West Virginia Books

I picked up this book after reading about William Hoffman in _The Washington Post Magazine_. The description of his career and his numerous achievements and awards made me hopeful that I would enjoy a work by an articulate, thoughtful writer. Unfortunately, this was not the case. While I can understand why Mr. Hoffman is considered a regional writer, I found his characterization of the region void of color and his characters wooden and unbelievable -- and I live here! Worse, I knew what the "answer" to the mystery was well before his characters did, a sign that a writer is either not pacing his work well (the case here; this moved slower than molasses on a January morning) or is not so much interested in his readers as he may be in his own words. This book felt like a long series of happenings: this happened and then this happened next and then this happened after that. Boring. A writer once wrote that writers need to be able to murder their "darling" words; Mr. Hoffman should have taken the axe to many of his. I was unable to finish reading the novel and switched to an audio book -- a format from which, if the narrator is talented enough, even the most mediocre books benefit -- and still found it a slow, painful, and plodding business. I would suspect that Mr. Hoffman's reputation rests on works better than this, but I think it will be awhile befor I give him another shot.

I picked up Tidewater Blood because of the article about mid-list writers in the Washington Post. I, too, am a writer, although not nearly as published. I know all too well the difficulty of Mr. Hoffman's struggle. It's a shame because he's a good writer and Tidewater Blood is a good book.

It's refreshing to read a contemporary novel that builds the plot by use of clean descriptions and strong dialogue while at the same time moving the story forward. Writing well is one thing, and having a story to tell is another. It's nice when you find that rare book that does both (unlike some bestsellers I could mention).

The only problem I had with the story was the frequency of Mr. LeBlanc being rescued by good samaritans. I don't know if I'd be so quick to help out a homeless fugitive, but Mr. LeBlanc repeatedly received food, clothes and shelter from strangers.

I hope Mr. Hoffman continues to publish more novels. I hope he continues to rage against the machine. I know I will.

Everything about this book was interesting. I especially liked what Charles LeBlanc did to survive while he was being hunted. And, survival seemed to be a key element in this story. The circumstances surrounding the murders were quite unique here also, definitely worth the wait to the end. I highly recommend Tidewater Blood.

Pulse pounding suspense and lyrical affirmations of setting are not at all antithetic in William Hoffman's extraordinary 11th novel, Tidewater Blood. An explosive opening crackles into a mesmerizing tale of treachery and revenge, as a hunted man seeks to save himself by probing his haunted past. Set in the bountifully vernal Virginia countryside and the craggy cliffs of West Virginia's coal mining area, here is Southern exposure with a sharp Southern twist.

The patrician LeBlanc clan, proudly descended from gentrified Huguenot stock, gathers annually to celebrate themselves. On this, their 250th anniversary, they have again dressed in antebellum costume to share an opulent feast on the plantation mansion's portico - a meal never tasted as the porch suddenly explodes killing the eldest son and his family.

Immediately suspect is Charley LeBlanc, the family's miscreant son. A dishonorably discharged Vietnam veteran and former resident of Leavenworth, Charley has seceded from civilization, foraging for food near the makeshift he inhabits on a Chesapeake Bay inlet.

Brought in by the police who try to coerce a confession from him, Charley is reluctantly represented by a young court appointed attorney. When it becomes clear that he may pay for crimes he did not commit, one of the scruffiest, most emotionally scarred, yet deeply affecting heroes in contemporary fiction takes off to find the real killer.

During the ensuing odyssey, with the law nipping hungrily at his heels, Charley relies on his war taught skills: "I'd learned to nest keeping part of myself alert - an outer fringe of consciousness that sensed movement and alien sounds in darkness." His quest takes him to the mountainous West Virginia coal mining area, to a nearly abandoned town where his father oversaw a mining operation during World War II.

While Mr. Hoffman's narrative skills are abundant his character definition is superb. We meet an aged, independent backwoods woman, the memorable Aunt Jessie Arbuckle, who has a reason to help Charley. "Had seven children, all gone and spread to the four winds, " she tells him. "The last I heard from was Jacob, the youngest. Lives in Seattle and sent me a Christmas present, a GE toaster, and I got no electric. You chew?"

There is Blackie, the "he done me wrong" disfigured honky-tonk proprietress, another of life's secessionists. "I tell you one thing," she vows, "I don't use the word love no more." Add a grizzled mountain hermit who lives by stealing copper rigging, and a host of others, cinematic cameos all.

As Charley solves conundrum after conundrum to reveal the real killer, he also unearths some long buried secrets about the aristocratic LeBlancs and about himself.

Praiseworthy in every respect, this harrowing adventure captures readers with the opening page and holds them spellbound until the closing sentence. To call this tale a first-rate thriller isn't enough; to deem the author's prose splendid does not do it justice. Tidewater Blood is an exemplary achievement, one that may bring Mr. Hoffman the popular recognition he so patently deserves.

- Gail Cooke

This book served as my introduction to the talented Mr. Hoffman, and a fine introduction it was. The south is everywhere in this book, from the spare, elegant physical descriptions of places and things, to the clipped, almost abbreviated speech of the characters.

How Charles LeBlanc-a character as close to a hermit as one can get-is accused of murdering a large chunk of his estranged family and manages, through native intelligence and dogged determination, to vindicate himself makes for wonderful reading. I literally couldn't put this novel down, and carried it everywhere with me until it was done. William Hoffman is a fine writer; there isn't one extraneous word in this book. And aside from learning some interesting facts about Virginia, I also found out about a large number of wild-growing things, both animal and vegetable, that one might eat in order to survive.

This is a very worthwhile novel, offering insights into alienation, anger and the need of some for wide-open spaces. I look forward with enormous anticipation to reading his other books.

This is one of my favorite novels. I love how it examines the quiet, domestic, emotional interior lives of characters and subject matter that are usually sensationalized. The sentences sparkle, not a word out of place. Stunningly poetic and visual. I loved the characters. It would make an excellent movie.

This is not the literary page-turner that the inside jacket suggests. This was juat an ok book. I'm still not sure if it was worth reading. The book starts off very slow and didn't pick up until the second half. Then there's just too much going on with everything being crammed into part two. There isn't enough dialogue between the characters. Just a bunch of insight into their thoughts. The ending wasn't too great either. A really great book that has a simalar plot is The Crimson Petal and The White by Michael Faber. I suggest that you read that before The Madam if at all.

Everything I've loved in Baggott's other novels, Girl Talk and The Miss America Family--is here, but with a sense of place and time that draws you in from page one. There's the wild, off-kilter characters, desperation brimming just under deliberately tough exteriors, the family flung apart by circumstance and reconstituted into something altogether new, unexpected and yet exactly as it should be. The language is lush and evocative--as another reviewer said, you can tell a poet is at work here (Baggott's This Country of Mothers is an award-winning book of poetry and a must-read), but it's completely to serve the story, which culminates in a tense and powerful scene of a family saving itself. Baggott has taken on new territory here and made it her own.

I had never read anything by Julianna Baggott prior to my unfortunate encounter with The Madam. I certainly won't bother with anything else she's written. I find it appalling that a writer who, according to information on the book jacket, has written both prose and poetry for various reputable publications, not only has a generally poor grasp of English grammar, but is unaware that "noisome" means "putrid" or "malodorous," and not "noisy," which is what, based on the context in which the word appears, Baggott clearly assumed it meant. And did anyone bother to PROOFREAD this book for such malapropisms--as well as its numerous grammatical inaccuracies? If the usage in this novel is a reflection of what is happening generally to the English language, then we are in serious trouble. Prose like this is, as far as I am concerned, unreadable by a truly literate public.

This story of a Madam in 1930's West Virginia has a meandering plot and poorly developed characters, except for maybe Alma. The story behind Alma is not that well developed, and the setting and story are not particularly evocative. I was rather disappointed.

I read this mainly to gain a little more insight into Virginia Woolf-the-person because of an essay I was writing on "To the Lighthouse." It didn't really provide me with the biographical detail or psychological penetration I was craving - but then, I doubt that was Nicolson's intent. Instead he offers a curiously airy yet affectionate series of character sketches, a handful of priceless anecdotes and some incidental musings, all of which amounts to an entertaining reflection on Woolf's life and personality but actually makes her more mysterious and unknowable in certain ways. It's memoir vs biography, I guess; Nicolson tends to regard Woolf from the point of view of a bemused bystander, fond of her but not overly engaged with her - but at the same time, he feels no need to make much sense of her suicide, for instance. He just dips in and out of what interests him, not striving for deeper meaning or cogency when it does not suit him, and this makes it a dissatisfying book for someone not already well acquainted with Woolf's biography.

That said, this is an enjoyable read. Nicolson is supremely English, in quite a charming way - his prose is coolly elegant with an occasional flash of wit or moment of restrained warmth, and he never declares anything outright, just insinuates or suggests (not unlike Woolf herself). His attitude to his subject is both touchingly and infuriatingly respectful. I think he was so terrified of being scurrilous, of exploiting his position as Vita Sackville-West's son, that this book comes off as over-polite, over-careful; he whets our interest but refuses to supply the goods. It's a pity, because he really does have an unique perspective.
Still, I reccommend it. It's a quick read, and a nice way to spend an afternoon.

This is really a great book, written with such love from a man who truly knew Ms Woolf.

If you want to know about Ms Woolf I highly recommend this book.

In this "Penguin Life" Nigel Nicolson provides a balanced, affectionate and eloquent introduction to the life of Virginia Woolf. Nicolson provides us with the major events, the major players, the family background, and Bloomsbury. He also introduces the reader to some of the controversies (e.g., the extent and effect of her sexual abuse by her half-brothers.) The picture that emerges is one of a brilliant and complex woman -- difficult, loving, deeply insightful, wrong-headed, sympathetic, prickly, loyal, jealous, witty, snobbish, and liberal.

Nicholson is an editor of Woolf's letters and the son of Vita Sackville-West, with whom Virginia Woolf had an affair. Nicolson's having known and liked Virginia Woolf adds a personal touch without compromising objectivity.

Nigel Nicolson is uniquely qualified to write a brief biography of Virginia Woolf. First, he is one of the most important caretakers of her written work, having edited her letters for publication. Second, as a small boy, he actually knew Virginia Woolf. Third, his mother was Vita Sackville-West, one of the major figures in Virginia's life, the object of her affections, one of her closest friends, and the basis for the main character in ORLANDO. This could well be, in fact, one of the last books written about Virginia Woolf by someone who actually knew her.

Perhaps as a result of his unusual connection with her, this biography has an aura of the real Virginia Woolf that many do not. As Nicolson puts it early on, while for many she was "Woolf," for him he was always "Virginia." He knew her before she was the icon she was later to become. Auden said of Yeats that upon his death "he became his admirers," and Woolf has certainly undergone a similar transformation, and frequently books deal one her deal not with who she was, but who they need her to be. Nicolson's portrait is a remarkably rich and concrete one, a splendid portrait of an amazingly gifted and complex individual. He captures her gift for friendship and kindness along with her need to sometimes hurt others with her words. He deals with her openness to love between men or women along with her near dread of actual sexual involvement with either (indeed, most biographies point up the fact that while she had several romantic attachments, her sex life was nonetheless almost nonexistent). He contrasts her feminism with her restricted view of how far women's rights should extend (she was never able to break out of her class bound views on the lower classes) with her apathy to politics in general. He makes vivid her huge capacity for enjoying life while invoking the struggles she underwent to stay sane enough to do so. He also provides a sympathetic portrait of her marriage to Leonard Woolf, who was simultaneously her biggest supporter, her caretaker and nurse, and greatest devotee. If Leonard sometimes emerges as a bit codependent, one can forgive him because he seemed capable of giving a great deal while still producing a prodigious amount of work himself. They seemed, improbably, to have a remarkably good marriage, given her mental problems.

Nicolson also provides good insight into Virginia's struggles with mental health, even making her suicide seem less an act of despair than an insistence on ending life when it still was more or less sane (she killed herself largely because she thought she was about to go insane again, was about to succumb to the hallucinations that had plagued her on more than one occasion in the past, with one difference: she was convinced that if she became insane again, she would not reemerge from it again as she had in the past). Her's was a suicide not of despair but of a fear of losing her humanity.

I have to state that I find the comments by one the previous reviewers (Rebekah) absolutely incomprehensible. The complaint is made that Nicolson criticized Woolf's feminism and was guilty of a "macho attitude." These are absolutely stunning complaints, since one of the very mild criticisms that Nicolson makes through the work is that instead of being a liberal, Virginia was actually fairly tied to her class, that she did hold to views of women's suffrage, but only for women of the upper middle class. One will search in vain in his pages for views of the kind that she allots to him. It is true that he wants to correct views that do not take an accurate view of her feminism, views that do not see how deeply she was rooted in a particular class. The only rational reading of the book and Nicolson's position is that he seems disappointed that she did not take her feminist beliefs far enough and that she was not as a whole especially interested in politics. Besides, it is exceedingly odd to accuse the offspring of a lesbian mother and a gay father as being "old-fashioned." Again, Nicolson absolutely nowhere either by word or by intimation criticizes Woolf's feminism. Indeed, if one actually reads the book, it is clear that Nicolson has a far more contemporary view of women and politics than did Virginia Woolf. One does gain a sense that Nicolson had lived a long and rich life (he died this past fall at the age of 87), but I think most readers will look in vain for the old-fashioned ideas (and certainly the machismo) wrongly ascribed to him.

This is not the best biography on Virginia Woolf. For one thing it is far, far too brief to do even a cursory job. For instance, her friendship with Roger Fry is almost gestured at, her relationship with her sister Vanessa is given little space, and in all descriptions are kept to a minimum to keep to the publisher's guidelines for the series. Nonetheless, I'm quite impressed with what he achieves in such a short amount of space. Although not one of the more complete biographies, it is nonetheless one of the best at giving an almost tangible picture of Virginia.

One thing to know before buying or reading this book is that it is written by a man who was born in the early 1900's and still holds many of the old-fashioned beliefs of that time. It is irritating to listen to Nicolson berate Virginia's feminist beliefs, argue that her statements about women's disadvantages were not true and basically undermine what many readers admire her for - her progressive and liberal point of view. It is not what I bought this biography for. I wanted to know more about Virginia, not Nicolson's macho attitude. For the most part the biography is very good, it would just be a lot better if he kept his opinions to himself.

Rather than repeat the numerous errors cited by others, allow me to recommend When Miners March: The Story of Coal Miners in West Virginia, by W.C. Blizzard. A factual account of the events by the son of Bill Blizzard.

Shogan's book is a rehash of formerly published ill informed texts. His photos are commonly available and serve to mislead rather than inform--focusing on Sid Hatfield rather than Bill Blizzard. Despite the title, Blair Mountain does not make the index till page 184. Two points should suffice to give a gist of the quality of this work. He repeatedly refers to the Red Bandana Army--while any miner knows that no such fiction ever existed. It was the RED NECK Army, led by Bill Blizzard who later would lead District 17 to dominate the coal fields of West Virginia. Second, and of critical import, Mr Shogan did not even bother to interview William C. Blizzard. W.C. Blizzard is Bill's son, was in the court room when his daddy was acquitted, and wrote the only truly informed history of the Battle back in 1952! On the bright side, I purchased a new,hard bound, autographed, copy of this $26 book for $1.95 on Amazon.

Having read Denise Giardina's fictional account of events surrounding the battle (Storming Heaven), having seen John Sayles' film "Matewan," and having viewed the account as offered in the West Virginia documentary of a few years back, I was hoping for some fairly extensive background into the conflict.

Some background is provided -- the book is not a waste for those who have some familiarity with the events. For those without fairly extensive knowledge, the book should prove an eye-opener. Yes, there was a time in this fair nation when corporations had rights and individuals -- human beings who suffered the ignonomy of not being rich -- did not. The economic schism we are plunging into presently existed before, and men whose only crime was demanding to be paid fairly for their work were treated as criminals and rebels.

Shogan provides some insight into the political world that allowed these injustices as well as a good account of the Battle and the events leading up to it. Again, not quite as much background as I had hoped for, but the book is more than good enough to make an impression. Valuable reading!

Detailed yet highly enjoyable account of WV coal field battles. A must for labor and union advocates.

I was disappointed with this book after reading several of the academically oriented histories of the period that go into detail about the war particularly from the miners' point of view. I hope for more detail on the actual happenings of the battle, more focus on its aftermath. Shogan is a journalist who seems to have had a fascination with this incident for decades. However, it seems that his career as a Washington based reporter, has shifted too much of this story inside the beltway (of course before the beltway was conceived.)

Shogun spends too much time talking about the reactions of politicians in Washington and for that matter politicians in West Virginia. He will not only tell you what they did, but give you their entire life background. He does this with the union officials on a national level like John Mitchell and John L. Lewis without giving us much of a picture of what their roles were in the union strategy inside West Virginia or with the federal government.

Given the abundance of books that are much better researched about the general struggle for West Virginia coal in the first decades of the 20th Century, I had hoped that Shogan would not provide a rehash of what had already been written. Unfortunately, this is exactly what he did with anecdote and a general outline that appears to have been taken from other texts without much thought.

Likewise, I hoped that he would zero in and provide many more details about the actual battle, which is, after all the subject of his book, but there really isn't much in here that you can't find elsewhere, and elsewhere there is much more serious discussion of the struggle that led to the battle and the economics and politics and sociology of both miners and the coal bosses.

One wishes, someone outside the beltway and close enough to a coal camp had written this story, or even some military writer who is used to giving details of battles.

The writers provide excellent research and history on RAVENSWOOD, detailing convincingly how workers' battled back against rapacious employers. This is a timeless book, relevant for all times. Bronfenbrenner and Juravich, as usual, provide excellent research and analysis of one of the many struggles to save the steel industry in the U.S. Bravo.

As the daughter of a 5668 lockedout employee, who was really too young to fully understand the total impact of the lockout, I looked forward to this book. It has allowed me to have a better grasp of what it was really like for my parents and all of the other Steelworkers and their families. I have come to appreciate what it is to be UNION! This book gave me some suprises that I did not anticipate (PIC!! You know who you are!!!) It also brought me to tears on a numer of occasions. I know the fear, depression, hopelessness that all of these members felt. Bless our union! You truly held "ONE DAY LONGER" than that "Boyle on your Back" and prevailed!! BTW my dad did not make it through the 1st chapter before putting it down in tears, and never picked it up again, because it hits home that hard. Truly a must for anyone involved with this dispute or anyone involved in one of their own. Congratulations 5668

True-life tale of the Steelworkers victory in Ravenswood West Virginia. I lived through this event growing up, my father one of the proud members of Local 5668. This book is an excellent read, informative and entertaining. Excellent text for US History courses. I also recommend the film "Matewan."

Ravenswood is an excellent account of the recent labor victory for the USWA in 1992. The book reads well and does a very good job of holding the reader's interest as the tale of how Local 5668 fought the infamous Marc Rich and won. The drawback of the book is that is is written by very pro labor authors and the view point and opinion portrayed throughout is very slanted in the union's favor. Unbiased opinion and view point is missing, if you're looking for an objective view of the account, this book will not offer that.

This is a book about a strike against an aluminum plant in West Virginia by the United Steelworkers labor union in the early nineties. First, this is a genuinely good read (just based on the story....) with characters (all be they real...) that you root for and others that you shy away from (Emmitt Boyle and Marc Rich are drawn as evil incarnate....) Aside from this, this book serves as a record of a number of things: 1) a model for how a small-town labor struggle could be conducted on a broad-based front; 2) the ways in which capital does not exist in a locality so much as scattered throughout the world; and 3) an illustration of how labor stoppages in small towns have evolved from the days of Pinkerton thugs and picket lines to something more conplex and... well, modern....

I'd really recommend this book to about anyone but, well, honestly, only people really into labor are ever going to read this. This is a really good book....

This guide is not very good. We bought during our trip to Seneca rocks and quickly discovered that it was totaly useless. It only covers major areas and descriptions and directions are preety bad. If you are looking for good climbing guide for Maryland get 'Climb Maryland' by Indy Kochte

This is a comprehensive guidebook. It includes pretty much every major climbing area in WV, VA, and MD. Its got a good detailed chapter on Old Rag mountain in Shenandoah that other guides don't cover nearly as well. On the other hand, you should get the guidebooks for a specific area (like New River Gorge or Seneca Rocks) if you'll be doing a lot of climbing at a particular spot, because of its broad scope this guidebook won't include all routes for those areas, nor the smaller crags scattered around the region. There's a great guidebook called Climb Maryland! that treats all the central MD spots really well.

Eric's book is all encompassing for the DC metro area climber. It is well written and covers all of the popular climbs. I gave it 4 stars, because I would have liked to have seen just a hair more beta and info about individual climbs, but all-in-all this is a "must have."

This FalconGuide is one of the better ones available, and for the travelling climber, or the DC-centric climber, probably THE book to have (there are non-Falcon guides that specifically cover Virginia and Maryland in more detail, but are only really useful if you primarily climb in those specific states). Eric Horst worked long and hard, contacting a plethora of local climbers at the various crags noted within these pages to get route information, do photo shoots, and be given tours of the area to get a general feel of the land. He covers some of the more or most popular areas in Maryland/DC/Virginia (Sugarloaf, Rocks State Park, Great Falls, Crescent Rocks) as well as *the* two big weekend destinations in West Virginia (Seneca Rocks, New River Gorge), but interspersed are numerous "local" crags that you might never have known about otherwise (short of locating one of the state-specific or crag-specific books that might or might not exist). This serves to give you options to go elsewhere when you can't make it to one of the more popular climbing spots, or if the weather is entirely TOO nice and hordes of people have descended on the main crags, alternate places to go and get vertical. Also, the number of small climbing areas gives the travelling climber options for places to go when they simply cannot get out to, say, Seneca when on the road down around, say, Charlottesville. Crack open Eric's guide and see what's nearby!

The route descriptions are pretty good, and nicely supplemented with a mix of topo photos and drawings (if you're not an artist and you've tried to draw a topo to a crag, you can appreciate how difficult it can be to get it just right!).

Eric successfully treaded the fine balancing act to not reinvent the wheel for places that already havae extensive guidebooks (e.g., Great Falls, et al), but at the same time, adequately cover crags that have or had absolutely no guidebook at all.

More than just a simple guide, Eric's book also gives you a little bit of climbing history to many of the crags, details travel/trip information, has nice readable maps. He spends 18 pages on a general introduction, then devotes the next 380 pages to the various crags.

Even if you only climb in Virginia, Maryland, or West Virginia, and already have one of the state-specific or area-specific guides, this is still an excellent book to have for the day when you might want to step across the border. :-)

Very detailed, professionaly written, accurate. In fact provides more information on a given area than other publications. I climbed using this book as a guide.

I enjoy reading a book that has mulitple short stories in it & J.A. Jance is top notch.

This collection of 4 short stories is a pleasant read but not exceptional. Virginia Lanier's story is the strongest and the others are good but lack "heft".

With four experienced writers contributing stories to this book, I expected better. The first two stories are readable, the last two are a waste of time. Sometimes combining authors is not a 'good thing'.

It is rare to have a collection of stories all about canines. This book has four of them. I enjoyed all four fairly well, but I did have my favorites that I cheered for as the stories progressed.



"Red Shirt and Black Jacket" follows two bloodhounds as they search for a murderer through the backwoods of Georgia. The dogs and their handlers are not afraid of the culprits but the criminals in hiding were sore afraid of them.



"Nightmare to Nowhere" tells of a woman that had an accident, or so she thinks, whom a German Shepherd leads from the scene of that accident into a mystery life. The Shepherd knew where he was going but how far dare this woman trust him?



"The French Poodle Connection" was perhaps my least favorite. This could be because I have never really adored Poodles. The story is interesting and canine lovers will find it interesting as the story traverses through a mystery.



"The Case of the London Cabbie" is very good. J.A. Nance keeps the story moving and interesting. Two Golden Retrievers share a story of "who is what they say they are" and "who do we believe?" You will find this mystery fast moving and intriguing as you watch the characters weave their way to deception.



All in all, if you like dogs and mysteries, you will not want to put this book down.

Anthologies are always a mixed bag. Which is probably why they're so appealing. They're great for when you're not up to concentrating on a full-length story, or only have little bits of reading time available, for whatever reason. Generally speaking, they almost always introduce you to a new author or two. It's hardly surprising then, that they get such mixed reviews. Hardly anyone ever likes every single story equally. As it happens, I've read two anthologies in a row, and while they're vastly different from each other (the other one has three stories by a single author) there are still some similarities between them.

The theme here is dogs in various capacities--working dogs or just pets. I'm not sure I've previously read anything by Virginia Lanier or Chassie West. However, nothing in either story would keep me from reading them in the future. Lanier certainly knew her beans when it came to bloodhounds and their unique capabilities, which she displays to good effect in "Red Shirt and Black Jacket". Jo Beth Sidden is one tough and very enjoyable lady, as she finds the bad guy with the help of her super canine snoop.

Chassie West's "Nightmare in Nowhere" was a bit out there, and I found it hard to follow at times. Duke is a good ol' boy in the form of a German shepherd who isn't yet ready to retire as a rescue dog, in spite of what his humans seem to think. A.J.'s amnesia is presented in a very factual way, as is the recovery of her memory in little bits and pieces. Sure seemed realistic to me!

I have read most of Lee Charles Kelley's books, but this cleverly titled short story "The French Poodle Connection" didn't really do it for me. The dog--a yappy toy poodle--was certainly portrayed accurately. Trouble is, this story didn't need a dog. It would have been a perfectly fine story even without the poodle. But, of course, that wouldn't work because he writes dog books. The story certainly had enough twists and turns to satisfy anyone wanting to know whodunnit or why.

My absolute favorite of the batch was "The Case of the London Cabbie" by J.A. Jance. The fact that the heroine is a lady of a certain age didn't hurt! 70-something Maddy Watkins and her two golden retrievers use their combined brains to win the battle against the brawn on the bad guys, in this engaging tale of sisters who need each other more than they thought they did. I'd love to read a full-length book about Maddy and her `girls'. I can't help but think others would too!

The author got carried away with many of his metaphors and descriptions . . such as comparing cow pies to paper. Has he never seen a cow pie? The ending made no sense. A grandchild of Emily's husband who only appears on the last page of the book sums up her life? It appears that the author was at a loss for an ending and tried to wrap it up with something external to both of the protagonists, but it was transparently bogus. The book was an easy read, but it was a disappointing read.

The author got carried away with many of his metaphors and descriptions . . such as comparing cow pies to paper. Has he never seen a cow pie? The ending made no sense. A grandchild of Emily's husband who only appears on the last page of the book sums up her life? It appears that the author was at a loss for an ending and tried to wrap it up with something external to both of the protagonists, but it was transparently bogus. The book was an easy read, but it was a disappointing read.

I enjoyed this literary novel in spite of the subject not being anything that I've ever invested time or energy in before. The prose quality was the first thing that struck me. It is an extremely well written book, particularly the expository chapters which boast prose so lyrical it occasionally borders on poetry. However, it would damn the core story with faint praise to label this work just a 'well crafted' first novel. There are plenty of authentic and interesting characters as well as plot twists to keep the action flowing. Kessler obviously did his homework/research about the birds, bees, flora and fauna, not to mention coal mining and electricity. There's even a sort of recipe for one particular type of 'hillbilly food'. Kessler has a way of touching up a scene with just the right amount of idiosyncratic detail. His main character (Emily) is female and (to me) utterly realized. Some female friends of mine report not liking her much (I did) but they also admitted the reading was compelling enough that they pressed on late into the night to discover her (ultimate) fate. His evocations of New Orleans only left me wanting for more in the end...but the author went his own way with this novel. If I could change one thing, it would be the close out, but I'm perhaps more 'commercially minded' than most readers of literary novels. All in all, I highly recommend it.

I was delighted by the language, the story, the characters, especially Emily, the female lead. I liked the atmosphere and the beautiful descriptions of the mountains. I would recommend this book to anyone who cares about good writing and a good story. Once I got passed the first 50 pages, I couldn't put it down.

How do you smell? might be a subtitle for this poetically tactile first novel by the grandson of a main character, not a man personally related to the wonderfully real and tragically human Appalachian maid Emily Jenkins, whose story this is. Her short life moves from one great loss to another, but she endures and does not exhibit, rather embodies, the fierce loyalty and spiritual beauty so much a part of her people. Like her West Virginia homeland Emily is partly wild, knowing how to survive and what is right, the laws of civilization notwithstanding. That civilization and its profit motive violate her family, her home, and her body, urging her to a vengeance that becomes her undoing. Vindicated from the grave, she speaks using Kessler as her vessel. Deeply symbolic and true to the Appalachian manner of speech and humor, Lick Creek is, at last, the great American novel.

I was expecting a lot more info on the products and did not expect as much personal information on the author.

I found the book to be insightful and full of a plethora of information that experienced and new collectors could use. It is a worth while edition to any fiesta library. I also was thrilled to see the paintings of artist Philip Carroll in the book and on the back cover of paintings using fiesta. What a wonderful concept!

I find Schiffer collector books in general to be amateurish and of poor quality and this one is no exception. Many of the photos suffer from unprofessional lighting, rendering the supposed colors unrecognizable. There are also numerous typos, and the writing style is more of a personal narrative than a factual account. Some people might find this chatty style appealing but I find it distracting. I also don't think we need so much coverage of the "artistry of John Parry," especially of his jewelry. I'm sure he was a very nice man, but I think this info would have been better put at the end of the book as an appendix rather than in the front. Most people buy collector books in order to readily identify and price their items--the biographical information, and the stuff about "morgue" items is interesting, but shouldn't take up so much space. I recommend the next edition go more in-depth on the officially licensed go-along items, as these are more likely to be encountered by the average collector than some of the more obscure decaled lines that have pages written about them.

I was very pleased w- this book! I have been a Fiesta collector for several years & found this book not only extremely informative, but a very useful tool too. The writing is superb! This book carries current values for lilac, sapphire, & other HTF pieces. Because post 86 Fiesta is currently in production & "readily available", I understand that it is impossible to put values on anything else. I was especially fascinated & intrigued with the many great pictures, espeically of the rare & morgue pieces. Overall, this book is the best post 86 book on the market; it is definitely a must have for any collector!!!

I was very pleased w- this book! I have been a Fiesta collector for several years & found this book not only extremely informative, but a very useful tool too. The writing is superb! This book carries current values for lilac, sapphire, & other HTF pieces. Because post 86 Fiesta is currently in production & "readily available", I understand that it is impossible to put values on anything else. I was especially fascinated & intrigued with the many great pictures, espeically of the rare & morgue pieces. Overall, this book is the best post 86 book on the market; it is definitely a must have for any collector!!!

a level headed lawyer and his boyhood blood brothers go grouse hunting with a fundamentalist landowner who winds up shot dead. Pacing is deliberate, tone is southern colloquial. rich in setting and atmosphere.

"Blood and Guile" is a rather leisurely read; if you're expecting lots of action and thrills, you don't get them. However, Hoffman has a strong command of his environment, and even though there are many flaws in this why did they do it?, it's still worth reading.

Four men go off hunting, and right away we find out that one of them has been killed in an unfortunate "accident." Hoffman is to be commended for not making the West Virginia law enforcement the typical hillbilly buffoons. Bruce Sawyers is a modern, healthy, young efficient sheriff whose investigation leads to the possibility that the accident was indeed a murder.

Although Walter is certainly not the most stalwart of heroes, his emergence at the end makes up somewhat for this lack of bravado. Along the way, we meet some interesting characters including Phyllis Duke, a woman with a very strange history; Drake Wingo, the he-man hunter who has found his newfound "fame" pivotal in his decision making; Cliff Dickinson, a rather foppish artiste type who is the supposed murderer; and Boomer, a clerk at the Grizzly store whose brevity does not diminish his interest. Unfortunately, the main female focus is Josey, and she comes across as being rather selfish and uninteresting. The inclusion of the Prince from Arabia story only serves to slow down the otherwise engrossing story.
There aren't many surprises; you can pretty much figure out what is going on, but it doesn't dilute the quiet impact of this story. Drake's exposition while hunting in the last section is a hauntingly realistic expose on how we refuse to face the truth.
RECOMMENDED.

After Tidewater Blood, the first of William Hoffman's novels I read, I was primed to enjoy this new one. Sadly, Blood And Guile suffers from a too-languid pace that detracts from the plot line. The primary character, Walter Frampton, who stood as a fine piece of believable characterization in the previous book, comes across here as ineffectual, even dull in a doomed-romantic fashion. It's a pity, because this tale of a supposed hunting accident has possibilities that are never fully realized-all as a result of Frampton's failure to step off the pages as he did so compellingly in Tidewater Blood. Certainly, Blood And Guile is worth reading, but it's just not on the same level as the preceding book.

Four men spend a weekend together, hunting in the West Virginia mountains. Three of the men are life-long buddies, one is an acquaintance - an outsider. A shooting accident while out hunting sees the outsider shot dead. The local sheriff is not inclined to believe that the shooting was an accident because the facts don't match the story. The story is told from the perspective of one of the three friends, Walter Frampton. He is a lawyer and is drawn into it both on a professional and personal level. He begins to realise that he didn't know his friends as well as he thought.

Once the excitement of the hunting accident passes, we seem to meander from scene to scene without achieving much. There is a side-story which doesn't have any bearing on the matter at hand and, ultimately does not resolve itself. Plotting for his next novel, perhaps? While interesting it loses momentum midway through, consequently my interest began to wane, I'm glad I borrowed this from the library, rather than bought it.

Narrator Walter "Raff" Frampton, a small-town Virginia lawyer, sets the tone in this fine Southern novel of buddies, secrets and death. Walter, a non hunter, is on a grouse hunt in the West Virginia mountains with two of his childhood buddies and a fourth man, the owner of the land - who ends up dead. Walter sees nothing to doubt in his friend Cliff's version of the accidental shooting but the country sheriff raises questions that culminate in Cliff's arrest.

A mild, correct man with social hankerings and a lonely but comfortable routine, Walter begins probing when his legal maneuvers fail. The real hunter of the group, Drake, brushes off his questions and Walter is wounded to discover Cliff confides more confidently in Drake than his lawyer.

The town's lofty pretensions and grubby secrets unfold as Walter doggedly pursues his case. A man who has invested his high opinion unwisely, reserving a low opinion for himself, Walter finds unsuspected reserves of quiet determination. Atmospheric, written with perfect pitch, Hoffman's ("Tidewater Blood") novel successfully combines literary themes with suspenseful pacing.