Washington Books

KEVIN AND HIS MOTHER ARE VERY SICK PEOPLE. THIS BOOK HAS ME LOOKING OVER MY SHOULDER AT NIGHT WHEN I AM OUT AND ABOUT. VERY GOOD READ!

Thank your for the speedy delivery of the book.

This true story is a chilling reminder that we live in a world stranger than fiction. I could not put this book down. If you want to look into the world of the psychopath, this is the book for you.

Today is August 15. I am a "book-a-holic", 98% of the time non-fiction. In clearing out my massive collection of books a week ago, I stumbled across a 500 page hard copy with no dust jacket I had gotten at a garage sale. I almost tossed it before checking the contents and am beyond glad I didn't. I started reading SON when I got home from my second shift job that night. It was 4 a.m. before I felt it fall out of my hands and drop onto the floor. This was repeated for about 6 nights; the time it took me to read this book. It is lengthy, thorough with no wasted fillers. Before work today I decided to hop on line to see if I could find out if Fred Coe (Kevin) is still alive, where is he, etc. Imagine my shock (there are no coincidences in life...I keep forgetting that) when I found a site advising September 6, 2006 he is up for release.
That is about three weeks from today. How timely. I am really glad I found this book on my shelf, read it immediately and now will watch for the outcome of this horrible story. I am almost 60 and an avid reader and true crime books are at the top of my list. Ann Rule, in my eyes, has always been THE BEST.
This book is right up there with Ann Rule's quality of writing and expertise. The reader is "right there" as best as one can be and, of course, with this book, that puts the reader RIGHT THERE when they wish not to be. There are lessons to be learned from this tragedy. All I can say is, read this book as fast as you can. Order it used on Amazon - I see there are many hard copy as well as paperback available. Then, sit back and tune in to Court TV or Prime Time or one of the Court/News channels the first week in September. I know I will be.

SON is the type of book that you never forget. As you read, you keep thinking that surely it's fiction and remind yourself that there is a man, a real man alive today, that lived this nightmare. He endured unspeakable verbal abuse but, when he reached a point of no longer being able to "hang in there," he retaliated against his monster mother in the only way he knew how. If I sound sympathetic toward SON, I am up to a point. I am certainly sickened by his dreadful crimes, but he was a psychopath and he did all that he knew to do to block out the reality of his bizarre relationship with his parents. You can draw your own conclusion by reading this incredible book. When the book was made into a "made for tv movie" I didn't think any movie could do the book justice, but it did. The book became even more real after watching Dale Midhoff as SON and Elizabeth Montgomery as his insane mother. If you ever see it listed, don't miss it. All of Jack Olson's books are extremely well-written and always fascinating, but SON is the best.

I have not read the book. I caught the movie last night, It wasa fabulous film, so serene and peaceful. I dozed off for minute, not out of boredom, but out of athe peaceful refreshing feeling it gave me.

It left me waiting and wondering if there was ging to be a wedding, when I saw gim make it back after speaking to Little Barry on the bus.

I bought this book after seeing the Hallmark movie on T.V. which I throughly enjoyed. The movie was much like the book, with minor differences. Of course, the book had more details that explained the characters better. I'm not a fishing enthusiast, however, it was an interesting theme. I'm always looking for an appropriate book for my teenagers. There is one "PG-13" paragraph in the book where the main character, Noah, thinks back about a girl he use to know. Aside from this, it's a very "clean" book.

It's oft been said,that there are only two types of novels. One,"A Man went on a Journey" and two, "A Stranger Came to Town" This beautiful story is of the second type.
This is the first novel of Terry Kay's that I've read;and it leaves me wanting to read more.I have a fondness for earthy novels of the American South.I never get enough of Erskine Caldwell,William Faulkner,Steinbeck,Twain, and recently,Melinda Haynes,and now I've found another in Terry Kay. If you like reading about these "Salt of the Earth" people being written about with a great command of feeling,description,understanding,love and compassion;you'll love this book.
As you read this story,you will feel you are among these people,experienceing all their hopes,trials,happiness,sorrow and experiences. When you finish the story ,you feel that you would love to visit the place where all this took place,meet some of the people and maybe even "toss in a line" ;or even spend a little time with the author. Too bad, but 1948 is a long time ago,everything has changed in 60 years; so we have to be content with the writings of authors such as Terry Kay;and be thankful for them.
He has crafted a haunting story,filled with wonderful characters and writes lines that make you appreciate the thoughts that generally one marches past without appreciating.
A man wanders into town,stays a brief time and leaves the town and people changed forever.I can only imagine the sequels that Kay could write in follow up to Noah in his future travels,what a character!
When I read a book ,I take notes of great lines ,and this book is full of them. Here are a few of my favorite among many;

"He's like a politician. Wants what he wants,but wants somebody to
give it to him."

"..and the talk would spread like a flash fire in a field of dry
grass..."

"People like Noah made their way through life on tiptoes,afraid of
being heard,or seen,she believed."

"One day,she wanted to see such places,to eat the fruits of history off
the tress that carried them."

"Having a man in the kitchen was like having a donkey at a dance."

"They'd all been living on hope,waiting on some kind of miracle, but
they all knew it was hope that rested on quicksand."

And how about this one?

"You're gonna make a great ghost when you die",Moody said.
"Why's that? Taylor asked.
"You so easy to see through," Moody told him.

This book is a real treasure.

This book is delightful. Terry Kay slowly and deliberately draws a tale that seems to be primarily about fishing, but is actually a story of the effect people have on each other and about life itself. A gifted fisherman comes into a small southern community and forever changes it and everyone in it. This book was a very satisfying read.

Fantastic imagery. Interesting, yet melancholy story set in a pituresque time and place. I highly recommend it!

I cannot say anything bad about this book! WHAT THE SHADOW TOLD ME is clever and irreverent. Engaging characters take you on a wonderful ride while at the same time poking the publishing industry in the eye.

With the embedded screenplay it is also a two-fer the price of one, an excellent value. Cameo's by such notable icons as Satchel Paige and David Hasselhoff too!

Buy it, borrow it, beg for or steal it-this is a must read!

I couldn't put it down. Very funny. My favorites things in the book were (don't worry, this will give nothing away!): the Baby Bomber; all the names; the Biminim re-translations; Rufus' letter at the funeral; the character of Timm Clifton; the haikus; the clocks; the old propaganda film; Henry David Monroe; and Christians Against Kwanzaa. Sign me up.

WHAT THE SHADOW TOLD ME by Kurtis Davidson, the writing team of Kurt Jose Ayau and David Rachels, begins when Rufus Walter Eddison, America's greatest African-American writer, dies suddenly. His editor, Justina Patterson, is left scrambling to find the manuscript to his second novel before an unscrupulous senior editor at her publishing company can generate a fake to be passed off as the work of the dead genius. Justina has been brought up to revere the famed author, as has all of America and most of the world. The only problem is he wrote his great American novel in 1951 and for forty-eight years has failed to deliver the manuscript of the sequel as he was under contract to do. Eddison was so paranoid that his second novel wouldn't live up to the world's expectations that he never even wrote a grocery list after that. Or so it seemed. Justina has to find his book or face grim alternatives: seeing Eddison's elderly widow, the sweet Maisy May, impoverished because she has to pay back the large advance the publishing company paid Eddison years before or allowing her publisher to perpetrate a literary fraud in the name of book sales.

In the effort to locate the lost manuscript, Justina meets a wide assortment of hilarious characters, which are well-developed and unique in their voices. Among them is Biminim Strimpoonanamam, an Asian man with an unpronounceable name and nearly unintelligible English. Biminim translates novels from English to another foreign language to English for people who speak English as a second language. The result is outrageous translations of great literary works in Pidgin English that border on the racist, but land on the side of just plain funny.

Ayau and Rachels as Kurtis Davidson have written a story that takes humorous stabs at the publishing industry, sports, music, the rural South, academia, and literature, in general. Most of the characters in this story are African-American, but the theme is so universal in its appeal that it doesn't feel weird that two white guys wrote this novel. WHAT THE SHADOW TOLD ME is clever and satirical. It is the winner of the 2003 Faulkner Society of New Orleans Award.

Reviewed by Kim Anderson Ray
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

Who would think that in a city of 8 million people (and those living in Monrovia) there would be a tight knit group that would all be touched in a big way by the hunt for a phantom manuscript? Learn of the secret (and not so secret) lives of all involved. With a celebrity list a mile long, penned in cameos include; Olga Korbut, Susan Dey, John Lennon, Tammy Faye Bakker, David Hasselhoff, Satchel Paige and Adolph Hitler. Follow Justina on her mad search while she is "on vacation" for the jewel of a famous black writer's career. After reading this I felt I was back at the magic kingdom riding my favorite ride mesmerized by all the children singing, "it's a small world after all". I haven't read that much in one sitting since I read to my son Melville's "Moby Dick" and he wouldn't let me stop until the exciting part was over. Thanks guy's! It sure was wild,

Blake

I *loved* this book. Couldn't put it down, even though I had deadlines. I laughed my ass off the whole way through, and I found myself caring about the characters. I hope KD will consider writing a Biminim Strimpoonanamam spin-off novel. You'd be crazy not to read this.-Torin Alter

This is a big book, full of candid photographs of some of the rawest moments in punk rock history in DC. Anyone who is interested in the history of the scene, especially Dischord, should be able to appreciate how extensive this collection of words and images is, and will enjoy the sense of urgency and life it conveys.

Without a doubt, this book is the best around on punk and hardcore. Banned in DC was put out long ago, about at the height of the infatuation with Dischord, just as that DC scene was beginning to shun itself and others, in a way.

But this collection of b/w photos is amazing. Simple and smart, the pix capture the essence of the scene, including the bands and the people. Because this music is best experienced live, the photos do it justice unlike words can.

Anyone into punk, hardcore or indie music needs to have this book. Unlike many British and 70's NY or LA punk books, Banned in DC means something to anyone who grew up on 80's and 9's underground music.

This book rocks! I feel so lucky to have grown up in the area during this time skating and listening to these legendary bands that helped pioneer and shape the domestic punk rock scene. That time in my life had such a great influence on who I am today. In what was normally a stuffy conservative area, the DC punk scene was a culture of it's own that forced me to think outside the box. I have long since left the area for the west coast, but I will never forget that time and all the great shows I saw at the 9:30. This book really helps bring those memories back to life.

I've had this book for years! I even found three pictures that have me in them!

It's a collection of photos that could be submitted after the fact - because of that, the photos were of people and bands that were around the photographer/submitter - thus the limited perspective that some reviewers commented on.

I don't think that the people taking the pictures had planned to publish something of this magnitude, and try to make a documentary of it, but the stories and pictures of people that I remember make it worthwhile. Some of these people are still very influential in the music scene.

If you want to get a feel for what it was like during the late 70's and into the 80's in the DC punk scene, this book is invaluable.

These rare photos are amazing. Cynthia Connelly's simple high-contrast black-and-whites were ubiquitous while growing up in the DC area, and for good reason--she is an awe-inspiring artist and master of her craft. The only thing that's disappointing about this book is that it features her boyfriend Ian's record label and both of their dischord-scene friends a little TOO prominently. There were (and still are)so many other bands and people doing things in DC--NOT just Dischord--many of the other small labels, promoters, and bands who maybe weren't accepted by the 'Dischordites' are ignored and as such, dismissed here. Too bad. This is a one-sided view of a very multi-dimensional, thriving musical scene.

With the backdrop of the emerging black middle-class in segregated Washington, D.C., during World War II, author Brad Snyder tells the compelling story of two baseball clubs and the push to integrate one professional league.

There is Homestead Grays founder Cum Posey, who is looking to relocate his franchise from Pittsburgh before the start of the 1940 season. And there is Clark Griffith, owner of the pathetic Washington Senators, who can briefly shuffle aside his racism for a business deal that will bring a new revenue stream to his bank account when the team is playing away from Griffith Stadium.

This initial tenuous partnership delivered a surprise to Griffith; the Grays exemplary play on the field found them outdrawing the cellar-dwelling Senators and galvanizing a new generation of baseball fans. That success - even with onerous stadium leases common when NLB teams played in facilities used by Major League Baseball clubs - helped propel the integration of MLB in 1947.

The era is also seen through legendary sportswriters Sam Lacy & Wendell Smith, Buck Leonard - the greatest pro first baseman - and in the offices of MLB, especially the Senators.

Griffith - who certainly could have worked out some type of agreement with the Grays for players to bolster the Senators before the Dodgers signed Robinson - was only a pioneer in segregation, integrating his team seven years after Robinson's debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers and ultimately fleeing Washington, D.C., relocating his team to the whiter Minneapolis-St. Paul market.

With the success of Robinson came the slow disintegration of NLB - the league that was truly integrated on the field, in the stands and in the front offices - as MLB teams raided the club rosters for established stars and began scouting & signing younger players to contracts.

Snyder has brought this forgotten period beyond the shadows of the simplistic retelling of the past that plagues all levels American history.

Let me be clear, this is a great book, rather than just a very good one. In nine chapters, plus an introduction and conclusion, Washington, D.C., based attorney turned writer has told the powerful and sometimes provocative story of how the Homestead Grays moved to Washington, D.C., and set the stage for the breaking down of the color line in Major League Baseball (MLB). In this important book Brad Snyder moves beyond the singular actions of Branch Rickey's Brooklyn Dodgers and Jackie Robinson, which most people are familiar with, to explore the broader implications of race relations in baseball during the 1940s.

In telling this story, "Beyond the Shadow of the Senators" is filled with heroes and villains. The most significant hero is unquestionably Sam Lacy, a black writer with the "Washington Tribune," a weekly oriented toward D.C.'s large African American community, who consistently called for the desegregation of MLB. Also heroic are the great stars of the Negro Leagues, especially Buck Leonard, Satchel Paige, and Josh Gibson, all of whom came to Washington to play before large crowds in the nation's capital. They demonstrated through their exploits the quality of talent in the Negro leagues, especially when juxtaposed against the hapless play of the Washington Senators of the American League. The villains include Clark Griffith, the financially strapped owner of the Senators whose willingness to rent Griffith Stadium to the Grays proved lucrative, and Grays owner Cumberland Posey who shifted his team from the Pittsburgh area to Washington to cater to the large middle-class African American community in Washington. Both Griffith and Posey had every reason to keep the segregated system intact because of the money they made. Moreover, Griffith was a blatant racist who integrated reluctantly and eventually moved the Senators from Washington to Minneapolis-St. Paul because, as he said in 1978, "you've got good, hardworking white people here" (p. 289).

Ranging broadly from social history to baseball and back, Snyder captures the essence of the history of the Senators, the Grays, and wartime Washington's racial situation. It is a story of love and hate at the same time, as well as the quest for dignity of the minority population in a divided city. "Beyond the Shadow of the Senators" is a powerful book. Enjoy.

Brad is an excellent researcher and writer. This book is not only enjoyable but educational. I met Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe and Lester Lockett, two former Negro League players, a few years ago and their stories started my interest. Brad fed that interest beautifully. I look forward to Brad's next book on Curt Flood and the reserve clause. His attention to detail is consistent with his legal background.

Tim Moreland, PhD
Salisbury, NC

"Beyond the Shadow of the Senators'' is a must read for any serious student of baseball history. The author put a massive amount of research into this engaging account, of which I knew nothing even though I grew up in Washington not long after these events took place. This is an outstanding work in every regard. I have never met the author and I am not an African-American (not that anybody should care); I am just a fan of baseball and its history. If you are, too: Read this book.

This is a great, and true-to-life (i.e., "complex") story about the institution of 'Negro' League baseball and the various parties who profited and railed against it.

Key people that are introduced and brought to life are:
Buck Leonard, Satchel Paige, and Josh Gibson -- three of the greatest ballplayers who ever lived;
Clark Griffith -- the pioneering, penurious and controlling owner of the Washington Senators;
Sam Lacy -- the ahead-of-his-time, DC-native who tirelessly advocated for the integration of Major League Baseball; as well as
Cum(berland) Posey -- the shrewd owner of the Homestead Grays -- the dominant team of the loosely confederated Negro Leagues during the late 30's and 40's.

Tangential to this story are:
the decimation of the post 1933 Senators, mostly due to finances and an inadequate ballpark;
the relative prosperity of Washington DC during the years of the depression and WWII and the partial equality of African-American government workers that led to a vibrant culture and ability to spend on entertainment;
the move by Posey and his "partner" (many of the Negro League baseball teams were financed by numbers entreprenuers) to Washington from their Pittsburgh home and the welcome of their rental payments and gate pctgs. by Clark Griffith;
Judge Landis' death, the increasing awareness of America's incongruity in its fight for freedom and democracy in Europe while maintaining a virtual apartheid culture at home; and
the greed/opportunity of baseball owners to find the best talent at the lowest price which ultimately led to Rickey's "great experiment");

This book also fleshes out the background and conflict around Jackie Robinson, who was rightly judged to be a great man and the right vehicle for Rickey's efforst, and the shared opinions that he was a good, but not all-time great Negro baseball player. [Check out how well a 42-yr old Satchel Paige pitched for the World Championship Indians in 1948.]

The shifts in attitude between "separate but equal" and complete integration by the various parties reveal primarily self-interest. Judged by the standards of our time, I share many others' great respect for Sam Lacy and his tireless, moral advocacy and feel sorry for the Negro League baseball owners who were mostly left with nothing as they rarely had enforceable contracts that protected their relationship with their players.

Clark Griffith was an "innovator" in attracting inexpensive talent from Cuba. Many of these players represented themselves well on the ballfield but would only be acceptable if they were of "Spanish" descent.

Utterly inconceivable now, but the norm for over 60 years (since Cap Anson helped institute the "gentleman's agreement" against employment of African Americans in the early 1880's) was to allow a Major or Minor League ballclup to employ pretty much anyone (Swedes, Germans, Irish, Italians, Jews, etc.) anyone, except African-Americans.

It has often been discussed that without Jackie Robinson (& the parts played by Branch Rickey, Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese, Ben Chapman, etc.) the 1954 "Brown vs. Board of Education" decision would not have happened as quickly.

This book provides a wonderful companion story to the integration of major league baseball which, in my opinion, is one of the most significant stories of 20th Century United States.

Always celebrated for its beautiful evocative setting in Portofino, THE ENCHANTED APRIL has also to some extent been dismissed as a sentimental trifle. It is not: for all its surface charm, it is also one of the most searching fictional works ever written on the nature of goodness, and its effects upon selfishness and acquisitiveness. Two Hampstead housewives, Rose Arbuthnot and Lottie Hawkins, advertise for two other women to share in the costs so that they may rent an Italian castle for the month of April and escape their loveless lives; when they and the other two women (the dazzling Lady Caroline Dester and the rigid bluestocking Mrs. Fisher) arrive at the spectacularly lovely castle, they begin to discover that not only have their spirits been refreshed but also that their value systems have changed through what amounts to the dispensation of the castle of a kind of secularized grace. Elizabeth von Arnim accomplishes this very probing study of modern British mores through the very subtle and unobtrusive psychological realist use of extended interior monologues. The result is a novel that is not only completely beguiling but actually quite thoughtful. A greatly underappreciated little gem.

In the spirit of the Bronte sisters, this novel delights and entrances. An enjoyable read.

Wonderful! I could read the book and watch the movie over and over! Treat yourself to a vacation in an Italian paradise with real characters and a physical beauty you could reach out and touch. Von Arnim makes this simple plot so magical and warm it makes you want to visit San Salvatore too!

Just got through watching the wonderful movie; not as wonderful as the book, but very good. Have now read this book at least three or four times, and still adore it every time. Has to rank as one of my all-time favorite books. Must rent an Italian castle on the western Mediterranean coast some day. The writing is so witty, and warm, the story so imaginative, the moral so wise. Love is all; just to love, not expecting anything in return. It opens people up. Lotty, Rose, Lady Caroline, and Mrs. Fisher all live in these pages. And the gardens, the flowers, the utter beauty of San Salvatore. The author quite obviously loves flowers. Even the servants are clearly drawn, Francesca and Domenico. Lotty becomes a truly original character. Love, love, love this book!

Well, you've already heard about the story. Just wanted to add that the characters were so real, it was as if I were really there with them. A wonderful turn of events at the end. Caught me off guard. Very enjoyable. Beautiful writing. Now I've got to rent the movie.

From the moment I first picked up this book, I had the hardest time putting it down. So many times I thought I'd read a couple of pages but then I would still be reading a couple of hours later. Chandra Prasad's On Borrowed Wings is one of the best books I've read in a very long time. I loved Adele, the main character who attends Yale disguised as her deceased brother. From making friends, giving reading lessons in her very little free time, and defining herself in an all male ivy league university, I found myself rooting for her all the way. I hope there will be a sequel or even a movie made from this book!!!!

The year is 1936. In the small town of Stony Creek there lives a family of four. There is the mother, a washer woman who used to be a privileged daughter of a professor until she married the father, an Italian quarry man. They had two children, a boy, Charles, and a daughter, Adele.

Charles is the apple of his mother's eye and is being groomed to go to Yale on scholarship. Adele is her father's favorite and her mom is preparing her to be the wife of a quarry man and a laundress. The problem is that Adele is smarter than her brother.

This would have been the path that they would have taken except that Charles and his father are killed in a quarry accident. Adele then disguises herself as a boy and takes Charles's place at the all-male college of Yale. Once there, Adele has to adapt to being a boy, take on a eugenics professor who is trying to prove that all immigrants are unintelligent, and try to be an average freshman in college.

She befriends three other boys and an Italian family that almost adopts her. She proves to be very brave and spunky. There is also a visit by Emelia Earhart to the college, which is a wonderful scene.

I absolutely loved this book. The main characters of Adele and her mother, Gertie, are interesting and many-layered. It left me wanting more. I want to know how Adele becomes Adele again. If she finds love with the rascally Wick. Does she ever reunite with her mother and her mother's family? How will World War two affect the lives of these characters? Believe me, you'll want to know, too!

Reviewed by: Marta Morrison

Have you ever fallen in love with a book so deeply that you wanted to keep it and read it again and again? Maybe this is a normal occurrence for you, not so for me. I am a love `em and leave `em reader. Once the last page is read, I am on to my next conquest. That was until I read "On Borrowed Wings".

This book moved me beyond words. I'll admit, I was a bit surprised. The book is unpretentious. But when you read the pages, this matches to perfection with the main character, Adele Pierta.

The author places the reader in the middle of the character's quandary, which is to marry a quarryman. In the 1930s, the little town of Stony Creek had three classes of people. There were the cottagers, who were rich vacationers that visit the little Connecticut town from May to August. There were the townsmen, the town's merchants and businessmen. And last were the quarrymen. They worked twelve hour days, six days a week mining granite.

Adele's mother had once been a cottager. But when she married a quarryman, her family disowned her. This rejection drove her mother to educate Adele's brother so that he'd have chance to go to college and not end up a quarryman. Adele's father insisted both his children be educated, but there weren't many opportunities for women.

The same day Charles, Adele's brother, receives an acceptance letter to Yale, a freak mining accident takes his life along with their father. Rather than be forced into an early marriage, she changes her appearance to look like a man and goes to Yale in Charles's place.

"On Borrowed Wings", so appropriately titled, is the story of Adele's first year at Yale. She transforms from a shy, wispy girl into a force to be reckoned with. It's a true treasure of a book!

What a fabulous book! I was very enraptured with Adele Pietra's story. She was a very likable and believable character and Ms. Prasad drew you into her psyche very easily. You were always left wondering what would happen next and how Adele would handle the next situation. It was definitley a page turner! I was left wanting a sequel!

maybe it's just me, but whenever i walk into a bookstore lately, it seems like the majority of female authors are either rehashing history (i.e.The Other Boleyn Girl) or wallowing in crass 21st-century consumerism (i.e. Shoe Addicts Anonymous). how refreshing, then, to read "on borrowed wings." chandra prasad uses a vivid historical setting to tell a story that is fundamentally unique, despite the long literary tradition of gender-swapping tales; she creates characters and moments that will continue to live in your mind long after you've finished the book.

in fact, your first thought upon reading the final sentence will be to wonder whether ms. prasad plans to continue adele's story in a subsequent book, and to hope that she does.

with its insightful handling of difficult themes and its sensitive depiction of late adolescence, this book would be an excellent choice for high school english classes.

I was totally humbled by this book. If it could be made manitory reading for all.....they should pass a law. You will not be the same after reading this book.

A suggested read for anyone (emphasis). Through the essays, abridged novels, and interviews, one can gather a personal and philosophical history of MLK, a summary of the civil rights movement, and a greater understanding of life and religion (which are inextricably attached really). I particularly appreciated the notion that civil rights was really about human rights on a global scale. He oft points out that poor whites, Latinos, and Asians, faced the same issues in the U. S. and across the globe.

A central theme is the principles of nonviolent resistance, which are essentially (if properly understood) unbiased and unwavering compassion and respect for (all) human life. I believe this is the single greatest area of failure in our current society. The book has entrenched that position further, with a deepened understanding of what it means, where the problems have exhibited themselves, and how we might improve upon the situation.

I must say as a native Alabamian and habitant of Birmingham for almost 10 years, the book has particular relevance to me. However, the history chronicled within is the history of man and is therefore applicable to everyone.

As a Hispanic-American increasingly involved in speaking out about social issues and looking for inspiration, I stumbed upon this incredible book.

I have since learned to love the writings and speeches of Doctor Martin Luther King. They are mighty and powerful and beautifully crafted. Biblical in their content and style, they are tremendously moving. They simplify the complicated and elevate the important!

His words ring out as loud and clear today as they did some forty years ago. For example, in one of his last and most radical speeches, "Where Do We Go From Here?" Doctor King exhorted:

"Let us go out with a 'divine dissatisfaction!

Let us be dissatisfied until America will no longer have a high blood pressure of Creeds and an anemia of Deeds!

Let us be dissatisfied until the tragic walls that separate the outer city of wealth and comfort from the inner city of poverty and dispair shall be crushed by the battering rams of the forces of justice!

Let us be dissatisfied until those that life on the outskirts of hope are brought into the metropolis of daily security!

Let us be dissatisfied until slums are cast into the junk heaps of history and every family is living in a decent sanitary home!"

This book is recommended for anyone looking for wisdom and inspiration and wishing to learn more about Doctor Martin Luther King and America's civil rights movement.

Buy it! Read it! And get involved in the battle for social justice for all Americans.

Yesterday, the 40th anniversary of MLK's assassination, I spent the better part of the day thumbing through A Testment of Hope. The book is an old friend of mine. I've read and reread it for nearly twenty years now, both privately and with students in at least a dozen classes.

What I like so much about editor James Washington's collection is its comprehensiveness. In a single volume, one finds MLK's thoughts on nonviolence, civil rights and integration, the Vietnam War and poverty, Christianity and social responsibility, and justice and morality. His ideas are conveyed here through essays, sermons, interviews, and lengthy, meaty excerpts from his five books. Everything that one could want is here, including what I personally take to be his very best work: "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" (1963), "Love, Law, and Civil Disobedience" (1961), "A Christmas Sermon on Peace" (1967), "A Time to Break Silence" (1967), the "I Have a Dream" speech (1961), and Stride Toward Freedom's masterful discussion of the tactics and principles of nonviolence (1958).

Today, four decades after his death, the country is still struggling to grow into MLK's vision of reconciliation and nonviolence. One can only imagine how sad he would be at the post-9/11 turn toward militarism the nation has taken, the current wave of sentiment against Latino immigrants, the constant economic disparity between white households and African American ones, or the upswing in hate crimes against Muslims. In re-reading A Testament of Hope, I was reminded yet again of how very much we need a present-day prophet of King's caliber, vision, and courage, and of how very grateful I am that we once had King himself.
________
* "And I submit that the individual who disobeys the law, whose conscience tells him it is unjust and who is willing to accept the penalty by staying in jail until that law is altered, is expressing at the moment the very highest respect for law." From "Love, Law, and Civil Disobedience," p. 49.

Martin Luther King Jr. the great American Civil Rights leader was a voice not only for black people in the United States, but for Mankind as a whole. He dreamed but he did not dream for black people alone but for every single American, and every single human being. Essentially his message was one of hope.
He was perhaps the most powerful speaker the United States had in the twentieth century. His 'I have a dream' speech on the Mall in Washington at the height of the Civil Rights movements was a call for and affirmation of human dignity and freedom.
He spoke in the language and rhythms of the Bible.
In his Nobel Prize Speech he articulated his faith in nonviolence as a means for human liberation. While it might be possible to question the validity of the non- violent option when confronting the most ruthless forms of totalitarian Evil it nonetheless is tribute to the spirit of King's deep Christian faith that he so passionately preached the 'non- violent doctrine'.
This book is a testimony to one of the truly great Americans of the twentieth - century. A man who by his example , by his deeds, ( And his words too are great deeds) gave hope and freedom to so many.
This work could not be recommended more highly.

i read this cover to cover in one sitting- great anecdotes, tips, philosophies, photos, wine info, and recipes.
tom's book is as good as his restaurants. i LOVE this book.

Now I may be biased because I live in Seattle but there is not a recipe in this book which is not simply perfect. I have tried about 10 recipes including the crab cakes, blueberry coffee cake, Short Ribs with Rosemary white beans and the Lobster and Shiitake Potstickers and not had a bad one yet.

All the recipies are pretty easy to make, use simple fresh ingredients and usually recommend a wine to pair with it. These are not always the types of recipes that you want to whip up in 10 mins when you get home from work but for a weekend dinner where you have 1/2 hr or more to cook, you will be well rewarded. There is definitely a seafood bias for this which is fine with me. In the middle of the book are about 10 pages of pictures of many of the dishes.

I have lots of cookbooks with several good recipes but never one with so many winners and absolutely no losers. I have been to 2 of Tom's restaurants in Seattle but this makes me want to cook at home.

It has taken me awhile to write a review for this book due to the fact that I have been testing as many recipes as possible and while in Seattle compared the restaurant version with the home version. The verdict is: Get the book.

The recipes are very easily done in a standard home kitchen and they are the recipes of the restaurants in question. If there is a flavor difference it is easily explained by the author such as, the restaurant version of the salmon rub uses smoked paprike (very hard to get) while the home uses the sweet variety.

The book reflects a deep love of Seattle and is informative in a chatty way. I think though, for the Asian food information sections you may want a little more depth with Bruce Cost's book on Asian ingredients. For the experienced cook this is a great book to have on the shelf showing a fusion of traditional and international influences in the menu.

For those looking for soemthing in between a beginner's and a hardcore pro level this book is excellent. People at my various parties and catering gigs have loved the food prepared from this book and it has achieved the status of favorite on the shelf. It is approachable in tone, style and technique. It is also helpful that he provides a supplier section for those hard to get items like kazu.

The fish section maybe a no go for some people due to freshness issues but the section on grilling/barbecuing is nice and the dry brine method for roast chicken was very reliable. All the side dishes were easily done as well with a standard grocery store available.

Recommended highly and I look forward to his next work.

This was a gift to my husband, but has only been opened twice. The recipes look somewhat interesting, but the ingredients are not generally available to most areas. It would be helpful in a coastal area where FRESH seafood was more readily available AND was more cost-effective to use. We are intrigued by some entrees, but again, most are not user-friendly (or kid- friendly) which is important in our busy home! I good gift for the hobby gourmet, not useful in everyday life...at least not in our busy (and filled with picky kids) home!

I have owned my copy of Seattle Kitchen for over a year now, as do two of the other families on our block. We regularly get together for dinner parties and inevitably, one of Tom Douglas' dishes shows up on the menu. Although many if not most of the recipes are time-consuming (much chopping, sauteeing, carmelizing, etc. is involved) they are all worth it in the end as long as you are a patient person who enjoys cooking. This is not a good beginner's cookbook! The sweet butternut soup with thyme creme fraiche is beyond compare and I make it all fall and winter long. The lobster and shrimp potstickers with sake sauce take a long time to make but are simply divine (I have learned to make huge batches and freeze them for later when I need an appetizer.) Pair them with the sweet-and-sour red cabbage for an impressive presentation. I just made Etta's cornbread pudding last night for the first time after visiting Seattle and eating it at the restaurant a few weeks ago, and I have to say mine was just as good if not better since it was fresh out of the oven. It was inhaled at the dinner party and it prompted me to get online now to order Tom's other cookbook. I find that sometimes the ingredients are difficult to hunt down here in Montana, but I usually find most of what I need, or at least an acceptable substitute. I just wish there were more photographs of the beautiful food. I look forward to trying many more of Tom's recipes.

I first heard of this book from a quick blurb on Sirius OutQ. I am fascinated with male strippers, so I knew I had to get this book. I rushed to work and ordered it the second I got online. The book arrived within a few days and I read it from cover to cover in no time flat. This was the most entertaining book I have read in a long time. Craig Seymour writes this book in such a way that you feel like you are right there with him, going through everything with him. It is like reading a graphic novel without the pictures. Every chapter tells another story and you don't want the book to end. As someone who missed the male stripper era in Washington DC, this book made me feel like I was there, but made me wish I was there even more! Told honestly and frankly, Craig leaves nothing out. He should be commended for a job well done. I recommend this to anyone who wants to be entertained. I give it my highest marks!

I found the book to be extremely engaging. It answered a lot of suspicions I had harbored for decades. We finally get the truth as to why Matt Drudge and Andrew Sullivan have been such close friends and the part that African-American men play in that bond. Absolutely riveting!

A no-holds-barred look into a part of Washington DC that never gets mentioned when discussing our nation's capitol in high school, All I Could Bare is as revealing as the title suggests. As a shaker of rump--all in the name of academic pursuits of course--Seymour uses his humor and wit to chronicle how stripping and other brief forays into sex work made him the confident, successful journalist he is today. Inspiring and totally entertaining, All I Could Bare is a must read and speaks to the daredevil in all of us; gay, straight or other.

Memoir fans---and anyone who likes a good story---rejoice. "All I Could Bare" offers an intriguing glimpse into a most unusual coming-of-age story. Craig Seymour's tell-all, bare-all tale shows readers of all persuasions how courage and confidence can be sought, and occasionally found, in the most unexpected places.

At a time when memoirists and memoir itself have fallen under suspicion due to recent scandals, Seymour's candor is refreshing and admirable. His commitment to telling it as it was, even when that means portraying himself in a less-than-flattering light, allows readers to relate to his fallibility and humanity and reminds us of the good things that happen when we meet a writer we can trust.

Seymour's story makes great summer reading, a funny and pleasurable trip through one gay man's perilous journey to find himself, overcome his insecurities...and make a few bucks. Yet the book and the man are also unexpectedly inspirational. Seymour captures the challenges and setbacks, the humor and triumphs, of our common search for the choices in our lives that take us from who we are to who we want to be.

P.S. I was lucky enough to hear Seymour read in Atlanta, an hour and a half from my home. The trip would have been worth it at twice the distance and even twice the price of gas. Seymour is an exceptionally charming, funny, engaging speaker and this was one of the best readings I've attended. If he comes to a bookstore near (or not so near) you, don't miss him!

Diane Miller, author of Freedom to Differ: The Shaping of the Gay and Lesbian Struggle for Civil Rights

On the surface, Craig Seymour's "All I Could Bare," is simply a coming-of-age chronicle of his adventures as a gay stripper in the late 80's and early 90's, in the notorious, no-holds-barred gay nightclubs of downtown Washington, D.C., a scene which had flourished in plain sight for more than two decades. The book briefly traces the neighborhood's historical development and notoriety as a gay mecca and offers up some interesting, if not entirely original, composites of characters. These range from (gay and "straight") chiseled poster boys--who gleefully profited from the attentions (and the hefty tips) of their rapturous admirers--to the largely diverse and self-aware crowd of "sugar daddies" who avidly sought, paid for and indulged in sexual fantasies elsewhere denied them.

But "All I Could Bare" is actually a time-honored search for self, identity, a sense of place and community, the quest to make sense of it all. Unlike the controversial author John Rechy, Seymour is not a nihilist: He inevitably manages to wean himself from the nightclubs (though never quite entirely), gradually morphing into a skillful entertainment journalist and, later still, forging a successful career in academia (Rechy also parlayed his vast experience as a gay hustler into a profitable academic sideline). All told, Seymour's journey is a bona fide--albeit improbable-- success story told with a great sense of humor and insight.

For all its merits, however, the memoir is not faultless. Despite his frankness, Seymour is pathologically selfish, as when he describes the painful break-up of a long-term relationship and scarcely pauses to acknowledge the shattering effect that his obsession with stripping had on his partner. I also wish Seymour had been more forthcoming about the minefield of race relations within the gay community. As a Black man light enough to pass as Latino or "other" than Black, Seymour himself appears to have been exclusively attracted to Whites. For all his self-examination, he offers little to explain his obvious compulsion to seek White (beauty-standard) validation--something that no amount of nurturing from his attentive Black family could assuage. Moreover, his tendency to skim over the persistent problem of gay racism begs the question of whether he would have had such a rewarding run as a stripper if he had not often been assumed to be any other nationality. Indeed, a less amiable writer might have challenged or at least pondered this unsavory aspect of the culture more deeply. These foibles matter, especially in a book that literally and figuratively proclaims full-frontal disclosure. And yet in all other aspects, "All I Could Bare" feels authentic and true. The book is so engrossing that I could not put it down, and it took only a few hours to read. For better or worse, this is one memoir that offers a relatively sunny tour of a very peculiar fun-house that is never less than fascinating.