Vivi, Penny, and a few other people that are mentioned. George Morris lends a hand by writing a foreword to the newest edition. One statement he makes is so true when it comes to today's horse owners: "We also see Vivi grooming and exercising her pony Ready Penny, mucking out Penny's stall, and observing and learning from the pony's veterinarian and farrier. Such hands-on participation was all part of a rider's life in those days (but unfortunately less so today), and this book reminds us that it takes more than winning blue ribbons to become a complete horseman or horsewoman."

Never owned a horse, but got very intersted in horses in my early 20's and read TONS of books. 'A Very Young Rider' was one of my favorites. I own the book and several of the other 'very young' ones. Am amazed these books are out of print! :( Got curious reading these reviews about what happend to Vivi and did an internet search. Here is a wonderful story:
http://www.soresishowstables.com/press/ChronicleOfTheHorse-19May05.pdf

I am 38 years old and got this book for Christmas at about 10 years old. I, too, had a pony that I showed and loved dearly. I even started to wear my long, blonde hair in braids with lucky polkadot ribbons when I showed English. I ran home from school every day, waiting to get close enough to hear her whinny for me...I cried along with Vivi as I outgrew my precious pony, Boots, and moved on to a bigger horse. It still brings bittersweet tears to my eyes when I thumb through it! My dust cover is torn and worn and I was looking for a replacement book when I came upon this thread. This book, and all in the series, were wonderful stories of real-life people with real stories and experiences. With so much garbage thrown at our kids these days, it would be a shame to see this series disappear.

This is a cute story about duck detectives out to solve the case of the pilfered vegetables.

This is a well crafted book that even reads like the old show. I found it was easy to mimic Jack Webb's presentation. What is also cute is the incorporation of old children's fables for extra characters.

The artwork is fun and my girl liked to say the tag line "Dum de dum dum"

You can't go wrong with this one. I have had to read it couple times every day so far.

My son brought this book home from school. We read it over and over again. It was actually lots of fun to read! We loved it so much we're ordering our own copy!

I read this book to my five year old son tonight with my "Dragnet" voice and we laughed as the catchy Dum De Dum Dum was read. I decided to read it to my 8 year old daughter as well and she also loved the book and said we have to get it. I came back to my son's room down the hall where he should have been going off to sleep, and noticed at 8:53 the he was still up listening to me read the book to his sister, he liked it that much and now I am ordering it from Amazon this instant! Dum De Dum Dum Dum!

This was one of the funniest kids books I have ever read! It was hilarious and downright entertaining. It had my children and I excited about turning the page. I even called my 15 year old sister, read it to her and she loved it! Ms. Palatini should make this a series. I would buy every one!

Let's say you're a parent that loves nothing more in the entire world than to sit down and watch a little "Dragnet" on the telly. Now let's say you're that same parent, but you'd like to instill the wonders of Jack Webb in your little one. Enter Margie Palatini and Richard Egielski's, "The Web Files". More "dum de dum dum"s than you could shake a fist at.

Bill and Web (partners) are working the barnyard shift when they hear trouble ah-brewing. Someone's been pirating a peck of purple peppers (ready for pickeling). It's off to confront he usual suspects, when our heroes get a lead. In the end, you can rest assured that the dastardly villain will have met his just desserts and our brave ducktectives can work another day.

There are people who will buy this book, read it over and over, and love every minute of it. They'll revel in the exceedingly terrible puns that crop up with frightening regularity. They'll soak up the detective atmosphere (a combination of "Dragnet" and Ed McBain). They'll never get bored with this puppy, and that's all right. There really are some nice things in this book. Egielski's adept illustrations compliment the rising action, best displayed in a scene in which a variety of fairy tale characters hound the police precinct with tales of woe. I was especially taken with the third degree our heroes give a distraught Little Boy Blue.

As for myself, the aforementioned scenes are gold. But the puns.... lordy begordy the puns. Admittedly I have a low pun tolerance. If you can read the following sentence without twitching, then this is undoubtedly a good book to get: "A lot of squawking going on down in the coop area, Ducktective Web. Looks like fowl play. Report says feathers are flying. Chief says we should check out the chicks." You get the idea. I, personally, had problems with that sentence, but that's just me. Other people will adore this book. It does have some nice touches here and there and is chock full of enough movies and cop shows to bring a chuckle every other page. If you like a good rousing yarn and don't mind slightly painful text, this is the perfect book for a dark and rainy night. Hint: Have your kids hum the "Dragnet" closing music when the book's villain is tried and convicted. The book supplies all the "Dum de dum dum"s itself.

This is a wonderful children's book. The author and the artist are both wonderful. Mr. Auxier has a way of getting to children, about topics they usually don't want to listen to. This book is about smoking, he just has a way of getting through in a fun way to children!!

This book has a meaningful story to tell and really cool characters. Even the characters' names are full of meaning. It is a great blend of fantasy and reality. I've given it as gifts to many of the people I love and want to have in my life for many years to come.

What I like about Where Have All The Dragons Gone? is it is a good adventure book for someone to read.

Where are all of the reviewers gone, Because this book is great!!!! The book "Where Have all the Dragons Gone" teaches people a good lesson, and that's a very valuble lesson. Everyone should own this book. The lesson it teaches people is not to smoke!! It's a great book!!

The book WHERE HAVE ALL THE DRAGONS GONE? is a really good book to read. It teaches you not to smoke and why Komodo Dragons lost their ability to breathe fire. It also says why Komodo Dragons are so dark. The illustrator, Regina Daniels, is good too!

i bought this book for my aunt who is a single, middle-aged, jouyful southern woman. she is an exuberant believer in Jesus Christ who unfortunately doesn't know much of his world beyond the USA, and i thought this would be a good way for her to explore it while connecting (a word that is very near to her counselor's heart) with people.
i don't know how much she has read yet, but my sister and i devoured it in the few days that we had it. we came away from it feeling even more curious about life in different places and reminded of our privilege as women to live in a financially independent manner.
all in all, if you need an antidote to self, this book will help.

I read the Material World several years ago and I was excited to see that Peter and Faith had published a "sequel" of sorts for the book. Women in the Material World is fascinating, especially if you can review it side by side to the Material World. I thought the questions regarding love in their marriage and their expectations for their children were so interesting. I am very happy with my purchase of this book and I recommend it to anyone who is considering it.

A sequel to the authors' successful, "Material World: A Global Family Portrait," which interviewed 30 "statistically average" families from around the world and photographed them surrounded by all their worldly goods, "Women In The Material World," by Faith D'Aluisio and Peter Menzel, revisits 21 women from these families.

With interviews conducted by women over a period of days, even weeks, and 375 color photographs of women captured in their daily lives, this is an absorbing look into an overlooked world of marriage, women's work and families. From female circumcision to divorce, from finances to education, gender roles, work, and friends, women discuss every aspect of their lives - seemingly freely.

Two themes repeat through this largely agricultural world - women's work begins before dawn and ends long after dark and most women feel they have enough children - whatever that number may be.

This is a fascinating, captivating and beautiful volume, to be read, not just browsed.

This book is a superlative sequel to the early Material World by Peter Menzel. I have read the earlier book so many times that when this new volume came out, I bought it immediately sight unseen. In this book, Faith D'Aluisio revisits 19 of the 30 families featured in the Material World to find out about the women's lives.

The articles are organized alphabetically, together with short features on marriage, laundry, work, education, childcare, hair, food, water, and friends. At the back of the book, we find statistical charts about women, and a useful statistics glossary. Each article has an extended interview with the mother of the family that reveals parts of her life story as well as her attitudes towards topics such as marriage, child care, education, money, and possessions. The articles are of course filled with numerous color photos, large and small, of the women at work and with other family members.

The Material World itself is a monumental book, but it was hard to go back to it after reading this book, where we find that the details presented in the Material World were so incredibly superficial. For example, family life for Maria dos Anjos Ferrerira in Brazil or Carmen Balderas de Castillo in Mexico isn't nearly as rosy as one might guess from looking at their original smiling photos in the Material World. On the other hand, Zhanna Kapralova from Russia continues to be a survivor. No matter how much you learn from the Material World, it will be far eclipsed by this book with its extended interviews and additional photographs.

A companion to Material World: Portrait of the Global Family, this book is an incredible expose of the lives of typical, average women all over the world. I, as an American woman with everything I could ever possibly dream of, especially appreciate seeing how things may have different for me had God just decided to make me the girl child of a Vietnamese working family vs. my background. It really makes you take stock of your life, appreciate it, and feel blessed no matter what your circumstances may be. America is truly a wealthy and favored nation. Even our poor, compared with most of the countries in the world, are rich! We should all feel compelled to give back, not matter how much (or how little) we have. I've been giving this book to my friends for gifts (thank you, Amazon!) A MUST READ!

This was an extrordianry book...i fell in love with it..it gave me hopes and dreams about my crush..and how one day, he would soon fall in love with me...it showed me how cliques can hurt, and how much i used to love hanging out with my old friends, before i found my new ones...i just loved this book...

Wonder is about a seventh grader who goes from popular to loser over the summer. She tries to make it through the school year with no friends and her ex-best friend against her. She then shows SCANTA that she isn't bothered by their teasing and gets to be friends with them. Wonder was WONDERful and a very fun book to read.

Jessica and Shelia have been best friends since kindergarden, but everything changes on the first day of seventh grade.I would recommend this book to a girl in the fifth, sixth, or seventh grade. I would also recommend Wonder to a girl who likes to read books about two best friends. Since Shelia is now popular and Jessica is a social outcast, Jessica doesn't think she will ever have friends again. One day jessica becomes popular and shelia becomes the social outcast. The last reason i would recommend this book is because it teaches you a lesson. The lesson is always remmber who your true friends are.

I don't know how I would have survived junior high. "Wonder" is wonderful and an amazing portrait of a girl who goes through, just like most junior high girls, the junior high struggle of losing and gaining friends. I was like Jessica in sixth grade. I was short for twelve. My best friend had left me and I was alone in a world where people changed best friends as often as they did their clothes. I went through sixth grade feeling upset and out of place. Junior high is not an easy time, and that is a fact. In seventh grade, however, I had what Jessica happened to her happen to me. She made new friends and was glad with the fact; I made friends I would never trade with anything. She kept in touch with her old best friend Sheila, saying it'd take some time before they hung out together; I did the same with mine.

"Wonder" changed my life. Will it change yours?

This is my favorite book, and the situations in it are things that happen in real life. I found it easy to relate to some of the characters, and a lot of them reminded me of my friends.I loved the ending, and anyone with major problems at school or with friends should read this book to see that the situation could be much worse.

If you are interested in the history of the International Left in the first half of the 20th century or are a militant trying to understand some of the past lessons of our history concerning the communist response to various social and labor questions this book is for you. I have reviewed elsewhere Trotsky's writings published under the title The Left Opposition, 1923-1929 (in three volumes) dealing with Trotsky's internal political struggles for power inside the Russian Communist Party (and by extension, the political struggles inside the Communist International) in order to save the Russian Revolution. This book is part of a continuing series of volumes in English of his writings from his various points of external exile from 1929 up until his death in 1940. These volumes were published by the organization that James P. Cannon, early American Communist Party and later Trotskyist leader founded, the Socialist Workers Party, during the 1970's and 1980's. (Cannon's writings in support of Trotsky's work are reviewed elsewhere in this space). Look in the see all my reviews aection in this space for other related reviews on and by this important world communist leader.

After the political defeat of the various Trotsky-led Left Oppositions 1923 to 1929 by Stalin and his state and party bureaucracy he nevertheless found it far too dangerous to keep Trotsky in Moscow. He therefore had Trotsky placed in internal exile at Ata Alma in the Soviet Far East in 1928. Even that turned out to be too much for Stalin's tastes and in 1929 he arranged for the external exile of Trotsky to Turkey. Although Stalin probably rued the day that he did it this exile was the first of a number of places which Trotsky found himself in external exile. Other places included, France, Norway and, finally, Mexico where he was assassinated by a Stalinist agent in 1940. As these volumes, and many others from this period attest to, Trotsky continued to write on behalf of a revolutionary perspective. Damn, did he write. Some, including a few of his biographers, have argued that he should have given up the struggle, retired to who knows where, and acted the role of proper bourgeois writer or professor. Please! These volumes scream out against such a fate, despite the long odds against him and his efforts on behalf of international socialist revolution. Remember this is a revolutionary who had been through more exiles and prisons than one can count easily, held various positions of power and authority in the Soviet state and given the vicissitudes of his life could reasonably expect to return to power with a new revolutionary upsurge. Personally, I think Trotsky liked and was driven harder by the long odds.

The political prospects for socialist revolution in the period under discussion were, to say the least, rather bleak, or ultimately turned out that way. The post-World War I revolutionary upsurge has dissipated leaving Soviet Russia isolated. Various other promising revolutionary situations, most notably the aborted German revolution of 1923 that would have gone a long way to saving the Russian Revolution, had come to nought. In the period under discussion there is a real sense of defensiveness about the prospects for revolutionary change. The specter of fascism loomed heavily and we know at what cost to the international working class. The capitulation to fascism by the German Communist and Social Democratic Parties in 1933, the defeat of the heroic Austrian working class in 1934, the defeat in Spain in 1939, and the outlines of the impending Second World War colored all political prospects, not the least Trotsky's.

Organizationally, Trotsky developed two tactical orientations. The first was a continuation of the policy of the Left Opposition during the 1920's. The International Left Opposition as it cohered in 1930 still acted as an external and unjustly expelled faction of the official Communist parties and of the Communist International and oriented itself to winning militants from those organizations. After the debacle in Germany in 1933 a call for new national parties and a new, fourth, international became the organizational focus. Many of the volumes here contain letters, circulars, and manifestos around these orientations. The daunting struggle to create an international cadre and to gain some sort of mass base animate many of the writings collected in this series. Many of these pieces show Trotsky's unbending determination to make a breakthrough. That these effort were, ultimately, militarily defeated during the course of World War Two does not take away from the grandeur of the efforts. Hats off to Leon Trotsky.

As to the 1929-33 Supplement the reviewer recommends a careful reading of the following articles: Tactics in the USSR (on how the opposition should conduct its propaganda campaign toward the rank and file of the Russian Communist Party); Prospects of the Communist League of America (on the internal difficulties facing the leadership and how to keep it from wreaking the fragile organization in the `dog days' of its existence), Andreas Nin and Victor Serge (notes on two key Left Oppositionists who would later break ranks with Trotsky): On an Entry into the SAP (an important organizational article on the tactics of revolutionary regroupment with forces moving to the left of the Socialist and Communist Parties in Germany); and Trouble in the French Section (how the personal squabbles of a propaganda group paralyze a small organization).

This is a fascinating collection, well worth taking time to read and study. It's the first in a 14-volume collection of writings by Leon Trotsky, one of the central leaders of the 1917 Russian Revolution. This one has over 75 articles, letters and interviews written between February and December 1929.

This volume opens just as Trotsky was expelled from the Soviet Union by the bureaucratic misleaders headed by Joseph Stalin, who were increasingly fearful of any political debate in the country. Trotsky had been leading a political fight to reorient the Soviet Communist Party back to the revolutionary course it had followed in the early years of the revolution, before the death of V.I. Lenin. His writings here take up new developments in the Soviet Union, the challenges facing revolutionists -- especially clarifying their political perspectives and tasks under unexpected and difficult conditions, as well as major developments in world politics. Trotsky's dogged, realistic optimism in the possibility and necessity of working class victories and his determination to do all in his power to advance this struggle is really inspiring!

This volume contains lessons crucial for those committed to the goal of emancipating working people and oppressed nations.

The workers movement of that time was misled by parties - social democratic and fake communist -- which preferred imperialist "democracy" over workers revolution. This allowed fascism to triumph and, together with "democratic" imperialism, brought us the second world war which slaughtered tens of millions and included the U.S. - supposedly the most "democratic" imperialists - initiating the threat of human extinction with the nuclear bombing of Japan.

Trotsky explains how Lenin's program could have resulted in workers victories over capitalism all over Europe, as well as the overthrow of the murderous Stalin regime and the regeneration of the Soviet Union on a course of world revolution and workers democracy.

Studying Trotsky's writings today is timely as imperialism is again on the march toward fascism and war.

If you are interested in the history of the International Left in the first half of the 20th century or are a militant trying to understand some of the past lessons of our history concerning the communist response to various social and labor questions this book is for you. I have reviewed elsewhere Trotsky's writings published under the title The Left Opposition, 1923-1929 (in three volumes) dealing with Trotsky's internal political struggles for power inside the Russian Communist Party (and by extension, the political struggles inside the Communist International) in order to save the Russian Revolution. This book is part of a continuing series of volumes in English of his writings from his various points of external exile from 1929 up until his death in 1940. These volumes were published by the organization that James P. Cannon, early American Communist Party and later Trotskyist leader founded, the Socialist Workers Party, during the 1970's and 1980's. (Cannon's writings in support of Trotsky's work are reviewed elsewhere in this space). Look in the archives in this space for other related reviews on and by this important world communist leader.


After the political defeat of the various Trotsky-led Left Oppositions 1923 to 1929 by Stalin and his state and party bureaucracy he nevertheless found it far too dangerous to keep Trotsky in Moscow. He therefore had Trotsky placed in internal exile at Ata Alma in the Soviet Far East in 1928. Even that turned out to be too much for Stalin's tastes and in 1929 he arranged for the external exile of Trotsky to Turkey. Although Stalin probably rued the day that he did it this exile was the first of a number of places which Trotsky found himself in external exile. Other places included, France, Norway and, finally, Mexico where he was assassinated by a Stalinist agent in 1940. As these volumes, and many others from this period attest to, Trotsky continued to write on behalf of a revolutionary perspective. Damn, did he write. Some, including a few of his biographers, have argued that he should have given up the struggle, retired to who knows where, and acted the role of proper bourgeois writer or professor. Please! These volumes scream out against such a fate, despite the long odds against him and his efforts on behalf of international socialist revolution. Remember this is a revolutionary who had been through more exiles and prisons than one can count easily, held various positions of power and authority in the Soviet state and given the vicissitudes of his life could reasonably expect to return to power with a new revolutionary upsurge. Personally, I think Trotsky liked and was driven harder by the long odds.

The political prospects for socialist revolution in the period under discussion are, to say the least, rather bleak, or ultimately turned out that way. The post-World War I revolutionary upsurge has dissipated leaving Soviet Russia isolated. Various other promising revolutionary situations, most notably the aborted German revolution of 1923 that would have gone a long way to saving the Russian Revolution, had come to nought. In the period under discussion there is a real sense of defensiveness about the prospects for revolutionary change. The specter of fascism loomed heavily and we know at what cost to the international working class. The capitulation to fascism by the German Communist and Social Democratic Parties in 1933, the defeat of the heroic Austrian working class in 1934, the defeat in Spain in 1939, and the outlines of the impending Second World War colored all political prospects, not the least Trotsky's.

Organizationally, Trotsky developed two tactical orientations. The first was a continuation of the policy of the Left Opposition during the 1920's. The International Left Opposition as it cohered in 1930 still acted as an external and unjustly expelled faction of the official Communist parties and of the Communist International and oriented itself to winning militants from those organizations. After the debacle in Germany in 1933 a call for new national parties and a new, fourth, international became the organizational focus. Many of the volumes here contain letters, circulars, and manifestos around these orientations. The daunting struggle to create an international cadre and to gain some sort of mass base animate many of the writings collected in this series. Many of these pieces show Trotsky's unbending determination to make a breakthrough. That these effort were, ultimately, militarily defeated during the course of World War Two does not take away from the grandeur of the efforts. Hats off to Leon Trotsky.

This is one of a 14-volume series of writings by Leon Trotsky, who along with V.I. Lenin was a central leader of the 1917 Russian Revolution. These volumes cover the years 1929-1940, when Trotsky led the political fight world-wide to maintain the continuity of Bolshevik's revolutionary perspective and leadership against the reactionary policies imposed by the Stalinist regime in the Soviet Union. Reading Trotsky carefully, one can learn a lot about history and about today's world, as well as how to apply Marxist methods to orient oneself for working-class political action.

This volume includes more than 100 articles and letters. They cover topics ranging from the economic depression and the rising inter-imperialist tensions leading to World War II, to the Stalinist frame-up trials in the Soviet Union, the Spanish Civil War, and detailed leadership questions posed in workers movements in different countries at the time. These volumes are lively, pointed and have extensive notes and chronologies to aid the reader today.

I'd also recommend some other titles written by Trotsky at this time, including The History of the Russian Revolution, The Fight Against Fascism in Germany, Trade Unions in the Epoch of Imperialist Decay, and The Transitional Program for Socialist Revolution, all available from the same publisher, Pathfinder Press.

Many years ago, I read Winds of War and War and Remembrance. I enjoyed them very much, but for whatever reason, never pursued other Wouk works. After having read Youngblood Hawke, I will certainly remedy that mistake.

Youngblood Hawke is an outstanding period piece which weaves together many of the historical events of the 50s against the backdrop of the publishing and Hollywood entertainment industries. Hawke, from the small town coal country of Eastern Kentucky, rises from complete obscurity to the pinnacle of success in his field. Despite this success, Hawke is always on the razor's edge, financially, emotionally, physically and professionally. Numerous highly entertaining plot lines involving his business associates, his love interests and his family inject suspense and keep the story freash and moving in the right direction.

Two particular story lines were of particular interest to me; the Congressional hearings involving Communism in the entertainment industry and the confiscatory income tax policy prevalent during the period. Both were very effectively presented as major impediments to the artistic endeavors of Hawke and his literary compatriots. The gymnastics and gyrations undertaken by Hawke to avoid what was then a top tax rate of 90% provide some of the most interesting material in the novel.

All in all, an extremely entertaining and thought provoking novel. I highly recommend it.

After reading The Hope, The Glory and The Caine Mutiny, I was ready to be entertained. However, the extent of enjoyment I would receive from Youngblood Hawke was underestimated. Wouk's unique storytelling draws you into the book as if you are with Hawke when he is writing, visiting his hometown, wooing his women, or absorbing the glitter of Hollywood and New York. I was dreading the last page, I just didn't want the tale of this colorful writer to end. When I did close the book, I felt I was saying farewell to Hawke and his many close acquaintances. I knew them well - what they wore, how they talked and how they felt. Wouk is magnificent.

Having seen two screen adaptations of Wouk's novels,("Caine Mutiny"/"Youngblood Hawke") before reading him, I come to a review with mixed feelings. This is no Gatsby, but does rival "Peyton Place" in its graphic depiction of the Puritanical 50's. If you can imagine James Franciscus as Hawke,you will realize how far off Hollywood was in its early 60's treatment of this fine textbook to those who labor in the craft of writing. In my view, Hawke comes close to being a combination of Wolfe and Norman Mailer. Although not a masterpiece to me, it is valuable as a bible for aspiring writers. The warnings are there: the hangers-on, the barracudas and the crazies circle to swallow you whole. The proper attitude is to labor for the love of writing, the rest can follow.He had the talent, the courage and the stamina to produce enduring work. And against all odds, he achieved his dream. Like Wouk (or Hawke), they both spent considerable time with the classic novelists, before attempting to rise.As we've seen in the publishing empire recently, editors have thrown out guidelines, to anticipate the next "find." Next to the biography of "Max Perkins," I would place this book as most inspiring for writers.It slows in just a few places unnecessarily reaching for another foreign scrape that perhaps a Fitzgerald would have fallen into.Engrossing, informative and entertaining for the most part.

I read years ago Herman Wouk's Winds of War and War and Remembrance. I just loved those books. I came upon Youngbood Hawke by accident and thought I would give the big book a try. I wish the book were longer.

If you love to read, if you love the era of early 20th century America, if you love a great story, if you love intricate character development, New York and Hollywood this is the book for you.

This book is up there with Ayn Rand and Dorothy Sayers.

"Masterpiece" is not a word I use lightly. In fact, when it comes to literature, I reserve it for no more than four or five novels. YOUNGBLOOD HAWKE definitely belongs in the category of masterpieces---a masterpiece of writing by Wouk, a masterpiece of depicting the rise and fall of a country bumpkin who achieves the height of literary success in New York City, a masterpiece of secondary character development, a masterpiece of depicting America's artistic circle in the mid-twentieth century.

Arthur Youngblood Hawke hails from a small coal-mining town in Kentucky. Not content to become a part of the local industry, he recognizes his natural talent as a story-teller and, armed only with his boxes of typed manuscript, walks into a publishing house in New York City in 1946. From there the story follows his life as a writer and as a man who loves two women and is desired by three. If you are a writer or a person who likes to read about the writing experience, this book offers, like none other I have ever read, a searing picture of the blood, sweat, and tears it takes to become a writer and remain true to your craft. Wouk does not paint a pretty picture, but he does paint a realistic one. Youngblood Hawke sees his novels adapted to movies and Broadway plays, and the reader becomes privy to the inner workings of Hollywood agents and brokers.

This is also a love story---a story of a young man's adulterous fascination with a queen of New York society, his relationship with the husky-voiced editor he loves but can never possess, his love for his mother that never falters even when she is driving him to distraction with her real estate schemes.

And tying all this together is Herman Wouk writing at the top of his form, creating characters that make us love them, anguish with them, cry with them, and never forget them. In fact, the last 100 pages are perhaps the most riveting and heart-breaking I have ever read. This is truly a magnificent work of epic proportions, a work which some say is loosely based on the life of heralded writer Thomas Wolfe. Whether this is true or not, the one truth I took from this work came from the character of Jeanne Green when she says, ". . . there will never be another Youngblood Hawke,"

I got this book back when I was in love with youngest group member, Zac, when we were 12 yrs old. It has lots and lots o' facts on this pint sized drummer, but now hes about 15 yrs old, and has changed a lot! so hopefully theyll make another Zac attack! besides all of the great info, this has a 16 page (front & Back) color photo insert and black and white photos throughout!

Like I said you gotta love him!! I bought this book and finished it in one day because I couldn't put it down. I just loved all the tests,Quzzies, and all the facts. I would reccomend this book to human Beings not Aliens O.K

Hey there Hanson fans! This book is totally awesome! I love the pix in it! The info is also a little bit different too! There are 16, yes 16 pix inside!!!! Is that cool or what? This author is AWESOME for a unautherized writer!

~Soni

P.S. This book rocked!!!! It also had funny stories about Zac and his bros!

I want to say thank you to everyone who brought this book. And I expecally want to thank the Scream Squad. Without your support we would never of gotten this far. So I just want to say thank you to all of the fans, and the fans parnents who have gotten dragged to our concerts. Thanks once more to the Scream Squad. We love you all.

Hey there Hanson fanz! This book rocked! I'm surprised that the author didn't even interview Zac herself! I love the pix and the quiz in it to see if you're the type for Zac. Very well written! There may be a tinie tiny bit of false info, but still cool!

As Zac once Said: "'Peace, Love, Happiness, and Bullet-Proof Marshmellows!!"

Have not read this book yet, but I did receive it on time. Very happy about that.

I purchased this book for my daughter so she can read that anything is possible if you truly believe no matter who you are. We are now Big Grace fans !!!

I got the book as a gift for my grand daughter who likes to draw. The vivid colors and expressions on the characters faces should keep her interested for a while. The story line is an added bonus.

I liked this story because Grace can be Peter Pan if she put her mind to it. My favorite part is after the ballet. I would recommend this book to a friend because its about your imaginery. The book is amazing.

By: S.J.
Los Angeles
Age 5

This is a great story with a great message. It tells children there are no limits to what they can be. It tells children not to be deterred by sterotypes or opinions. You can be anything you set your mind to. I bought copies for both my son and my niece.